Frenkie de Jong's comments on Erik ten Hag shine light on alarming problem at Man Utd

Frenkie de Jong only had words of admiration for his former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, but the Dutchman hasn't managed to replicate his successes enjoyed in the Netherlands on English soil

Frenkie de Jong's opinion is clear on Erik ten Hag - and it hints that he is not to blame for his struggles at Manchester United.

Ten Hag worked alongside De Jong at Ajax between 2017 and 2019 before Barcelona came a-knocking for the services of the central midfielder, winning the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup in the 2018/19 campaign. Ten Hag, 54, stayed on with Ajax until 2022, claiming two more league titles, another Cup and a Johan Cryuff Shield before replacing interim Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick.

Unfortunately, he has been unable to replicate his successes achieved in the Netherlands on home soil however, achieving a third-place finish in his maiden season with the club, before a record-low eighth-place end to 2023/24. However, if De Jong's praises for the manager are anything to go by, then his misfortune in Manchester may not be entirely a result of his own doing - and could be down to the people around him.

Speaking to ESPN about his old boss back in 2019, the 27-year-old said: "All of the technical staff were really important. You can have quality players, but you need good tactics as well. I think it's one of the most important things today in football and for me, we had amazing tactics.

"Every game I had the feeling 'OK we're going to beat them because we're going to do this, this and this and we have the quality players'. So I think a big part of the success was also the technical staff. It's not as simple as 'Go out and enjoy yourself'.

"I think these days, in football, it's really, really important that you have good tactics, that you know how an opponent is going to press, what you're going to do against it and I think we were prepared on all those things, so the technical staff did an amazing job last year."

Fast forward to the 2024/25 campaign, and Manchester United currently sit at a lacklustre 12th place in the Premier League with Ten Hag at the helm. The side showed promise in their seasonal opener by clinching a 1-0 win over Fulham at the Theatre of Dreams, but their form appears to have dithered in the five fixtures which have followed.

United suffered a 2-1 defeat to Brighton in their next fixture, before succumbing to a 3-0 thrashing from fierce rivals Liverpool. While a 3-0 win over Southampton gave the Old Trafford elite something to cheer about, a goalless draw with Crystal Palace before a 3-0 defeat to Spurs shows exactly where United are at in terms of ambition.

And the pundits have also picked up on the Red Devils' poor run of form as of late, with Alan Shearer lambasting their performance against Spurs as "shambolic". Speaking alongside Lineker on The Rest Is Football, the former Newcastle United striker said: "Man United were shambolic, awful, and lucky to get away with three.

"What are they? Can anyone tell me, what are Man United? What is their system, what is their plan? Do they sit? Do they attack? Do they press? I haven’t got a clue what they are. They’re a mess." He continued: "“They’ve won the Carabao and the FA Cup, but in terms of being a force in the league, they’re miles off. They’re miles away. They’ve got no identity."

Historically speaking, Manchester United have failed to lift a Premier League title since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure eleven years ago. Between 1986 and 2013, the Scot won 13 league titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, 10 Community Shields and two Champions Leagues.

And while anyone taking over in the years since had oversized shoes to fill to say the least, no one has came anywhere near. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have each had a fair crack at the reins of the Red Devils, and each have came up short.

While he never won anything with Everton, Moyes enjoyed an 11-year stint at Goodison including fourth and fifth-place finishes - while Van Gaal lifted league titles with Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar and Bayern Munich. Mourinho also won three Premier League titles with Chelsea around enjoying success with the likes of Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Porto, and Solskjaer worked wonders for United's reserve team.

However, none of the aforementioned managers brought the glory days back to Manchester United, and it begs the question; Is it entirely the manager's fault, or could there be deeper issues behind the scenes at Old Trafford? United will look to improve when they face Aston Villa this weekend.

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