The popularity of Ruben Amorim, among the pundits at least if not the fans, appears to be taking a hit after a sloppy run of form but not many are calling for a return to the old.
The old in this case being Erik ten Hag, who arrived at Man Utd with an exciting reputation from his days at Ajax but ended his tenure at Old Trafford in misery and frustration.
Ruben Amorim has been a breath of fresh air with his communication and charisma, something Ten Hag was often accused of lacking.
Now, even Ten Hag’s coaching acumen has been criticised by a player who played under him and even thrived to an extent, signalling how bad things had become behind the scenes.
Raphael Varane goes off on Erik ten Hag
When one talks about the peak of Man Utd under Erik ten Hag, it’s impossible to do so without looking back on the centre-back partnership of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.
The team was at its best with the two manning the central defence and that was the base from which they won the two cup finals as well.
However, things between Varane and Ten Hag had clearly turned sour along the way, with the Frenchman even being dropped from the squad for “tactical reasons” despite being fit.
It didn’t help that he started remaining fit with alarming irregularity but if Varane is to be believed, their success together came despite their relationship, not because of it.
In an interview with The Athletic, Varane went off on Ten Hag, calling his style of coaching ‘rigid’ that allowed ‘very little flexibility’.
He said: “It was the opposite [of Real Madrid] with fairly rigid patterns of play defined in advance. There was very little flexibility in terms of adapting on the pitch. The game plans were very, very precise, with lots and lots of information. It was different.”
“We could say to each other, ‘You have to do it more like this’ [in Real Madrid and for France], instead of a system that was, let’s say, a bit blocked by the coach’s instructions.”
Ten Hag’s Man Utd case becomes more curious
Ten Hag had gained a reputation for being an astute tactician from his Ajax days so fans expected an identity and philosophy from him.
Glimpses of it were visible in the first season but what United did after that defied belief because “a lack of playing style” was the main criticism thrown at him.
Varane’s assertion that Ten Hag taught rigid patterns of play contradicts what the Man Utd fans saw on the pitch, a mishmash of instructions with no discernible goals.
Louis van Gaal had a rigid style of play and that translated onto the pitch, even if it was excruciatingly boring to sit through.
Varane’s admission makes Ten Hag’s case even more curious. Either the players refused to listen to his instructions completely or he didn’t communicate it well enough.
Either way, what happened on the pitch definitely didn’t look like a rigid structure with little flexibility. The fans were crying out for some discipline instead!
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