Erik ten Hag has done wonders at Man United in a short period of time and the Dutch coach has the Red Devils competing for trophies again.
United face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Sunday but are still in contention for the other three trophies as well and that comes down to the way he has coached his side.
Ten Hag’s tactics have suited Man United’s players but it is not just that, the former Ajax boss has the respect of the dressing room and they know he is not a pushover, whilst at the same time knowing that their manager is there for them if things go wrong.
The first sign of this was how Ten Hag dealt with the Cristiano Ronaldo problem and the Red Devils’ vice-captain Bruno Fernandes has admitted that he was impressed with how he dealt with situations like this.
Bruno Fernandes is impressed with Erik ten Hag at Man United
“He first arrived and we went on tour and the training sessions we had, he demands: ‘you do it or you’re out.’ You don’t play,” Fernandes said on Rio Ferdinand‘s Between The Lines.
“Everyone was a little bit like in the beginning: ‘will he do that or not? If a big player doesn’t do what he wants will he pull him apart or not?’ And he did that many times, he did it with Cristiano, with Jadon, with Marcus.
“Marcus was probably in the best form against Wolves – he did something wrong and the manager just pulled him out. Everyone was like ‘wow’. In the first moments we were like ‘wow, he is our main man and we need him’.
“I was sat by David [De Gea] and I said ‘this has to be like this because if not, the younger ones will think like ‘if he does nothing to him, the next one he will do nothing to me too.'”
“You do it, or you’re out!” ?
“He did it with Cristiano, he did it with Jadon, he did it with Marcus…”@B_Fernandes8 breaks down what it has been like to work with Erik ten Hag, and what he expects of his players ? #BetweenTheLines | @rioferdy5 | https://t.co/EjQgOwTe18 pic.twitter.com/I46idmWjR1
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 23, 2023