EXCLUSIVE: Erik ten Hag on wanting to sign Kane & more! | Gary Neville interviews Erik ten Hag

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Erik ten Hag sits down with Gary Neville to discuss recruitment, Manchester United’s style of play and the teams inconsistency.

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Eric it’s nearly two years since uh I came in here with uh to interview you last what would you say you’re on track in terms of how you thought it would be and what these two years have been like you mentioned two years ago we were it was a difficult time at the time it was a difficult start yeah um it was sure but then I think we had um a great season and um we played I think very good football very proactive football um we went into two finals we won one final know uh we were third in the league um also in Europe we had some decent results like and we beat Barcelona yeah um so we there we were on that time in the summer right on track as you call it yeah but then of course this season it’s not the way we wanted that it will go it is also clear let let’s go back to the start of this season and obviously it was quite positive Champions League get to two finals win a trophy why has this club struggled in recruitment to get the players that the manager wants for the last 10 years not just with you but for the last 10 years when you first came you wanted Frankie D young and you didn’t get Frankie D young he was your one player you wanted why has this club struggled to get those players in so it’s always difficult to say about 10 years and would be good to to do research but yeah I think uh this club can only have outstanding players that’s that’s true because you are um the expectations are so high uh Manchester United is the biggest or maybe second third biggest club in the world and with Worldwide the most the highest fan base so expectations will always be there everyone has an opinion about Manchester United and it can only be that the uh outstanding players and that is so what are outstanding players yeah players who are has all skill set and that is the physical but especially also the mental skills that they need to perform to contribute because we have to win every game and there’s um that will be always expectation around every game from us so you can only fulfill the expectation when you have those outstanding players but obviously now we as you said in the last decade but also in the period we couldn’t always get the players we wanted but then you have to build and then you have to you you have to accept that you get talent in instead of already the players who are already proved it in the past and we had had some choices uh made with talents like Rasmus Holland and I can I can see a striker who already proved it who we wanted to shine but yeah we couldn’t get him and then we went to Rasmus but where Rasmus is’s a talent you talking about hurri kanane there yeah yeah it’s not but but hurri kanane you know you get 30 goals and I think Rasmus he will get there but he needs time it’s not fair to um to assess him same as hurri Kane because and you I would never um say compare two plays because they are very different but with Rasmus Holland we get I think the Highest Potential on the striker position last summer and we were very happy and we are very happy with him but also you know he need time to adapt and um and we are very pleased that he showed his capacity uh his assets his scoring goals and he has he had had a very good period where he scored many games after each other that he showed before and also after he had some physical issues which is normal for young player uh coming up but yeah of course it has a negative impact on the team result and that is what you have to accept but and then you go back to the fans and then you go back to opinion makers they don’t understand or they don’t want to understand this but they only see and that is also the yeah so how Manchester United um get judged and they only see the result but now we need time so you think I mean obviously if Harry Kane comes to Manchester United it’s 30 goals if rasma hland comes a really talented young player he’s done well in the last few months you think it’s now a case of having just a bit of patience obviously you had injuries this season but you think that it’s on track but you just need to let the young players grow gacho hland Mayu you think you think it’s getting the players back fit and actually getting letting those young players grow it’s more of a process because the club have not brought in the complete article the finished player if you like yeah I think that’s that’s the truth and and then you have to accept that the process is going slower and you can’t then expect that you straight you compete uh for uh for titles in Champions League and in Premier League I I I’m interested because I’ve spoken a lot about the structure at this club over 10 years in terms of sort of like the sporting structure but you you were previously um well you were sporting direct to yourself at thre but you also were at Bayern Munich where you have such a strong sporting Presence at the top of the club at ax you work very closely with Mark overas with Edwin vesar very strong sporting structure can you just explain to me the differences that you found here in the last two years between your experiences at those clubs and this club uh I I have to say I I worked uh very good with um with the leadership in this club and but it’s fair to say it’s important for a club and now of course we have we have a change and I’m optimistic into the future that the changes will be right but I can’t say anything negative about how it was before you think that it was the same level of support in terms of recruitment the football values that were in the club at Manchester United as were at Ajax and Bayern or so we were building and it will not be fair to judge those people about uh the current season and because many things were against us and especially the injuries but uh but that is the way you get judged and you have to take that as as a club but also as leadership as a manager you have to take that because yeah we have to take that respons responsibility how is it at the moment because I mean obviously the new owners have come in and obviously you know Richard Arnold has left the CEO John Mur has left the sporting director last night the CFO and and um Patrick Stewart the interim CEO left I think Darren Fletch has been moved to a different position and Jason Wilcox has coming that must create un I mean uncertainty for you in terms of just the stability of the club you’re the manager obviously of the team and you’re trying to deliver on the pitch how has it been the last few months yeah actually I I had the conditions always to work as from the first moment I came in I felt the trust I felt I felt the backing and from from both leadership teams and so I can’t complain about this um so I don’t uh I don’t go to do that but I know and yeah I feel a little bit uh to to say this and talking every time about the process because we look and we want to perform today we want to bring the levels today and that is everyone in this club and I feel that k everyone wants to uh perform and want to satisfy all the fans and and we know what the demands on we know what the standards are and the standards are trophies and bringing trophies in that is what this club stands for I I want to ask you specifically because when when Jason Wilcox was brought in the media quote was say he’s he’s coming to build a game model that was his job that that was what was described and I I thought to myself is that because they don’t like the current game model or they don’t think there is a game model here and game model is where by the first team plays the same I mean AXS are the very best at this way they have the same principles running right the way through the club what did you make of it when that sort of announcement came I I understand first place there that is um the function is the job of a technical director but in the meantime there is a game model here and what do you think why Alejandro kacho and KOB Mano how they come up and that is because there was one of my my jobs here one of my objectives and my my task are from uh the previous leadership team and to bring that in and that was already going they were already improving Academy and you can see that they won the FA Cup you cup they now again they win a cup and also the teams in the academy and they are also now they become champion and that is a structure and was lay out a couple of years ago and now you yeah you see some revenues from it and the best Revenue you see with coming up um to bring people uh players in the first team like Kobi and like kacho so I mean you’re saying that the game model that’s already here in the club that’s producing young players in the last few years is already a good enough game model to Super Manchester United obviously then you bring in people uh players who are very young and now already are international they are and not playing for the worst Nations England and Argentine and they are so in a quiet good level uh to obviously they are one of the best players in this momentum um in in their nation and for good for world class Nations I would say so they bring in uh the level required but we need more from such players and because football is going very quickly and the developments are going very quickly so you can’t stand still you have to uh to make new improvements all the time so that uh that function technical director uh working on the K model and this is the right choice but there is a base here at Man United and the proof is there as well by bringing young players how have your first Fe meetings been with the inos team and Jason around I played with Jason in 95 996 how have the meetings been with him in terms of discussing the sort of the style and how the club moves forward how is how are those initial meetings gone the initial meetings are good of course with with inos I had several meetings from January on Jason first came in last week and yeah now we have to to take things quickly um oh because the summer is coming and and yeah it’s a very important period of course is coming when you go in another window and yeah of course we want to make the next step into our Squad and also to make uh make plans and to create an environment that is uh that U let’s say avoid um this year’s problems in injuries a lot people You’ have heard this said about um the style of the first team this season what are you happy with the style of play this season forget the results or the the goals or whatever are you happy with the style of play this season sometimes people say what is the style that we’re trying to achieve yeah does that frustrate you that frustation is not the right word okay because I’m a a realistic man yeah and so last year when I came in already you make your adjustment and but it’s about by the end of the day win games and for last year we found a way to make a very say successful team and this year we wanted to uh had to make the next the next the next step and there we brought in uh a keeper who can outplay from the back we brought in uh a dynamic midfielder with Mason mount with all season injured and we brought in an extra goal scorer with Rasmus Holland young and we know we needed the time and then on forehand we were quite confident we uh we made the right the right choices here and we can make a next step and but of course when all the injuries are coming and we had made so many uh changes and uh also on some key positions like in the back four and we we played now 47 games and we had 30 combinations in the back for and that were not combinations or based on choices you made no uh often forc choices because the players were injured we had eight Center house now um yeah you can almost not imagine that but everyone knows who has say a little bit knowledge about football and they will know have a huge impact and then um casiro was for a long period was uh was injured so we had so many issues in the team that you can’t play always the way uh you want to play and that are facts but no one cares about fans don’t care about what the fans will see is a successful team it’s a team what’s winning and what we always try to do and I have to uh make I think compliment to the team they in every game they went for it and they had a spirit and they uh yeah we make the adjustments a little bit in our our way of play because when you don’t have to left footed as in the center back position and on the left side the left footb position yeah you have to make adjustments in the way you want to play when you don’t have that uh staticus in the Midfield position you have to make adjustments and so we did and there you still can see we um yeah we are not there where we want to be not from the way we want to play and but the headlines and they are still there because we want to go proactive and we want to go Dynamic and also we want to play with a high line and that is what we always aim for and there you see also this team not there where we want to be but and we have made some improvements we score much more goals after after the break after the winter break and also we were more consistent uh we are we don’t have so many defeats in 24 and we only three defeats and we we draw too much what we can do very good is to put ourselves in a winning position but then of course you have to draw to bring it over the line but then yeah I go back to my previous point when you have so many changes in the back four yeah the rules and principles they are stay but the patterns are just not there and yeah there we are we don’t bring the results and we know that first place by ourselves all the all the injuries are in two positions mainly left back and and Center back have been the biggest problems uh particularly in the last few months do you know why is there any patterns I mean you’re a detail you’ll know this are there any patterns of why players are picking up the injuries cuz all the left backs have been injured and the center backs so you’ve been decimated completely in the defense do you know why that is is there an explanation for it you you can think of of course we we do research but yeah a lot also has to do with just B look just bad look and and of course um when you are in a season the results are not going in a particular way you will always see you get more and you pick up more injuries than in a season where every go go go right but and and that is how we always have have seen this we are still there in the season and we have four games to go and we have a cup final to play and again we see players are returning and so that that gives us a good mood into those four four next games and also into that cup final I I wanted to ask you about you answered a question maybe last season actually about um you were asked about your team ax were one of the most beautiful teams to watch the the way the way they played football were amazing but you said you couldn’t play that style here and it always interested me that thinking about because when Louis vanal came to Manchester United he played a style that was was I would say very aax Barcelona style why why what why could you not bring that style here why did you feel like you couldn’t play the style in terms of the same style because then um then you have to bring in players so then you need a recruitment in the recruitment you need the players uh with those typical assets and you can’t can’t bring um player say who is here who has a typical style of play and I don’t want to um to change his nature and so Frankie young would have been allowed you more to play this style maybe if he’d been brought in a couple of years ago ah that uh would have been frankco young and casemiro and they would really uh be connected with each other and that would be they will be really complimentary uh with each other uh absolutely but um but that is a typical play if you want to play the a St yeah you need that type of player just in terms of the I wanted to ask you this about so the I think there’s some like 600 shots have gone in on the manester United goal and that is the one thing that when I watch I I think I can comment on with some sort of level of understanding obviously I was a Defender and there’s a couple of things one is the wide players when they’re defending for me I don’t see at times them work hard enough back you know I think when I was a w when I was a fullback I needed my wi players to be come back in and be connected connected to me but also connected in Midfield and then the other one is that sometimes casemiro becomes isolated in Midfield with space either side of him can you just talk to us a little bit about that in terms of the detail because for me when I look at it obviously the back Fort is a problem cuz it doesn’t push up so much cuz it changes a lot Etc but casemiro been isolated and the wide players not connecting back in is that something that you look at and think what they doing or is that something that why is that happening cuz there have been too many shots on the goal just that’s that you know that obviously yes I see I see the stats it’s clear and yeah I already we we talked it about about the many changes in in the back four so uh one thing is so last SE last season with that consistent back four and and we did the same and we had the most clean sheets from the whole premier league and so if everyone is fit and they they can bring it and they can deliver the way we want to defend but it also has to do something with the possession and then go again when you notice the players from the back who are uh and in the pent when you don’t have that left footed players on the left side already you have to make your adjustments but change way of player but change also your possession and when you have have less possession also you will concede more shots obviously so there are some reasons for um why this happens and but uh yeah I don’t think it has anything to do uh with um with the way of Play We want to play and because that proves last season where we had had the most clean sheets in the whole Premier League do you have you thought about changing about going more pragmatic more defensive maybe you know 451 442 playing a little bit lower not not pushing as high you understand because obviously the Y players play high Rasmus plays High you have Bruno and kobby sometimes that will push on to do you think sometimes have you thought about maybe bringing them back because the back four is changing or do you think no I have to carry on playing the same way of course we we thought about this but that’s exactly the point and so one of my objectives one of also what of my task was here to bring in a proactive way of play and the players will return so if you then uh adjust and going in a very defensive style it and it it doesn’t fit it doesn’t fit to the players we already have if you then don’t get the results then U everyone will lose the confidence and when the players are back you have to to return back uh to the proactive and you have lost many time and in the same time you will see in the proactive style we we improved improved our attack and game we scored more goals and we were more consistent let’s say and we are the team in 24 we have only three defeats and there you see we making improvements not enough huh and and uh once again we know that we know what the demands and the standards are and we want to um to get back to wins so we have to make the next step we put ourself in winning position but then we have to bring it over the line so sometimes in games I’m watching you you must be going through like this because sometimes you’re watching you must think they’re playing really well and then all of a sudden they’ll have 20 minutes like this you think what’s happened are you like that on the touch line sometimes thinking what’s just happened I obviously Coventry is probably the the biggest example of that in the last 20 minutes against centry but in other games it’s been like that as why is there such a fluctuation sometimes in games have you how how would you analyze that as a coach is that the immaturity of the team or what what do you think that is but then we return to the same arguments it’s like you need that that consistent back for and you need that consistent team especially in this uh State um of the Season uh to to to bring the consistent performance um in and yeah I see that the positive thing is as you say yeah we can play in high levels so the potential is in this team and now yeah we have to to to get more mature as a team and even when not all the players are on board that we yeah that we bring this consistency and that is what we have to aim for and um also to do with some young players and we we brought young players and there’s always with young players that they um they have to learn how to bring consistent performances but uh same answer um they need the experience and they only get the experience by playing the games and yeah and if they have the potential they will grow they will pick it up and on the long term we will learn and how to do this in the last few weeks I’ve noticed that um in the media normally so you’re quite usually quite guarded you you you sort of you you answer the questions but you come in and you’re in the last two three weeks you’ve been a little bit more proactive a bit more aggressive would you agree with that not aggressive I think aggressive is the wrong word assertive is that is is that approach something that you thought about that you feel like you need to defend your position because obviously the last it’s not about me and they’re just annoying you are we’re annoying you no also but I have to to protect the team yeah against uh which some unfairnesses and well um they only and once again we can accept this we know the standards and we are in the first place we are not happy with this season but also we know still um yeah we can win a cup this season so uh stay positive in that perspective when we have played games to go and we feel that players are returning what are the unfairnesses that you think did you say uh that’s so everything is is just negative and um but as I tried to to say so in um attacking game we improved during the cross of the Season there are some young players are improving a lot and um and yeah that is then unfair to tell that everything is poor and bad and and also so the young players they need time and to get to their best levels and but that they have the potential that is what they what they show in this season so that is the positive and now yeah we need a consistent team and when we have that we are confident we we bring in more wins do you feel like the whole season is comes down to the Cup Final in terms of where you’re at now do you feel like that’s is that how you’re thinking about I know you have a few League games left but obviously you know is is is the whole sort of success of this season for you the Cup Final no we have two opportunities first of all we have to defend our position in the league so that is one Focus Point obviously and then the second of course um yeah we go twice in two year we go into FA Cup final which is um I would say it’s a great opportunity um to win a cup to win a cup again and um and Manchester United didn’t play so often twice in two years in an AF Cup Final and especially not in the last 10 years so um for this group of players that is it’s a great opportunity and we have to take this opportunity do you feel that do you feel like with inos coming in that like everybody’s under scrutiny there was a report this morning in the newspaper and it was quite a strong report so I it was like one that lots of the matter about every player is for sale you’ll have seen that I imagine where where does that come from but how many lines you have seen this is quite sometime but but how many I have seen when I put uh all the lines I think I will I think that I can bring up thousand lines who are all untrue and this is one of them that you have the believe in the players I mean it’s it seemed a strong story in terms of sort of like you know now but when I just tell you that we have uh young talentful players that would be when I now tell you the opposite and that doesn’t doesn’t connect what message do you have for Manchester United fans about where you are personally and where the team are and what what they should think about in the next few weeks but also the next years why should they be confident that something is going to happen that we’re going to get back to being premier league title winners in the next two or three seasons uh first of all uh that they know we are uh disappointed as well and I think they know we are frustrated as well I think everyone here and we are there on the same on in the same boat and but we know also and that also even this season we have shown in games that we can also achieve high levels and that we that we can level the top teams and um when everyone is on board when we have the the squad um available and then we can form a team who strong and who compete with the best teams and if we can make the next steps in the transfer window yeah then we can step up to high levels and we are quite confident where we are in that process and we are quite confident how we will achieve there Eric it’s great to speak to you and all the best for the rest of the season in the final okay good luck