Ajax welcomes Man United’s interest in Erik ten Hag

DBasia.news – Manchester United have found a new manager to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in Ralf Rangnick. However, the 63-year-old coach’s contract is only as interim manager until the end of the 2021-2022 season.

Everything can still happen, including United appointing Rangnick as manager after his contract expires, but with a two-year contract as a consultant, there is also a chance for other coaches to come to coach United.

Some of the names in Man United’s targets are Erik ten Hag (Ajax Amsterdam) and Mauricio Pochettino (Paris Saint-Germain). Ten Hag doesn’t have as much experience as Pochettino, plus has never coached in England, but his performance in Holland is well recognized.

The 51-year-old coach has only coached Bayern Munich II outside the Netherlands, the rest are with Go Ahead Eagles, Utrecht and Ajax Amsterdam since 2017. Ten Hag has presented two Eredivisie titles.

One of the things Ten Hag is famous for is his entertaining philosophy of offensive football. The stability of Ajax’s play, despite the loss of their stars such as Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, and Donny van de Beek still played well thanks to Ten Hag.

The issue of United’s interest in Ten Hag was responded to by former United goalkeeper (legend), Edwin van der Sar, who is now a Director at Ajax. Van der Sar is happy because it means that Ajax are on the right path in development in Europe.

“This (the issue of United being interested in Ten Hag) means we are doing something well. It’s the same with the players. When we perform well, interest comes,” said Van der Sar as quoted from Dailymail.

“If there is interest in our players or coaches, we have all been looked at (losing players) in the past. So we have to make sure we are ready by then, that the list is filled.”

Ten Hag did not rule out coaching other top European clubs. He admitted that he was ready to face challenges in Europe’s top leagues.

“I think I’m ready for it (coaching another top European club). I would gladly accept the challenge,” said Ten Hag.

“But I didn’t go after it. If it turns out that the step will never come, I wouldn’t say that my coaching career has failed. But I think I have enough competence to face the challenge,” he explained.