Erik ten Hag will enter the upcoming season free of any added pressure, claims Gordon Strachan.
Ten Hag oversaw the worst Manchester United season in over three decades, with the club earning their lowest-ever Premier League finish and worst-ever Champions League performance in 2023-24. The woeful results put Ten Hag firmly on the hot seat, but United's new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe gave the Dutch manager a vote of confidence with a one-year contract extension.
With a new season just around the corner, Ten Hag has another opportunity to prove himself worthy of a long-term committment at Old Trafford. Strachan, who played for the Red Devils in the 1980s and also managed various clubs and the Scotland national team during a 20-year coaching career, doesn't believe Ten Hag will feel any further compulsion to perform despite the way last season unfolded.
"No, I don’t think that Erik ten Hag will go into the new season with any extra pressure on his shoulders after the doubts about his future this summer," Strachan told topoffshorecasinos.com. "I don’t think he’ll be carrying any of that baggage with him."
While Strachan believes Ten Hag will be able to navigate the inevitable questions about his competence that will come if the team underperform at some point during the upcoming campaign, he did offer some advice to the United boss for dealing with the negativity when it comes.
"As a manager, there's a point to where the negativity about you, the difficult questions in the press and the rumours need to be put to one side," Strachan said. "You have to forget about all of the noise and not let it distract you from your job, but it can be hard to do that.
"Once you can do that, once that criticism and the press becomes part of your lifestyle, you don’t even give it a second thought and understand that it’s just part of the territory in managing a massive club. It’s not going to kill you.
"You think to yourself, 'I’m still a decent fella. I still like the club and my players. We’ll just crack on, shall we?' The rumours and press reports haven’t changed me. It’s not changed my life."
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