Nemanja Matic has praised Erik ten Hag for the job he has done at Manchester United so far – calling the Dutchman a ‘stable’ individual who is instilling ‘values’ lost in the post-Ferguson years.
The Serbian defender, who spent eight glittering years with the club winning five Premier League crowns, Champions League and the League Cup three times, pointed to Ten Hag’s calmness and ability to take a step back from the noise and view it as a process as reason for the club’s undeniable strides this season.
Alluding to the years between Sir Alex Ferguson retiring from management and Ten Hag taking over with the club at perhaps its lowest ebb in the modern era, Vidic suggested the former Ajax boss has strived to improve the players at his disposal while instilling a team ethic that had fallen by the wayside somewhat.
‘Erik ten Hag makes players better,’ Vidic told i. ‘He’s a good coach — that’s very important. He’s working on the pitch all the time with them. He’s very stable as a person.
‘He was already working for a big club and it seems like his approach is that nothing comes straight away, it’s hard work. He sees the longer picture.
Nemanja Vidic has heaped praised upon Erik ten Hag for instilling a ‘team’ culture at the club
‘Even if you lose the match or win the match, where he wants to go. He gives me confidence as an ex-Manchester United player and fan that he knows what he’s doing.’
The Dutchman has shown himself to a manager not afraid of making big decisions. In the last few months alone Ten Hag has ensured the termination of the recalcitrant Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract, sent Jadon Sancho to train alone in Holland and dropped in-form Marcus Rashford to the bench for a trip to Wolves owing to the England star’s punctuality.
‘You can see on the pitch that they’re playing more as a team,’ Vidic added.
‘Ten Hag has good values. That’s important. I think we lost in a certain moment that value but now I think he’s giving that back. And it feels now that they’re playing as a team.’
Vidic enjoyed eight glittering years with United – winning five Premier Leagues and the Champions League
Ten Hag has sought to cut out the noise surrounding the club and do it his way this season
Vidic’s comments come amid a turnaround in fortunes for United that has seen them touted as potential left-field title contenders this season.
With the club having lost their first two games of the season to Brighton and Brentford, many put the writing on the wall for the Dutchman early on but he has instilled a renewed belief around the club – both on and off the pitch.
Their recent run towards the top has been halted somewhat in recent weeks by a loss at Arsenal and a draw at home to Leeds on Wednesday night.
Ten Hag’s reign as United boss started in the worst possible manner with consecutive defeats
The Dutchman has the club third in the Premier League seeking a return to the Champions League
Speaking to the media on Friday during the swift turnaround with United set to go to Elland Road on Sunday, Ten Hag said his players were suffering from an ‘overload’.
‘With the World Cup in between there’s a lot of load – overload – on the players, that’s quite clear. That process is already longer term coming on, that the load on the players is too much,’ he said.
‘Christian Eriksen, you can’t put that under that reason. Martial, you can’t put that under that reason. It’s really individual, how we can see it and how we find reasons why things happen. But also, if you play top football, you go across limits and injuries will come up. That’s also a normal issue, I would say.’
United currently sit third in the Premier League, seven points off leaders Arsenal having played two games more.
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
