Erik Ten Hag has completely transformed Manchester United within about 10 months of his appointment to the club. The Red Devils have gone from being a fallen giant with a broken squad that had no confidence in its abilities, to a demon that has risen from the depths of hell with a squad that has perhaps been better than any since SAF retired. United have just won their first trophy in 6 years. Old Trafford is a fortress again and there is a belief in and around the club that they are back.
All this being the work of Ten Hag. But how has he done this? The United job is regarded as the toughest in the world of football. To revive this dying institution of the beautiful game after the legendary success that they had and to capture the hearts of half a billion fans around the world, how has he started a process that has already seen results?
Well, it is likely because he is perhaps the perfect amalgamation of modern football and the managers that brought it about. Here are five aspects of Ten Hag’s success that make him the next generational manager: -
Discipline
For Ten Hag, discipline is extremely important and the basis of his entire way of working. He does not work without it. There are many examples of it. The Noa Lang situation at Ajax, delaying Garnacho’s introduction into games because of discipline, dropping Rashford while he was in prime form because he broke rules, etc. But the best example is the whole Cristiano Ronaldo situation. CR& is one of the greatest in the game and a club legend. Yet when he refused to come on as a sub, Ten Hag dropped him from the squad.
But it's not just the way he dishes out punishments for disciplinarian issues, it's also the way he brings you back after that if you accept his methods. It’s very evident. You can see his love for Garnacho, his pride in Rashford, and also how e made Ronaldo the captain of the side for a game just weeks after the incident. Of course, if you persist, he’ll let you go, no matter who you are.
He treats every member of the squad equally, and if the entire squad makes mistakes, he punishes them while carrying out the punishment with them, like how he ran 13 KM with the squad after the Brentford game. It brings the squad together, knowing they are all equals.
These are traits that you will see in elite defensive managers like Conte and Mourinho. They require discipline to work. If they don’t have it, their system usually fails.
Adaptability
Ten Hag has a great sense of adaptability. He came to this league from his Ajax side, who were a perfection of his tactics over the past few years. What he found was a disjointed squad that primarily played counter-attacking football. He tried to implement his possession-based tactics immediately, but when it didn’t work, he immediately switched to the counterattacking style that the squad was used to. Now he’s slowly seeping the traits of a possession-based team into the squad.
He also uses unusual ways to fix any tactical problems he has. Like using Weghorst as a 10 for his aerial ability and ball-keeping skills. Or utilising Luke Shaw as a centre-back to get that left-footed defender when Licha is unavailable. Such things have allowed United to do things they wouldn’t have been able to at this stage of their development, like dominate Camp Nou or maintain their tactics while allowing their best defender to rest.
Sir Alex was a master of adaptability. It is why he lasted for so long, and why Manchester United have so many famous comeback victories. Adaptability is the key to success and longevity.
Man Management
In a recent interview, Melissa Reddy said that Ten Hag knows everything about his players related to their professional life. He knows everyone’s career paths, media duties, injury histories, style of play, preferred position, and everything. He knows his players inside out as footballers, and perhaps even as people, and he utilises it to the maximum.
For example, Bruno is a guy with absolutely no injury problems and loves to play as many games as possible. Thus, Ten Hag always plays him when he’s available, which is almost every game. And he utilises Bruno’s creative skills on the right to feed the other attackers in the latter stages of games, usually to Rashford arriving from the left half-space.
Speaking of Rashford, not only has Ten Hag given him back his previous confidence, he’s made him the most in-form man on the planet, simply by playing to his strengths. It seems at long last someone can extract that potential that we all knew Rashford had since the very beginning of his career.
The Sancho situation was also excellently handled by Ten Hag. Sent him away to help him regain his mental health and work on his abilities, and now slowly he’s utilising him as he sees fit, rather than forcing him back abruptly.
Ancelotti and Zidane were pioneers of it. Given a great set of players, it's always more of a case of man management than tactics, and both these legends were great at it, which is why they've won so many UCLs
Tactical Genius
Of course, to even be appointed as the permanent manager of a club like Manchester United, you need to be amazing with tactics. But it's not just the tactics that Ten Hag teaches on the training grounds, it’s also his in-game changes.
For managers, it is difficult to understand exactly what is going on on the pitch, because they are level with the pitch, unlike the spectators who view it from a higher angle. It’s usually why many spectators don’t understand why certain changes weren’t made when there was an issue that needed fixing.
Managers would love to go up and view, but being closer to the players is more important. Ten Hag has to ability to understand the game from the pitch side. And as such, he makes the necessary changes easily. And he almost always makes the correct changes.
What’s more, Ten Hag tactically builds games for certain situations, wherein he makes changes that win the game for him. In many games, he plays Rashford left initially to wear out the defender and have him expect the winger to always run into the half-space. Then he brings on Garnacho, who moves into the more pure wing positions out wide, giving the defender a completely different problem to solve while he’s tired. It’s won him a lot of games, especially the win against Fulham before the World Cup.
And while he is a possession-based tactician-inspired Total Football, he is certainly not entirely reliant on it, but rather very flexible. He’s not afraid to just ping the ball to the striker, or utilise other methods to win. He is a tactical genius perhaps on par with Guardiola and Klopp.
Understanding
Ten Hag has a great sense of understanding and a need for it too. Over the past ten months, he has slowly understood the history of this club, the pride of its fans, the things that the fans want to see on the pitch and off it too, etc. He usually cycles around town to get a feel for the city and its people. It helps him understand the club’s foundations better, he says.
Having an understanding of this level is important. It’s partly why Solskjaer had success in the first few seasons that he managed. The same is true for Lionel Scaloni and his Argentina squad. They embodied the people of Argentina, and it drove them to the World Cup.
So, as you can see, Ten Hag is a product of the best modern managers. It is why he has had success in such a quick time, and also why the whole of football believes that he is destined to succeed at Man United.
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