Jaap Stam has urged new boss Erik ten Hag to invest in players who suit his philosophy this summer, but has warned him the club cannot afford a transition season.
On Thursday morning, the Red Devils finally announced the signing of the boss on a three-year deal – with the option for a fourth – and he will officially take over the reins at Old Trafford once the season is over.
The Dutchman is known for playing attractive, front-foot, attacking football and Stam – who has been linked with joining his compatriot’s coaching staff – feels Ten Hag needs to restructure United’s squad to suit his style as quickly as possible.
Speaking to , Stam said of Ten Hag’s task at United: ‘To do the same in the Premier League of course then you need to spend money, you need to bring in players of a certain ability because they need to fit in his philosophy of playing.
‘What he’s been trying to do in Holland, probably he’s going to try to do the same thing in England at Manchester United.
‘Is it easy? No, the quality of teams against you is going to be much higher, it’s going to be more difficult I think to do this, to be as dominant as Ajax were in Holland.
‘You need to take time to do this. Do you get time? That’s always the issue for a coach. As a club, probably the people within the club are saying, “Yeah you’re going to have time and we’re going to back you up.”
‘Because it’s a new project you know how it goes. From the outside, and everybody knows this as well, if you’re working for one of the biggest teams in the world, always every season you need to compete for trophies.
‘You don’t have time to build and have a bad season to then hopefully get the next a very good one.
‘I think every season you need to compete to win the FA Cup, the Premier League and to do well in the Champions League.
‘So you need to find the balance to use the players that you have now, the players that you’re keen on as a new coach, by adding certain players and then hopefully implement these players and implement your playing style to still get results throughout that season.’
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