– There is no doubt that David has everything needed for this job. He is a straightforward man with a hard work ethic, Sir Alex Ferguson stated in the spring of 2013.
The managerial legend was saying goodbye to Manchester United after more than 26 years in the job, and Ferguson was confident that the successor David Moyes could fill huge boots. They quickly proved to be many numbers too big for the Scotsman.
After Moyes, United have been guided in turn Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, but the Premier League title match hasn’t been shown at Old Trafford for ten years. That is unlikely to happen this year either, but there is a lot of optimism in the red side of the city.
The one who took Ajax to three championships and to the threshold of the Champions League final Erik ten Hag has shown right away in his first season as United manager that there is now a leader in the house. United is third in the series, five points from the top, on Thursday the team cleared FC Barcelona in the Europa League and on Sunday they will play at Wembley in the League Cup final against Newcastle.
As the attached graph shows, the Dutchman has had a better start than any of the names mentioned above.
Ronaldo’s case was a big win for ten Hag
The ex-player, who “only” started his coaching career with Go Ahead Eagles in 2012 at the age of 42, still had a lot to prove as a relatively unknown name in Britain. Although United’s season started with two losses for the first time in over a hundred years and fans around the world had more reason to sneer at the struggling giant, ten Hag has quickly won the team and the fans over with his honest and inspiring attitude.
For many, such a great success in the first season has been a surprise, but Urheilu’s expert Miika Nuutinen you could expect strong displays.
– He is a coach who has been able to instill a playful identity and culture where he has been. He survived the initial storms well, and for example, he came out victorious from the “Ronaldo-keiss”. The club strongly sided with the coach, and that is important when building a long-term future, Nuutinen states.
– Among other things Bruno Fernandes has talked about the fact that discipline and order have returned and that is also needed. Solskjäri’s time was not totally bad, but this is now more organized football and the structures are better.
“Ronaldo-keissilla” Nuutinen refers to the series of events that shook the futs world, which started already last summer. Cristiano Ronaldo left the stadium in the middle of the training game, refused to go on the field in the league game against Tottenham and finally gave the full-back to the club before the World Cup Piers Morgan in the interview.
Ten Hag showed with his own actions that no player is bigger than the club, and the Portuguese badass found his next address in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. The manager has also ruled that no one in the club should earn more than 200,000 pounds per week, and after the brutal Brentford defeat (0-4) in August, the coach went on a 14-kilometer run with his protégés.
– This is followed as an outsider, but the release has been orderly. Marcus Rashford was late for the team’s match meeting, and he found himself on the bench. If anything, this is what Ferguson was known for and this is what Manchester is used to, says Nuutinen.
Nuutinen reminds that ten Hag, who grew up in a millionaire family, has already gone through a lot of pressure in Ajax, where traditions are binding and the level of demands is high. That’s why the success in North-West England is not surprising.
– It is easy to underestimate what kind of place Ajax is to coach and manage. It is by no means an easy place, and he already ran it with success. The Premier League is a different matter, but the importance of its success cannot be underestimated.
Sharply and efficiently towards the goal
Although Ronaldo still scored 24 goals last season, the departure of the biggest superstar from the club has freed up the atmosphere and made it easier to organize the game.
– Ronaldo made pressing considerably more difficult. Now there’s more of it, and it’s better. Ten Hag’s philosophy is definitely possession football, but it’s a more vertical variation than say With Pep Guardiola.
United have attacked sharply towards the opponent’s goal. So-called “straightforward attacks”, where the ball is taken away in one’s own area and within 15 seconds there is either a touch in the opponent’s penalty area or a shot, is the most in the league. There are also the most goals from counterattacks.
The goal expectation has increased, there are more break-ins and situations are created in the box. The challenge is field balance, which from last summer’s acquisitions Christian Eriksen and especially Casemiro bring to the midfield.
Nuutinen sees that ten Hag has made certain compromises according to how United could best succeed this season.
– United wants to create a lot of threat against the last line, and the team is dangerous in fast attacks. He has managed to preserve and refine the strengths of the material.
– Now, for example, Casemiro in a giant role in the midfield steals balls and starts counterattacks from better areas than before.
Rashford, who has been the hottest striker in Europe in recent weeks, has taken the biggest leap in terms of performance. After the World Cup, the Brit has scored 16 goals in 18 matches and has been completely unstoppable.
Rashford has already experienced a lot in his 25-year-old career, and now a real upswing is underway.
– Ten Hag has made Rashford flourish quickly. In the past, he’s been bounced here and there for some reason, but his best place is on the left. Now we will see the best Rashford, with transport, speed and power visible.
Sent to Holland for months to train Jadon Sancho is also finding himself. The forward, who moved from Dortmund to Manchester 2021 for €85 million, was left out of England’s World Cup squad and withdrew from social media.
Britti has gotten himself in shape both mentally and physically. With his four goals, he has already surpassed his modest number from last season.
Successful flirting
Nuutinen also emphasizes ten Hag’s courage to make open-minded solutions. Brilliant left wing pack Luke Shaw has appeared occasionally as a topper, and Sanchoa ten Hag has also played in the ten spot recently.
– This is one of the most interesting aspects of ten Hag, how he seems to play tricks and profile the players again. Shaw has been a good player, and while Sancho has had a difficult phase in his career, through a rather surprising profiling, he has been very good in the middle.
– When Sancho has brought speed and carrying power to the middle, it has freed Fernandes to play on the right and wider. Then you can get more out of his excellent passing and centering skills. This prank has been very successful.
United have a chance to win the first trophy of the ten Hag era in the League Cup final on Sunday, but Nuutinen prefers to look further afield. The real window of success is about to open in the coming years, when ten Hag gets the molded team even more of his look.
– It’s interesting to see how he goes about changing the group. Now we have seen a hybrid of what is realistic material and what is his own idea. I believe that the David de Gean he will be replaced by a goalkeeper who plays better with his feet, and also, for example, as a right defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka is not good enough to play under pressure.
Nuutinen sees that United also needs a new goal-scoring center forward. Ten Hag’s compatriot on loan from Burnley Wout Weghorst has not scored goals, but as a versatile player is able to participate in quarterbacking, passing and pressing.
A two-meter-long hujoppi has also been seen in about ten places.
– The acquisition of a striker could be the decisive thing that brings the club back into the category of the biggest. Weghorst is a suitable player for ten Hag’s football and a brilliant search at the moment, but I don’t think he will be United’s high-scoring striker in the future.
Right now it seems that the union between ten Hag and United could become a long-term and successful one. However, memory is sometimes short in football.
– Things happen in football and a lot more has happened at United than in the previous twenty years. Time will tell, but the prognosis is good right now, Nuutinen sees.