‘Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely’ – United back Ten Hag

Omar Berrada, the new chief executive of Manchester United, and Dan Ashworth, the sporting director, have given their backing to Erik ten Hag, insisting that the Dutchman is the right person to help them realise their aim of challenging for major domestic and European trophies.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who took charge of football operations in February, recruited Berrada from Manchester City and poached Ashworth from Newcastle United to help the club end their 11-year wait to win the Premier League title.
Last season United won the FA Cup but finished eighth in the league and on Sunday they were given a reminder of how tough a task they have in front of them this year when Liverpool coasted to a 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
Speaking to the national press a few hours before the defeat by their rivals, Berrada and Ashworth, who both started work in July, said that they were convinced that United were heading in the right direction under Ten Hag and welcomed Ratcliffe’s decision to trigger the one-year extension in the manager’s contract.
“Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely,” Berrada said when asked if Ten Hag’s position would come under threat after a run of bad results. “We think Erik is the right coach for us and we’re fully backing him.”
Ratcliffe interviewed Thomas Tuchel, Kieran McKenna, Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Frank as he contemplated sacking Ten Hag in May but decided instead to stick with the former Ajax head coach, whose popularity among United fans surged after his side beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
Rather than persuade Ten Hag to sign a long-term deal, Ratcliffe decided instead to trigger a one-year extension clause in his contract, which was viewed externally by some fans as a sign that the billionaire businessman did not have complete faith in him.
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“In terms of the contract, that was a decision that was taken prior to both of our arrivals,” Berrada, sitting alongside Ashworth in the Old Trafford boardroom, said.
“But we’re very happy with that decision. Erik has our full backing and we have worked very closely together in this transfer window.
“We’re going to continue working very closely with him to help him get the best results out of the team.”
Ashworth and his team have done their bit to help Ten Hag by bringing in five new signings at a cost of almost £200million. Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee have all joined the club in a window regarded by Berrada as a great success.
Given that he was on gardening leave at the time, Ashworth said that Ratcliffe did not ask him for his opinion on Ten Hag’s position at the end of last season.
“I didn’t start until July 1, so [I had no input], none whatsoever,” Ashworth, who also worked at Brighton & Hove Albion and with the FA, said. “I’ve really enjoyed working with Erik for the last eight weeks. I see my job is to support him in every way I can, whether that’s operationally, with recruitment, medical, with psychology, training ground flow, it’s just to take as much of that off him to allow him to fully focus on the training pitch and the match tactical plan to deliver success for Manchester United.”
Before joining United, Berrada climbed the ladder at Manchester City, running commercial operations before becoming chief football operations officer of the City Football Group.
The Paris-born Moroccan was involved in the negotiations to bring the likes of Erling Haaland to City, who have won the title six times in Pep Guardiola’s eight-year spell in charge.
Despite United’s tough start to the season — they have only won one of their three Premier League matches — Berrada is confident that better times lie ahead for the club.
When asked how long it would take United to start challenging the likes of City and Liverpool for major trophies, Berrada said: “I think anybody who has worked in football for a long time could tell you that it’s almost impossible to put a timescale to answer that question.
“[But] when you look at the teams who have been successful consistently for many years it’s because they have the right coach, they have signed the right players, they have the right structure around the coach and players; you need to take good decisions consistently for many years to get into a position where you are a financially sustainable club that is competing to win every single competition.
“We don’t want to just win one Premier League and then be satisfied. We want to create a team that is capable of competing for the Champions League, for the Premier League and for the domestic cups on a consistent basis.”