I’ll come back in a week and tell him if I want to leave or stay”. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the door of the office of the Manchester United coach, Erik ten Hag, in the sports city of Carrington, and told him seven days later that he preferred to remain at the club. The episode took place last summer, when the Dutchman took the reins of a lost team, without a title to put in his mouth since 2017. Half a year later, the Portuguese star amassed tickets in Saudi Arabia and Ten Hag accumulates triumphs at Old Trafford . From day one, the coach made it clear to him that he would not have any privileges and that he would play based on his performance. Cristiano did not tolerate his substitutions or being treated as one of the others and he was at ease causing United to decide to remove him and then terminate his contract after reaching an agreement. It was Ronaldo leaving Manchester and refloating the United ship.
Ten Hag’s personality was not only shown in that case. He also sitting out captain Harry Maguire for disappointing performances from him. Strict but also accessible and capable of holding social gatherings with the fans in the supermarket, he has managed to turn the tide of a team that was aiming for another absolute fiasco.
It is once again a respected club, it has climbed positions in the Premier League and on Sunday it will play the League Cup final against Newcastle. Since the Europa League six years ago, with Mourinho at the helm, United’s drought lasts. The red devil parish clings to Ten Hag as a foothold as the club awaits the next millionaire to buy it, be it Qatari or British.
His last title was against Ajax, a club where the Dutchman made a name for himself as a coach. Despite not being trained in the Ajacied cradle, but in Twente, he mixes concepts of Cruyff’s own in his football, whom he met on a television program when he was a 13-year-old boy. “It’s better not to yell at young people”, a nervous and adolescent Ten Hag dared to tell him. The great Johan in turn recommended him to train, train and train to improve.
He came to play in the elite but he was not gifted. He has increased his performance as a strategist and today he has given direction to a United that had been looking for it since Alex Ferguson retired. It has precisely transpired that Ten Hag and the mythical Scottish coach had dinner before the arrival of Barça. “Yeah, we had a good time. I love listening to him and enjoying his knowledge. He always wants to help us, ”the coach conceded at a press conference that was attended by a luxury spectator, his compatriot and former striker Robin van Persie.
Ten Hag expects a meeting with alternatives as in the first leg. “When you play against a team like Barça you have to give the best of yourself. We all want to play these big games, it’s what we dreamed of when we were young. We have a plan and I hope it works for us”, reflected the coach. For the match, Ten Hag recovers Sabitzer and Lisandro Martínez, suspended in the first leg, and also Antony and Maguire. More wood for a fresh team.
However, United look askance at the Blaugrana visit because most of the recent precedents against La Liga teams have left them scalded. But that was a misguided set. This is another United. The one from Ten Hag.