Erik ten Hag invited Dutch sports guru Merijn Zeeman to Manchester United training camp

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Erik ten Hag is open-minded to listen to new ideas and has consulted Dutch cycling guru Merijn Zeeman.

The Manchester United manager is embarking on his second season at Old Trafford and while he is headstrong in his own approach, he is also a collaborator.

One of the ways he has done this is by working with the sporting director of Dutch cycling team Jumbo-Visma, Merijn Zeeman.

Zeeman says he has a mutual admiration with Erik ten Hag and spent time with the Red Devils squad earlier this season.

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Zeeman on Erik ten Hag

Speaking to Algemeen Dagblad, Merijn Zeeman explained: “Ten Hag is also an example for me. Look what he is doing at Manchester United now. In sports people often think: we put a man in and then it will work. But it starts with a culture, then with a structure, then a strategy and then you continue.

“Erik and I recognise that in each other and we think very much the same. In the winter I visited him for a few days, at a Manchester United training camp in Spain.

“He said to me: ‘Tell me what you see, give feedback’. He is very open to that.”

He added that he has spoken with Ten Hag previously about linking up when the manager was at Ajax.

“I did speak to Erik ten Hag at an earlier stage, a few years ago. That was not about a director’s position. It was about working with him. Not football-related, but about the organization, about the team and the structure. He wanted to brainstorm with me about that.”

Zeeman’s comments show how Erik ten Hag is open to ideas from other sporting fields, which can inform his own choices and decisions.

The Manchester United manager is on a single-minded mission to return to the club to past glories, and leave no stone unturned in his quest to do so.

So could we see Zeeman at Old Trafford on a regular basis? Probably not. But if he were to suddenly pop up, and be offered some kind of consultancy or advisory role behind the scenes, it would not come from nowhere – but from years of Ten Hag cultivating relationships and seeking to learn from the best sporting minds around.