Erik Ten Hag Needs To Do These If He Wants To Succeed At Manchester United

As I'm writing this, Erik Ten Hag has managed Ajax for the final time and is set to start working at Man United after he ended his contract with the Dutch club. 

Eric Ten Hag Tactics 

His Ajax team usually plays a possession based 4–2–3–1 or a 4–3–3, where they press in batches of 3 or 4 players. One thing I noticed particularly was that he loves suffocating the opposition's midfield, and so, he always wants his players to be capable of doing that. Think what City and Liverpool do, they put sustained pressure on the opposition until they get the ball back. He puts a lot of importance on his goalkeeper and full backs being good on the ball.(Bad news for De Gea and Wan- Bissaka).

One of the wingers plays right at the sideline, stretching the field as much as possible, the other cuts inside from the other flank, and this keeps changing. He likes press resistant energetic midfielders, who can carry the ball or pick a line breaking pass. That's why there's interest in Frenkie De Jong. Valverde would be so good as well, in my opinion. So anyways, that's it for the technical aspects.

I am really impressed by the way he has handled Ajax's squad given the regular sale of their players. Ajax don't spend a lot of money at all, their record signing is £20 million, but United spend that kind of money on the likes of Dan James, so it's easy to understand that he's been working with quite a few restrictions. Having said that, he's taken premier league rejects like Dusan Tadic, Daley Blind, Sebastian Haller along with players from the academy and bossed around Real Madrid and Juventus away from home. He's also won 4 league titles and 2 cups after a long trophy drought. That's no small feat. He maintains a good control over the dressing room (2nd biggest problem at United) and actively makes tough decisions and takes full responsibility for those decisions. Any manager that comes in now has to be no-nonsense, or this squad will fail yet another good manager.

Eric Ten Hag Tactics 

Will Eric Ten Hag Succeed At Manutd? 

Coming to the question again. Will he succeed? My guess is as good as yours. I do see positive signs which the previous managers didn't get, but it'll certainly take time. I do believe he will succeed eventually.

I think Ten Hag benefits from the fact that some players which includees but not limited to Pogba, Lingard, Matic, Mata, Martial, Grant and probably some more, are leaving the club. He gets to start with a talented squad of players, who have a very serious mentality problem.

Get this right, these players aren't as bad as they make themselves look. I will die on that hill. United aren't as hopeless as they look. A team that was top of the table January last year, and finished the whole season unbeaten away from home doesn't become mid table in a matter of 12 months. It is clearly a mentality problem, these players rely on motivation and down tools when things start to go south. They did it to Van Gaal, they did it to Mourinho, they did it to Solksjaer. They need to fix up or leave before they do it to Ten Hag.

Why Ten Hag Will Succeed At Manutd

For me, Ten Hag's success comes down to this very factor. He needs to be the central authority in the dressing room. He needs to get rid of the unsuitable players immediately- unsuitable on the pitch or off the pitch. Once he has the squad right, I certainly believe Manutd will compete for top trophies again. How long will it take? Ideally it should take 3–4 transfer windows, so 2 years. He should also be winning whichever european competition we qualify for during this period.

But he needs to be very very careful. Manchester United is the most scrutinized institution in the world, and no disrespect to Ajax, but he's walking into an enormous football club. The media won't be friendly, the fans won't be patient, the competition won't be easy, and the owners won't be forgiving. He's taking the most coveted job in football, he needs to be up for it- and I for one hope he is.

So yeah, to sum things up, I think Erik Ten Hag is a very good appointment. I do not doubt his tactical capabilities or his man-management skills at all. If he is brave enough take tough decisions and get the squad on the right track mentally, there is no reason to believe he won't do well. The no-nonsense approach or the lack of it will decide everything.

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