Erik ten Hag’s Ajax Style of Football Yet to Be Seen at Manchester United
Manchester United fans are still waiting to witness the stunning football that Erik ten Hag’s Ajax side became world famous for.
Ten Hag, who led Ajax to the semi-finals of the Champions League in the 2018/19 season, was heavily linked with Barcelona due to his team’s exceptional youth-based passing football.
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However, at Manchester United, the style of play has not been as enjoyable to watch, which even Rio Ferdinand expressed concern about.
When a training drill video of the Red Devils struggling to complete passes went viral, comparisons were made to Ten Hag’s previous club.
‘Rondos’, small-sided training drills similar to ‘piggy in the middle’, are common for all clubs now, and United used them to prepare for their Champions League match against Bayern Munich.
However, the video showed numerous misplaced passes and a general sense of confusion.
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An observant viewer compared the video to a similar drill conducted by Ten Hag at Ajax, where players executed intense one-touch passes in a confined space.
The user captioned the video: “For context, this is what a serious rondo looks like.
“Ten Hag knows, which makes him saying he can’t coach United into being a serious team in possession, aka ‘playing like his Ajax team’ even worse.”
Club legend Ferdinand discussed United’s lack of identity in an interview with talkSPORT, expressing his major concern despite supporting the coach until the end of the season.
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“With Ten Hag, I want to see a style of football,” Ferdinand said. “I can’t see a style of football and an identity and a philosophy when you look at so many teams around the league, whether they’re near the top or the bottom.
“You always know a Sean Dyche team when you see it. When he puts his team out, you know he must be on the training ground working on his team.
“I spoke to Ten Hag before the Galatasaray game and I said, ‘why have we not seen a consistent performance from your team yet?’
“And he said, ‘well, I’ve had a lot of injuries’, but I still think those other players that are coming in are on the training ground as well, they’re watching these training sessions and taking part.”