After Man United’s historical failure last season, accumulating their lowest points haul in the Premier League era, Red Devils fans entered the season bereft of hope.
The departure of interim manager Ralf Rangnick marked the club’s fifth managerial change since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, with United descending from being English football’s dominant force to mid-table mediocrity at best.
The appointment of Ajax manager Erik ten Hag in the summer was met with skepticism by many United fans and club legends.
Especially given the team's humiliating start to the season, with two heavy losses to Brighton and Brentford collated with ongoing ownership turmoil, questions on ten Hag’s ability to manage one of the biggest clubs on the planet heightened.
However, since then, ten Hag has expertly stamped his authority on the football club, spearheading a remarkable turnaround.
United are currently on the best run of form in the top flight, unbeaten in 17 of their last 18 matches and are the only English side still in contention for every piece of silverware.
Hence here on Main Stand with Agastya Bajaj, we will take a closer look at how ten Hag no-nonsense man managed has revitalized Manchester United.
No nonsense management
Erik ten Hag's strict and disciplined no-nonsense management style has given him the leeway to implement his tactical philosophy and create a harmonious environment within the team.
This played a major role in the success he achieved at Ajax, where his teams were not only hailed for their “total football, fluid and attacking playing style” but also the sustained intensity, passion and commitment which outmatched their opponents.
However, when he took over Manchester United, the task of translating those intangible skills seemed insurmountable, especially in his first season.
The club boasted no accountability, structure, and direction prior to the Dutchman’s arrival, making it a formidable challenge for ten Hag to turn things around.
Player power had largely been culpable for the abrupt and untenable departures of ten Hag’s predecessors at Manchester United.
The absence of a structure to hold players accountable for their misconduct and lack of commitment made it implausible for even the likes of Jose Mourinho to establish their authority at the club.
Furthermore, the problem was exacerbated by an overinflated wage structure, with United having seven of the top 10 highest earners in the league and a tendency to sign players based on their commercial profile.
This was evident when previous manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer criticized Marcus Rashford in a press conference for not displaying full focus on his project.
In the following press conference, the manager was briefed to apologize to Marcus in front of the press for these remarks, illustrating how player power has surpassed managerial authority at the club.
In fact, in the first few months of ten Hag’s tenure at the club, he even said, "Because I think Man United is far away from the standards of what we need to be top.
"If you're talking about the spirit, there is one thing that I notice here, when you see the history of Manchester United, they won in the history a lot of titles, a lot of trophies and it was always by team, team spirit and fighting spirit.
"It's the spirit, the team spirit, the team fighting, that was the base and that is in the culture of Manchester United. That is one of the things I wanted to bring back and we are in the right direction."
His no-nonsense style of coaching was immediately introduced after United’s 4-0 defeat to Brentford in Gameweek two.
The Bees destroyed the Red Devils on the pitch and scoreboard, covering 109.4 kilometers to United’s mere 95.6km.
Additionally, Brentford’s players made 21 presses to United’s just seven presses in the final third, while also completing 90 sprints, compared to United's 60 sprints.
To hold the players accountable, ten Hag made his squad run the extra 13.8 kilometers in training, matching Brentford’s distance and laying down a marker.
The Dutchman also joined the squad in running the extra distance, which served to increase harmony and unity between him and the squad, emphasizing his commitment to working as one unit together.
“My football club now”
One of his key ways of establishing his authority on the team was to remove any individuals disrupting the harmony he was fostering within the club, specifically Cristiano Ronaldo.
With Ronaldo’s poor form and lack of tactical suitability to ten Hag’s system, he was dropped to the bench.
During United’s 2-0 victory against Tottenham in October, when ten Hag asked Cristiano to come off the bench, he dismissed the manager’s request and walked out of the stadium.
Given Cristiano Ronaldo's status as the biggest brand in sport, many predicted that his antics would be detrimental to ten Hag's ability to establish authority in the dressing room and confidence in the fans.
However, the Dutch manager proved the critics wrong and suspended Cristiano for their following clash against Chelsea.
Throughout the season, he successfully asserted his authority over the Portuguese superstar on multiple occasions.
Most importantly, following an interview with Piers Morgan in November, where Ronaldo publicly declared that he had no respect for the manager, ten Hag immediately terminated his contract.
Since then, United have won eight out of eight matches and ten Hag’s attacking, fluid and attractive style of play has blossomed.
Winning standards
Even once the harmony has been established, ten Hag continues to lay down the marker.
After the World Cup, Marcus Rashford returned from Qatar as the most in-form player in the league, scoring in five consecutive matches and playing a crucial role in United's build-up.
Before United's Premier League match against Wolves, Rashford overslept and missed the team's pre-match meeting, subsequently prompting ten Hag to drop his star man to the bench.
The decision to bench United's star player before the match against Wolves raised some questions, but it proved a masterstroke by ten Hag.
He brought Rashford off the bench in the second half and scored the winning goal, with the manager and player embracing each other after the match.
Following United’s 1-0 victory against Wolves, Luke Shaw told BT sport: "I think at a top
club it has to be like that, people can’t do whatever they want.
“Maybe that’s been part of the problem in the past with people getting away with silly little things but the manager takes that into consideration.
“You see today, if you’re not keeping the standards high then you won’t play."
With this established, it’s clear to see that Erik ten Hag has not only become a fan favorite but the leader of Manchester United.
Overseeing the youth teams, implementing drone-style footage in training and micromanaging every aspect of the club, ten Hag has commanded authority and laid a blueprint to implement his style of play and achieve success.
Source
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manutd-tenhag-cristiano-ronaldo-transfers-28931601
