‘Complex but cool’: what Erik ten Hag can bring to Manchester United

, has a reputation as a control freak. He analyses opponents from head to toe, even if he already played against them twice in the season. He sends his players video clips of opponents, provides tips and is in constant conversation with them, even about which newspapers they should read or what time they should be in bed.

The 52-year-old Ten Hag lives for football like a monk, not an ounce of fat on the body, dimples in his cheeks. His wife and children live a two-hour drive from Amsterdam, in the Twente region in the east of the Netherlands where his roots are. Only on days off does he drive home. Along the way, he will telephone friends but the talk rarely strays from the game. “That head is always full of football,” says his childhood friend Leon ten Voorde.

A lack of speed made him work harder, position himself smarter and more aware of the importance of teamwork. Ten Voorde says: “You could back then already see a coach in him, he was always captain. When we watched football at a young age he always knew what should happen. He’s always kept that know-it-all attitude. When we discuss with friends who the most talented tennis player is, everyone says Federer, but you already know that Erik is going to say Nadal.

They are still benefiting from that vision at Utrecht. Ten Hag drastically reformed the club that finished 11th in the Eredivisie the season before his arrival and recorded fifth- and fourth-place finishes under him before he joined Ajax at the end of 2017. That all the signals point to United favouring him will be due not to his image but to his astonishing results with Ajax, especially thein 2019 when Real Madrid and Juventus were beaten in impressive style and only Tottenham blocked Ajax’s path to the final in the last second. In the Eredivisie, he is seeking a second league title in a row and a third in four seasons.

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