Erik ten Hag has warned the squad that ‘no concessions’ will be made as he looks to bring success back to Old Trafford.
Known for his vibrant and demanding style of football, Ten Hag has won two Eredivisie titles and two Dutch clubs while in charge of Ajax.
He will move to United at the end of the season after to become Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s permanent replacement and the Premier League club’s fifth manager since Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Red Devils have endured a largely dismal spell since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, failing to keep pace with Premier League rivals Manchester City and Liverpool and going five years without a trophy.
The power of Manchester United’s superstars has also been raised as a problem in recent years, with , and speculation that the players had turned against Solskjaer before his sacking and have .
While Ten Hag is considered one of the most respected coaches in Europe, he will need to impose himself on the Old Trafford squad from the off and has warned his future players that he will make ‘no concessions’ and intends to stick by his principles.
Asked whether he can cope with the superstars at United and ‘the Cristiano Ronaldo’s of this world’, Ten Hag told Dutch outlet : ‘I think I can, but I will stay myself in that.
‘I won’t change my vision on coaching. The players always determine how you play, but I indicate the requirements that come with it and the standards.
‘I will tell them their task and whoever does not meet those tasks will hear that from me, no matter who it is. I make no concessions in that regard.’
Ten Hag’s Manchester United will likely be without Champions League football next season, with the team currently sixth in the Premier League – three points outside of the top-four – with five games remaining.
United’s pursuit of a top-four place will be made that bit harder as fifth-placed Arsenal and fourth-placed Tottenham both have games in hand.
Interim manager Rangnick discussed the club’s appointment of Ten Hag on Friday, saying: ‘We don’t know each other in person, we haven’t met in person yet.
‘But, from what I have seen him doing, both at Bayern Munich when he was the Under-23 coach and at Ajax now, I like his football.
‘I’m pretty positive with a full pre-season, with having the chance to build and mould his own staff, also a new team, which is obvious, we will have a new team, with a full pre-season, I am pretty sure that we will see a different team and improvement on the pitch.
‘I knew that Erik was one of the candidates the board spoke to. And obviously I told them, from what I had seen and known from people who had worked with Erik, that I think he would be a good choice. I still believe that he is a very good choice.’
Manchester United travel to north London to face Mikel Arteta’s Gunners on Saturday afternoon.
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