eric tenhag has straightened the decadent course of the Manchester United. Not only has it placed it in third place in the Premier League, but it is also in the knockout phase of the europa league, where they will face Barça. “They and we would have preferred to face each other in the final,” suspects the coach of the English team about the imminent duel that will be settled the next two Thursdays and that it is only a matter of one preview to access the round of 16.
As the Dutchman that he is, Ten Hag, 52, defends his country’s football culture at Old Trafford, and whose highest standard is Johan Cruyff. Barça is the main club where touch football cultivated by the school in the Netherlands has taken root. “I think a lot about Johan Cruyff”, he assures in an interview granted in the official UEFA media. A thought that is strengthened in the last days.
“I had two photos on the wall of my office in Amsterdam. A photo of Cruyff as a player and one of Cruyff as a coach,” says Ten Hag. “He brought a lot to football. Football is always about winning, but he wanted to do it a certain way; in an adventurous way, entertaining for the public, because football is for people to watch“, he maintains, defending the ideology of the Dutch legend.
He sees that ideology in Barça. Not so much at United, where he landed last summer and where he is trying to consolidate his position after a bad start with two losses and a confrontation with Cristiano Ronaldo that led to the expulsion of the Portuguese player from the entity.
Admiration for Xavi
Related news
“I admired Xavi as a footballer and the way Barcelona played and now he has brought that philosophy to the team. I really like his way of attacking and I think it is in the right direction”, says Ten Hag, who describes the European qualifying round as a “great challenge” for both of them.
The United manager feels more than a few months ago about the evolution of his team. He intuits that he can succeed in the challenge that will raise the red devils up again. He is close. He is also heading in the right direction to achieve “long-term success” because of the difficulties he will have in reinstating “the winning culture” that has been lost in recent years.