Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been praised for his attention to detail, a trait which makes him a ‘top-class sports coach’.
That’s the opinion of former colleague Sjors Ultee, who worked alongside the Manchester United manager at FC Utrecht and still holds him in high regard to this day.
Ten Hag was appointed at Old Trafford in the summer as the long-term replacement for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following the unsuccessful caretaker period under Ralf Rangnick.
He arrived in England with a growing reputation following his spell at Ajax, where he continually reshaped the team and developed talent but kept them competitive domestically and in Europe.
Like most Dutch coaches he is regarded as being a man with a fine attention to details, something that has already been seen in the early days of his Manchester United reign.
“He is someone who can work well with people, but you have to earn that. That’s why he also commands a lot of respect from the players,” he told Voetbal Nieuws, relayed by Voetbal Primeur.
“He is always extremely well prepared. Truly a man of details. If you want to argue with him about the line-up, you have to have your arguments ready.
“You can’t just shout something, especially not a few days before the game. Then you have to come up with a worked-out idea by Monday.
“It’s also part of top-class sport. At Utrecht I soon noticed: this is really a top-class sports coach.
“I can imagine that his role will increasingly become that of manager. Then assistant coach is a very nice role. Just look at Pepijn Lijnders at Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp.”
