Revealed: Man Utd legend Stam wants return with Ten Hag's coaching team
Karan Tejwani
- 12 Sept 2022 08:55 BST
- 3 min read
Jaap Stam has kept the door open for a return to Manchester United, this time in a coaching capacity, as part of Erik ten Hag’s backroom staff at the club.
The former defender was linked with a return earlier in the summer when Ten Hag was new to the club, but a move never materialized and Stam remains without a club.
Ten Hag has been hiring some experienced names such as Steve McClaren and Benni McCarthy, while Mitchell van der Gaag, who worked with him at Ajax, has also taken up a position.
Now, Stam wants to return as a defensive coach, having been a star defender for the Red Devils during Alex Ferguson’s most successful years at Old Trafford.
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Stam open to Man Utd return
Speaking to Tribal Football, Stam spoke about his admiration for Manchester United, but was never called for a role at the club: “I never spoke to United - no one called me for any reason.
“But that’s how it is in football. When a new coach arrives, he invites his people who he knows and trusts and who can help him in certain ways.
“But like I said before, United is the club I love. I grew there as a person and as a player, they made me stronger, they made me who I am now.
“I have made history with this club and if they need me, if I can help them in any way, I am always at their service,” he concluded.
Stam’s coaching career began with PEC Zwolle immediately after his retirement after he played at Ajax, but that was only in a caretaker capacity.
He then joined Frank de Boer’s staff at Ajax, initially as a defensive coach, also working as a link between the academy and first-team, helping out players such as Matthijs de Ligt grow in the game.
🚨🎙| Jaap Stam on Erik ten Hag: “He’s making a real change at #mufc which is positive to see.”
— centredevils. (@centredevils) September 8, 2022
Stam joined Ajax as part of the revolution at Ajax that saw many former club greats return to Amsterdam in some capacity – Dennis Bergkamp was working alongside him in the first-team.
He then took charge of Jong Ajax – the club’s second team playing in the Eerste Division, the second tier of Dutch football – staying there between 2014 and 2016.
After that, he joined Reading in the Championship, only narrowly missing out on Premier League promotion after losing out in the play-off final to Huddersfield in 2017.
At the end of 2018, he returned to Dutch football and PEC Zwolle, but that stint was short-lived as he moved to PSV a few months later, however, he was unsuccessful there and only lasted four months.
A spell in Major League Soccer with FC Cincinnati followed, but that too was unsuccessful, and he’s now open to working with a backroom staff once again.
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