Erik ten Hag has got a big job to get club back to minimum standards, proclaims Gary Neville
Manchester United legend Gary Neville has backed Ajax boss Erik ten Hag to succeed at the English club although he admitted that expectations have to be tempered as the Dutchman aims to facilitate a major overhaul of the squad. The Dutch manager was confirmed as the next United manager on Thursday.
Machester United decided to postpone the hiring of a permanent manager as they outlined their intentions of appointing the right person for the right job after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November. However, despite that both Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino and Ajax boss Erik Ten Hag were considered the frontrunners for the job.
After careful deliberation, the Manchester club appointed current Erik ten Hag as their new manager as they were left impressed by the Dutch manager's vision and philosophy for the club. The Dutch manager had emphasized his demands to the United board before his appointment and it is understood that the Red Devils will seek to fulfill Ten Hag's desires.
But the 52-year-old has a massive job ahead of him as the English club have to undergo a major rebuild as they aim to overhaul their squad in order to usher in a new era. So much so, that Manchester United star Gary Neville revealed the details of what the Dutchman has to do in order to succeed.
"What we're seeing at this current moment is unacceptable. That needs to be dealt with initially and Ten Hag has got a big job to get the club back up to those minimum standards that they need to achieve, which is attitude, work ethic, belief, confidence and then hopefully you start to think about winning trophies. But honestly, I wouldn't be putting too much pressure on Ten Hag in the first one or two years to win a trophy at the club. It would be great if he did and he'd be overachieving, in my opinion,” Neville told Sky Sports.
"It will be: get into the top four, re-establish Man Utd in the Champions League, attract the players into the club who can play in the way he wants to play, and then get a system of belief,” he added.