What was said?
[coach 456113] told Voetbal International, “It felt like a difficult but great challenge. That is the most beautiful thing there is. There is something to build at United and something to gain. Manchester United is such a big name in football history. It feels like a challenge to put the club back on track of winning.
“Old Trafford is nicknamed the Theatre of Dreams for a reason. It is a club with name, fame and allure in international football. Everyone knows the history of the beautiful teams. From Sir Alex Ferguson of course, but also further back in time. The great team of the late fifties, which suddenly disappeared with the plane crash.
“The history is impressive, but I also started to delve into the present and the future. And the options that are available. They are there, also financially. If you also get a good feeling about the people there, then the picture is right and then the factors are present to take this step.”
He also told the Voetbal International that the first contact between him and United was made back in March, “That was not so long ago.”
“They also really knew a lot about me. They had done scouting, made analyses, gathered data, had interviews with people who had worked with me. Several rounds of discussions followed from there. So they didn’t decide overnight. Neither did I.
“Those conversations were so good that I got the feeling: I want to take on that challenge. Then it started to come to life in my head and I made the decision that I would leave [team 629].”
Will Ten Hag get enough time to build a strong team at Man United?
Manchester United’s recruitment of players and appointment of managers over the last decade has been terrible. They kept signing players of different qualities as there wasn’t any technical director at the club. Ed Woodward, who has no football knowledge, made footballing decisions for the club.
The board did not listen to what the managers wanted and kept making their own decisions. This happened multiple times under Jose and Van Gaal. Manchester United sacked [coach 37523072], known for tiki-taka football and appointed [coach 455375], who is exactly the opposite of that. Both great managers were not backed by the club in the market and were sacked without giving them much time to build something.
Ten Hag will join the club at the end of this season, and [coach 19960383] will move upstairs as the technical director. The new system does look good, but the club’s hierarchy is still a major doubt for the future. It does feel like Ten Hag is taking over a much better side than what Jose did, but the problems are elsewhere.
Ralf Rangnick is known for excellent player recruitment, and Ten Hag is one of the best young coaches in the world. Maybe, this is the right duo for [team 14] to rely upon for the future, but they will need time to develop a culture at the club.
It’s still a massive question if Ten Hag will be given enough time or not, but there does seem to be a more cohesive plan at Manchester United.
Author: Devashish Akolekar
