In April 2018, when PSV Eindhoven clinched the Dutch title by beating closest challengers Ajax 3-0, the bus taking Erik ten Hag and his vanquished players back to Amsterdam was ambushed by their own angry fans.
Hakim Ziyech, the Moroccan international who now plays for Chelsea, was physically assaulted. Ten Hag was just four months into the job - and the biggest club in Holland was in crisis.
Instead of running for cover, Ten Hag disembarked from the coach alongside beleaguered chief executive Edwin van der Sar to listen to the grievances of supporters outside the Amsterdam Arena. They spent almost two hours talking to ultras who wanted to know how a club like Ajax could go four years without winning a trophy. It was a pivotal moment.
Ten Hag will take over as manager of Manchester United this summer, with the Old Trafford fans more estranged from the Glazer family - the club's owners - than they’ve ever been. It has been five years since Jose Mourinho won the League Cup and Europa League with the Red Devils. United haven’t lifted the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, which was the last time they finished above neighbours Manchester City.
Ten Hag’s task is even more daunting than the one he conquered at Ajax. Gary Neville says his former club are “broken” - and you’ll do well to find a Stretford Ender who’ll disagree. It is ironic that Van der Sar engaged with those Ajax fans; he didn’t learn that during his six years playing for United.
Van der Sar, the goalkeeper, would have seen that the lines of communication from boardroom to fanbase are non-existent. Ten Hag is now the voice of Manchester United. He will find supporters who are desperate for him to succeed - just as they were with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
They don't expect the new boss to join in the anti-Glazer protests or wear a green and gold scarf. But what they will demand is a manager who won’t put up with second best, whether that’s from his players on the pitch or the people who will be tasked with helping him rebuild the squad by recruiting the right players.
Despite the Glazer family using profits to service debts and pay themselves massive annual dividends, United have still spent over £1billion in the transfer market since Ferguson retired. They have the biggest wage bill in the Premier League. Yet Ten Hag will inherit a team that possesses perhaps a handful of players who are fit for purpose; just ask Rangnick.
The days of bringing back legends on £500,000-a-week salaries just to keep them out of the hands of Pep Guardiola, or because their presence might help the commercial team land a new tractor partner from Japan, have to end. If Ten Hag doesn’t draw a line in the sand then he’s almost sure to live up to the nickname he’s been given by City fans: 'Ten months'.
The Dutchman will be aware that United are a club divided - and that it will remain so despite Glazer attempts to placate supporters with share offers and a fans' advisory board. But the level of anger, even amongst the less militant supporters, might shock him.
Ten Hag has succeeded during his coaching and managerial career because he has worked at clubs where everyone sings from the same hymn sheet. Ajax, under Van der Sar, realised the folly of treating fans as customers ready to be fleeced. Last year, when Ten Hag’s team retained the Eredivisie title during a season where grounds remained empty due to the pandemic, the championship shield was taken to a local tin factory and smelted down.
More than 42,000 stars were then manufactured, each containing a small fraction of the trophy, and given to season-ticket holders. Ten Hag will be working in a very different environment in Manchester.
