Former Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong has been giving his verdict on Erik ten Hag’s first summer at Manchester United.
The Dutchman, recently retired from professional football, has been analyzing precisely what the manager has done this summer.
Ten Hag joined the club at the beginning of the summer after a poor season and with the need to transform the mentality of the squad and the style of the players.
De Jong will know how the coach operates after being a huge success in the Netherlands for Ajax. Since he joined the Dutch club in 2016, he has completely transformed it and brought back a winning mentality for one of the biggest clubs in the country.
In an interview with The Mirror, the former midfielder spoke about the difference in the Red Devils squad between last season and the one that Ten Hag has transformed.
“Erik has 23 egos in his team at Man United,” De Jong said in a recent interview.
“You can have the best players in the world, but you can only start to build a proper team when you can turn all those egos into a team.”
The summer saw a flurry of transfer activity with 19 players leaving the squad and five entering the first team. Lisandro Martínez, Christian Eriksen, Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro and Antony had the luxury of joining the squad after a busy couple of months. De Jong went on to talk about the players Ten Hag has brought in and explained exactly what they will bring to the squad.
“Ten Hag has carefully chosen his players. I can see one thing, he has chosen players with whom he can win a war. I can already see the strategy.
“Look at Martinez on the team. He has that killer mentality. Martinez will run through the fire for Ten Hag.
“Antony is adding arrogance. He also has a mentality that we call ‘over my dead body’. I’ve seen that side of Antonio many times.
“United has done very good business in my opinion. The spirit in the team has changed.”
Red Devils fans will remember interim manager Ralf Rangnick speaking to the media about the need for a team transformation. It’s safe to say that the former Ajax manager has transformed the overall style of the players, with a core of South Americans at the heart of the rebuilt team. He too has changed the mindset of the squad with wins over Liverpool and Arsenal in recent weeks after a slow start to the season.
“Last year, if they conceded a goal, the team would collapse like a house of cards,” De Jong said.
“Now we can all see the energy and strong mentality in the United team. There is a real team on the pitch again.
“That’s a start. Then the results will come. At the moment, United are still scoring more goals from counterattacks than with a dominant style of football.”
One footballer who has returned to form after a difficult period following the European Championship is academy graduate Marcus Rashford. The Englishman has been used as a striker and has already scored and assisted multiple goals this season. De Jong concluded the interview with a little reflection on Rashford’s current form, saying it was “wonderful” to see that the manager’s faith in him, playing up front as a forward, had been rewarded.
United will face Sheriff in the Europa League after the postponement of Premier League matches last weekend.
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