Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola urges Manchester United to hire ‘incredible’ Erik ten Hag as their next boss
As quoted by the Daily Mail, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has urged city rivals Manchester United to hire Erik ten Hag as their next manager, describing him to be an incredible person and human being.
ten Hag and Guardiola have worked together previously at Bayern Munich, where the former was in charge of the reserve team while the latter was working as the head coach of the first team. At the moment, the Dutchman is managing Ajax Amsterdam, where his performances have caught the eye of United, who seem to be keen on appointing him as their next permanent manager.
The incumbent City manager was full of praise for his former colleague, saying that ten Hag was an incredible person and that his qualities as a manager are proven by how good his Ajax team have been in the last few years, calling them a joy to watch.
“We spoke quite regularly and he is just an incredible person and human being. I was surprised at how humble he was. For his qualities, just take a look at his Ajax team in the last years. It is a joy to watch.”
Ajax are currently chasing a hat-trick of Eredivisie titles under ten Hag, having also reached the Round of 16 in the Champions League this season. The Dutchman also has a couple of cup competitions in his kitty while in charge of the Amsterdam side.
“Guys you have to take him”
It is easy to see why the 52-year-old is a leading favourite to be the next United manager, with his ability to lead his teams to glory an attractive option for a side that has not won a trophy in five years. For a big club like the Red Devils, this damning stat needs to be fixed as soon as possible.
Guardiola said that he would highly recommend ten Hag to Manchester United, assessing his qualities through the teams he was putting out. For a rival to be saying this about a manager is high praise, and this will definitely please United fans.
“In terms of qualities, just look at his teams. To define a manager, watch his team for a long time. This is a team, and this manager makes the players play. There is no doubt about that. If I was 100 per cent sure I would call Manchester United and say ‘guys you have to take him’, but nobody knows.”
Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester seems to have shifted the tide in City’s favour after years of United dominating the city in terms of trophies. The Spaniard has come in and turned the Etihad Stadium side into world-beaters, with the team winning multiple Premier League trophies since the former Barcelona man took charge.
If ten Hag takes charge of the Red Devils, then the Dutchman will come up against his former colleague Guardiola. The two may have spent time together in Germany but will be foes in England as their teams contest for all the glory in the city of Manchester.
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For a manager like Guardiola to praise someone, they will need to be at the top of their game. ten Hag seems to have won his approval, but it is a whole other matter to come to a league where he has no experience in, and succeed.
With elite managers like Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, and Antonio Conte standing in his way to beat United to trophies, ten Hag has his work cut out for him – if he takes up the vacant position at Old Trafford, that is. Hopefully, we see him carry forward his success in Holland and recreate it in England.
