'Guardiola-wannabe' - 5 facts about Erik Ten Hag you did not know

Manchester United have named incumbent Ajax manager as their new manager to take charge of the Premier League club from the end of this current (2021/22) season.

The Old Trafford side confirmed the appointment of Ten Hag through an official press statement on Thursday afternoon, stating that the 52-year-old Dutch manager signed a deal till June 2025 with the option of a one-year extension.

The incoming Manchester United manager has been in charge of Ajax since 2017 but he has never coached in Europe's top five leagues so there has not been so much focus on him. 

Here are five (5) things to know about the new Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag.

Erik Ten Hag: Vocal, Commanding Defender 

Erik Ten Hag had an illustrious 13-year-old senior career playing across different positions in the back-four and central midfield. 

The Haaksbergen-born manager had three prominent spells with FC Twente and other short spells with De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and Utrecht, all in the Netherlands.

The Independent described him thus: "the vocal Ten Hag was an onfield coach from his early days, even if some senior team-mates did not always appreciate orders barked from the back."

This fact might bode well for Manchester United's creaking defence, their 'star' defender Harry Maguire, and a central midfield department that will be in crisis in the summer.

Erik Ten Hag: Trained under Pep Guardiola

The incoming Manchester United manager famously trained under current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for a two-year period. 

In his first-ever job as Head Coach, Ten Hag helped Go Ahead Eagles secure promotion to the Eredivisie in 2012 after just one (1) season in charge.

However, instead of managing in the Dutch top-flight, Ten Hag made the interesting decision to quit and take up a new job as the Second Team (Bayern Munich II) manager at Bayern Munich.

During a two-year stint at Bayern Munich between 2013 and 2015, Ten Hag worked with and learned from Pep Guardiola who was the Bayern Munich manager at the time. 

In 2019, Ten Hag said the following about working with Guardiola: "I learned a lot from Guardiola. His philosophy is sensational, what he did in Barcelona, Bayern, and now with Manchester City, that attacking and attractive style sees him win a lot. It’s this structure that I’ve tried to implement with Ajax.”

Lowest-ever league position - 5th

In his seven-year history of being a top-flight manager, Erik Ten Hag has never finished below fifth (5th) on the league table. 

Ten Hag took up his first top-flight managerial role at Utrecht in 2015. In his two seasons at the club, he finished in fifth and fourth positions respectively.

Since he joined Ajax in 2017, Ten Hag has won the Dutch league on two (2) occasions and finished second on both occasions when he failed to win the league. 

Ajax are currently leading the Eredivisie this season with 72 points, four (4) points more than PSV in the second position with five (5) league matches to go.

Playing Style: Johan Cruyff + Pep Guardiola + Jurgen Klopp

Erik Ten Hag's playing style seems to be a fusion of some of the most successful possession-based, attacking managers in football.

The Dutch manager is a proponent of the 'Total Football' philosophy of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. As can be seen with his Ajax team, every player is comfortable in possession and constantly attacking.

Ten Hag's stint under Pep Guardiola also influenced his strict adherence to positional play. Full-backs bombing forward, utilising a false nine (Dusan Tadic at Ajax), and penetrating wingers are all reminiscent of a Guardiola-style team. 

Lastly, Ten Hag is keen on pressing from the front, an ode to his German influence (having grown up in a German-Netherlands border town) and famously Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp. 

Erik Ten Hag: Broke Louis Van Gaal's Ajax win record

Even before stepping into the Manchester United job, Erik Ten Hag has also got one over former United manager Louis Van Gaal.

Ten Hag needed just 128 games to rack up 100 wins with Ajax to set a new record as the fastest Ajax manager to reach 100 wins.

In doing so, Ten Hag broke Van Gaal's record that stood at 100 wins from 137 games. 

Van Gaal took two seasons before he could win his first and only trophy at Manchester United, the 2016 FA Cup. That is one record Erik Ten Hag will be eager to beat.