One of the criteria Dan Ashworth has set to define a ‘great leader’ is someone who is able to establish a culture that brings out the best in people and players within a football club. That’s what Erik ten Hag has been trying to do for the past 20 months or so at Manchester United.
Ten Hag said this season he had inherited a “bad culture” when he took over the club and most of his duties last season, but he is changing that a bit, with mixed results. . It is certainly no exaggeration to say that the Dutchman has had to spend far too much time dealing with disciplinary issues during his time as manager at Old Trafford.
From Alejandro Garnacho’s reprimand for being late on Ten Hag’s first pre-season tour, to Marcus Rashford being benched in a Premier League game for being late to the start of a team meeting. These are two of the issues Ten Hag had to deal with. Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo have crossed the line, effectively ending their club careers, but Rashford’s recent party in Belfast was far more significant than last season’s failure.
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Ten Hag has taken a decisive approach on all these issues, especially regarding Ronaldo and Sancho. The former was immediately suspended after an unauthorized interview with Piers Morgan, while Sancho has been banned since questioning his manager on social media in early September.
His reign on the pitch has endured some difficulties this season, although there are signs of improvement, but Ten Hag is looking to improve the culture and create a sense of collective participation in his project at the club. A great deal of effort has been put into cultivating it. Asked about Sancho’s problems in mid-September, Ten Hag opened up about what he had encountered at the club and the changes he had made.
“The club wanted me to have a hard line because there wasn’t a good culture going into last season, so that’s what I did: set good standards and manage the standards. is my job.”
“Of course, it’s not just that someone makes a mistake once, but the whole process of arriving at a particular result about the exact boundaries is important.
“Whether it’s the staff or the players, we have to be strong because we have structures that cross the line.”
It’s a philosophy that fits with the values of Ashworth, who is set to become United’s new sporting director once a remuneration package can be agreed with Newcastle. In a podcast with Training Ground Guru in December 2020, while he was technical director at Brighton, Ashworth spoke about the importance of an established culture within the club.
“The mark of a good leader is to establish a culture that gets the best out of people and players. It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO of Apple or the manager of Brighton. “If you can establish that, the confidence to express yourself, the space to succeed and reach your full potential, that’s the best thing you can ask for,” he said.
“Culture is really important to Graham [Potter], Therefore, the player’s personality is very important to him. What kind of people are they? How can I connect with them? How can I improve them? How can I make my team better? These are often questions he asks from a recruiting standpoint, as well as technical, tactical and physical.
“There are a few things you can do about that. Even when you’re scouting players and watching from the stands, how do they warm up? When their team scores, how do they celebrate? How do they connect with their teammates? When do they come off? How are they disappointed?
“We work in a relatively small industry, so you can always find former teammates and coaches to get a sense of who they are.”
Such an enthusiastic approach would be music to Ten Hag’s ears. Firstly, the Dutchman needs to ensure he maintains his responsibilities to get through this season at Old Trafford and work alongside Ashworth, who heads up the club’s football operations as sporting director.
But if they go into the summer taking on two of the club’s most important football-specific roles, they will clearly be singing the same hymn when it comes to culture within Manchester United. .