Erik ten Hag has been given five new players to work with this summer in an extremely active transfer window and he has now named the trait he needs in the team to have success.
The international break has given everyone at Manchester United a chance to unwind and get away from the noise surrounding the less-than-ideal start the team has had.
Erik ten Hag, in particular, is facing renewed job scrutiny now that the mitigating factors of last season are wearing thin.
The injuries aren’t as bad as last season (not a very high bar to clear!) and the completion of a good window under a competent executive structure has left no room for excuses.
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However, Ten Hag has now revealed the kind of player a team “needs” to have to be successful, and it says a lot about his favourites at Old Trafford as well.
Erik ten Hag’s ideal player
Ten Hag took the opportunity to go back to his roots during this international break, managing FC Utrecht on a special occasion.
FC Utrecht is where he made his name as a coach and his association with the club, playing and managing, is a long and illustrious one.
The match was a tribute to Mark van der Maarel, who retired after spending his entire career at the club, including when Ten Hag was manager.
Ten Hag was the manager of FC Utrecht Team 2 who won the game 2-1 and the man of the moment scored.
Talking to RTV Utrecht after the game, Ten Hag paid tribute to Van der Maarel and revealed the trait in him that makes him a must-have for any successful team.
He said: “Mark is a great character. As a coach, you always want to have him in your group. For success at a club, you really need a player like Mark, but they are so hard to find. He was always busy improving himself, but also others.
“He has had such a great career. He really deserved this. He has shown character and resilience and the public has embraced him. That is so beautiful. He is concluding a very beautiful part of his life that he will look back on with great satisfaction.”
Ten Hag’s words paint clear picture of Man United
Ten Hag has always preferred setting a strong and positive culture in the dressing room, treating it as the priority even over having talented but troubled players.
His treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo was the biggest case in point and since then, his non-negotiable stance on the likes of Jadon Sancho or Marcus Rashford on the odd occasion has been eye-opening.
The comments above paint a clear picture why the likes of Bruno Fernandes are rated so highly by Ten Hag.
Not only is the Portuguese a phenomenon on the pitch, but he fits perfectly in the template of players always busy improving themselves and the others.
Ten Hag’s comments make it clear why, alongside Fernandes, players like Lisandro Martinez are so liked, even Scott McTominay could be grouped here and the manager’s sadness over seeing him leave was clear.
Setting a culture is the most difficult thing in a dressing room, especially when taking over at a time of huge uncertainty.
Now that the structure is in place and the team is coming together, Ten Hag might have a few more of his ideal type of players at the club.
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