Erik ten Hag seems to be making the big decisions at Manchester United, with Fabrizio Romano confirming to CaughtOffside that the club’s new manager overruled the club’s recruitment team with the decision to sign Lisandro Martinez over Pau Torres.
It seems this bold approach is impressing former Man Utd midfielder Luke Chadwick, who insisted to CaughtOffside that he’s happy to see the new manager showing the strength in his convictions to make the big decisions at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag is clearly picky about the players he works with, and seems to be focusing on those who understand his style of football, with Martinez following him from Ajax, while Christian Eriksen is another former Ajax player, and Tyrell Malacia has come from their Eredivisie rivals Feyenoord.
It remains to be seen if it will definitely work out, but Chadwick is encouraged with what he’s seeing so far, as he believes the best way to make things work for the new manager is to give him the players he wants.
“Regardless of whether he’s worked with him before, I think it’s good that Ten Hag’s got the man that he wanted, rather than who the recruitment team recommended,” the ex-Red Devil told CaughtOffside.
“They’re both very good defenders, but I think it’s so important for the manager to have the final say. It seems like he’s being really strong in pushing for the players he wants.
“The manager needs to have confidence in the players he’s working with, so I think it’s promising that he’s got a very good player that he knows well.”
Chadwick conceded that there’s a bit of a risk of everything being blamed on Ten Hag if things don’t work out, though for now he’s still backing this new strategy.
“Obviously there’s a bit of a risk, but overall I think it’s a sensible way of going about things,” Chadwick said.
“You’d hope this is the first of many transfer windows for Ten Hag, so it’s good that he’s showing real authority, and he’s ready to take responsibility. He knows what these players can do, and what they’re like as human beings as well.”