Erik ten Hag has decided that he wants to bring a fitness coach to Manchester United and has already identified his top target.
The Red Devils are currently finalising Ten Hag's appointment as their next permanent manager after the 52-year-old convinced Old Trafford chiefs to make him their preferred candidate following multiple in-depth interviews. Within those discussions, Ten Hag reportedly highlighted the United's squad's poor physical conditioning, a long-running issue pointed out by both interim boss Ralf Rangnick and ex-manager Jose Mourinho.
Now set to take the reigns at Old Trafford, the Dutchman wants to raid his soon-to-be former club, Ajax, for not only a number of their star players but head of performance Alessandro Schoenmaker. The i have claimed that ten Hag's trusted confidant is line to follow him to Manchester, with the Brazilian believed to be one of the best in the business.
Schoenmaker also has experience in English football, an element which the Red Devils' incoming manager wants to ensure there is a wealth of when makes the move to the Premier League. The 42-year-old coach has worked for Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Derby County, with the latter pair as part of Steve McClaren 's backroom staff, who Ten Hag notably has a relationship with.
McClaren appointed him as his assistant while at FC Twente in 2009 and reports suggest that their roles could be reversed at United. Regardless of who makes up Ten Hag's coaching team, the Ajax boss is well aware that an improvement in the fitness department will be key to their chances of getting back to the top of world football.
Recently, however, Rangnick stressed that "physicality" cannot always be trained into a player, admitting after their drab 1-1 draw with Leicester City on Saturday: "What was obvious in some parts of the game is that we were second best with regards to physicality.
Join the debate! Will Ten Hag be a success at Man Utd? Give us your prediction here.
"It was about one-on-one duels. Whenever there was body contact, we were too often second-best and that is something we have to get better at for the rest of this season, but even more so for next season. I just felt we could have been more dynamic, more physical, more aggressive, but we weren't in those moments.
"It has to be a bit in the DNA of a player, to be honest. It's difficult to change, shall I say, a technically great player into a physical, aggressive player. We have a lot of people who are technical players. On a day when we are fluid and in our rhythm, we have shown in the past we can outplay other teams.
"But today was difficult. Leicester were aggressive and physical in many parts of the game. We had problems with them. It is what it is and it's difficult to change. I don't think it's to do with mindset, it's to do with the DNA of players. This team does not lack technical players, it can do with more physicality."
