The Dutchman has an iron fist inside a velvet glove – and in just seven months, he has turned the Premier League’s biggest underachievers back into a force to be reckoned with
Erik ten Hag has booted Cristiano Ronaldo out of Manchester United and given Jadon Sancho time out to deal with mental issues.
He’s the manager who responded to a humiliating surrender at Brentford by ordering his players into training the next day – only to join them on an eight-and-a-half-mile punishment run in searing summer temperatures.
The Dutchman has an iron fist inside a velvet glove – and in just seven months, he has turned the Premier League ’s biggest underachievers back into a force to be reckoned with.
For all the debate about talent, tactics and technicians, the 53-year-old Dutchman didn’t take long to realise that the biggest thing missing at Old Trafford was team spirit.
The subject of Ronaldo remains off limits because the Portuguese’s ego no longer casts a shadow in the dressing room.
But as Ten Hag says: “We must all be in this together.
“We win together and we lose together – so I’m in the boat as well, as my coaches are.
“We are together with the dressing room, with the players – we are in there.
“I think we have quality in the dressing room with the players, with the coaching staff, and we have to get results because we get paid for that.
“We have to take that responsibility. Every day, every match, we have to prove that; prove that to the club and to our fans. That is our responsibility.”
Ten Hag’s first Premier League game brought a 2-1 home home defeat by Brighton.
The second was the 4-0 thumping by Brentford that prompted him to summon his players the next day to do the hard yards missing at the Gtech Community Stadium.
United had been outrun by 13.8 kilometres – so they were ordered to do that distance as a penance despite the 30-degree temperatures.
Moan and groans were soon cut short by the sight of the manager joining the slog.
Ten Hag recalled: “If it has to be like that, then we all do it.
“It doesn’t matter what age you are – but be sure I can’t run any more than what the players now bring on the pitch!”
Ronaldo’s failure to bend to the Dutchman’s will saw him left on the bench and then dispensed with completely.
Ten Hag’s ruthless handling of the issue brought him even more kudos in a dressing room that had been drained by the fading star’s self-pity.
When it became clear that Sancho was struggling to cope with the expectation that came with his £73 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund the previous year, the United manager opted for the holistic approach.
Ten Hag saw his team thrashed 4-0 by Brentford in just his second game ( Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Sancho was sent to Holland to be mentored by the Talent Academy Group, a company trusted by Ten Hag to prepare the struggling winger for the demands of elite sport.
Sancho scored his first Premier League goal since September 1 after coming on as a substitute against Leeds on Thursday night as United showed the spirit that their manager has installed by coming back from 2-0 down to salvage a point.
He will again be in the frame when his team face Leeds again today at Elland Road.
Asked if Sancho’s problems had been cured, Ten Hag said: “I can’t answer that question. It’s impossible.
“It’s a personal thing and you don’t know in anyone’s head what is going on – and I think you have to respect that.
“I support every player, I back every player where I can, and I want to ensure that we have a good team spirit and to ensure and encourage and motivate all the players to give their best.
“So I will push them and if they have problems we will help them to sort them out.
“I don’t gamble. If you want to gamble you go to the casino. You can’t do that as a football manager.
“I think always in my approach to the players I set high standards.
“I’m not happy or satisfied with less than the best – and I will every time, every day, demand the highest standards from them.”
