Erik ten Hag predicted Man Utd issue which has left Gary Neville disappointed

14 December 2023 , 10:45

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Erik ten Hag predicted Man Utd issue which has left Gary Neville disappointed

Erik ten Hag hinted as early as his Manchester United unveiling that he would not replicate the attractive, attacking football that brought him so much success at Ajax.

The Dutchman, 53, became one the most sought-after coaches in Europe during his four-year spell in Amsterdam and emerged as the standout candidate to succeed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last summer. However, after a fine maiden campaign last year, Ten Hag has struggled to emulate that success this term.

United have made their worst start to a campaign in decades having lost 12 of their 24 matches and are already out of Europe altogether after finishing bottom of their group in the Champions League. Some of the issues at Old Trafford go beyond results, though.

Under Solskjaer and his predecessor, Jose Mourinho, United adopted a counter-attacking approach rather than the attacking style implemented during the premiership of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. And although many viewed Ten Hag as the perfect man to bring that style back to the club, that hasn't proved to be the case.

In fairness to him, Ten Hag himself stressed that his Manchester United team would look different to the Ajax side that won admirers across the globe, hinting the players would set the tone.

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When he was asked how United would play in his first official press conference, he outlined: "Maybe you have seen Ajax? And I like that. But it is always players who dictate the way of play. I have the ideal, I will line up my best team, and I will line up my players like that to get the best out of them. That they can go to the maximum, that they feel comfortable in the role and in the end it's about getting the success together."

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Gary Neville hit out at Erik ten Hag's style of play earlier this week (Sky Sports)

Despite Ten Hag's frank comments, United icon Gary Neville hit out at the current style of play this week, claiming he could see few differences between Ten Hag's approach and that of Solskjaer and Mourinho. Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast : "I don't see any difference between what Erik ten Hag's doing, what Ole did and Jose Mourinho did in terms of playing in moments and on the counterattack.

"[They were] poor in possession in big games, losing away from home sometimes. I think Mourinho and Ole's away records against big teams were better, but the patterns are there from the way they played.

" Louis van Gaal did implement a Dutch style of play, it was the Ajax style of play, Barcelona play, but it wasn't Man United, and I didn't enjoy that much. But he did instil a style of play straight away and the players, to be fair, they could pass it."

Dan Marsh