Nigel de Jong believes Erik ten Hag has tamed the big egos at Manchester United.
Former Manchester City midfielder De Jong believes his fellow Dutchman has taken on a huge challenge at Old Trafford after turning Ajax back into Holland’s most dominant team. And he reckons Ten Hag has already grasped the task by signing players like Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Tyrell Malacia and Antony, who will “go to war” for him.
Ten Hag has inherited an underachieving squad that includes huge personalities like Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire. And he stood firm when Ronaldo was trying to force his departure at the start of the season.
De Jong said: “Erik has 23 egos in his squad at Man United. You can have the best players in the world, but you can only start building a proper side when you can turn all those egos into a team.
“Ten Hag has chosen his players carefully. I can see one thing, he has picked players with whom he can win a war. I can see the strategy already. Look at Martinez in the team. He has that killer mentality. Martinez will run through fire for Ten Hag.
“Antony is adding swagger. He too has a mentality what we call 'over my dead body'. I have seen that side of Antony plenty of times. United have done really good business in my opinion. The spirit in the team has changed.
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“Last year, if they conceded a goal, the team collapsed like a house of playing cards. Now, we can all see the energy and strong mentality in the United team. There is a real team on the pitch again.”
De Jong was a cult hero at City and helped the Sky Blues win the first of their six Premier League titles in 2012. But he started his career at Ajax - and also spent some time working in the Dutch club’s academy, so he has always been a keen observer of Ten Hag’s methods.
And he can already see the Dutchman’s impact at Old Trafford. De Jong added: “Ten Hag has already convinced the players that they need to operate as a team.
“It is all about fighting for every yard and working hard. That is what the players need to know. That is a start. Then results will follow. At this moment, United are still scoring more goals from counter-attacks than from a dominant style of football.
“But the main thing is that they are winning games and for Ten Hag, that is how he can bring more confidence into the team. Eventually, he can get them to play the way he wants.”
De Jong has also been impressed by Marcus Rashford’s transformation under Ten Hag. He added: “Rashford is feeling so much better in his attacking role now. Ten Hag does not really have a prolific goalscorer or a real striker, so he has put Rashford in there and it’s wonderful to see him giving top performances in return for the massive trust the manager has in him.
“I can see a smile on Rashord’s face again - and that tells me a lot. For far too long, I have seen him walk around with a sad expression. Now the joy is back because he is playing with players who understand him.”
