Edwin van der Sar has insisted Erik ten Hag was destined for failure at Manchester United, because of the leadership problems above him at the club.
ViaPlay have an interview with the former Manchester United goalkeeper today, relayed by Voetbal Primeur, in which he comes out defending Ten Hag.
Ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United at the end of October after a 2-1 defeat to West Ham United left them with just three wins from their opening nine games.
That left them 14th in the Premier League, and they were also 21st of the 36 teams in the Europa League table phase at that point also.
The move came as something of a surprise given Ten Hag had been backed in the summer transfer window and the club triggered a one-year extension following a win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May.
His departure brought an end to a two-year stay that had seen them taste success, with the FA Cup win following a win in the league cup in 2023 and a third placed finish in his first season.
Van der Sar, though, believes his former associate at Ajax was destined to fail because of the problems above him at Manchester United.
“Everything stands or falls with a policy that is simply supported by everyone. I think that has not always been the case in all those years (since Sir Alex),” he said.
“It was the same in the early period at Ajax (for Ten Hag). Erik also had a difficult period then. He overcame that with the people around him. I actually expected that at United too.
“Only because, I think, there was another power vacuum…The club was put up for sale or partially sold, which gave James Ratcliffe 50% of the shares and the sporting part.
“In addition, a new CEO and a new technical director came, who often want to appoint a manager in their own line. So yes. It was actually almost written in the stars that it would happen like this.”
