Erik Ten Hag picked up the managerial role at Manchester United following the departure of Ralf Rangnick from the club. The Dutch coach has since expressed his desire to work the club back into their days of glory. He has shown signs of his willingness to deliver with a brilliant start to the pre-season tour.
His dreams however, are already proving to be hard to live. Even before the start of season, Ten Hag is not as happy as he could be with the club. This is not just due to the fact he is short and sharp with the players. There have been incidences where players either absent themselves from training or leave stadiums before they should after a match. They simply are not giving their best to the coach yet.
Ten Hag also feels that Man Utd could have brought in more of his targets by now. He believes that the club could have lured Frenkie De Jong to the club. There has also been a division in the club’s board recently after he mentioned Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech as a target.
Manchester United have shown their hunger to redeem their past glory in their pre-season matches. This doesn’t cross out the fact that they have less quality in their club than they did last season.
We have seen in previous times where coaches of the Red Devils are unable to show their maximum impact in the club due to inadequate cooperation from the board. Ten Hag may have the feeling that the same occurrence will replay at the Old Trafford.
It is still very early and the Dutch manager will be looking to adapt to his available resources and bring out the best of them. The first test of his project will be in the Premier League opener against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.