An individual’s time spent at Man Utd probably no longer has any bearing on how they are looked at in the footballing world but Leverkusen star Nathan Tella still had a clear message regarding Erik ten Hag.
Former Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag is now in his first job since leaving Old Trafford, signing up with Bayern Leverkusen as the replacement for Xabi Alonso.
While he joined United as one of Europe’s most exciting managers after his heroics with Ajax, he joins Leverkusen as a man wanting to rebuild his reputation.
Leverkusen star Nathan Tella has moved to set the record straight before Ten Hag has even managed a game with a clear message.
Nathan Tella of Bayer 04 Leverkusen controls the ball during the 1.Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund
Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Nathan Tella on Erik ten Hag’s time at Man Utd
Erik ten Hag’s time at Man Utd can be looked at broadly through two lenses.
One school of thought credits him for breaking the trophy drought and bringing back the big-game-winning mentality to the club.
Ruben Amorim would know how important that is after losing to Spurs in the Europa League final.
The other side would point to the atrocious transfer record and argue that has put the club back years, the hubris of which Amorim is forced to clean up.
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One can put Leverkusen’s Nathan Tella firmly in the former camp, as he has come out fighting in support of his new manager in an interview with Flashscore.
Tella said: “I’m looking forward to it (playing for Ten Hag) a lot. I think he is a very good manager. I know, obviously, people are short-sighted and look at only what he’s done at Man United, but people forget he’s won two trophies with them, and what he did with Ajax.
“To even get a job at Manchester United from Ajax, it shows he must be doing something incredible. And even (though) it didn’t go the way perhaps people wanted it to go, but then to get a job at Leverkusen shows you that he’s such a high-quality manager because of the manager he’s coming in to replace.”
Ten Hag has a clean slate at Leverkusen
As Tella said, a manager doesn’t become bad overnight and Ten Hag’s record at Ajax and the trophies he won at Leverkusen speak for themselves.
It is likely that the lack of a good support structure around him at Old Trafford hindered the recruitment, which, in turn, had a knock-on effect on the performances on the pitch.
Once things started snowballing and he lost the confidence of the dressing room and the owners, there was never going to be a way back.
In contrast, he’s been chosen to lead a reset of sorts at Leverkusen after Xabi Alonso’s departure combined with the sale of some key players.
If he can manage to mould the team into a cohesive outfit with the help of the recruitment team, the asterisk next to his ability will be rubbed off.
Many players and managers have already shown that Man Utd is a different cup of tea altogether and time here shouldn’t be used to pass judgement on their ability.
Ten Hag can add his name to that list with Leverkusen.