Ten Hag: I was warned not to take ‘impossible’ Man United job

Erik ten Hag has said he was warned not to become Manchester United manager before taking charge at Old Trafford, with people telling him it was an “impossible” job.

The Dutchman joined United from Ajax in the summer of 2022, becoming the sixth manager – after David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick – to attempt to emulate the success under Sir Alex Ferguson .

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Everyone was telling me, 'You can't make it in this job,'” Ten Hag told fanzine United We Stand, according to British media on Thursday.

“They said it was impossible. Me? I wanted the challenge. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but it was such a big club with such a big fan base.”

Ten Hag had a successful debut season, taking the club back to the Champions League and winning the Carabao Cup.

However, the team are having a difficult second campaign, currently sitting sixth in the Premier League and bottom of their Champions League group with only an outside chance of qualifying for the knockout stage before the final round.

One of those who advised Ten Hag against taking the job at the 20-time English champions was former Man United and Netherlands manager Van Gaal.

“I think Ten Hag is a great coach; I've said that many times,” Van Gaal said in March 2022, when Ten Hag was a reported candidate for the United job.

“A great coach is good for Man United. But Man United is a commercial club. These are difficult choices for a manager. As a coach, you should prefer a football club.

Man United beat Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday, after which Ten Hag refuted suggestions the club was in crisis.

“Crisis? Not for us,” Ten Hag said. “We are on a journey, we stay calm and believe in the process. We know what we need to build and we don't get distracted by the criticism around us.

“I don't care about the noise. When we stay together, when we have the right attitude, we have the performances to score points.”