The FA Cup final between Manchester United and Manchester City on Saturday will see a battle of the balds as Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag face off at Wembley. The two coaches were once colleagues at Bayern Munich, where Guardiola was head coach and Ten Hag was in charge of the reserve team. They shared ideas and coaching methods for two years between 2013 and 2015, and Ten Hag left an impression on Guardiola. The latter even tipped the Dutchman to succeed him at the Etihad before he was confirmed as the next United boss in 2022.
Ten Hag made a name for himself at Ajax, taking a side full of rising stars to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019. United have already won the Carabao Cup in Ten Hag’s first season as manager, while Guardiola has wrapped up the Premier League and is gunning for the FA Cup and Champions League. Only United have managed to win all three in the Premier League, doing so memorably in 1999. However, City have been steamrolling teams in recent months, and Guardiola could match Sir Alex Ferguson if he wins all three.
Standing in Guardiola’s way is a man he once tipped to succeed him at the Etihad. The two coaches worked together at Bayern Munich, where Guardiola was head coach and Ten Hag was in charge of the reserve team. Eventually, Ten Hag became a manager in his own right and took over at Utrecht in 2015 before landing the Ajax job two years later. Speaking about their time at Bayern, Guardiola said that they spoke quite regularly, and he was surprised at how humble Ten Hag was.
Once colleagues, now rivals – the two will fight it out for the FA Cup in their respective red and blue corners on Saturday. The match will be broadcast live on talkSPORT from 3 pm.