Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has an extra motivation when the Red Devils host Chelsea tonight.
Manager Erik ten Hag is under severe pressure at Manchester United with many outside the club willing to see him fail.
Ten Hag even called out TNT Sports last week when an interviewer said the media enjoyed a Manchester United crisis. Yesterday four media organisations were banned from attending the press conference, a stance backed by many Manchester United supporters.
On the pitch, Manchester United need a result at home to Chelsea. The team is reeling from another away loss at Newcastle, and need three points to turn the mood around and get back on track.
Erik ten Hag’s added motivation
Erik ten Hag faces a manager with plenty of motivation to prove a point, Mauricio Pochettino. The Chelsea boss says he feels no offence at being snubbed by the Red Devils, but you know he will be burning inside to get a result at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag will be keen to get a result for his own feelings of pride too. But he also owes Mauricio Pochettino one.
The last time the two managers met was in 2019, in the Champions League semi-final.
Ten Hag’s Ajax won the first leg away 1-0, and looked to be heading through, until a late Spurs fightback in Amsterdam and hat-trick from Lucas Moura saw the Premier League side win 3-2, and go through on away goals.
It was Pochettino’s finest moment at Tottenham, and a the lowest for Ten Hag at Ajax. He told The Mail at the time: “Football can be very beautiful and it can be very cruel, we have had to experience that today.”
Pochettino and Ten Hag have not gone head to head since, on the pitch at least. The Dutchman won out in the Manchester United interview process. But he will be determined to get a win over Pochettino and not experience another painful loss which will bring back memories.
Andre Onana on the losing side
Ajax’s goalkeeper that night was Andre Onana, who was quoted via Goal saying he was “heartbroken” by the agonising loss.
Onana is now Manchester United’s first choice goalkeeper, signed this summer from Inter Milan, and has had a mixed season at the club to date.
Ten Hag’s Manchester United are painfully different to his Ajax side in 2019, but Pochettino’s Chelsea are far more unpredictable than his Tottenham side. And when all is said and done on Wednesday night, it will come down to one man against the other, the victor taking the spoils, the loser under added pressure.
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