Erik ten Hag has already seemingly unveiled his plan to ensure he does not "lose authority" in the Manchester United dressing room if he becomes the club's new manager.
A report from ESPN claims Ten Hag is set to be unveiled as United's next long-term boss, replacing interim coach Ralf Rangnick, who is set to move into a boardroom role. The Dutchman has been in charge at Ajax since 2017, winning two Eredivisie titles, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Ten Hag has built an impressive reputation for the work he has done at the Johan Cruijff Arena, thus linking him with the post at Old Trafford. And it seems there is a clear method to that success which is exactly what is needed in the red side of Manchester.
While discussing his managerial approach in a video on Ajax's YouTube channel, Ten Hag explained how he sees himself as coach. The 52-year-old spoke about maintaining "authority" in the dressing room, which is an issue United are thought to have struggled with under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Rangnick.
He said: "I think I am who I am. I'm not a copy of somebody else. As a coach you can follow someone's example and learn from coaches who inspire you. But the main thing is that you work in a way that fits your personality. Otherwise you're playing a role, and players see right through that and you'll lose authority."
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Ten Hag also appeared to give an insight into how he would go about his first steps as United boss when asked what had changed since the start of his time at Ajax. He explained: "The beginning is always difficult. You don't know the club yet. I got there under certain circumstances, and then you go to work.
"Before you introduce your ideas to the squad and they accept them, that takes time. A coach can't perform magic, although some media and people seem to think they can. Put your team out there and it'll be fine.
When asked if a summer period to prepare is crucial, he replied: "Of course it is, in order to get your team to function there are so many aspects you need to train over and over again. Before you get there, you need to find the right balance. That takes time, with ups and downs. And with downs, people start to criticise, that's part of the deal, you need to deal with that.
"But it's important to follow your own path. That doesn't mean you don't listen to other people, but if you as the coach of Ajax start to let all these different opinions influence you, you end up going in all directions, and the players won't understand."
