Rene Hake reveals what Manchester United said to convince him to become Erik ten Hag’s assistant

Rene Hake has revealed what he and Manchester United spoke about that convinced him to join Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff.

While Manchester United have already made many changes upstairs, with Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox, and Omar Berrada all coming into senior positions in the club, they are also making changes to the staff behind Erik ten Hag.

Four new coaches have joined Old Trafford this summer. Rene Hake and Ruud van Nistelrooy have joined as assistants, Andreas Georgson as first-team coach with a reported focus on set pieces, and Jelle ten Routwelaar as a goalkeeper coach.

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Meanwhile, Benni McCarthy, Mitchell van der Gaag, Richard Harris, and Steven McClaren have all left the club, marking a significant change of the guard behind the scenes at both Old Trafford and Carrington.

The interesting backstory behind these appointments is that Hake and Georgson were both first-team managers prior to their move, while Van Nistelrooy had offers to become a first-team boss from Burnley.

However, United managed to convince all three that their roles working under Ten Hag would be better, and Hake has revealed the conversation that he had with his other coaches and United that convinced him to join.

“It’s already been a long journey to be a coach, after all the different types of roles I had in coaching,” he told club media. “So, from youth teams to assistant coach to manager and, then, an opportunity to work in a club like Manchester United, and to work in the Premier League.

“That’s a big challenge for me, to be part of that but, also, to bring my experience here and, in this way, I can contribute to playing better as United.

“For both Ruud and I, I think it is our experience in coaching [that will prove crucial]. Of course, everybody brings specific things but it was nice when we met each other and talked a lot about our philosophy, our way of work.

“When we talked about it, [we realised] we have a lot of connection in that. I think that we can be very strong to help our manager, to bring it to a higher level, with the experience we have and bring that together.”

Further, he was asked why he chose to leave his role as manager of Go Ahead Eagles to become Ten Hag’s assistant – to which he explained that it was a “no-brainer” decision.

“The first question – if you wanted to join – this was a no-brainer in that way,” he admitted. “But I already told you I can work at this level. And, of course, I’ve been managing. So I know what it takes to be in that role.

“So in that way, you can also make your mind up about what he [Ten Hag] is thinking and in that way, I think it can also be easier for us to help the manager to do the right things and to help him to make the best choices in everything we do together.

“Our experience as managers, I think, can help a lot with that, because it’s also part of our job to help the other staff members and to find solutions in there to bring that to a good level and, from there on, to continue that to the final decision for the manager.”

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