When Erik ten Hag said, “Eras come to an end”, Manchester United fans were dreaming of enjoying the good times under a manager who was seen as one of Europe’s hottest managerial properties.
Not too long ago, he had guided Ajax to the Champions League semi-finals while the Dutch giants had clinched three league titles and two Dutch Cups under his tutelage.
Ajax’s attractive possession-based style was what drew the Red Devils towards the Dutchman who started in fine fashion, with the club ending their trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup.
The 20-time English league champions finished third in the Premier League, thereby qualifying for the Champions League, while reaching the FA Cup final as well.
EtH’s tenure
With expectations sky-high ahead of the second season, the ex-Ajax boss decided to drop what he was building in favour of a transition-based style to play to the strengths of his players.
While the club did win the FA Cup, they were embarrassed in the Champions League and finished in eighth position in the league.
But INEOS still handed him a new deal and backed him in the window only to sack him a couple of months into the current campaign as results continued to be dire.
Despite the poor ending to his tenure, former coach Benni McCarthy remains a big fan of Ten Hag and he showered praise on the former United boss.
The former South Africa striker even claimed that Ten Hag had planned to be at United for 10 years and had even planned accordingly.
McCarthy full of praise for EtH
“I was given an incredible opportunity to work with one of the biggest and best clubs in the world under the guidance of Erik ten Hag,” McCarthy told BBC Sport Africa.
“I learned utmost professionalism because the manager I worked under was not just a disciplinarian, but he was the best and one of the most unbelievable professionals I’ve ever seen in the game.
“Extremely hard-working, very dedicated, very passionate, he planned on being the Manchester United coach for the next 10 years. That was his vision. Everyone is talking about how bad, how terrible Manchester United is.
“We still managed to win the FA Cup, we still managed to win the Carabao Cup. I was proud that I was part of that regime,” Mccarthy added.
Ten Hag remains without a job even though he gets linked with multiple clubs and his recent interview about his time at Old Trafford drew a lot of eyeballs.
Offers support to Amorim
As for United, Ten Hag’s successor Ruben Amorim has managed to do little to change the team’s form, with the Portuguese blaming the haphazard recruitment as a major reason for the poor results.
Looking in from the outside, the current Kenya national team coach cannot pinpoint one reason for Amorim’s poor start but offered si support to the beleaguered Portuguese.
“Honest to god, I don’t know what the issue is. It is just such a huge football club and the problems just seem to go on and on – and I don’t know how they’re going to resolve it.
“I’ve always been a fan – I love the club. It’s sad, and I just hope that the management, and the especially the coach, can rally the players, because they are very good players.”
Feature image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
