For the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United have appointed a highly promising head coach with a point to prove at the pinnacle of the sport. Erik ten Hag was announced by the club on Thursday morning, and he will come up against Jurgen Klopp next season.
Liverpool have benefited from the presence of their boss since 2015. Over that period, five different managers have taken charge of their historic rivals - including interim appointments - and Ten Hag will be the sixth.
Unlike those who came before in Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Michael Carrick and Ralf Rangnick, the current Ajax head coach does appear to be a relatively strong appointment. He has shown to be a capable footballing mind in his homeland.
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He's an advocate of fluid attacking football, and high pressing forms an integral part of his customary defensive approach. So far this season, his Ajax outfit have scored 85 goals in the Dutch Eredivisie, while conceding just 15 at the opposite end.
Ten Hag as worked under Pep Guardiola in the past and although he's unproven in Europe's top five leagues, his team have made waves in the Champions League in recent years having felt short just before the final in 2018/19, after Tottenham Hotspur scored a late winner to knock them out.
It is an intriguing appointment, but one that should not disrupt Liverpool's success, especially in the short term.
Klopp is proof that time is required in order to progress from one level to another. The German was afforded years of support on Merseyside before his team began to showcase true consistency, and Ten Hag will require the same luxury.
Speaking earlier this week, Rangnick stated that United could sign as many as 10 new players this summer. As the Red Devils undergo yet another rebuild, Liverpool will continue to profit from stability and harmony.
Over a longer period of time, considerable doubts should still be attached to United due to the structure of the club behind the scenes. Ten Hag could be the next big thing in the coaching world, but even that wouldn't be enough to overhaul the fortunes of the Old Trafford outfit.
Van Gaal recently described United as a 'commercial club'. Unlike the Reds who have surrounded Klopp with experts across different departments, Ten Hag seems unlikely to benefit from such perks.
The recruitment at Anfield has been flawless since Klopp's appointment, and much of that success has stemmed from the data-driven scouting practices of the club's scouting team.
Liverpool's in-house recruitment applications were built around 10 years ago by Dr. Ian Graham, the club's Head of Research. By contrast, United appointed Dominic Jordan as their Director of Data Science as recently as October 2021.
Overall, although Ten Hag seems to be a modern and progressive coach, his employers have proved to be behind the curve over the past decade and unless that changes, their new boss will be forced to play catch-up.
Ten Hag could help bridge the gap, but the gap is a chasm.
