If there’s one thing you can say about Erik ten Hag it’s that he’s very straightforward in all of his dealings.
The Dutchman cuts right through all of the fluff and nonsense and always gets straight to the point, no messing. It’s arguably that style of management which has seen him be so successful in his career to date.
He appears to have that unshakeable inner belief that those at the very top of their game possess, and such confidence will always rub off on those around him.
It also allows him to manage upwards as well as down, and ahead of the FA Cup final, ten Hag has fired a broadside at the owners of the club for a lack of investment in the playing squad.
“The club knows if you want to play top four, compete for trophies in this tough league then you have to invest, otherwise you don’t have a chance because other clubs will do,” he was quoted as saying by Newcastle World.
“We’ve seen it in the winter. All the clubs around us made huge investments, we didn’t, but still we made it, so I’m proud of my team.
“We are in the right direction, but we are not there where we have to be. There’s still a long way to go. There’s potential in this team and in individual players.
“We showed during the season we made progress. That’s a compliment to the players and the coaches. We worked really hard, but we have to make an investment.”
He doesn’t appear to be a man who makes throwaway comments, so the Glazer family – given they’re still in place at the time of writing – and both Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim – should be making detailed notes.
It’s been 10 long years since the Red Devils won the Premier League title and, since then, they’ve had to watch as local rivals, Man City, have become the team to beat in the English top-flight.
If the board don’t heed ten Hag’s warning, they could quickly find themselves falling further behind.