Manchester United players thrive under Ten Hag

From mediocre midfielder to coach in the making

The now 53-year-old Erik Ten Hag started his football career in the 1989/90 season at FC Twente. He played at De Graafschap the following two seasons before returning to Twente – this time for three years. He then moved to RKC, Utrecht and once again to Twente. That's where he ended his career in 2002. Ten Hag mostly played as a central midfielder but could also play as a central defender.

Immediately after ending his football career, Ten Hag became head of training at the club. In the winter of 2006, the Tukker became part of the coaching staff. Not much later, PSV coach Fred Rutten brought him to Eindhoven. The coaching pair stayed there from 2009 to 2012. Their contract was terminated but despite that, Ten Hag found his first job as a head coach: at Go Ahead Eagles in the First Division.

Ten Hag impresses as head coach

Erik ten Hag's first job as head coach was at Go Ahead Eagles in the 2012/13 season. He managed to get The Eagles promoted back to the Eredivisie after 17(!) years. Not much later, he moved to Bayern to become coach of the second team in the rankings of the Bundesliga. Foeke Booy took over his position as coach of The Eagles.

From 2013 to 2015, Ten Hag was coach at Bayern and worked closely with Pep Guardiola. At the time, the Spaniard was head coach of Bayern Munich, the first team in the rankings. After these two 'years of studying', Ten Hag returned as head coach in the Eredivisie. He arrived at the helm of his old club, FC Utrecht. In the first season, he reached the cup final and finished fifth in the Eredivisie. His good performance won him the Rinus Micheles Award; the award for best coach of the season. A year later, FC Utrecht participated in European competition thanks to Ten Hag, but they didn't reach further than the play-offs.

Champions League semi-final with Ajax

In the winter of 2018, Ajax coach Marcel Keizer got sacked. Ajax took their chances to take over the talented trainer Ten Hag from Utrecht. Ten Hag's first game with Ajax was against Feyenoord. He immediately made a great impression, as Ajax won 2-0.

After only one season, Ten Hag reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with Ajax. With attacking and attractive technical play, he put Ajax, Dutch football and himself on the map. They beat great clubs such as Real Madrid and Juventus, and wrote history. Due to his success with Ajax, Ten Hag was recognised by many other European clubs. In 2019, Ajax also won the Dutch national football title and the KNVB Cup. Ten Hag won the Rinus Michels Award for best trainer for the second time in his career.

Ajax continued to play attractive football and perform well under Ten Hag. In fact, Ten Hag broke a record. He now holds the record for highest point average in the first 100 Eredivisie matches of any Ajax trainer (2,43 points per game).

Coach transfer to Man United: instant row with Ronaldo

In spring 2022, it was announced that Ten Hag would become head coach of Manchester United after the summer. The club was in a crisis after finishing sixth in the Premier League a year earlier. Man United had also been underperforming on European level for years. The Red Devils wore out seven trainers in nine years, including top managers José Mourinho and Louis van Gaal.

Consequently, the press wasn’t particularly optimistic about Ten Hag's appointment as coach; what difference could the Dutchman possibly make? The club wasn’t doing well at all and the selection wasn’t great either. To make matters worse, the problems piled up in the first few months. Ten Hag put Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, much to the displeasure of the big star. It got completely out of hand when Ten Hag summoned Ronaldo to warm up in the final minutes of a game against Tottenham. The Portuguese refused, lashed out at Ten Hag in the media and tore up his contact in agreement with the club board.

Fans and media responded differently. Some of them said you should never treat a vedette such as Ronaldo like that; others respected Ten Hag for having the courage to bench Ronaldo.

Fastest 20 wins ever at Manchester United

After the uproar surrounding Ronaldo, Ten Hag was able to build Manchester United to his liking. Martínez and Antony from AFC Ajax, among others, were brought in as reinforcements. As was Casemiro from Real Madrid. Ten Hag lost his first two league matches as Manchester United manager. However, Ten Hag managed to turn things around after that, to everyone's surprise. In fact, Ten Hag became the fastest Man United manager ever to reach 20 wins in 27 matches. A club record that puts him behind the likes of Alex Ferguson and Van Gaal.

Meanwhile, Ten Hag and Man United are in the top three of the Premier League, playing well and 'realistic' football. His players clearly have faith in their coach's vision. Consequently, the sounds from the dressing room are purely positive. The critical English press is also increasingly appreciating the Dutchman. Even the transfer of Wout Weghorst wasn’t disapproved by the public.

Why is Erik ten Hag such a good coach?

Several players and former players have openly praised the practice master from Haaksbergen. For instance, Thierry Henry called him a genius and Casemiro mentioned Ten Hag's intelligence and winner's mentality in an interview. It strongly seems that players swear by him because he gives and omits as much energy as he asks from his players. This was evident after a mediocre performance at the start of his coaching tenure at Manchester United. He joined a punishment running himself, as he blamed himself for the defeat too.

Another Ten Hag 'secret' is his organisational ability and vision. In an extensive interview in The Guardian, ex-Utrecht captain Willem Janssen explains why. He tells the English newspaper that Ten Hag is always clear and realistic. He makes players feel confident. Especially when his vision leads to victories. He also gathers players who fit into the team perfectly. Examples include Labyad and Strieder at Utrecht, Tadić and Blind at Ajax, and Casemiro and Weghorst at Manchester United.

Ten Hag's final secret is his empathy. He always has an eye for the person behind the footballer. For this, he often works with psychologists. For example, when a player is not performing well, his private life is included to look for a possible cause – and hopefully solve it.