Right, we’re wrapping up this liveblog now. Here’s a recap of our main Manchester United pieces:
- Ten Hag confident of reviving United without lavish budget
- Jamie Jackson on the issues the new manager must address
- ‘Complex but cool’: Bart Vlietstra outlines what Ten Hag can offer
- The Fiver: it’s not yet clear how the new era can go wrong.
- Harry Maguire receives bomb threat
Stay on the site for more news and reaction as well as minute-by-minute coverage of Burnley v Southampton later, and much more. Thanks for reading and commenting, bye.
Joining the calls for Ten Hag to be afforded patience and time is Jaap Stam. The 1999 treble-winning defender said: “What he’s been doing in Holland, probably he’s going to try to do the same thing in England. You need to have time to do this, do you get time? That’s always the issue for a coach.”
Delving below the line again, here’s a couple of choice recent posts, first from ciderman:
It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any immediate effect on United’s players. A wake up call. Their fans will hope so because the race for fourth place is still on. Maybe even third if Chelsea continue to lamely give away matches like that farce against Arsenal. You’d swear they had bets down on themselves losing.
Looking at that game, Arsenal are pretty crap defensively, giving Chelsea room to ramble and chances galore which they somehow contrived to miss or spurn. United’s players need to show a reaction to that inept show at Anfield. They’ll have every chance of enjoying the same attacking opportunities. Win that game, find some consistency and wait for Spurs to do the expected and United still have a great shot at starting the Ten Haag era with Champions League football.
and then Dague, sounding a gloomier note:
Only when he actually starts managing the dystopian world that is Manchester United will Ten Hag realise what a poisoned chalice he has been handed. The stadium is falling to bits, the training ground is out of date, the first team is a joke and the corporate structure at the club is geared towards only one thing: extracting as much money as possible before the club is relegated. What Ten Hag will quickly realise is that if Man Utd do not qualify for the Champions League, he might as well toss his list of transfer targets into the fire, because the likes of Kane and Rice will not go to a club that is not in the Champions League. People are making comparisons with Fergie, but it took the latter over three years before he won his first trophy, the FA Cup in 1990. Will Ten Hag be given the same amount of time?
Fred is the first current Man Utd player out of the blocks to big up their new boss. “It’s great news,” said the midfielder in an interview with Premier League Productions. “He’s a world-class coach who will help us a lot here. I’ve watched Ajax and they are a great team who play good football. We know he helps us a lot and hopefully next year we can win trophies.”
“We need to get back to being the huge club that we are. We know the new manager will help us get back on the rails and the objective will be to be back winning again.
“We really need to put a lot of work in. The new manager’s job will not just take one day to the next. It will take time. We will have pre-season and it won’t be easy. A new style that we can adapt to. We still need to meet our objectives on this season of course, too.”
Gary Neville’s been chatting a bit more on Sky about the current Absolute State of the team. Interestingly, he eschewed lionising his own era or those other peak Fergie years, as so many others do, instead invoking the spirit and style of the non-title winners he grew up watching – Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes, Ray Wilkins, Norman Whiteside et al. Big Ron revival anyone?
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Police investigate after Maguire receives bomb threat
Jamie Jackson has this rather disturbing story:
Harry Maguire received a bomb threat to his home on Wednesday, with Cheshire police launching an investigation and establishing that the Manchester United captain was sent an emailed warning.
On Thursday afternoon police officers and an explosives dog attended Maguire’s home, where he lives with his fiancee, Fern Hawkins, and their two children.
A spokesperson for Maguire said: “In the last 24 hours, Harry has received a serious threat to his family home. He has reported this to the police who are now looking into the matter.
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Much talk, meanwhile, about whether Steve McClaren will return to English football as an assistant to Ten Hag, the pair having worked together at Twente. He would likely be alongside Mitchell van der Gaag, who was the coach of Yong Ajax, the club’s reserves, for two years from 2019. The club are thought to be be close to confirming the latter appointment.
Thanks Will, hello again everyone. Time for The Fiver’s take on how this might all end in tears:
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Thank you very much for joining me for this joyous day in Manchester. I am off to
enjoy the sunshine
drive to Burnley. Tom Davies will lead you through the night (for a bit at least). Ta ra
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Jamie Jackson has plenty on Ten Hag’s appointment, including the likely transfer targets and players up for sale.
Pogba out, Rice in?
As always, some of the United squad a moaning. “Ten Hag’s appointment has had a mixed reception from the squad, with some players ambivalent and other underwhelmed as they wait to work with the 52-year-old.”
The announcement that Ajax coach Erik ten Hag will be the new Manchester United manager did not have an immediate impact on the share price, which dipped by 0.6% shortly after trading opened on Thursday in New York, where the club is listed.
I quite enjoy that any on with links to Manchester United and Netherlands have been linked with a coaching role under Ten Hag. Robin van Persie, Rene Meulentseen and Steve McClaren have all had their names mentioned in recent weeks about getting some initialised training gear at Carrington. Bring back Raimound van der Gouw!
Will Ten Hag be seeking Louis van Gaal’s advice?
In further former Manchester United full-back news ...
Denis Irwin believes Ten Hag is capable of putting his philosophy into practice and transforming the club’s fortunes.
Irwin told Sky Sports News: “I’m more than happy. He’s an exciting appointment.
“The style of football he’s played at Ajax over the last four and a half years is great to watch. He’s had success in Holland and on the European stage, and I think all the fans are right behind it.
“Yeah, it might take time with an overhaul due in terms of the first-team squad, and we need a bit of patience as well.
“The best-case scenario is we’ll be challenging hopefully in two or three years’ time for the league, but I’m excited by the style of football and the fact he seems an honest and hard-working manager.”
Champions League failure at PSG cost Mauricio Pochettino the chance to become Manchester United manager, according to Gary Neville.
“I think Pochettino has been the outstanding choice for a number of years,” told Sky Sports. “But losing in the Champions League this season and not winning the French league last season has cost Mauricio.
“The mood music, what would be the current moment, is absolutely key. Erik ten Hag is the man of the moment, the overwhelming choice I think of the fans as well, and the club has determined he is the right man to take the club forward.”
Antonio Conte gave his view on Erik ten Hag’s appointment at his press conference today.
Can you tell us more about your lunch? It sounds like it was eventful and, no offense to your skills as a journalist intended, I imagine I’d find it a hell of a lot more entertaining than this minute by minute report about the signing of ten Hag.
“It’s strange but they’ve improved the squad and have done worse than last season. It shows it’s not easy, particularly in England.
“In England it’s a big job for every manager, the level is so high. When you’re at Manchester United the pressure is massive. You have to fight to win trophies. It’s not easy because other teams have the same idea.”
“Can you tell us more about your lunch?” Asks JR. “It sounds like it was eventful and, no offense to your skills as a journalist intended, I imagine I’d find it a hell of a lot more entertaining than this minute by minute report about the signing of ten Hag.”
It was not the most exciting lunch, to be honest. I had a toasted sandwich as I had to do some domestic admin in my break. I also spent some time watching the action at the *other* Old Trafford.
United are currently in a bad place, by their standards, prove by their tame defeat to Liverpool.
Richard Harris emails: “The price of buying the space in which to approach and interview would be managers for next season has been sacking Solskjaer and bringing in Rangnick who the players simply haven’t played for because they knew he wouldn’t be in charge next season. All the articles that have been churned out week after week about United seem to have overlooked this rather obvious fact.
“Is Ben 10 the answer? Joe 90 didn’t work out and neither did the Moyesiah or Vangelis. Wouldn’t selling Donny back to Ajax have been a simpler way of pleasing Mrs Van de Beek?”
A lot to consider there from Richard, as I make a coffee.
Pep Guardiola is a big Ten Hag fan, that’s for sure.
Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Erik ten Hag a few weeks ago, going as far to say he could have been a potential replacement for himself should he ever leave Manchester City 👇 pic.twitter.com/cDb7YjloEH
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 21, 2022
Ten Hag knows how to win players round.
“In this period when he came, I was injured, then I came back and then a few weeks where I didn’t play,” Kevin Friesenbichler says. “First I was angry with him, then we started to find a way to talk to each other. He helped me very much as it was just a problem of my fitness at this time. He clearly told me what I have to do, then I will play. This was just about fitness because tactically, I always knew what he wanted me to do. He shows you his plan, a fitness plan where the players have to be on point. He told me this and a couple of weeks later he was the best coach for me.”
“There are echoes of Alex Ferguson in this appointment,” Chymist says in the comments. “Ferguson turned down a number of clubs to go to Old Trafford and had been successful with Aberdeen. Both Ferguson and ten Hag seem to be strict and make demands of their players.”
And he is Max Rushden on fans (and the expectations of them).
Cristiano Ronaldo has thanked the Anfield crowd for their show of compassion following the death of his newborn son.
A fan-led minute’s applause was held during Tuesday’s Premier League game between Liverpool and Manchester United, which Ronaldo missed following his son’s death.
“Me and my family will never forget this moment of respect and compassion.” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram: “One world… One sport… One global family… Thanks, Anfield.
Ronaldo added three hands-praying emojis alongside a video of the Anfield crowd applauding in the seventh minute – the Portuguese star’s number. The 37-year-old, who has four older children, announced last October that he and his partner Georgina Rodríguez were expecting twins. Their baby girl survived.
A statement from Ronaldo and Rodriguez on Monday said the death of their baby boy was “the greatest pain that any parents can feel”. “Only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness,” the statement added.
Manchester United seem keen for Ten Hag to keep some of the current backroom staff on, so it will be interesting to see if the likes of Darren Fletcher and Mike Phelan are part of the Dutchman’s thinking.
John Murtough has been given greater control of things, which should give more stability. As you may have seen, two scouts left their posts this week at the club. And, ultimately, the status quo has not been working, so a short, sharp shock from Ten Hag could be what is need to kickstart United returning to challenging for major honours. Nothing in football is guaranteed.
@Will_Unwin Hey Will, theres a bit of juxtaposition what Utd should do. Giving Ten Haag total control isn't necessarily in keeping with a long term strategy, which they have been criticized for lacking. What happens if he fails? Is there a middle ground? are middle grounds worse?
— Asha (@Melatomin) April 21, 2022
Football Weekly Extra is here! Admittedly, I doubt there is much Ten Hag chat to be had but Nedum Onuoha is on it, so I am sure it’s worth a listen.
Any, while you’ve all been eating your pot noodles and toasted paninis, I’ve been speaking to former Bayern Munich II striker Kevin Friesenbichler, who played under Ten Hag in Germany. I’ll dot some of his comments through the blog as we go forward, so you can learn a bit more about the Dutchman.
“He is a very good person,” says Friesenbichler. “At the beginning when he came to Bayern Munich, we had some small differences of opinion as player and coach but after a couple of months it was good. We had a very good relationship - he is a very kind man and also very good about football things, like tactics. If he wants to tell you something, if he wants to show you something tactical, he can tell it to everybody to understand perfectly exactly what he wants.”
I am off to Burnley v Southampton later. I assume Burnley will be fuming they didn’t move quicker for Ten Hag now*.
*this is a joke.
Thanks Tom. What a time I had at lunch.
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And with that, I’ll hand you back to Will.
The Ajax chief executive and former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has spoken of the Dutch champions’ gratitude to Ten Hag. “Four and a half years is a good amount of time, but we would have liked to have kept Erik at Ajax for longer,” said Van der Sar. “He is going to make the step to one of the biggest clubs in the world, in a fantastic league,” he said.
“We owe Erik a lot of thanks for what he has achieved with Ajax so far, but we are not done yet. At the end of the season, I will look back more extensively on his departure. For now, what matters is the final games of the season in which we all want to bring home the league title.”
Andy Mitten, editor of the longstanding United We Stand fanzine, has welcomed Ten Hag’s appointment but says it won’t be easy for him and some patience will be needed. “There’s always an element of risk,” he told Sky Sports, ‘He’s the man who most fans wanted, a highly-respected coach who’s done an excellent job at Ajax. But ther’s always a risk – when Mourinho came in in 2016 I wrote that it was as close as you’d get to get a guarantee of success.
“It’s a very difficult job and it’s hard for any human to change a club that’s been struggling as we saw with that horrendous result at Anfield, Also, you’ve got to respect Ajax – they’re a huge club, in contention for titles and you’ve got to be respectful to his circumstances there.
“What’s important is that fans now know, players now know who’s going to be the manager. Now United can give them answers, Ideally he can now plan for next season, get names in, get names out, and it’s better to know now in April than July.”
While praising the process by which Ten Hag was appointed, he added: “I don’t think any fan has affection for the Glazers, they presided over a takeover in 2005 that in my opinion should never have been allowed to happen, behind me you see a stadium that I’ve been writing about for years that needs to be improved. Liverpool should be more of a role model because of their ownership structure. We’ve squandered a lot of money, too many of the players who’ve not worked out, too many have been big names and we’ve been star struck by them, the timing of them coming has been imperfect. Imagine signing Edinson Cavani a decade ago. But fans need to be patient, it’s still gonna be difficult for him. We need to give him support and a fair chance.”
What would be the point of any of this without former Manchester United legends getting in early with their hot takes? Paul Scholes reckons United should sack off any sustained attempt to grab a Champions League place and give ten Hag the time to get the team back on track.
He posted to his followers: “Finish 8th and give this man the time he needs … saddened by what’s happening, unrecognisable football club.”
Hi all, Tom Davies here, standing in while Will avails himself of a spot of lunch.
And amid all the focus and frenzy on Old Trafford, a reminder from Ten Hag’s current club that there’s still a job to do, four points clear at the top of the Eredivisie with five to play:
Ajax 🤝 @ManUtd
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) April 21, 2022
Let’s play our best football in the last games.
Stephen Carr gets in touch: “Afternoon Will. It’s an interesting appointment – points in the Eredivisie are like dog years and the structure at Ajax is top rate and has an absolutely clear identity. United are so far off what’s required in terms of structure at the moment that a good (great?) Coach might not be enough.”
United seem very much to be a “project”.
There are some BIG ISSUES for Ten Hag to sort. Jamie Jackson looks at what needs sorting at Old Trafford.
Rio Ferdinand has told United fans to “fasten the belts and enjoy the ride” after Ten Hag’s appointment was confirmed.
The former United defender wrote on Twitter: “As we expected.. Ten Hag is announced! Welcome to Manchester United. Time to fasten the belts and enjoy the ride!”
Speaking on FIVE’s YouTube channel previously, Ferdinand said: “He has worked with Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich and has the experience of being around big players. I think a huge part of what he has to get right at Manchester United is going to be getting it right with players.
“We’ve seen many managers with more experience and who’ve won more than Ten Hag, and with bigger reputations, that have come in and been chewed up by this football club.”
As we expected.. Ten Hag is announced! Welcome to Manchester United 👏
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) April 21, 2022
Time to fasten the belts and enjoy the ride! #WelcomeErik https://t.co/DXw7drGuS5 https://t.co/OpgyoyEm3j
From the comments section ...
“Good luck,” says MrMister82. “He needs a minimum of three years to turn things around at Man Utd. In addition he needs complete control on football matters with him making the decision on which players come in and which ones leave. Control needs to be taken away from the directors and back to the manager.”
There will be a friendly face in Manchester for Ten Hag, although I am not sure they will be sharing ideas. The Dutchman managed Bayern Munich II while Pep Guardiola was coaching the first team. I am sure Ten Hag learned a few things from the Catalan, which he might be able to use against him in the Premier League.
One man who will be pleased by the appointment is Donny van de Beek. The midfielder worked under Ten Hag with great success at Ajax but has been a marginal figure at Old Trafford, and is now out on loan at Everton where he is battling against relegation. Maybe being reunited with his former boss will kickstart his Premier League career at Manchester United.
A first mention of Pochettino in the blog there. A man who must be wondering if moving to PSG was worth it after all. It has not done much for his reputation, that’s for sure. I suspect if Ten Hag’s United do not start like a house on fire, then there will be no shortage of mentions of the Argentinian.
Yash Gupta emails: “Picked up phone and Ten Hag is announced. His style of play is good but is reliant on good technical players. Unless those players are truly world class, in this league teams will find a way. Biggest drawback which I’ve seen of his teams is due to different pressing structure which is focused more on gaps between opposition defence and midfield, more often than not when a turnover happens you have four or five players ready to run at the defence. Infact if opposition truly take their gloves off they can get something as defensive organisation has always looked weakest part of his management.
“As with any manager appointment role of recruitment is key and most important. Can’t help but feel relieved Poch is not going there who is a better coach and manager.”
Former United defender Jaap Stam says it will be difficult for Ten Hag to replicate his Ajax success at Old Trafford.
The ex-Holland man told Sky Sports: “Hopefully they (United fans) can expect a lot. But there’s a big difference between the Dutch league and the Premier League. Ajax are the top team in Holland and can spend a lot of money bringing in players of certain ability.
“To do the same in the Premier League you need to spend money and bring in players to fit into his philosophy. The quality of teams against you is much higher, and it will be difficult to be as dominant in the Premier League as Ajax was in Holland.
“You are going to need time. Do you get time? That’s always the issue for the coach. People inside the club will say they back you because it is a new project, but as a coach you have to compete for trophies.”
There has been no announcement on any backroom staff. Steve McClaren has been linked with a return to Old Trafford working alongside the man who was his assistant at FC Twente at the start of Ten Hag’s coaching career.
There is no shortage of things that need sorting at Old Trafford.
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Learn about the great Ten Hag with this fine article.
John Murtough, Manchester United’s Football Director, says: “During the past four years at Ajax, Erik has proved himself to be one of the most exciting and successful coaches in Europe, renowned for his team’s attractive, attacking football and commitment to youth.
“In our conversations with Erik leading up to this appointment, we were deeply impressed with his long-term vision for returning Manchester United to the level we want to be competing at, and his drive and determination to achieve that.
“We wish Erik the best of luck as he focuses on achieving a successful end to the season at Ajax and look forward to welcoming him to Manchester United this summer.”
Erik ten Hag said upon being appointed: “It is a great honour to be appointed manager of Manchester United and I am hugely excited by the challenge ahead. I know the history of this great club and the passion of the fans, and I am absolutely determined to develop a team capable of delivering the success they deserve.
“It will be difficult to leave Ajax after these incredible years, and I can assure our fans of my complete commitment and focus on bringing this season to a successful conclusion before I move to Manchester United.”
Erik ten Hag is the new Manchester United manager
The worst-kept secret in football has been confirmed: Erik ten Hag will be the next Manchester United manager. The Ajax head coach has agreed to replace interim manager Ralf Rangnick in the summer.
The Dutchman has signed a three-year deal at Old Trafford and has plenty of work to do with a club who currently sit sixth in the Premier League. Nemanja Matic has already announced his departure, Paul Pogba is out of contract and numerous others could be sold off as part of rebuild.
Ten Hag has earned plaudits for his work at Ajax where he has won two Eredivisie titles and impressed with a young side in the Champions League, playing an exciting brand of football that some hope he can replicated in the Premier League.
We will bring you all the news and reaction from the announcement in the blog.
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