Erik ten Hag has reportedly requested a comprehensive profile of every member of his Manchester United squad before meeting them personally – and he even wants to know where each one of the players will jet off to for their summer break.
The Dutchman built a reputation in Ajax for a meticulous style of management and is already looking to stamp down his authority at Old Trafford.
Beyond propelling the Red Devils further up the Premier League table next season, the 52-year-old coach is expected to instill a winning culture at the football club following a decade of relative turmoil since the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Erik ten Hag was known as ‘The Headmaster’ in Ajax for his meticulous management style
Bruno Fernandes and Manchester United finished seventh in the Premier League on 58 points
And, much like the authoritative and controlling approach set by Ferguson, Ten Hag has demanded to know everything about his players both on and off the pitch, according to The Mirror.
Aside from conversing with a handful of players via Zoom and WhatsApp, the new boss has yet to meet the squad in its entirety but will know plenty about their professional and personal lives before pre-season.
Ten Hag is reported to be seeking information about each player’s home and family life, alongside a comprehensive run-down of their character.
The Dutchman has requested full and detailed profiles of each of his Man United players
The squad, led by skipper Harry Maguire, returns to full pre-season training at the end of June
The requested information also includes where each player is going on holiday, a strategy Ten Hag is seemingly deploying to ensure his squad returns to pre-season is the best shape possible.
The Dutchman’s all-knowing and disciplinary method to keeping his house in order prompted some Ajax players to nickname him ‘The Headmaster’ in Amsterdam.
The Red Devils return to pre-season training on June 27.
In his first full interview since arriving at the club, Ten Hag vowed to bring ‘rules, principles and structures’ to Old Trafford in a bid to overhaul the team’s struggles.
The Dutchman has officially taken over from interim boss Ralf Rangnick ahead of beginning pre-season next month and has been running the rule over his new squad as he bids to turn them from flops into title contenders.
United failed to even qualify for the Champions League after slumping to sixth place and finished the season with a dismal 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace, with Ten Hag in the stands to see his side for the first time.
Ten Hag will take his players for a pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East this summer, and he said the trip would give him time to stamp his mark on the squad and help them play in the ‘Man United way’.
He said he would be laying down some ground rules and will instil ‘principles and structures’ to ensure his stars are getting things right and deliver consistent performances, unlike this campaign.
‘[The tour will be] Useful, yes, definitely because we have to get a way of playing,’ he told the club’s website.
‘We have to present our way of playing. With our way I mean the Man United way. We will give rules and principles, so we’re bringing in structures and we use that opposition to bring in the structure we want together. That will be useful to get a good start in the season.’
The Dutchman wants to instil ‘structures’ to get performances out of his struggling stars
