John O'Shea has backed Erik ten Hag to bring the glory days back to Manchester United - but only if he is given enough time.
He was impressed with the Dutchman’s record at Ajax, where his trophy haul included three Eredivisie titles.
Ten Hag also led the Amsterdam giants to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019 and the quarter-finals of the Europa League two years later.
O’Shea, who won five Premier League titles and a Champions League while at Old Trafford, has welcomed his appointment.
But he warned of the need for patience.
“Everyone knows it’s going to be a huge challenge for him, but he’ll hopefully get the backing and time like everyone talks about,” said the Waterford native.
“But whether they actually do it or not is the other thing. You need results too.
“There is that fine balance of, is there progression and improvement, but are we giving him actual time to do that?
“And it’s going to be a case of what players he can get in. That will ultimately be the key, because of the turnover of players in the summer, with the players that are leaving and who he can get in.
“But you saw the work he did at Ajax. Look, it’s obviously very different, the Dutch league compared to the Premier League.
“But he was successful, he brought younger players through, he was really competitive at a European level too, at the top level.
“And he looks like he has got that hunger and appetite to really compete at the top from his first press conference as well, which I thought was quite impressive.”
O’Shea added: “Without a doubt, patience is needed. But patience is tough to come by in the Premier League.”
Meanwhile, O'Shea reckons everyone will benefit from this summer’s departure from Manchester United of his former teammate Paul Pogba.
The Old Trafford outfit this week confirmed that the French World Cup winner would leave during the summer.
The news came as no surprise to O’Shea, who was at the club during Pogba’s first spell at United.
“Look, I played with Paul a long time ago and obviously he was super talented back then,” he said.
“I am sure he is hoping for himself too that he finds that consistent level of performance that he wasn’t able to find at different stages of the season, over the spell when he came back.
“When you saw the goals and assists that he was able to get when he was fully fit and the team was actually playing well, you saw what an important asset he was.
“But unfortunately he had a few injuries too and couldn’t probably get back to that level too.
“Not only Paul, the team suffered a lot too. I think it’s gotten to the case where a fresh start for everyone is probably the best scenario.”
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