62 Tuesday May 24 2022 | the times
SportFootball
Ten Hag sought assurances from the
board that it was not the case before he
accepted their job offer, however.
“I spoke with the directors about [Van
Gaal’s claim],” Ten Hag said. “Football
is [priority] one, two and three at this
club.” But Ten Hag conceded that he
would need to sign a few players to help
him achieve his aim of guiding United
back into the Champions League “as
soon as possible.”
“In certain positions we want to
renew the squad, but one year ago this
squad was second in the league, so there
is potential,” Ten Hag said.Ten Hag was full of praise for Harry
Maguire but stopped short of confirm-
ing that the defender will remain
captain. “Next season is a different
season but he did a great job,” Ten Hag
said of Maguire.
“He’s a great player. He achieved
already a lot. He’s contributed a lot to
Manchester United so I’m looking
forward to working with him.”
When asked what Cristiano Ronaldo
would bring to the team next season,
Ten Hag replied: “Goals” before con-
firming that the Portuguese forward, 37,
remains part of his plans.interview on Sky News, said that Ten
Hag “will do a great job”.
Glazer was also asked about whether
the club would be busy in the transfer
market in the summer. “It is a disap-
pointing season but we are going to
work hard to make next season a better
season. We’ve always spent the money
necessary to buy new players,” he said.
Ten Hag, who spent 4½ years at Ajax,
refuted Louis van Gaal’s claim that
United’s priority is making money
rather than winning trophies.continued from back
Yesterday morning Manchester was
blue. In the centre of the city, and in
many of the towns and villages on the
outskirts, blue confetti and other re-
minders of the boozy title celebrations
from the night before could be found on
the pavement.
At 9.30am, as workmen erected the
stage that would host Manchester
City’s title celebrations later that day, a
few miles down the road, a blacked-out
people carrier arrived at the back
entrance of Old Trafford.
In the back was the man who has
been tasked by United with stopping
City enjoying this kind of celebration
every year. Erik ten Hag, decked out in
the same cream suit he had worn to
United’s match against Crystal Palace
the day before, jumped out of the car,
along with his assistants Steve McClar-
en and Mitchell van der Gaag.
It was the first time that Ten Hag had
visited Old Trafford and he was
impressed. The 52-year-old Dutchman
said he liked the “vibe” that he could
feel inside the grand old stadium.
After posing for pictures on the half-
way line with a United shirt, Ten Hag
bumped into Wes Brown, the former
centre back who is now a pundit for
United’s in-house television channel,
MUTV.
He met staff in the United megastore
and visited the museum and the can-
teen, where he spoke to staff for 20 min-
utes and posed for pictures with them.
Ten Hag was also given a tour of the
home dressing room by John Mur-
tough, the football director, before
heading upstairs to give his first press
conference.
First impressions are important, not
only for the media present, but to fans
around the world who were watching.
Remember, United claim that 1.1 billion
people follow their team. Having so
many people hanging on your every
word must be quite daunting, but Ten
Hag spoke confidently and, even
though his English is not yet perfect, he
understood every question put to him
and answered clearly and concisely.
He was charming too, shaking hands
with reporters. Two things became
immediately apparent about Ten Hag.
First, he is a straight talker. Many of
his answers were short and to the point,
which is good news. The last thing that
United need now is a manager who
minces his words. Ten Hag gets straight
to the point.
When asked what Cristiano Ronaldo
would bring to United next season, Ten
Hag simply replied: “Goals!”
Second, Ten Hag will be a hard task-
master next season. Again, this is no
bad thing. United have just had their
worst season in Premier League
history, so having a
manager who cracks
the whip should be
welcomed.
“ ‘Good’ is not
good enough,” Ten
Hag said. “I have
high expectations
from myself and
that is also what I
demand from my
squad. They have
to cooperate
Straight-talking Ten Hag will
together and they have to give every
day their best.”
This will chime with players who
have worked under Ten Hag before. He
likes his players to be fit, to fully
understand what he wants from them
tactically, and he requires them to be
energetic.
One person who is familiar with Ten
Hag’s methods said recently that the
players would find the first few weeks of
training “nasty”. The good news for the
fans who have been fed a diet of average
football under Ralf Rangnick is that
Ten Hag is determined to bring some
flair back to the team.
Ten Hag has done his research on the
club’s traditions, which are based on
open, attacking football. United have
always been his favourite English club.
“I watched them during the really
successful times when Sir Alex Fergus-
on was manager,” Ten Hag said. “They
won titles and were dominating
Europe, but also before Sir Alex, Man
United was a really big club and I know
names like [Sir Matt] Busby and [Sir
Bobby] Charlton that gave Man United
a presence to the outside world [by]
winning in a spectacular way and
entertaining people.”
This is obviously a bigger task than
his previous job, but if Ten Hag mana-
ges to get United playing in a similar
way to his Ajax team he will put a smile
back on the faces of the supporters who
watched Sunday’s defeat by Crystal
Palace through their fingers.
Whether Ten Hag is successful will
depend largely on the efforts of those
above him such as Murtough, who will
oversee the revamp of the squad.
Because of the constant churn of
managers — all of whom have different
styles of play — United’s squad is a
hotchpotch of players. Ten Hag needs
energetic, young, dynamic players who
can all follow his playing style.
“We have to do total high-pressing —
and play adventurous football,” he said.
United usually like to bring three
players in and let three go every year,
but this will be a summer of upheaval.
Five senior players are leaving on free
transfers and question marks remain
over many others.
Ten Hag needs to sign a pacy, aggres-
sive centre back, a right back, at least
one midfielder, a striker, and possibly a
winger. Given that his budget is
£120 million — plus money raised from
sales — it is fair to say that Murtough
has his work cut out.
There is a temptation of course, for
Ten Hag to raid the Ajax squad that
won him three titles in his 4½ years at
the club. The two centre backs, Jurrien
Timber, 20, and Lisandro Martínez, 24,
are obvious contenders, as is the Brazil
winger, Antony, 22.
Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong, 25, who
played under Ten Hag for Ajax, is a
potential target for the central
midfield role, as is Leeds
United’s Kalvin Phillips.
United have also long held
an interest in De Jong’s
former team-mate
Matthijs de Ligt, the 22-
year-old who now
plays for Juventus.
Ten Hag visited the
club’s training
ground yesterday for
further meetings
and is set to spend a
few days there before fly-
ing off for a holiday. It has
been a hectic few days for
him, but he will be back
in England in less than
five weeks’ time to take
charge of his first training
session. That is when the
real work begins.nextseason,Ten
lied: “Goals!”
Hag will be a hard task-
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Ten Hag may raid
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Paul Pogba
Position: midfielder
Year signed: 2016 (second
spell at club after 2011/12)
United Premier League
appearances: 157
United PL goals/
assists: 29/38Jesse
Lingard
Position: midfielder
Year signed: 2011
United Premier League
appearances: 149
United PL goals/
assists: 20/10Maguire’s future as captain is uncertain