Erik ten Hag agrees with Ralf Rangnick's scathing assessment of Manchester United culture, praises Jadon Sancho
By Rhys Jones
Published 21/07/2024 at 11:06 GMT+1
Erik ten Hag agrees with Ralf Rangnick's assessment of Manchester United, admitting the former Red Devils boss was right when he said that the club needed open-heart surgery. Rangnick took charge of the club following the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021 before leaving at the end of that season. Ten Hag has also seemingly mended his rift with Jadon Sancho after their spat last season.
Mainoo ‘so grateful’ to Ten Hag for showing faith in him
Video credit: SNTV
Erik ten Hag has admitted that Ralf Rangnick was right in his assessment that Manchester United need better "attitude and energy".
Current Austria boss Rangnick delivered a scathing appraisal of the organisation at Old Trafford upon stepping away from the club two years ago, likening the situation at United to needing open-heart surgery.
The German won just 11 of his 29 matches at United as he guided them to sixth spot in the Premier League.
“Rangnick was absolutely right. We’ve been working very hard on that for two years, but he said it just right,” Ten Hag told Dutch newspaper AD Sportwereld.
The Dutchman has won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in his two seasons at United, but found himself hanging by a thread towards the end of last season, when his sacking seemed inevitable as United finished eighth in the league.
“Our standards still need to go up,“ Ten Hag added. “I knew when I started that it was going to be a tough job. There are a lot of people who have advised me. Louis van Gaal too.
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“We want this club back to where it was more than a decade ago, to a club that wins the Premier League, which can win Champions Leagues. We are really a long way away from that, I think.
“I think we’ve taken steps since then, otherwise we wouldn’t have won two prizes, but we are not yet so far that a ‘winning culture’ already prevails here in all respects.
“Our standards, our norms and values, still need to go up. I was not shocked [by what I inherited]. But the culture, the mentality was really not good. To win, to really achieve top performance every week, we had to change a lot.”
Another consistent issue that the United boss has faced over the past season is that of Jadon Sancho, whose fallout with Ten Hag led to the winger returning to Borussia Dortmund on loan in January.
Sancho almost immediately began delivering for Dortmund as they began their journey in the UEFA Champions League.
Their semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain saw the 24-year-old come up with one of the performances of the campaign as he terrorised defender Nuno Mendes, and kept PSG's own attackers on lockdown.
Sancho has, however, been welcomed back into the first-team fold in pre-season by Ten Hag, featuring for United in their 2-0 win over Rangers on Saturday.
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Jadon Sancho, Manchester United
Image credit: Getty Images
“We spoke well. Everyone can make a mistake,” Ten Hag said on Sancho.
“This club needs good players, and one thing is certain: Jadon Sancho is a very good player. I hope that we will still click and that he will contribute to our success.”
Ten Hag is in the midst of rebuilding and reshaping the club's playing personnel and Sancho has the potential to play a big part in that.
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