Erik ten Hag is morphing into Jose Mourinho at Man Utd

Tom Weber

Updated: 24 Apr 2024 20:25 BST
5 min read

Jose Mourinho, Erik ten Hag, Man Utd — © IMAGO

The pressure is getting to Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.

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The Dutchman has been questioned all season but the scrutiny has reached fever pitch after Man Utd's embarrassing collapse against Coventry City in the FA Cup semifinal. From 3-0 down, the Championship side pegged the Red Devils back to 3-3 and were an unpopular VAR decision away from winning in extra time before ultimately being beaten on penalties.

The nature of Man Utd losing control of the game - a common theme throughout this season - and the fact that they needed penalties to beat a second-tier outfit led to an avalanche of speculation on Ten Hag's future. It has been claimed that the Dutchman is now essentially on trial for the next month, with new technical director Jason Wilcox carrying out an audit of his work before deciding on his future.

It seems the pressure of all the noise surrounding him is starting to get to Ten Hag. In his press conferences since the Coventry game, the 54-year-old has been overly prickly and very quick to mention his achievements as a coach when criticised.

'I always bring out the maximum of each squad'

Indeed, ahead of Man Utd's Premier League game with Sheffield United, Ten Hag came out with two quotes that were reminiscent of a certain Jose Mourinho in less than 24 hours.

Questioned about Coventry on Tuesday, Ten Hag called the media reaction to the result "embarrassing" and "a disgrace" before highlighting that he has now reached four cup finals in four years as manager of Man Utd and Ajax. “Football is about results,” he said.

“We made it to the final and deserved it. We lost control for 20 minutes and were very lucky in the end but we made it to the final. That is a huge achievement. The reaction from you [the media] was embarrassing. Twice [two FA Cup finals] in two years, it is magnificent. For me as manager, four cup finals in four years. The comments are a disgrace.”

On Wednesday, Ten Hag again commented on the FA Cup, insisting that winning it against Man City would be an "over-achievement." He claimed: “I would say it’s over, over-performing with all the problems we have had."

"Getting into the final is already a big achievement, but we are here for trophies. We have an opportunity to win one and that is good. But we are not satisfied by being in the final, we want to win it. That is our mentality. That is why we are successful. That’s why I am successful over 10 years as a manager, I always bring out the maximum of each squad."

Ten Hag becoming Mourinho-esque

One can't help but notice the increasing similarities to Jose Mourinho, who has always been similarly defensive - or brash - about his own accolades. The Portuguese, of course, once famously asserted that finishing second with Man Utd was "one of the best jobs of my career."

Admittedly, Ten Hag has yet to match Mourinho's famous rant about Jesualdo Ferreira. “One is a coach with a 30-year career, the other with a three-year one. The one with 30 years has never won anything; the one with three years has won a lot."

"The one with a 30-year career will be forgotten when he ends it; the one with three could end it right now and he could never be erased from history. This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse."

Ten Hag's seemingly compulsive urge to mention that he is the horse rather than the donkey with increasing frequency betrays a heightened sense of insecurity about his position. Moreover, his insistence that football is all about results is similarly Mourinho-esque, especially when considering that the Dutchman was hired to implement a distinctive, entertaining style of football.

He has failed miserably at this, so now the game, to him, is just about grinding out results no matter how bland the team plays. Ten Hag increasingly talks and acts like a man who is more worried about saving his own skin and reputation rather than one concerned with actually doing a good job.