Erik ten Hag has kept his counsel on Manchester United for two years since his sacking in October 2024, but the affection he built up for the club while winning two trophies still shines through when he speaks.
"I enjoyed every minute in Manchester United; I have such wonderful memories," says the former United manager. "It feels like I'm connected; I'm a fan. It's an amazing fanbase; they were always respectful to me.
"I really want United to win. I want them to be successful again. I want the club to be back where it once was."
That target feels a way off, with the mood around United turbulent once again. Ten Hag knows what it is like to be in the eye of the storm at the world's most talked-about club.
"The leadership, you need their competence, you need the right strategy," he says. "What is your identity? What are the work methods? You need the right structures and quality people. Then you need time."
That leads Ten Hag to talk about the man currently in the hot seat, Michael Carrick. "It is not the solution to dismiss him. 100 per cent not," he says. "Fans will demand this if results don't improve - it is coming out from the stomach, from the emotion. You have to make rational decisions. He showed good coaching abilities at Middlesbrough and last season. So let him do his process. I think he has a good staff."
The Athletic spent two evenings with Ten Hag in his hometown of Enschede, in the east of the Netherlands, to peel back the curtain on his two-and-a-half years managing United and to find out what his life is like now as technical director of FC Twente, his boyhood team.
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In part one, Ten Hag gives fresh, fascinating insight into subjects including:
- The broken "promises" that led to his sacking
- Why he had to act on Cristiano Ronaldo, a player who "let the team down"
- His desire to sign Harry Kane and Declan Rice, and pursuits of Brian Brobbey and Danny Welbeck
- The "toxic culture" and what it was like managing players such as Marcus Rashford, Casemiro and Raphael Varane
Part two on Wednesday will address Ten Hag's offer to help United's data department, bringing through Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, and why Sevilla was the turning point in his reign. You can also hear from Ten Hag on a special edition of our Talk of The Devils podcast later on Tuesday.
Ten Hag had looked set to lose his job on the eve of the 2024 FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley, as United's conversations with prospective successors, such as Thomas Tuchel and Roberto De Zerbi, had become public. But a 2-1 victory against Pep Guardiola's champions prompted a U-turn from the club's hierarchy. Ten Hag, after all, had claimed two trophies in two campaigns, following the League Cup 15 months earlier.
Two weeks later, the clause in his contract for an additional year was triggered after crunch talks during his holiday in Ibiza.
"I wouldn't go on with only one year left," says Ten Hag. "So I said, 'I need an extra year and we have to do it together'. They promised me loyalty, they promised me backing, they promised communication, that we get aligned. We spoke about the issues. But the promises, they didn't keep."
One of those 'promises', according to Ten Hag, was keeping Scott McTominay, who had scored 10 goals that campaign but ended up leaving United for Napoli later that summer for €30.5million (then £25.7m; $33.7m) as the club raised funds to buy Manuel Ugarte.
"That's why I got disappointed," Ten Hag adds. "In Ibiza, we agreed. I said, 'No selling Scott McTominay'. We would go aligned in the transfer window. I make an argument, a reason: we don't have scoring abilities. Scott brings scoring abilities and great mentality. He has United in all his veins. So when they bring up the subject, 'No'. And in the end they sold him. I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed."
Ten Hag did get Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, two former Ajax players, but they had only two months together. United were 14th in the Premier League on 11 points from nine games when Ten Hag was dismissed on October 28, 2024, the day after his side lost 2-1 to West Ham United.
"I think it was quite weird to separate ways in that moment," he says, pointing out United were still in all the cup competitions. "All the data was showing we are good. OK, two poor games to Liverpool and Spurs (both 3-0 home defeats). We were starting the process. Let it progress; the gameplay is getting better."
Ten Hag feels he still had the dressing room onside. "Maybe they can say differently, but I see on the pitch, and every game they fought. Also, my last game, that was probably one of our best games, we should have won against West Ham. But I'm sure the process was already ongoing; there were already people - maybe even in the team - who knew what would happen the day after."
Three days before his sacking, Ten Hag detected something was amiss following United's 1-1 draw at Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce in the Europa League - a competition he was convinced his team could win. United, led by Ruben Amorim, ended up losing the final that season 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in Bilbao.
"I can read situations; I see when people are not in Istanbul, all of a sudden something is going on," says Ten Hag. "But still, after that summer, where you get apologies for their behaviour, and that we would go to build, it's surprising.
"We targeted the Europa League. And I think when you choose a manager, and he proves the last two seasons, winning trophies, getting into finals, then I don't think it's good club management to change… I did watch the final, but everything was changed."
'Takeover process brought noise, uncertainty and disruptions'
Strength of mind is fundamental to Ten Hag. His bullishness invites the question of whether a manager at a club the scale of United needs an ego to avoid getting eaten up. "I don't have that ego, but I have the confidence," Ten Hag replies. "It's not about me; it is about the club. I can accept that new leadership is coming in and they want to appoint their own people, but just tell me."
Sir Jim Ratcliffe's investment in United was announced on December 24, 2023, bringing in Sir Dave Brailsford as a director. Omar Berrada was named as chief executive in January 2024, although he officially began the role in the July. Dan Ashworth had a period of gardening leave until that same month, so was not in Ibiza, before assuming his position as sporting director. Christopher Vivell also joined in July, initially as interim director of recruitment. Jason Wilcox was in the building from April, when he started work as technical director.
"The takeover process brought a lot of noise, uncertainty with the people, and disruptions," says Ten Hag. "So that was for the manager, for the coach, it was difficult to work, that's clear. It was very complicated."
Ten Hag had been interviewed by Ratcliffe and his brother, Bob, during Nice's hunt for a new head coach in 2021 and says he had a "good feeling" when their petrochemicals firm, INEOS, bought into United.
"But after the first meeting (at Carrington), he started talking about the structure in the football club, how the manager should be head coach," adds Ten Hag. "I said, 'OK, let's discuss, but my contract is different'. I never heard anything.
"Then every press conference (at United), they ask me if the structure should be changed. I always want to cooperate in a club - you can't do this on your own. You need to find a strategy about philosophy, game model, about team profile, individual profiles. That is what I was used to, but with them there was no communication."
It was a sign of things to come. As the stories swirled around United interviewing for his replacement in the build-up to facing Manchester City in the 2024 FA Cup final, Ten Hag was left in the dark. "There was a lot of speculation in the last two months," he says. "Every week articles came out about it. I can deal very well with it, but obviously we had our problems."
Ten Hag explains why he declined to go looking for answers. "I was thinking I'm the best manager for United, so it doesn't make sense to dive in," he says. "I was just focusing on my team. We had one chance to win a trophy, the FA Cup, and that's immense. So that's what we did.
"The celebrations on the pitch (at Wembley), let's say they were the best moment in my Manchester life."
Ten Hag did make his feelings known on some matters, however, and felt he was not supported in sanctions on several matters of player discipline, including with Jadon Sancho, Rashford and others.
"And so, they are continuing the toxic culture; they fuel it, they give the power to the players," he says. "Rashford is an amazing player, if his mindset is right. I always showed my trust in him, played him. But when you show these standards, sometimes you have to make corrections." United feel behaviours in the squad did improve, with Amorim supported by the hierarchy in moving players on. Rashford, who has been undergoing regular treatment to play through a hip injury in the early weeks of the season, enjoyed productive loans at Aston Villa and Barcelona following Ten Hag's departure and Carrick spoke in pre-season of the England international being "in great spirits".
Ten Hag felt he had to play bad cop to players to enforce the rules, yet at the same time he had to pick players he thought would win matches. It was a similar situation with Cristiano Ronaldo, a player Ten Hag inherited, the Portuguese having returned to Old Trafford for a second spell at the club in August 2021.
"He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him," says Ten Hag. "I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United. Obviously, he's one of the best in football history. I respected him a lot. But at that time, as a manager, I had to make a rational decision and keep the players I admire in."
According to Ten Hag, Ronaldo pulled out of training sessions, did not get his heart rate raised to the required level when he did train, and only completed two of the three scheduled laps of the infamous run Ten Hag made his players do after they lost 4-0 at Brentford in August 2022.
"I confronted him with this," says Ten Hag. "Many times I say, 'Ronnie, everyone wants to work for you to bring you in the right position, but if you can't bring yourself in the box, you can't score'. He was not capable to do this. It's the wrong idea to put this to me that I expected him to do the pressing, that he's exhausted. But he couldn't. He ran neither in possession nor out of possession. The reason was because he didn't prepare himself.
"Every top team has to embrace the top player, but the top player has to work for the team.
"He was telling the players, 'Save your legs at the training'. I understand it when you are top fit; you have sessions, you can save the legs. But first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels."
The Athletic put Ten Hag's comments to Ronaldo's representative but had not received a reply at the time of publication.
Ronaldo's influence rubbed off on certain team-mates, Ten Hag believes. "Players have to act, they have a big responsibility. Football is, for some, not the highest priority. And United for some wasn't the highest priority."
Player power is back in vogue at United following Lisandro Martinez's extraordinary comments after the 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid last week. Martinez was disciplined internally for his comments, through a fine, and then made available for selection immediately.
Ten Hag declines to comment on the specifics of Martinez, but adds: "I can say I think that's what the Madrid connection brought in, that players are powerful and they want to decide. In my opinion it didn't suit the phase United was in. The leadership wanted attacking, dynamic football and these players wanted to play what fitted themselves."
By the "Madrid connection", Ten Hag means Casemiro, Varane, and Ronaldo, who won 14 Champions Leagues between them at Real Madrid under Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti.
Casemiro came to United as the midfield strategist with "quarterback qualities", says Ten Hag. "Then of course it looked like he got demotivated. I don't know what they told him." The Athletic has previously reported Casemiro felt United would sign players to challenge for the title in summer 2023, having finished third in Ten Hag's first season.
Ten Hag tended to lean into the disciplinarian side of his character to try to bring order to a dysfunctional dressing room. Fred, the Brazilian midfielder, recently said Ten Hag was a great tactician but a poor man-manager. Ten Hag was sent a link to the interview.
"I'm not mad at Fred," he says, smiling. "You fight with your players when they are showing inefficient and unprepared standards. But it's always with respect. You want to push them, you want to get the best out of them."
'I fought for Kane'
Ten Hag was hired by former chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough based on the football of his Ajax team, who reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2019, beating Real Madrid 4-1 in the Bernabeu and Juventus 2-1 in Turin on the way.
"So our identity should be dynamic, attacking football, counter-press, and that is what Richard and John demanded me to do," he says. "Play possession in the opponent's half. Of course they want to win. Old Trafford is the Theatre of Dreams. They want adventure football. You then need the profiles.
"For me, you need the ball-playing centre-back and you need a ball-winning centre-half also able to play on a high line.
"I said for the first season, 'Centre-half, there's a problem, centre-midfield, there is a problem, and especially I need a strategist. Then we need goals'. And that was the biggest issue in all my three years: goals."
Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong was his first choice for midfield. United were in negotiations for several weeks, but the player declined to join.
"Everyone's thinking the manager is doing the negotiations, that I'm involved in financial issues, but I was never," says Ten Hag. "Of course, I did my best; I set up meetings with him, where it was Richard and John involved as well, to pursue him to come over. He could have been very important building the team, not only that year but for the future. But we didn't make it."
Ten Hag pressed for England midfielder Declan Rice instead. "The issue was that West Ham didn't want to let him go. I think we could have done more to test. We were on one page, they tried, but I don't know how the process went. The point is, at United you need outstanding players."
Rice, then 24, ended up moving to Arsenal in the summer of 2023 for a package worth £105m. He was instrumental in Mikel Arteta's side winning the Premier League for the first time in 22 years last season, often wearing the captain's armband, and has made the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or.
During that same window three years ago, Ten Hag had one name on his lips at centre-forward. "I said to them, 'I want only one player - and you know who'." He means Harry Kane, then aged 30. "I fought for it. I heard that he was very positive, but I never spoke with him about the issue. I don't know how the decision process went with John, Richard, the Glazers."
Ten Hag was told no. "They came to the conclusion. I don't have the insights in the financials."
Instead, Kane moved from Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern Munich in a €110m deal. The England captain has since scored 157 goals in 155 games for Bayern, twice lifting the Bundesliga, and is also nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or.
Ten Hag adds: "I think a club like United, you need these profiles to be successful. Personality, and they are mature, and they're accountable. We signed five, six players, young, high potentials. But they are not the finished product. They need guidance from good professionals, like Kane, Rice, and Bruno (Fernandes)."
Another who could have provided guidance the following year was Danny Welbeck, then 33 and at Brighton & Hove Albion. "For sure, we were in contact," says Ten Hag. "Not me, often Darren (Fletcher, then United technical director). And he was very interested."
The changing personnel of United's executive group meant the club never committed to a formal offer for Welbeck at that time.
Then there was Brian Brobbey, a former Ajax player Ten Hag wanted to support Ronaldo as a second striker in the summer of 2022.
"At first, not everyone was aligned," says Ten Hag. "Then we convinced him, but then we were late, and already he was in a different process."
Sunderland bought him in 2025 and he has scored 10 Premier League goals in 36 games.
Ten Hag's job now is to make sure FC Twente's squad is constructed using the right recruitment and all players are pulling in the same direction. It is not the scale of United, but Ten Hag still feels pressure to succeed.
"In the region it's very, very big," he says of the scrutiny he is under. "And this is a big club for the Netherlands. Not global, very clear, but there's always pressure as well. People are quite critical here. So, things have to work."
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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