Erik ten Hag - Ajax Manager

Panther

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Relatively young Ajax manager (48 years old). Worked under Pep at Bayern Munich.

Potential replacement for Jose?

Interesting video on his football.

 

Kostur

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40 years old? Would get taxed in GB, do not want.

Also who makes those fecking awful paint pictures, good God, have mercy.
 

Ajaxsuarez

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40 years old? Would get taxed in GB, do not want.

Also who makes those fecking awful paint pictures, good God, have mercy.
they managed to capture Blind and De Ligt's beauty though at least
 

PepG

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Pretty sure he is Bayern bound sooner or later..
 

Stadjer

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Ajax fans wanted him gone just a few months ago... no way he should replace Mourinho.

He did very well at Utrecht and now does alright at Ajax but not amazing... Rather have Bosz as Mourinho replacement if someone with a Ajax history has to be the next United manager.
 

Samid

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I, for one, have had enough of Dutch managers/players this decade. Every single one we've touched since RVP has been an utter nightmare.
 

bosnian_red

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I, for one, have had enough of Dutch managers/players this decade. Every single one we've touched since RVP has been an utter nightmare.
Blind overall was a very good signing I'd say. Only left because Mourinho in his second season didn't want to use him and he's showing back at Ajax that he's still a good player. Memphis wasn't up to it at United at all, but has been very good playing as a striker for Lyon. So really it's just Van Gaal, who despite all the boring football in that second season, still had his fair share of decent moments and you could at least SEE what he was trying to do (just important to note that his dream of 100% possession with 0 shots against wasn't exactly the dream for Old Trafford faithful...).
 

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Since the resident Dutch people are in this thread, what do you think of van Bommel and the job he's doing at Eindhoven?
 

Henrik Larsson

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I, for one, have had enough of Dutch managers/players this decade. Every single one we've touched since RVP has been an utter nightmare.
Except for Büttner, who scored two goals for us (as much as Memphis in his best season) in a league winning campaign, and was then sold to some Russian club with a nice 20% profit. Fergie knew stuff our minds can't even grasp.
 

Panther

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4 years ago he was managing Go ahead eagles. :lol:
That was 5 and a half years ago and barely means anything. Pochettino got his first managerial job 5 years after becoming Spurs manager. Klopp got relegated with Mainz 5 years before he won the league with Dortmund. Even Mourinho himself was Van Gaal's assistant 5 years before getting the highest ever points total in a PL season with Chelsea.
 

arthurka

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Ajax fans wanted him gone just a few months ago... no way he should replace Mourinho.

He did very well at Utrecht and now does alright at Ajax but not amazing... Rather have Bosz as Mourinho replacement if someone with a Ajax history has to be the next United manager.
Think you need to have a word with people who watch the Bundesliga about that choice.. They are still Fabreezing the shit out of BVB to remove his stench.
 

Sjaakmeoff

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Since the resident Dutch people are in this thread, what do you think of van Bommel and the job he's doing at Eindhoven?
Ok, not a Van Bommel or PSV fan. But he's doing ok. In the league he's doing really well, made a mistake in the cupgame which cost them and CL...yeah, wel..not the easiest draw. Gets a lot of help from Bert van Marwijk who is his father in law.

But most of all. I don't like the guy.
 

Enigma_87

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That was 5 and a half years ago and barely means anything. Pochettino got his first managerial job 5 years after becoming Spurs manager. Klopp got relegated with Mainz 5 years before he won the league with Dortmund. Even Mourinho himself was Van Gaal's assistant 5 years before getting the highest ever points total in a PL season with Chelsea.
Hardly comparable. After Go Ahead Eagles he coached Bayern's reserve team and year ago Utrecht.
 

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Ok, not a Van Bommel or PSV fan. But he's doing ok. In the league he's doing really well, made a mistake in the cupgame which cost them and CL...yeah, wel..not the easiest draw. Gets a lot of help from Bert van Marwijk who is his father in law.

But most of all. I don't like the guy.
Im starting to dislike him as well honestly. In the end he's still the guy in all those top 10 most hated players lists. Agree with the rest, he's doing fine.
 

Henrik Larsson

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Think you need to have a word with people who watch the Bundesliga about that choice.. They are still Fabreezing the shit out of BVB to remove his stench.
He's right though, in many ways Peter Bosz is like a more refined version of Erik ten Hag. Both have failed to win the league despite working at the biggest club with the highest budget and the best players, but to be fair they've only been at Ajax for a short time, and Ten Hag might still win it this year. They love attacking football with which they've performed very well in Europe.

But Erik Ten Hag as a potential future United managers is one of the weirdest things I've seen on here this year. When you think about it, even Steve McClaren did at least win the Eredivise, and from an underdog position too. Same goes for Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Maybe Ten Hag can go to Bayern one day, I'm sure he's made a good impression on them this year and he worked there before. But I think Mark van Bommel is ahead of him on Bayern's list, he just started as a coach this summer and had a great start.

Im starting to dislike him as well honestly. In the end he's still the guy in all those top 10 most hated players lists. Agree with the rest, he's doing fine.
He was one crazy mofo as a player and it's starting to show as a manager too now. A bit like Simeone or even Mourinho, he's completely obsessed with winning and we're going to see some really vile shite from him once results aren't going in his favour.
 

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When I saw the name actually thought he was that coach at Chelsea years ago under Avram Grant, obviously someone else...

Sounds promising but then Peter Boaz was hyped up after the europa run and completely flopped at Dortmund.
 

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Him, Howe, Giggs, Carrick, anyone, no matter how low profile. I don't care.
 

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Think you need to have a word with people who watch the Bundesliga about that choice.. They are still Fabreezing the shit out of BVB to remove his stench.
It is true that he failed at Dortmund but i still think he is a good manager though. Better and more proven than ten Hag. Also he comes across smart in interviews. Obviously he isnt going to be a Manchester United anytime soon...

He was the one who started to play de Ligt, Dolberg looked like a potential superstar in his team, gave Frenkie de Jong and Kluivert their debuts so you can still see his ''hand'' in the current Ajax. He will also always play his high press, ultra attacking, almost kamikazi football. He did it with Herecles eventhough the players he had were pretty bad (as to be expected from a lower/ midtable Eredivisie team), Ajax and tried it with Dortmund. His football is fun too watch though. Even at Dortmund he started off very well and Dortmund was scoring loads of goals.

If i remember correct, when he went to Dortmund he first had to deal with Dembele who basically went on a strike. After that he had to deal with a sulking Auba and ofcourse Reus had one of his long term injuries too. I just looked up a little bit but he also had a lot of injuries in defense and besides that the defenders he had werent very good. Akanji for example signed after Bosz was already fired and Akanji is a lot better than Toprak. I also remember that Dortmund goalkeeper making some terrible mistakes.. however most of all i remember the match were they were leading 4-0 against Schalke and were it ended 4-4.

He did fail but i think there are some excuses and that he is still a good manager. I hope that he gets a chance (and time to build a team because getting a team playing ''his way'' usually takes some time) at a new club soon. He already said he isnt going to take any non top 3 Eredivisie teams though so i dont expect him in the Eredivisie anytime soon.

He's right though, in many ways Peter Bosz is like a more refined version of Erik ten Hag. Both have failed to win the league despite working at the biggest club with the highest budget and the best players, but to be fair they've only been at Ajax for a short time, and Ten Hag might still win it this year. They love attacking football with which they've performed very well in Europe.
Bosz left Ajax because of problems with the board and mostly with Bergkamp but i am pretty sure he would have won the league if he had stayed. His team was getting better and better.. reaching the Europa League final was really impressive too. Im not even a Ajax fan and i enjoyed following their route to the final with some really entertaining matches.. Bosz admits that he didnt have an answer to Mourinho his ''anti Football'' and Feillaini and that they deserved to lose the final.

Edit : Ten Hag should be embarrassed if he doesnt win the league.. Buying Tadic, Blind and having de Ligt, de Jong, Ziyech, Neres while also having pretty decent options on the bench should really be enough to win the league. They have by far the best selection.
 

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It is true that he failed at Dortmund but i still think he is a good manager though. Better and more proven than ten Hag. Also he comes across smart in interviews. Obviously he isnt going to be a Manchester United anytime soon...

He was the one who started to play de Ligt, Dolberg looked like a potential superstar in his team, gave Frenkie de Jong and Kluivert their debuts so you can still see his ''hand'' in the current Ajax. He will also always play his high press, ultra attacking, almost kamikazi football. He did it with Herecles eventhough the players he had were pretty bad (as to be expected from a lower/ midtable Eredivisie team), Ajax and tried it with Dortmund. His football is fun too watch though. Even at Dortmund he started off very well and Dortmund was scoring loads of goals.

If i remember correct, when he went to Dortmund he first had to deal with Dembele who basically went on a strike. After that he had to deal with a sulking Auba and ofcourse Reus had one of his long term injuries too. I just looked up a little bit but he also had a lot of injuries in defense and besides that the defenders he had werent very good. Akanji for example signed after Bosz was already fired and Akanji is a lot better than Toprak. I also remember that Dortmund goalkeeper making some terrible mistakes.. however most of all i remember the match were they were leading 4-0 against Schalke and were it ended 4-4.

He did fail but i think there are some excuses and that he is still a good manager. I hope that he gets a chance (and time to build a team because getting a team playing ''his way'' usually takes some time) at a new club soon. He already said he isnt going to take any non top 3 Eredivisie teams though so i dont expect him in the Eredivisie anytime soon.



Bosz left Ajax because of problems with the board and mostly with Bergkamp but i am pretty sure he would have won the league if he had stayed. His team was getting better and better.. reaching the Europa League final was really impressive too. Im not even a Ajax fan and i enjoyed following their route to the final with some really entertaining matches.. Bosz admits that he didnt have an answer to Mourinho his ''anti Football'' and Feillaini and that they deserved to lose the final.

Edit : Ten Hag should be embarrassed if he doesnt win the league.. Buying Tadic, Blind and having de Ligt, de Jong, Ziyech, Neres while also having pretty decent options on the bench should really be enough to win the league. They have by far the best selection.

I watched him at Maccabi Tel Aviv, and although he wasn't there for long and was relatively successful, the fans were pretty shocked that he got the Ajax job after.

The football was more Van Gaal at MUFC like, and not exciting at all. Was really boring.
He had undone Slavisa Jokanovic's job (he left to manage Fulham) in a few months.
 

Stadjer

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Since the resident Dutch people are in this thread, what do you think of van Bommel and the job he's doing at Eindhoven?
He started really well, some people complain about his behaviour already but that was too be expected. Moaning to the 4th official was to be expected but his behaviour hasnt been too bad.

He also is giving young players a chance. Bergwijn was always touted as a big talent but this season he is really showing good stuff. Malen is basically being subbed on every match and also looks very promising. While on the midfield he trusted Rosario who has now made his debut for the national team. He also made Luuk de Jong look like a decent player again... but that is likely because PSV got two really good backs now (Dumfries and Angelino).

Ajax still has a much better selection and should win the league but Ajax and PSV are clearly miles above any other team in the league.

Their CL draw was the hardest one possible but they didnt look totally outclassed. However when Lionel Messi comes up against Nick Viergever there isnt much a manager can do...

His team also plays more attractive than Cocu his team.. Cocu won the league though. Cocu is out of a job so that is another Dutch option for a new United but not one i would encourage.

Oh and ofcourse since he started so well he is already being called the next Bayern Munchen manager :lol:
 
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RooneyLegend

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Very impressed by his work. Honestly wouldn't mind him here. At the very least we'd get a great attacking side that plays with right intensity.
 

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When I saw the name actually thought he was that coach at Chelsea years ago under Avram Grant, obviously someone else...

Sounds promising but then Peter Boaz was hyped up after the europa run and completely flopped at Dortmund.
To be fair to Bosz, he started poorly at Ajax as well. It takes him some time to implement the way he wants to play, but at the top you get about 3 matches to prove yourself before you're sacked. It's quite silly honestly.
 

MrBest

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We don't need more risks. Poch is the only one who can help us. Imagine with 150m what he could do!
 

arthurka

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It is true that he failed at Dortmund but i still think he is a good manager though. Better and more proven than ten Hag. Also he comes across smart in interviews. Obviously he isnt going to be a Manchester United anytime soon...

He was the one who started to play de Ligt, Dolberg looked like a potential superstar in his team, gave Frenkie de Jong and Kluivert their debuts so you can still see his ''hand'' in the current Ajax. He will also always play his high press, ultra attacking, almost kamikazi football. He did it with Herecles eventhough the players he had were pretty bad (as to be expected from a lower/ midtable Eredivisie team), Ajax and tried it with Dortmund. His football is fun too watch though. Even at Dortmund he started off very well and Dortmund was scoring loads of goals.

If i remember correct, when he went to Dortmund he first had to deal with Dembele who basically went on a strike. After that he had to deal with a sulking Auba and ofcourse Reus had one of his long term injuries too. I just looked up a little bit but he also had a lot of injuries in defense and besides that the defenders he had werent very good. Akanji for example signed after Bosz was already fired and Akanji is a lot better than Toprak. I also remember that Dortmund goalkeeper making some terrible mistakes.. however most of all i remember the match were they were leading 4-0 against Schalke and were it ended 4-4.

He did fail but i think there are some excuses and that he is still a good manager. I hope that he gets a chance (and time to build a team because getting a team playing ''his way'' usually takes some time) at a new club soon. He already said he isnt going to take any non top 3 Eredivisie teams though so i dont expect him in the Eredivisie anytime soon.




Bosz left Ajax because of problems with the board and mostly with Bergkamp but i am pretty sure he would have won the league if he had stayed. His team was getting better and better.. reaching the Europa League final was really impressive too. Im not even a Ajax fan and i enjoyed following their route to the final with some really entertaining matches.. Bosz admits that he didnt have an answer to Mourinho his ''anti Football'' and Feillaini and that they deserved to lose the final.

Edit : Ten Hag should be embarrassed if he doesnt win the league.. Buying Tadic, Blind and having de Ligt, de Jong, Ziyech, Neres while also having pretty decent options on the bench should really be enough to win the league. They have by far the best selection.
I can remember well when he came to BVB and started playing attacking full throttle that many raised the question about his lack of defensive work and plan. That was what killed him in the end. He also didn´t seem to have a the communication skills needed to tackle the bigger players. Something that the current BVB manager has in spades. Dormtund have looked far better this season due to better balance between defense and attack and of course because Farve pointed out the glaring weakness of his midfield or lack there off. Even the BVB goalkeeper looks much better due to him having much better cover in front of him.

I fully agree of the entertainment value but in a better league than the Eredivisie that type of football is almost always certain failure, sometimes even if you have much better players for the simple reason of the other teams also having much better players and managers. There very few Dutch managers working at a top European level at the moment that is really something that I cannot explain.
 

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Relatively young Ajax manager (48 years old). Worked under Pep at Bayern Munich.

Potential replacement for Jose?

Interesting video on his football.

We really don't have the b*lls to make such an appointment.
 

Just shoot me

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I was very impressed by their pressing game against Bayern. Bayern all have players at the back who are comfortable on the ball, including Neuer, but yesterday they were having a hard time to pass their way trough the fast pressing of Ajax. It's pretty rare to see Neuer just kick the ball over the sideline, or to see Boateng just giving the ball away. Very smart movement and I haven't seen any team executing it on this level.
 

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He wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure. In his first weeks at Ajax he looked like an insecure stuttering kid.
The english press would eat him alive.

He plays nice football with Ajax though, but I think he needs a smaller step up first.
 

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When I saw the name actually thought he was that coach at Chelsea years ago under Avram Grant, obviously someone else...

Sounds promising but then Peter Boaz was hyped up after the europa run and completely flopped at Dortmund.
Henk ten Cate IIRC
 

Charlie Foley

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Relatively young Ajax manager (48 years old). Worked under Pep at Bayern Munich.

Potential replacement for Jose?

Interesting video on his football.

Seems like another total shift in style of play. Sadly I think we’re in a state where that’s needd as our current style is shit but it has really harmed us especially in player recruitment. Moyes-LVG-Jose are 3 totally different managers and this would be another rupture that could require another overhaul (unless of course someone else could implement a certain style better than how Jose is doing now with our current players)
 

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I can remember well when he came to BVB and started playing attacking full throttle that many raised the question about his lack of defensive work and plan. That was what killed him in the end. He also didn´t seem to have a the communication skills needed to tackle the bigger players. Something that the current BVB manager has in spades. Dormtund have looked far better this season due to better balance between defense and attack and of course because Farve pointed out the glaring weakness of his midfield or lack there off. Even the BVB goalkeeper looks much better due to him having much better cover in front of him.

I fully agree of the entertainment value but in a better league than the Eredivisie that type of football is almost always certain failure, sometimes even if you have much better players for the simple reason of the other teams also having much better players and managers. There very few Dutch managers working at a top European level at the moment that is really something that I cannot explain.
I'm not going to say that Bosz should be a candidate for a big club at the moment, but I wouldn't damn him for his time at Dortmund either.
  • The season started with Dembele forcing a move, after the pre-season, with him as the creative head of the team, was done.
  • Auba started acting up, apparently showing increasing disciplinary problems, putting Bosz in the dilemma that he either had to suspend one of his best strikers without backup or cause division by tolerating his behaviour
  • Weigl, Dortmund's supposed midfield head, came back from an injury a couple of weeks after the season started, made critical mistakes and either was unable or refused to (probably both) to function in Bosz's role
  • Jeremy Toljan, Dortmund's new fullback that season, was absolutely disastrous in defense, literal school boy defending, but since the squad was a bit thin on that position and both Schmelzer and Piszczek picked up week-long injuries Bosz still had to play him almost every game.
  • Reus not being able to play a single minute for him
  • Bartra, not that I would ever blame him for it, losing it completely in the middle of Bosz's tenure.
  • To some degree bad luck: especially in the game against Schalke, when Auba missed a sitter at 4:0 and then got himself sent off - a win there would've shifted momentum a lot.
  • The club and players not having come to terms with the bus attack at the time, especially since the trial was beginning in winter.

Obviously we can criticize that Bosz should've realized that he didn't have enough fight in his midfield, his CBs were unable to cope with his high line and he should have reacted quicker and been more pragmatic until the squad was right for his style. But it's also true that Stöger couldn't perform satisfactory with the squad either (despite getting rid of Aubameyang, getting Akanji and having Reus fit).
Dortmund did a huge overhaul this summer for a reason, they introduced Kehl as a squad manager, to have a closer eye on squad dynamics and problems, they hired Sammer as an external adviser, they got rid of Sokratis and together with signing Akanji and Diallo completely replaced the CBs Bosz had to work with. Toljan, who Bosz had to field every game, was phased out under Stöger and now that Hakimi was signed he didn't play a single minute under Favre. They added combativeness and a lot of leadership mentality to their midfield in Witsel and Delaney. Weigl has been relegated to a bench role, Sahin has been sold. So has Yarmolenko, who was the attacking marquee signing of Bosz's period.
 

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not really going to comment on the idea of Ten Hag as a United manager. That shouldn't even be discussed at this point yet. Maybe in 2-4 years if things keep going like this season or better, but tbh that's very unrealistic. This is the best squad Ajax has had in a decade and probably the best we'll have for quite a while as well. Hard not to see us having a difficult season next year if we lose De Ligt, Ziyech, De Jong, Onana.

Ten Hag has grown on me, though I feel as the season's progressed he's shifted away from some attacking exciting experiments he had going on in the system.

Tadic - Ziyech - Neres basically freely moving behind and around a striker for the first half was honestly exhilarating but he's slowly moved back to a more conservative, balanced team since then which I think is a shame.

One thing I'll definitely give Ten Hag though is his European record. His teams (Utrecht and Ajax) have now played 18 European games under him, and only lost 1. That was with Utrecht, away against Zenith, on paper clear favourite, where they unfairly lost 1-0 in regular time, and went out after the 2-0 in extra time