With Erik Ten Hag finalising a deal to take over Bayer Leverkusen, he reflected on the one thing he missed the most during his spell at Old Trafford
Appointed in April 2022, Erik ten Hag was meant to be the man to usher in a new era at Manchester United after winning three straight Eredivisie titles with Ajax, as well as a run to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The Dutchman helped United win their first trophy since 2017, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023, before also winning the FA Cup in 2024, beating rivals Manchester City 2-1 in the final.
Despite being given a contract extension in the wake of the FA Cup victory, ten Hag was sacked in October after a string of very poor performances, winning just four out of the 14 games in this season’s Premier League campaign.
INEOS reportedly didn’t see a way forward with the Dutchman at the helm, and felt there were no excuses for the club to be languishing in 14th at the time of his sacking.
The one thing Ten Hag misses from his time at United
With Ten Hag set to take over Xabi Alonso’s role as head coach at Bayer Leverkusen, it seems he’s put the turbulent time he endured in charge at United behind him.
Speaking recently on SEG Stories podcast, the 55-year-old revealed the one thing that he will miss from his time in charge.
He said: “If there’s one thing I miss it’s Old Trafford. You’re always working towards a dot on the horizon, but you never get to the horizon.
“We’ve had many highs, there is always room for improvement and good is not enough. You can do better.”
Ruben Amorim was hired to replace ten Hag in November, but United have somehow got worse as the players struggle to adapt to his playing style.
Should Ten Hag have been sacked earlier?
In the 2023/24 Premier League season, Ten Hag guided his side to an eight-place finish, their worst top-flight position since 1990. It was clear to see that INEOS preferred other candidates at Old Trafford rather than keeping on with the Dutchman, but the FA Cup victory led them to showing faith in ten Hag.
As a result, the ownership group sanctioned a number of summer signings, spending almost £200 million on players to suit his playing style. Some of the players brought in include Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt, and Leny Yoro, who have performed well this season, but Joshua Zirkzee, signed for £36.5 million has underperformed this campaign.
One of the managers that INEOS were speaking to was Amorim, who preferred to take over in the summer, with the Portuguese coach being concerned that trying to teach his 3-4-2-1 system to players half way through a season would be almost impossible. He has ultimately been proven right, inheriting a squad fit for a 4-3-3 formation.
One thing that no manager at Old Trafford has got since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement is time, something that will be crucial for Amorim to mold his side and bring in the players that fit his 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 system that he specialises in.
It feels like a constant cycle at Old Trafford where managers are given a sizeable amount of funds to spend on players that suit their system, but then are not given enough time to fully implement their philosophy, leading to the next manager who plays a different system to inherit players that don’t fit the system, and the cycle goes on and on.
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