Cristiano Ronaldo could become the leader of Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United revolution.
There is a common perception that the 37-year-old striker will be finished at Old Trafford if Ten Hag becomes United’s sixth manager in nine years this summer. Former Ajax and Manchester City winger Kiki Musapma was the latest to offer the opinion that “Ronaldo is not really a Ten Hag-type player” this week. “Why? Because Ten Hag is all about the team and everybody has got his piece of work to do.”
It’s true that the Portuguese will indeed have to bend himself to Ten Hag’s will if he is to be part of United’s future. But it’s also possible that the pair could become a perfect fit. Dusan Tadic has been Ten Hag’s dressing room talisman at Ajax as the Dutchman has awakened the sleeping Amsterdam giants over the last four-and-a-half-years.
But eyebrows were raised when Tadic was signed from Southampton in the summer of 2018 in a deal worth £12.5million. The Serbian winger had experienced the Eredivisie before with Groningen and Twente, but he was just a few months shy of his 30th birthday when he arrived at Ajax.
Ten Hag, however, realised he needed someone with experience and character to guide youngsters like Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Hakim Ziyech and Donny van de Beek.
Ajax won a Dutch league and cup double that season and were a minute away from reaching the Champions League final. In the quarter-final, Tadic scored twice and provided two assists as Ajax beat Real Madrid 4-1 at the Bernabeu. They were on course to defend the title before the following season was cancelled due to the pandemic.
But when the Amsterdam club did the double again in 2021, Tadic was named Dutch Footballer of the Year. Ten Hag could sign off from Ajax this summer with another double. Tadic is his captain. A Dutch football insider said: “Ten Hag likes to have some experience to help his young players - on and off the pitch.
“Every player has a role in his team and if they don’t do their job then they don’t get picked. But Ten Hag doesn’t want 11 robots. He likes to have personalities in the dressing room who will lead by example.
“He likes to have a player who can help him shape talented young players, showing them how to train properly, how to eat properly and how they live the life of a professional footballer. That’s why it’s too simplistic to say that Ronaldo will leave United if Ten Hag becomes manager.
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“He made Tadic his captain because he was a great role model. Is there a better role model in the game than Cristiano Ronaldo in the way he trains and the standards he sets and expects? Maybe Ten Hag will look to Ronaldo to help him rebuild United.”
Ten Hag’s philosophy comes from the Total Football matra laid down by Dutch master Johan Cruyff, first as a player then a coach. Pep Guardiola comes from the same school. Ten Hag was a schoolboy when Cruyff returned to Ajax in December 1980 with the team eighth in the table.
Wim Jansen also signed for Ajax at the same time. Jansen was described by Cruyff as “one of only four men worth listening to when it came to football.” And with Jansen doing the heavy lifting in midfield, Cruyff was given the freedom to show that he could defy his slowing legs with speed of thought.
Ajax won consecutive titles. And when they thought Cruyff should hang up his boots in 1983, he moved to bitter rivals Feyenoord to win the league and cup double. At the age of 37, he retired as the Dutch Footballer of the Year.
Ronaldo is physically no longer able to press from the front. But his 18 goals illustrate that he can still do the most difficult thing in football. Only Mo Salah, Son Heung-min, Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane have scored more than him in the Premier League.
Ten Hag will have a myriad of problems to address if he becomes United manager. Does he really want to be asking: “Who’s going to score our goals?”
