Erik ten Hag aims thinly-veiled dig at current United squad in first interview since Old Trafford exit

Stretty News

·26 February 2025

Erik ten Hag aims thinly-veiled dig at current United squad in first interview since Old Trafford exit

Each failed Man Utd season has had different culprits. Unfortunately, the club is now in a cycle of a revolving door at manager.

Naturally, a lot of players have come and gone since Sir Alex Ferguson left. However, a lot of similar faces have withstood the numerous changes of late at the club. More importantly, a lot of similar characteristics are visible on the pitch. This is especially true when comparing currently successful rosters throughout Europe.

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Long story short, it takes strong will and determination to reach high goals. And if someone is lacking in one department, they’ll need to make up for the deficit in another area. Seeing as most have something they need to get better at, coaching usually needs to take place to help bridge the learning gap. However, how individuals choose to go about this can drastically differ. And Erik ten Hag made headlines with his strong stance on the matter.

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There is a certain standard at Old Trafford. It hasn’t been near good enough since SAF’s retirement. Fans may disagree on the extent to which certain men have had varying success since his departure. Regardless, all teams and staff since have fallen well short.

Erik ten Hag had promise. Despite winning trophies in competitions, his Premier League results fell too short of the mark. Man Utd needs to be a legitimate annual contender for the Prem. And this always looked far from the case. However, his latest words give onlookers a chance to better evaluate his tenure.

Speaking on SEG stories, ten Hag shared the following:

“This generation, for example, generally has a hard time dealing with criticism…The generation I grew up in had much thicker skin…If I did that with my players, it would demotivate them.”

And this shows a constant internal struggle that ETH had while in Manchester. This wasn’t necessarily always on display. But wanting to carefully balance possible demotivation and getting important points across the way he has always been used to must have been difficult.

Furthermore, it’s fair to say that this played a role, as it’s enough at the forefront of his mind now. After all, he isn’t too far removed from being in charge at Man Utd.

Truth in ten Hag’s comments

It’s hard to pinpoint where and how exactly everything became catastrophic for the club. A setback after arguably the greatest manager to ever do it was inevitable. But the extent of this downfall nearly has United in a relegation battle.

The mixture of overrated signings and entitled mainstays is contributing to what the Old Trafford faithful can witness now. And even if ten Hag wasn’t the right person for the job at the time, his sentiments today show he may not have been as far off as some will claim now.

Fortunately, Ruben Amorim appears to be someone who doesn’t have an issue with finding this balance. Some are being moved to the bench or excluded altogether, depending on how he sees best. If Man Utd are to actually improve, the Portuguese coach will need to continue to exercise more of the old-school mentality.

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Erik ten Hag aims thinly-veiled dig at current United squad in first interview since Old Trafford exit | OneFootball