Pep hints at why Ten Hag won't work at Man Utd - but is he right?

FT Desk

2 Apr 2022 11:24 BST
5 min read

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has taken a dig at Manchester United by suggesting that the club’s problems don’t stem from the managers they hire.

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The Old Trafford club have hired and fired four managers since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013 and now have Ralf Rangnick in the role as interim head coach.

However, Man Utd have been heavily linked with a move for Ajax manager Erik ten Hag in recent weeks, with many now reporting that he will become the fifth full-time manager since Ferguson at the club.

However, when asked about the prospect of Ten Hag succeeding at Old Trafford, Guardiola suggested that he isn’t sure whether or not he would recommend the Dutch tactician for the job.

“If I was 100 percent sure I would call Manchester United and tell those guys you have to take him. But I don’t know and nobody knows,” Guardiola said when asked if Ten Hag would be a success in the Premier League.

“He is a good manager, there’s no doubt about it. But so were all the previous managers since Sir Alex Ferguson left.

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“You cannot say David Moyes is not a good football manager and the others like Jose Mourinho or right now. All the managers that have been at United are excellent.”

So is Guardiola correct in suggesting that no single manager can turn things around at the club before other aspects of it are fixed first?

Is Guardiola right about Man Utd?

It’s most likely impossible to really tell what has gone wrong at Man Utd over the course of the last nine years without being inside the club itself, but from the outside it certainly seems as though the managers are not the biggest issue.

Since leaving the clubs, both David Moyes and Jose Mourinho have continued to have success at other clubs which would certainly suggest that they simply lost their touch as managers.

Manchester United is a commercial club and those are difficult choices for a coach.

- Netherlands international manager Louis Van Gaal

And, while Louis Van Gaal wound down his managerial career after his spell at Old Trafford prior to becoming the Netherlands international team head coach last year, the senior tactician did offer some insight into why Man Utd continue to fail in a recent interview.

"Manchester United is a commercial club and those are difficult choices for a coach. It is better to go to a football club,” said Van Gaal when asked about the prospect of Ten Hag joining the Old Trafford side.

“I'm not going to supervise his career and he will call me himself. But he should choose a football club, not a commercial club."

As such, there does seem to be some collective agreement that while Man Utd are very good at making money, they may not be the best place for talented managers to truly shine.