Manchester United: How manager Erik ten Hag has laid down the law

When Erik ten Hag arrived at Manchester United in May, one of the coaching staff asked the new manager how he would like to be addressed.

Ten Hag thought about the question for a moment. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘You know I’m the boss, and I know I’m the boss, so call me what you want.’ Nearly eight months later, no one at United is in any doubt that Ten Hag is the boss.

The Dutchman has stamped his authority on this team, this club, in a way that has transformed United from a basket case into a true force in English football once again.

He approaches Saturday’s 189th Manchester derby on a run of 11 wins from 12 games, knowing victory would see United move within a point of Manchester City.

That’s easier said than done, of course. Ten Hag suffered a brutal 6-3 defeat at the hands of his former boss Pep Guardiola at the Etihad in October, and City are capable of inflicting similar damage again.

Regardless of the result, however, United will enter mid-season in significantly better health than when Ten Hag took over. The 52-year-old stepped into a toxic dressing room and a club in desperate need of a new direction after nearly 10 years of turmoil.

They have made some big decisions, including benching their captain Harry Maguire, and spent a club record £220m on transfers in just one window.

He imposed a new code of discipline and has improved the players he inherited, fostering a sense of togetherness that had been lost.

Nothing has defined Ten Hag’s tenure better than his handling of the Cristiano Ronaldo saga. The Portugal star wanted to leave even before his new manager walked through the door, and that was a daunting scenario for any manager.

For Ten Hag, it was the ultimate test, but also the perfect opportunity to set a score for the rest of the team.

Winning that battle was a crucial lesson for a group of players used to being pampered by their superstars: no one is above Ten Hag’s law.

“The discipline that the coach brought to everyone has changed the mentality of the whole club, not just the players,” says midfielder Bruno Fernandes.

Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, there was always a sense of double standards that breed discontent. He turned a blind eye to the likes of Ronaldo and Paul Pogba. There can be no exceptions for Ten Hag. No preferential treatment. Discipline is paramount, even if it weakens the team.

When Marcus Rashford fell asleep on the morning of United’s game at Wolves last month and was late for a team meeting, staff were told the in-form striker had been benched as they prepared to leave the hotel for Molineux.

Tellingly though, United won the game and Rashford came on to win it for them, having accepted his punishment.

“It’s the same rules for everyone,” said a source. sports mail on Friday. “Erik tells them why they’re being punished, and he didn’t give Marcus any respite.”

It was made clear from the first day of the club’s summer tour, when the players descended the steps of the Athenee hotel in Bangkok wearing different clothes and shoes.

Ten Hag told them in no uncertain terms that from then on there would be a strict dress code in club business. They were to wear matching gear and shoes, never sliders.

They only had three days off on the 17-day trip, but even then, decisions had to go through the manager. When MUTV planned to film the players on the set of Neighbors in Melbourne, he quickly fell apart.

Alejandro Garnacho was late for two games and as a result did not appear in any of United’s four matches.

When the teenager later walked to the training ground in Carrington looking rather scruffy and with his laces undone, he was told to pull up his socks. Literally. Like Rashford, Garnacho did not get angry and has become one of United’s success stories of the season.

Ten Hag’s no-nonsense approach extends to players being given strict instructions on rest periods and eating arrangements. There are fixed times for meals in the Carrington canteen and on trips away from home, during which the use of mobile phones is prohibited.

They rarely stay at the Lowry Hotel before games at Old Trafford these days. Under José Mourinho, United were late for their own home game against Juventus in 2018, but Ten Hag allows players to show up on the pitch four hours before kick-off.

Their Suite No 7 has been adapted so that the squad can gather for a pre-match meal and team meeting.

The United hierarchy knew exactly what they were getting when they signed Ten Hag. Operations director Collette Roche was faced with a table full of charts and data prepared by the then Ajax boss when they first met before he got the job.

Steve McClaren, who had Ten Hag as his number 2 at FC Twente, remembers meeting him for the first time and being given a full program covering the first six weeks of training, including timing of drinking breaks and team clothing. each coach. .

After becoming a manager in his own right, it is known that Ten Hag wanted the grass to be cut to a certain length and for the players’ water bottles to be placed in a straight line.

When he agreed to join United, Ten Hag insisted that McClaren work alongside him due to his knowledge of the English game, also insisting on overall control of the club’s reserve team.

He asked for a £200,000 upgrade to the team’s meeting room in Carrington, including tiered seating and a new £100,000 TV, which is where United’s players pored over a replay of their calamitous 4-0 defeat to Brentford at beginning of the season.

It is well documented that Ten Hag punished his players by ordering them to complete an eight and a half mile race, but he still earned their respect by completing the challenge himself.

“When a coach applies the punishment, obviously it makes us feel that he knows he was part of that bad result,” says Fernandes.

‘Suddenly you look back and see your manager running with you. He wants to make us understand that we are in this together through the good times and the bad.’

It was an awful start after also losing the home opener to Brighton, but the loss to City is just one of three in 25 games since then as Ten Hag’s methods have paid off.

The manager, who has also brought in former Ajax performance analyst Kevin Keij and Dutch sports psychologist Rainier Koers, remains the dominant figure on the training ground and the players seem to appreciate his hands-on approach.

He instills in them daily the fundamentals of being a professional footballer at one of the biggest clubs in the world, meeting with each player individually almost every week to explain what he expects of them.

“Not even Mourinho was at that level of interaction with the players, to make sure they got the message,” a source said.

Often the team is forced to train on their weaker foot and tap-ins are frowned upon, with everyone told to make sure they hit the back of the net. No slacking off, no half measures.

In fact, experts say Ten Hag has become even more obsessed with discipline the longer he’s been on the job.

That’s not to say he doesn’t have a lighter side. During United’s winter training camp in Spain, he kept up the tradition of new members of staff having to sing in front of the rest of the group at the Montecastillo golf course in Jerez de la Frontera.

Ten Hag didn’t take the mic, but new chef Ryan Thompson was particularly well received with his rendition of Unchained Melody.

Perhaps the highest compliment he could pay Ten Hag is that he has recruited well while improving the team he inherited at Old Trafford.

A resurgent Rashford is the best example, and the England star has certainly benefited from one-on-one sessions with new forwards coach Benni McCarthy. But United are better across the board.

The signings of Casemiro, Lisandro Martínez, Christian Eriksen, Antony and Tyrell Malacia have also had a big impact.

When reporters questioned Martinez’s 5-foot-9 height on tour in Melbourne last summer, Ten Hag chafed when he described the Argentine as “a warrior.” It has been proven that he is right.

United have placed a greater emphasis on player character after it identified a flaw in many of its transfers in recent years. “We needed personalities, the United shirt is heavy,” Ten Hag told Voetbal International last week.

Like Guardiola, he is obsessed with football. He describes working with the City manager at Bayern Munich as “winning the lottery”.

The two men have reunited in Manchester, where Ten Hag has settled in the fashionable suburb of Hale. He has been seen cycling with his wife Bianca, and even appeared on his bike at nearby Altrincham FC when United’s Under-23s played a friendly there in July.

By his own admission, Ten Hag doesn’t talk to Guardiola as much these days. But then again, he’s very much his own man now.