An open admission by a manager that they wouldn’t have preferred to face their next opponent on the eve of the game is not something that is a regular occurrence but Erik ten Hag has just done it.
Manchester United welcome FC Twente to Old Trafford to kickstart their Europa League campaign, playing the first of their eight league-stage fixtures.
Coming on the back of a good performance, albeit in a draw, vs Crystal Palace, and scoring ten in the previous two before that, the confidence is high.
The players are also returning from injury, with Rasmus Hojlund and Mason Mount in the squad vs Palace, and no new injury worries.
Why, then, is Erik ten Hag admitting that he would have preferred to play somebody other than FC Twente?
Erik ten Hag’s frank admission
Danny Welbeck scored against Manchester United this season but didn’t celebrate because he was a man made in the United academy.
There are countless such examples and for Ten Hag, the game against FC Twente is a similar scenario, since it’s at that club where he came through to become a professional, and the club he still supports.
Speaking to the press ahead of their Europa League tie, Ten Hag admitted it’s “not nice to hurt something you love”, saying he’s a fan of the club and watches their games “not as an analyst, but as a supporter”.
He said: “I would have preferred to play against somebody else. It’s not nice to hurt something you love. Twente brought me a lot, I was put through their academy, so for me great deal of history there.”
“Of all the teams, Twente is the team I follow the most. I watch them as a fan, as a supporter, not as an analyst. It’s a different way of watching their games.”
Ten Hag made 257 appearances for the club, mainly as a centre-back or a defensive midfielder, scoring six times and assisting 11 goals.
He retired from his playing career with FC Twente as his last club, a team that he will remain forever indebted to for giving him a start in football.
Many storylines in the game
Besides the obvious one of Ten Hag’s love for FC Twente, there are many storylines in the game, as one would expect against a Dutch team since so many of United’s staff and players are from the Netherlands or came from there.
Twente striker, Anass Salah-Eddine, was Ten Hag’s last debutant at FC Ajax before he moved to Old Trafford so he’d be eager to make a mark on a reunion with his former manager.
Sem Steijn has a history with Ruud van Nistelrooy, and with the player in sparkling form in the lead-up to this game, will be a player to watch out for.
Mason Mount has previously impressed against Twente when he was on loan at Vitesse from Chelsea, one of the games that probably prompted Ten Hag to sign him for United.
Ultimately, in all these storylines, the biggest one is United’s need for a win to kickstart their European campaign in style, with a marquee game at home to Tottenham on the horizon afterward.
Unfortunately, Ten Hag will have to hurt something he loves for that to happen!
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