Manchester United’s manager, Erik ten Hag, revealed that communication from Ineos, the club’s owners, had significantly “decreased” during the final weeks of the last season. This shift led to a “confrontational conversation” regarding his position at the club. United’s impressive FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City seemingly secured Ten Hag’s position after Ineos had considered other managerial options.
Ten Hag departed for his summer vacation a day after the final and, following a comprehensive 17-day review of the season, was visited by a United delegation in Ibiza. During this visit, they informed him of their decision to retain him as the manager.
In an interview with AD, Ten Hag was asked if he knew what would happen after the final and replied: “No. Except that I still had a year left on my contract.
“But when communication decreases at some point, you naturally feel that. It was clear: there was less communication during that period. Whereas before, it was always there and good too. I had to initiate communication more often. Even after the final.
“Of course, it’s a strange situation. But I didn’t panic. Why? It’s a decision that wasn’t in my hands. I just waited it out. You think in two scenarios at that moment: either we continue, or we don’t. It’s that simple, and I’m pragmatic enough to see it that way.
“The communication did fall away, yes. But I just celebrated my vacation with my loved ones and let things come to me. I have no control over that.
“They (Ineos) didn’t say ‘we want to continue’ but we want to continue. The argument they gave was briefly, ‘we’ve looked at everything and put it all together but we think we already have the best manager’.
“Then I did say, ‘then we need to discuss some things, about how we interact and collaborate’. We had a good, honest, but also confrontational conversation about that. As it should be at the top.
“I gave my vision of the season, on the situation at United and I indicated which path we should take in my opinion. You have to be very honest with each other about that. And then it’s about: do you come together or not? I also told them, ‘if you think this is not the way, then we should just part ways’.”
United opted to trigger the one-year extension clause in Ten Hag’s contract earlier this month, rather than negotiating new terms.
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