 INTERNAL POLITICS, DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL ERIK TEN HAG’S METHODS

Internal Politics, Director of Football & Erik Ten Hag’s Methods by Cleo Zarb

On the 12th May of 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson delivered his last speech as Manchester United manager. As he thanked everyone who was involved in this amazing journey, most fans felt that we were facing an end of an era and that tough times were ahead. That squad was still competitive as shown by them winning the league title. However it was evident that most of its stars were now old and that a painful transition period was ahead.

Nearly a decade had passed since then. Manchester City had since become a national league powerhouse. Sure they have won less Champions leagues titles then Steaua București, Hamburg, Feyenoord and PSV but their record at the local pond is unfortunately undeniable. Meanwhile Liverpool had since won the league title for enough times (i.e. once) for their fans and legends to label them the best English Premier League team ever. Regrettably a football juggernaut had gone missing in what is felt as a lost decade. That juggernaut is our beloved club Manchester United.

Every fan has his own theory of what went wrong at Manchester United. Some might blame the Glazers, others the managers, some would blame the fans for not showing enough patience while others are quick to point their finger towards the players. In my opinion the answer is quite complex to answer. one need to understand the genius behind Sir Alex Ferguson. When Sir Alex Ferguson won his first European silverware with Aberdeen, Roma won the league title under Nils Liedholm while Hamburg won the Champions League beating (guess what?) Juventus. Throughout the decades, managers would rise and fall from Sacchi to Capello, from Van Gaal to Wenger right to Lippi. Yet there was one constant in football who kept on winning and that was Sir Alex Ferguson.

That came with a price though as Manchester United became more and more dependent on their genius thus refusing to entertain any changes to a proven formula. Meanwhile the football industry was evolving with new specialists entering the scene such as sporting directors and recruiting directors. These people were able to take key aspects of what was once considered within the football management domain and specialize in them. Such specialization led to efficiency, something United is often criticized upon especially around transfers. When Sir Alex retired we ended up having to push managers in Sir Alex Ferguson’s boots despite them lacking the much needed experience to cover the role in its entirety. No wonder why so many mistakes were made and why every manager we had looked so much out of depth.

Which leads us to the Glazers. There is no doubt that lack of investment on the football infrastructure (Carrington, Old Trafford) coupled by their insistence to stick to a non-football person such as Woodward as CEO have hurt us badly. However its undeniable that during this dark era, United had spent big both in terms of salary and fees while getting little in return. United had tried every option in the book. They shifted from the English Premier League proven option in David Moyes to the European football’s don option in Louis Van Gaal. We opted for a serial winner option in Mourinho and then the former football legend option in Ole. Each manager came with a different style of football which was often already outdated by the time they took the job with us. That led to a huge change in personnel not to forget the hundreds of millions spent in salaries and fees for a team that brought little to no success.

Manchester United had since acknowledged that buying their way out of trouble is not working. Woodward had since resigned but not before he supervised the process of filling key roles at United’s board level. Woodward’s former fixer John Murtough was made Director of Football (DOF) with Darren Fletcher being fast

tracked from U16 coach (October 2020) to first team coach (January 2021) right to technical director (March 2021).

Their reign had since been a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, we had seen a drastic change in strategy with United bringing new people in with fresh ideas such as data analysts, sport scientists and most importantly Erik Ten Hag. On the other hand, we were unable to remove enough deadwood to generate significant money to boost the summer transfer, we had failed to bring the manager’s main targets (De Jong and Timber) and we had overspent on most transfers made.

Which leads us to Erik Ten Hag (ETH). This appointment is a clear departure from the ‘tried and tested’ strategy we had adopted in the past decade or so. In fact, he is more of a gamble to what a young Sir Alex Ferguson was when we got him from Aberdeen. While such comparisons are indeed odious, they will unfortunately keep popping again and again as there is a lot in common between the two managers. In the past, we had managers who went from one extent to another, from insisting on playing players who were clearly off form, right to publicly humiliating them in front of the media. Erik Ten Hag seems to prefer a more sober approach where players play according to merit and where criticism is objective without any added malice. The way ETH has handled the Ronaldo affair is top notch. He wasn’t intimidated by Ronaldo’s legacy which probably shook the Portuguese himself as he was treated just like any other player, playing him when he was fit while putting him on the bench when others were performing better than him. That led to the infamous interview with Piers Morgan, which I strongly believe spells the end of Ronaldo and the club, but also the consolidation of ETH’s authority inside Carrington.

Tactically, Erik Ten Hag’s game combines elements of gegenpressing and tika taka. It’s less ball possession hungry than tika taka is but it feels more organized and less gung-ho than gegenpressing is. Let’s say that I can’t see United delivering asthma inhalers to their players like sweets anytime soon. Such combination between the two methodologies led to an effective and entertaining style of football built around hard work and pace.

Ball possession is important in Erik Ten Hag’s team with players being expected to pass the ball accurately and intelligently to one another. A high line defense is utilized to keep the ball as much as possible in midfield thus pushing opponents in their own half. Wingers under the Dutch gaffer are key to the game as they are expected to have that necessary intelligence and flair to know when to stretch defenses or go inside, thus creating spaces for the full backs to hit in a role which was traditionally done by wingers. That led to an overloading in the opponents’ half with players entering and exiting the penalty area, thus creating the nightmare scenario for any defense.

ETH expects the team to defend in the same way they are expected to defend, i.e. as a team. Just as defenders are expected to go forward and cause havoc, forwards are expected to be able to drop deep, defend and to win ball possession. That require a team of hardworking and intelligent players with ample fuel in their tank who can cover multiple roles in different scenarios.

Some of our players will actually thrive under ETH. Players such as Dalot, Varane, Rashford, Elanga and Garnacho will do very well under ETH and I expected other players to join the fray like for example Zidane Iqbal, Hannibal and McNeill. Unfortunately for many others, the only way is out. Some simply lack the legs to play such a demanding game, while others are more suited to the counter attacking football which was characterized during the Mourinho’s and Ole’s era.

Which leads us back to the start. Do the Glazers have the finances and the will to lead such needed changes within the club? Is our Director of Football experienced and well connected enough to be able to manage a high turnover with a horde of players leaving the club, new players joining in while concurrently making sure that we’re not being taken to the cleaners with every single transfer made? Can Manchester United afford not to pounce at the likes of Michael Edwards whose brilliance had led to Liverpool’s revival especially since he is now a free agent? These are key questions which are, in my opinion, key to United’s return to the levels it belongs to.