Yahoo Sports Ten Hag: Manchester United pressure is not for everyone – only certain characters cope here
Erik ten Hag says Manchester United should only sign players with the “personality” and “character” to cope with the unique pressures of playing for the club as Jadon Sancho prepares to follow Donny van de Beek out of the door.
Van de Beek joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan last week after a calamitous time at Old Trafford while Borussia Dortmund are expecting to secure a six-month loan deal for Sancho once United have resolved some final financial and contractual details with their exiled player.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team are expected to appoint a new director of football as part of an overhaul of United’s recruitment operations once the British billionaire’s £1.03 billion deal for a 29 per cent stake in the club gains regulatory approval.
Sancho and Van de Beek were both signed by Ten Hag’s predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but United’s transfer record has not improved under the Dutchman.
Ten Hag has spent huge money on players, like Brazil winger Antony, who have struggled to deal with the expectations and standards expected at Old Trafford.
But that has not stopped Ten Hag – whose side face Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup third round at the DW Stadium on Monday night – from outlining the profile of players he believes United should be signing.
Asked if the experience of Van de Beek might dissuade other emerging talents from joining the club, the United manager said: “That is always on those players and how much confidence you have in your capabilities.
“But I can tell you one thing – the Premier League is tough. Man United, that is tough to play there because it’s more easy to play in almost any other team than Man United because the pressure is that high always.
“You have to deal with that. But if you have confidence in yourself, this is the best challenge and this is definitely the best club you want to be at as a player.
“It depends on player to player, and it depends especially on the character of the player, their personality.”
Asked if he expected the biggest initial changes under Ineos to be around recruitment, Ten Hag added: “So it’s not up to me to share that with you. That [my future] is not up to me. But from my talks I had a fantastic feeling after it. The personalities, their ideas, the process they want to go in so I am very positive about that and I am sure it will be beneficial for Manchester United.”
Dortmund and United have agreed a deal in principle for Sancho, who has not played a competitive game for more than four months after being banished for effectively accusing Ten Hag of lying over the reasons for his absence against Arsenal in early September.
The German club, who sold Sancho to United for £73 million in July 2021, are due to play Standard Liege on their winter training camp in Marbella on Tuesday and have been keen to gauge Sancho’s fitness before the Bundesliga season resumes at the weekend.
Dortmund had hoped to have Sancho in by now but the small hold up has been down to some outstanding financial matters between the player and United under the terms of his contract.
Andre Onana is due to start in goal against Wigan after the Cameroonian Football Federation agreed to his delayed release for the Africa Cup of Nations and Rasmus Hojlund is available again after the Denmark striker missed the 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest due to illness.
But Ten Hag says Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez are still likely to be “weeks” away from a return to first team action. Martinez has not played since Sept 20 since suffering a recurrence of the broken metatarsal sustained towards the end of last season. Casemiro’s last game was on Nov 1 and it is understood the Brazil midfielder is not yet properly kicking a ball in team training.
“They are a long time already back on the grass and now they return back into team training but not fully so partial,” Ten Hag said.
“Now they have to make the next steps and that may take some days, I think even weeks.”
Beaten finalists in the FA Cup by Manchester City last season, the trophy represents United’s only last realistic opportunity of silverware this term, with Ten Hag eager to go one step further in the competition. Wigan are 18th in League One.
“It’s a cup game, so it’s do or die and I like it,” he added. “We have had this situation before this season and we have to be ready for the game.
“You face an opponent who will be giving 100 per cent, even more. Every opponent is giving more than 100 per cent against Manchester United but especially this team. We have to be well prepared for the game.”
