“If I change companies, I want to work for a company with a clear philosophy, achievable ambitions and honest people. If I don’t get the right impression, I won’t commit. The last thing I want is to be looking over my shoulder to make sure they’re not shooting me in the back.”
That’s what Erik ten Hag said two and a half years ago, wondering what it would take to tempt him to leave his job at Dutch club Ajax, just months before he was to be named the new manager of Manchester United.
“If there is a good working climate, fertile ground for development, people I trust and with whom I have a good feeling, I would consider this option,” he also said.
Trust is important to Ten Hag. And then United’s end-of-season review progresses to discussing wages with two potential successorsto then conclude that there would ultimately be no change of manager, that confidence had to be reaffirmed.
Is a one-year extension to his current contract, until 2026, enough? Arguably, a brand new deal would have been a greater show of confidence. But even Ten Hag has to admit that at one point it seemed unlikely that he would be in the job at the start of the coming season, let alone extend his contract until the end of the following season.
It’s not as if a contract extension is a guarantee of long-term job security at Old Trafford. Jose Mourinho was fired less than a year after extending his contract in early 2018. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s three-year extension would have expired last week if he had seen it through to the end. He only lasted four more months.
The wisdom of tying Ten Hag to a long-term contract after presiding over United’s lowest finish (eighth) of the Premier League eraespecially just weeks after seriously considering replacing him, will be scrutinised closely if results and performances do not improve. That would call into question not only the sporting judgement of co-owner INEOS, but also his financial acumen.
United spent £24.7m in exceptional fees in 2021-22, the year Solskjaer was sacked and Ralf Rangnick was taken over on an interim basis, having paid £19.6m to get rid of Mourinho three seasons earlier. INEOS are counting every penny in not only the transfer market but also the wider restructuring of the clubbeing forced to make a substantial, unexpected payment would be far from ideal.
Neither Ten Hag nor United can afford to repeat the same thing in 2024-25. Some things are likely to change, even if the name on the manager’s office door hasn’t.
Mitchell van der Gaag, Ten Hag’s chief assistant, could still leave. If he were to leave, United would lose a hard-working, diligent player at Carrington training ground, accustomed to early starts and late finishes, a lieutenant who was often in the building before Ten Hag’s 8am arrivals.
The 52-year-old is also multilingual and has a knack for overcoming language barriers within the dressing room, but his communication style has led the board to question whether the atmosphere around Carrington could be improved. Van der Gaag may want to pursue a career as a manager or head coach. Benni McCarthy is also leaving the staff after his two-year contract expires and he appears keen to return to management, having served as general manager at two clubs in his native South Africa over the past decade.
But in a sign that she still trusts the manager’s judgement, although INEOS initiated the coaching shake-up, the likely additions to the squad have been selected on the recommendation of Ten Hag.
The arrivals of Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United player and head coach of PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands for the 2022-23 season, and René Hake, manager of Dutch Premier League club Go Ahead Eagles for the past two years, remain subject to final agreements and the obtaining of work permits.
Van Nistelrooy is set to return to Old Trafford, where he excelled as a goalscorer (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
This is not the first time Ten Hag has recruited Hake. He had previously persuaded him to join Twente’s academy after befriending him while he was in a similar role at Emmen, another Dutch side. Then, in 2012, Ten Hag narrowly beat Hake to the Go Ahead job, his first senior managerial role. Hake eventually got the job a decade later after managing four other clubs in his homeland, and led Go Ahead to their best league finish in 45 years last season, while also winning the European qualifying play-offs to secure a place in the Conference League.
Van Nistelrooy, who is 11th on United’s all-time goalscorer list with 150 goals between 2001 and 2006, has slowly but surely earned his stripes as a manager since ending his playing career more than a decade ago.
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His first and only season as head coach ended with PSV winning the KNVB Cup (the Dutch equivalent of the English Cup), finishing second in the Eredivisie and Van Nistelrooy leaving the club in a somewhat tense atmosphere, with tensions being raised with his assistants Fred Rutten and Andre Ooijer. PSV’s statement confirming the departure expressed “regrets”, but explained that, in the opinion of his head coach, “there was too little support within the club to continue any longer”.
Rutten was one of the first managers under Ten Hag at the start of his coaching career and refused to join the United team when his former assistant arrived from Ajax two years ago. If there were any differences between Van Nistelrooy and Ten Hag’s former mentor, they do not appear to have deterred the United manager from the appointment.
The fact that Ten Hag was able to choose his assistants rather than be forced to make new hires is a sign that INEOS are prepared to put their trust in him. He will also remain manager in name, rather than taking the title of head coach.
Hake (left), who is expected to join as Ten Hag’s assistant, with Arne Slot, now Liverpool head coach (Rene Nijhuis/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Another major point of contention that sparked the contract negotiations was Ten Hag’s influence over transfer policy, particularly the veto in his initial contract. That remains the case, as does the scouting department.
But Manchester United’s transfer business should now be more balanced. If Ten Hag has had more influence over the comings and goings than expected in the two years since his appointment, it has largely been out of necessity, filling gaps that do not usually exist in a well-functioning football structure.
If his influence is diminished from now on, it should only be because there are now other people above him in the organization who have both the courage and authority to say no to a manager and the ability to present him with viable alternatives to the goals he suggests. In the past at United this was not always the case..
There are plenty of issues to be resolved this summer, some ideally before the players return to training on Monday (July 8), with Mason Greenwoodthe future of and the Jadon Sancho The issue is not yet resolved. There have been no significant movements in the transfer market either, a month after the official opening of the transfer window.
At least with Ten Hag’s future settled and Dan Ashworth now installed as sporting director, the structure is finally in place.
Giving Ten Hag the opportunity to prove himself within this rebuilt and reformed hierarchy was a key part of INEOS’ reasoning for ultimately deciding to stay and not deform.
After compromises on both sides, this extension offers the club and the coach a platform to trust each other and build together. But it is the results, above all, that will ultimately determine how long this new sense of mutual trust lasts and whether or not Ten Hag feels the need to look back.
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(Top photo: Justin Tallis/AFP)
