As Erik ten Hag draws a line under his time at Ajax, there’ll no doubt be a collective sigh of relief among Manchester United fans as he nears his arrival at Old Trafford. We could be just a matter of days away from seeing the 52-year-old arrive in Manchester, and he’ll have quite the to-do list waiting for him on his desk, but the question is, where does he start?
United are clearly in need of some new faces this summer. Even when putting the glut of players heading for the exit door to one side, this season has exposed an alarming lack of quality in a number of positions that will need addressing.
But even if the club were to break from tradition and go on a wild shopping spree, bringing in the 10 new arrivals Ralf Rangnick has suggested they need, Ten Hag will still have plenty of players left over from the current crop. And they certainly don’t paint the picture of a happy camp.
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Whether it was deliberately aimed at his new club or not, Ten Hag seems to have already done his homework on United this season. Speaking after his final game in charge with Ajax, he said: “What it’s all about is the dressing room, you need to be able to manage the dressing room. You have to make it function. That’s how you win games."
It’s the worst-kept secret in football at the moment that United is not the utopia its players would like it to be. Rangnick has not been shy about revealing the myriad of problems he’s faced at Carrington, while even players like Scott McTominay have given an idea of just how bad the situation is at the moment.
Ten Hag would do well to take those views on board, and while he’s at it he should also listen to Cristiano Ronaldo. Having been at the club during the glory years of Sir Alex Ferguson, the Portuguese ace perhaps knows better than anyone currently at Old Trafford how standards have declined.
Interviews with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner this season have been few and far between. It says a lot about the current situation that, on one of the few occasions he has spoken out, he has also hinted at a problem in the dressing room.
"The mature players, the older players can always help the young players," Ronaldo told Premier League Productions back in January. "But, I can give you an example, if I give you advice, even if you are younger than me and if you don't implant that in a daily life it will be difficult.
"You can speak all day with that person. If he's not coming from inside of you it's impossible. I remember when I was 18, 19, 20, some old players speak with me and I put that as, 'Cristiano, you know you have to improve. They know more than you, they are more experienced than you'. They passed through many bad moments.
"But the other people (youngsters), they don't accept that if you criticise them. I don't say this in relation to our players but in general. I have kids, I know. Sometimes when you're a little bit harder, they do the opposite, you have to find the right balance to speak with them.
"But in my opinion, the main point is it should come from inside you. You should be proud of yourself, look in the mirror and say, listen, I gave everything. And I think all of us should do that.”
As the season has worn on, Ronaldo has been one of a very select few that has stood up to be counted. He has almost single-handedly won the majority of United’s points in the league over the last couple of months, while others around him look as though they’re waiting for the season to end.
It’s clear that the 37-year-old is living up to his own advice, but the same cannot be said for many of his team-mates. It’s no surprise then that Ronaldo looked so bemused and almost out of ideas as they slumped to another humiliating defeat in their penultimate game at Brighton.
In a week in which more reports of in-fighting have emerged, Ten Hag’s comments on the dressing room couldn’t have been more timely. If he didn’t know how big a job he’s got on his hands, he soon will.
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