Is Erik ten Hag a weirdo?
This week, The Athletic reported Erik ten Hag took serious measures after Manchester United’s 4-0 loss against Brentford during the weekend.
One thing he supposedly did was cancel Sunday’s day off and make the entire squad report at Carrington at 9AM to do a running session of 13.8km: the exact difference between Brentford’s total distance covered on Saturday and their own.
As per The Athletic: ‘one sports scientist with experience working at rival Premier League clubs described it as old-school and said it is unusual to put players through so rigorous a workout the morning after a late afternoon fixture.’
This may remind us of Ten Hag’s first year at Ajax, where he made his squad undertake longer and more intensive training sessions than they were used to. Over in Amsterdam, the Ajax players weren’t happy: it was rumoured club captain Dusan Tadic approached Ten Hag for a chat about this, after which it was decided training intensity would be toned down.
Last week, over in the Twitterverse fans showed concerns over Ten Hag’s wishes to sign Marko Arnautovic, a player who was accused of racism earlier in his career. His technical qualities put aside, it was argued the interest in Arnautovic might cast doubts over Ten Hag’s morals, especially when you also take into account his support for disgraced Ajax technical director Marc Overmars (who allegedly sent dickpics to other Ajax employees).
Zooming out, these events might paint a picture of a man who finds it difficult to predict the reactions people will have to his decisions - from backroom staff to players to fans. In other words: a man sometimes out of sync with the general vibe in the workplace.
Ajax fans, a lot of whom needed time to get used to Ten Hag back in 2018, might nod in agreement here. Later it got better, but in his early days in Amsterdam, Ten Hag had a couple of awkward press conferences, and plenty of the jokes he would try to make in post match interviews were cringeworthy to say the least.
Why is this important? Because as a manager, Ten Hag will have to be able to effectively communicate his ideas to other people inside and outside the club. Meanwhile, he has to keep all of the frogs in the wheelbarrow.
(Remember ‘keeping the frogs in the wheelbarrow’? I think Mourinho said it. Or van Gaal. Or Conte. I can’t remember. But what it means is this: the United players are the frogs and the fans. They are going to their destination in a wheelbarrow. Ten Hag is pushing said wheelbarrow.)
At Ajax, Ten Hag’s willingness to give in to the squad’s request worked out: results picked up and the Dutch side went on to achieve some amazing results. At Manchester United, however, Ten Hag might be less inclined to show mercy. With squad discipline seemingly at an all-time low, it might be much more appropriate to stay strict. Those who don’t want to listen will just have to feel, as they say in the Netherlands.
At the same time, however, he will have to make sure his staff keeps listening to him, the players don’t revolt, and the fans don’t get too disappointed. In short, people will need to see Ten Hag as inspirational, and not as a weirdo.
That’s not an easy task for anyone. Let alone for someone facing the pressure of being Manchester United manager.
What do you think? Let me know your thoughts on Ten Hag’s character and decision-making in the comments or via an email to hagball [at] gmail [dot] com.
Think like a Tukker
There he was, heading for the sidelines. One of the best footballers to ever walk this planet. Not as good as Messi, obviously, but probably the guy who came closest. It takes balls of steel to substitute a guy like that.
But what if he didn’t shake Erik’s hand? Or say ‘thanks boss’ or whatever?
Well, maybe that would be good. If Erik would just keep his focus, watching the pitch with a stern look on his face, it would make him come across as steadfast. Like he wasn’t going to let some ageing superstar undermine him, no way José.
The crowd roared, Brentford almost scored another goal.
You know what? Maybe Erik should give that Glazer man the same treatment. Tell him he was the manager of Manchester United, and that he needed to be listened to.
Ask Elko
Send any questions you have for me to hagball [at] gmail [dot] com.
Buenos dias Elko,
Is it ‘ten Hag’ or ‘Ten Hag’?
A: It’s ‘Erik ten Hag’, but ‘Ten Hag’. So: when you use the first name, the ‘ten’ is not capitalised. Without the first name, it is capitalised. I don’t know why but them’s the rules in Dutch grammar.