Erik ten Hag was sacked on Monday and throughout his tenure at Manchester United the Dutchman continued to shoulder a number of responsibilities – refusing to give up media duties despite requests to do so
Erik ten Hag refused to give up press conference duties – despite Manchester United suggesting he do so to ease his workload.
The Dutchman took on huge responsibility during his stint at Old Trafford, choosing not to delegate certain roles that would’ve made his life easier. The club told Ten Hag to allow his former assistant, Steve McClaren to take the Carabao Cup press conferences, but he refused.
He was adamant that the messaging needed to come from him and chose to attend all media duties, which gave him more work to do. Jurgen Klopp during his time at Liverpool would allow his No 2, Pep Ljinders, to face the media before cup contests.
ESPN reports that Ten Hag wanted to be across everything. There was an interview request put in for Ruud van Nistelrooy, who returned to the club as an assistant manager in the summer, but the former manager personally chose to intervene and reject the interview.
The ex-Ajax boss eventually received his marching orders on Monday with those at Old Trafford opting to sack him following Sunday’s loss at Old Trafford. Ten Hag survived a summer review into his job but begun the season poorly and paid the price for that poor form.
Ten Hag’s desire for control even saw him decide who donned what shirt number during his time in Manchester. It was he who opted to give the No 7 shirt – which has been worn by some of the club’s most famous players – to Mason Mount rather than Alejandro Garnacho.
The former manager also wanted to know when players were giving interviews and who to. He wanted to be made aware if they were contractually obliged to speak or if they were doing so out of choice.
Ten Hag’s decisions off the pitch did little to help him on it with the Dutchman overseeing months of poor results. Some considered him lucky to keep his job when the Manchester bosses considered sacking him back in the summer. Only victory in the FA Cup final ensured he remained.
The Dutchman spent huge sums in the summer but that didn’t aid the team, who sit 14th after nine games having already lost four times. Ten Hag opted to make a number of bigs calls in his tenure. He chose to take the captaincy off Harry Maguire and played a major role in Cristiano Ronaldo leaving the club.
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