MANCHESTER CITY
ERIK TEN HAG has warned new Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe that he will not bring the glory years back to Old Trafford by copying Manchester City’s blueprint for success.
Ratcliffe admitted that he viewed United’s biggest rivals as the ultimate football powerhouse after sealing a £1.3billion deal to buy a 27.7 percent stake in the club he supported as a boy.
Britain’s richest man has already raided the Etihad to take City executive Omar Berrada (above) to United as the club’s new CEO – and wants former Blues academy chief Jason Wilcox to join him in a recruitment role.
But Ten Hag has cautioned his new boss against sacrificing United’s DNA, ahead of the 192nd Manchester derby.
Ten Hag said: “You can always learn from opponents who are successful – and you have to do that if you want to go to higher levels.
“But, at the same time, we have to do it in the United way. This is a different club, with a different environment and with a different DNA.
“You pick up things that can be successful – and you integrate it into your own model.”
Ratcliffe has taken control of the football operation after agreeing to go into business with the Glazer family – despite the Americans presiding over a decade of failure.
City have become the most dominant force in the Premier League during that time – and last season emulated the Treble triumph of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999
United team. Ten Hag is now under pressure to deliver on the promise of his first season when United finished third, won the Carabao Cup and were beaten by City in the FA Cup Final.
After finishing bottom of their Champions League group, they are now left with the huge task of trying to qualify again after Fulham sentenced them to a 10th Premier League defeat of the season at Old Trafford last week.
Ratcliffe has refused to back his manager – leaving the Dutchman on trial for the rest of the campaign.
United beat Nottingham Forest on Wednesday to book a home FA Cup quarter-final with Liverpool.
But it was another lacklustre performance at the City Ground – and the commitment of players Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes has been questioned. Ten Hag agrees body language is important – but insisted he has no problem with the emotions of his players.
He said: “Of course, body language is important because it gives an expression.
“We talk about this issue with the players and team – and also as individuals… of what is the impact on the crowd, but also on opponents, because football is such a psychological game, win or lose.
“You have to take everything you can and use it to your advantage, so when your body language can be positive, and your expression, then you use it for the good of your own team.
“What you see is the character of a player expressed in their body language – and that is not a thing that you can change in a short time.
“Bruno is a good example of this. I have seen he wants to win and so he shows his emotion and that is an absolute strength from him to push his own team.
“He shows how much he wants to win so that others around him pick it up and go and fight with it.”
You can always learn... but we have to do it the United way