Tottenham’s reported interest in Ajax manager Erik Ten Hag has been dismissed as nothing more than agents playing games.
That’s according to Veronica Inside analysts René van der Gijp and Johan Derksen, who have compared the situation to that of former Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk.
Ten Hag has been named as a potential replacement for Jose Mourinho at Tottenham this week, with it believed Spurs had held talks with the Dutchman after sacking Mourinho last week.
They have already missed on Julian Nagelsmann after he moved to Bayern Munich as a replacement for Hansi Flick, who is expected to take charge of the German National Team.
Ten Hag was considered the alternative after his fine work with Ajax in recent years, although a move seems unlikely after he signed a new deal with the Dutch giants earlier this week.
“You can’t tell me that as a club, you have a few years with Mauricio Pochettino and then Jose Mourinho, and then you talk to Erik Ten Hag,” VoetbalZone report van der Gijp saying.
“Don’t you think, well, that is quite a difference. Don’t you think so, Wim?”
“Yes, of course, he has a bit against him, eh. In stature and whatever else,” added fellow panellist Wim Kieft, before fellow analyst Derksen hinted it could be agents at play.
“That happens very often. Agents throw that into the media with friendly journalists, and then they hope that something comes loose there.”
That is where Van der Gijp comes back into the conversation and states that the situation reminded him of the talk around former Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk after the 2010 World Cup.
He led his country to the final that year and was subsequently linked with top jobs around the world as a result.
None of them were actually interested, though, and Van der Gijp believes it’s a similar situation with Ten Hag.
“It’s a bit like the Bert van Marwijk syndrome,” he said.
“He thought that after winning the World Cup final with the Netherlands, he would join Liverpool or another big club. But they didn’t come either.
“He was with Rob Jansen at the time, and he called everyone. Everyone, from Liverpool to all of them. But there was no interest at all. Then it was a bit about Valencia, which is in the middle of the pack.”
