Dutch managers don’t suit the Premier League, claims club owner

Robin Bairner

• 26 Oct 2024 09:00 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United and Liverpool are two prominent Premier League clubs with Dutch managers in the form of Erik ten Hag and Arne Slot respectively, yet one club owner has claimed that managers from the Netherlands are too “cold” to be effective in England.

While Slot is enjoying a superb start to life at Anfield, Ten Hag continues to battle demons at Old Trafford, with the former Ajax boss having been under the permanent threat of the sack for months now.

He has shrugged off this concern and continues to insist that Man Utd are on the right track, yet after a 1-1 draw with Fenerbahce in the Europa League, the club’s vice-president Acun Ilicali cast doubt on his suitability at Old Trafford – and that of his countrymen in the Premier League as a whole.

’The Dutch don’t work, they just make things worse’

Ilicali, who is also the owner of Championship side Hull City, told TalkSport: “Actually, I don't feel like the Dutch mentality is very suitable for Britain. If you ask me my opinion, the reason German coaches are more successful is they are more down to earth, they are more flexible, so they started getting success all around the world.

“I'm not talking individual, I’m talking in general, but Dutch coaches are a little more cold, they are all more distant with the team. And that’s what I see in Manchester, generally - everything is too mechanical, I mean, there is not a human feeling, I feel.

“A coach like Jurgen Klopp, for example, Pep Guardiola, you feel this human touch with them. They hug, they do. I don't see it, unfortunately with Ten Hag at Man United.

“I feel this coldness, a mechanical feeling - everybody comes, does their job, then they go to their houses, and this becomes a regular life of them. But Jose Mourinho is a fighter, Klopp is a fighter, Guardiola is a fighter. They have this emotional passion."

A Dutch manager has never won the Premier League, with Chelsea interim boss Guus Hiddink arguably the most successful as he claimed the FA Cup in his brief stint with the Blues.