Opinion: 3 reasons why Man Utd fans must stand by Ten Hag

Despite a poor start to his second season at the Manchester United helm, Erik ten Hag has effected significant changes at the club and his achievements thus far make him worthy of backing. 

From winning the Carabao Cup to booting out stars who could very well be considered too big for the club, the Dutch manager has brought some much-needed stability to a side that was in disarray from the boardroom all the way down to the field. 

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After the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021, Ralf Rangnick came in and from that disastrous period of on-pitch performances, the Austrian highlighted what the club needed after a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in April last year. 

"This is not only a question of quality of players… it's also a question of how they play together, what mentality do they have, what kind of energy, what kind of physicality compared with high speed. I would say they have 25 Formula One racing cars in their squad."

His comments should serve as a reminder for United fans as to just how bad things had got before Ten Hag was given the steering wheel of a flaming car. 

Apart from the ongoing issues related to the side's owners, the Glazer family, the team had no identity on the pitch, no style of play; no direction. The former Ajax boss came in with a philosophy, and although he is still trying to imprint it on the team, he has done much more as well. 

1) Bringing much-needed discipline 

In an upside-down era that has seen players being the cause of managers getting sacked because of the power they wield, Ten Hag has proved his ability to stay firm in the face of footballers with that certain "I'm bigger than this club" mentality.

Cristiano Ronaldo, for instance, came to United right after his tantalising spell at Juventus, where he scored 101 goals in 134 appearances. And in the season before the Dutchman was appointed, the Portugal captain was United's most important player, scoring 24 goals in 39 matches.

However, when Ten Hag came in, he was not afraid to put Ronaldo on the bench when he saw that the Portuguese was not a good fit for the system and style of play he wanted to implement, and when Ronaldo aired his frustration during an interview with Piers Morgan, he and the club saw it fit to part ways.

Other instances, like Marcus Rashford being benched against Wolverhampton Wanderers for disciplinary reasons or Jadon Sancho being banished for not apologising to the manager, show that the balance of power at the club has been shifted to almost how it was under Sir Alex Ferguson. 

2) Cutting the wage bill 

Players on incomprehensibly big contracts were an issue the club faced for a long time.

According to Spotrac, during the 2021/22 campaign, the top three earners at the club were being paid over £300 000 (R6.8 million) a week. Ronaldo was the top earner (he was earning £510 000 a week (R11.5 million) ), David de Gea was second (£375 000), and Sancho was third (£350 000). Two of those players have since left the club while Sancho looks very close to his departure. 

Freeing up money on the wage bill allows the club to spend that money elsewhere and helps eliminate that superstar mentality that, as United fans would have experienced in the past, causes turmoil and divide in the dressing room and shows itself on the pitch. 

Ideally, what the club's faithful would want is a harmonious group of players who fight for one another, the fans, the manager, and above all, the badge. 

3) Proven winner 

Much of the criticism that was thrown the way of Solskjaer involved the lack of trophies he has to show for his time in management. The same, however, cannot be said about Ten Hag. He brought silverware to Old Trafford in his very first season, winning the EFL Cup and finishing third in the league.

During his time at Ajax, he won the KNVB Beker on two occasions and was crowned league champion three times. Some may argue that winning the Eredivisie is nowhere near as great as winning the EPL, and they may have a point. However, it is important to consider that it is a competitive professional league at the end of the day. They also need to look at where Ajax are now, after the current United boss departed. 

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The Dutch side are 11th in the Eredivisie and last season, the club finished third on the table, 13 points behind league winners Feyenoord. This serves as a reminder of the good job Ten Hag did in his tenure at the 36-time league winners.

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