‘I played under Erik ten Hag – two mistakes cost him the Manchester United job’
He was let go by United in October.
Former Ajax forward Ryan Babel believes that two key mistakes ultimately cost Erik ten Hag the job at Manchester United.
Ten Hag was ultimately relieved of his duties at Old Trafford in late October after a dramatic defeat to West Ham left United 14th in the Premier League.
The Dutchman enjoyed an impressive first season, winning the Carabao Cup and finishing third in the league but things soon began to unravel.
A shock FA Cup win at the end of last season provided him with a stay of execution after a dismal league campaign, but Ten Hag was eventually sacked three months into his third season after just one win in five league matches.
In the early parts of his tenure, Ten Hag was backed significantly in the transfer market, with United bringing Antony and Lisandro Martinez to the club after the pair excelled under the Dutchman at Ajax.
However, Babel, who played under Ten Hag during a loan spell at Ajax, believes his former boss was let down in subsequent windows when the club were unable to secure his preferred transfer targets.
‘I experienced Ten Hag at Ajax, and he was very clear on his vision and on how he wanted to play,’ Babel told Instant Casino.
‘Over the years I’ve seen managers succeed and managers fail and that’s not because they are bad managers all of a sudden.
‘You have the arguments as to why it didn’t work out for him at United. Did he spend money? Yes, he did, but I also think that he missed out on some of the players that he really, really wanted while he was at Manchester United.
‘There were occasions where he couldn’t get his top targets and he had to divert to plan B, plan C. Maybe the players he was presented with couldn’t execute the type of football he wanted to play.’
The former Liverpool and Fulham also pointed to Ten Hag’s tactical inflexibility as a key reason for his ultimate failure in English football.
Despite enjoying a successful first campaign at the club, his United side eventually became porous in defence, conceding 85 in all competitions in his second season – the most goals conceded in a season in all competitions by a United side since 1978/79.
‘I do know that he is a great coach, he has a great vision, he has a great eye for football but, again, the Premier League is a different ball game to the Dutch way of playing,’ Babel continued.
‘It is not always suitable in the Premier League to play with those principles. In the Premier League, you need to be able to adapt. You need to have a plan B for strategy. I’m not sure if he had that.
‘I think he was too wedded to his plan and tried to make it work even when it was turning against him.
‘That’s what I believe happened. It’s sad of course to see a fellow Dutchman go down like that, but I’m sure he will bounce back.’
Since his sacking, the 54-year-old has kept a low profile but was recently linked with a return to management at German club RB Leipzig should they decide to sack under-fire boss Marco Rose.
And Babel believes that Ten would ultimately relish a chance to prove himself again in the Premier League.
‘He seems like a type who wants to bounce back,’ he said. ‘Whether he gets that chance, I don’t know. But he definitely wants to prove himself.’
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