Dan Ashworth has broken his silence at Manchester United.
Just three days after his appointment was finally confirmed after months of drawn-out and rather tense negotiations with Newcastle, Old Trafford’s new sporting director has spoken out for the very first time.
It might have been a decision made before Ashworth’s arrival – Ineos confirmed three weeks ago that Erik ten Hag would be staying on – but the former Brighton chief certainly appears to share the view most at Manchester United hold as their current head coach puts pen to paper on a new contract.
Yes, Ten Hag can point to two trophies in two seasons. By winning the FA Cup final against arch rivals Man City, Ten Hag is the first United boss post-Sir Alex Ferguson to claim silverware in successive campaigns.
But major improvements are still required from a squad and a coach who, to quote Ashworth, ‘need to (win) more consistently’ going forward.
Dan Ashworth explains Erik ten Hag contract extension
“With two trophies in the past two seasons, Erik has reinforced his record as one of the most consistently successful coaches in European football,” Ashworth tells the Man United website, highlighting the record of a man who now has eight winners’ medals to show from the last six seasons in management.
“While the club’s review of last season highlighted areas for improvement, it also reached a clear conclusion that Erik was the best partner for us to work with in driving up standards and outcomes.
“This group of players and staff have already shown they are capable of competing and winning at the top level. Now, we need to do it more consistently.
“With our strengthened football leadership team now in place, we are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with Erik to achieve our shared ambitions for this football club.”
Ashworth is expected to play an overarching role taking in almost all aspects of the day-to-day running of the Red Devils. It appears that he, too, will be the man tasked with explaining the big decisions – such as Ten Hag’s contract extension – to the fans and the media.
United held talks with, amongst others, Roberto de Zerbi, Thomas Frank, Roberto Martinez, Marco Silva and Thomas Tuchel before opting to keep the faith with Ten Hag.
The former Ajax boss’ new deal, meanwhile, runs until 2026.
FA Cup winner delighted to stay at Manchester United
The hope will be that, with a distracting takeover saga over, with those injury issues behind them and with a successful summer in the transfer market under the belt, Ten Hag will be able to build on a promising debut campaign which saw United finish an impressive third.
“I am very pleased to have reached agreement with the club to continue working together,” Ten Hag himself says. “Looking back at the past two years, we can reflect with pride on two trophies and many examples of progression from where we were when I joined.
“However, we must also be clear that there is still lots of hard work ahead to reach the levels expected of Manchester United, which means challenging for English and European titles.
“In my discussions with the club, we have found complete unity in our vision for reaching those goals, and we are all strongly committed to making that journey together.”
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