Both Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane believe that giving Erik ten Hag control will be key to him being successful at Manchester United.
Ten Hag, currently in charge of Dutch giants Ajax, has been appointed as United's next permanent manager ahead of next season, bringing an end to months of speculation. He has put pen to paper on a deal until the summer of 2025, with the option of an additional year.
The Dutchman, who was identified as United's preferred candidate several weeks before he was officially announced as Ralf Rangnick's successor, will be tasked with the challenge of trying to put the club back on the path to success following a heavy demise in recent years. First, he will oversee one of the biggest summers the club has faced in recent history, with big changes needing to be made to the first-team squad.
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United's recruitment has come in for criticism, with questionable decisions having been made. However, with Ten Hag renowned for smart recruitment and overseeing progressive development, former United boss Ferguson believes it is important that the Dutchman gets the chance to spearhead the direction that the club heads in under his leadership.
Ferguson told RTE Racing: "Well, I hope he does well because the club needs someone to get in control. I hope he does well, yes."
Ferguson's admission about the need for Ten Hag to be given a sense of control matches the opinion aired by former United midfielder Keane. The Sky Sports pundit recently outlined how the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City had benefited from having a manager in charge of the whole operation, pointing to how Ten Hag needs that to put United back on the map.
"The problem for the manager, there you mentioned [Jurgen] Klopp and Pep [Guardiola] and [Thomas] Tuchel, what you want as a manager, if you can, is power and control at your club," Keane told Sky Sports. "He (Ralf Rangnick) hasn't got any power, he's got no control.
"So it was so obvious what was going to happen when Rangnick came in. So whenever the new manager comes in, whenever that is announced, the club have got to back him.
"They've got to back him and give him that power and control, and big decisions with the transfers. From what I hear over the last few years, there are people upstairs making the decisions on recruitment and it's just backfiring all the time. The manager's got to have a big say."
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