Erik ten Hag believes he can fix Manchester United and that should not come as a surprise to anyone. In fact, you would hope that is a prerequisite of accepting what is arguably the most difficult job in football management. There were four other men who succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson on a permanent basis before him plus an interim manager too, though, and they all believed the same.
Ten Hag knows one of his predecessors relatively well. During his unveiling at Old Trafford on Monday lunchtime, he revealed he had spoken with Louis van Gaal at the premiere of a documentary on the Netherlands head coach’s life in Amsterdam last month. A couple of weeks earlier, Van Gaal had publicly advised him to spurn United’s advances and “join a football club, not a commercial club”.
You imagine a similar message was relayed at the premiere, and knowing Van Gaal, in even stronger terms. But it clearly did not influence Ten Hag’s thinking. “I heard [Van Gaal’s comments], but I draw my own line. I’m convinced this will not be the case,” the new United manager said. “I spoke with the directors about it… Every club needs it, needs the revenues to be at the top. To do it is necessary but football is one, two, three at this club.”
