Erik Ten Hag - his 5 years at Ajax by Stefan Attard
Ten Hag’s career Ten Hag was born in Haaksbergen, Overijssel. He played primarily as a centre-back for Twente, De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and Utrecht. He had three stints with Twente, with whom he won the KNVB Cup in the 2000–01 season. Ten Hag also won the Eerste Divisie with De Graafschap in the 1990–91 season, ten years before winning the cup with Twente. He retired from active playing in 2002 at the age of 32 while playing for Twente, after the end of the 2001–02 Eredivisie season. In 2012, Ten Hag was appointed as manager of Go Ahead Eagles in the Eerste Divisie by Marc Overmars, who was a shareholder of the club. During his only season at Go Ahead Eagles, he led the team to its first promotion in 17 years. He coached Bayern Munich II from 6 June 2013 until 2015 when he was replaced by Heiko Vogel. During his time as manager Ten Hag led his team to the Regionalliga Bayern. Ten Hag then became the sporting director and head coach of Utrecht in summer 2015, where he led the club to fifth place during his first season. In the 2016–17 season, he improved FC Utrecht’s final position to fourth, booking a place in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers. On 21 December 2017, Ten Hag was appointed as the head coach of Ajax after the club dismissed Marcel Keizer. In 2019, he led his Ajax team to the semi-finals of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1997, by winning against holding champions Real Madrid 4–1 in the
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Santiago Bernabéu Stadium at the round of 16 stage before beating Juventus away 1–2 having drawn the first leg 1–1 at home in the quarterfinals. In the first leg of the semi-final, he led his team to take a 1–0 lead against Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However, in the second leg, a second half hat-trick by Lucas Moura for the Spurs, with the last goal being scored in the 96th minute to make it 3–2 (3–3 on aggregate) to win on away goals, ended Ajax’s hopes of playing in the final. Ten Hag won his first managerial trophy with Ajax on 5 May 2019, the 2018–19 KNVB Cup, beating Willem II in the final. Only 10 days after winning the cup, Ajax, led by Ten Hag won the Eredivisie after a 1–4 away victory over De Graafschap and brought the double back to Ajax. On 18 April 2021, Ten Hag guided Ajax to their record extending 20th KNVB Cup with a 2–1 win over Vitesse in the final. Two weeks later, Ten Hag extended his contract with Ajax through to the end of the 2022–23 season. On 16 January 2022, Ten Hag became the fastest manager in league history to reach 100 wins with Ajax, achieving the feat in 128 matches, when his side beat Utrecht 3–0. On 21 April 2022, Ten Hag was appointed as manager of Manchester United starting from end of the 2021–22 season until June 2025, with the option of extending for a further year. On the back of a dismal season, Erik ten Hag faces a monumental task of getting Manchester United back to the top of the footballing pyramid once again. The monumental task of managing one of the biggest clubs in the world was underscored by
the Dutchman leaving his Ajax role earlier to begin his preparations as Manchester United manager for the 2022–23 season. The 52-year-old became Manchester United’s fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Ten Hag secured his third straight Eredivisie title as Ajax boss and United fans will now be hoping he can successfully replicate some of his former side’s best traits at Old Trafford next season. Playing style Season 21-22 was Ten Hag’s third consecutive Eredivisie title and his sixth trophy in three full seasons as Ajax head coach. His success at the Eredivisie champions has been built upon his side excelling in several key performance departments. But what were these key pillars and in what areas could we be about to see United significantly improve in next season? • Ball
dominance Ajax teams throughout modern history have been known for their fluid ‘total football’ tactical systems, and the same has been hugely prevalent under Ten Hag. Dictating the play with short sharp passing and pinning opponents inside their own half has been a key trait of Ajax under the Dutchman, as captured by their possession average of 65 per cent this season. That unsurprisingly ranks as the highest and someway above Feyenoord in second with an average of 57.8. United have rarely been comfortable when trying to dominate the ball and break teams down, yet it’s hoped that Ten Hag’s arrival plus a few upgrades in key positions on the pitch will be enough to change that.
