Barcelona Sporting Director Jordi Cruyff backs Erik ten Hag as the ‘new heir’ at Man United

‘It feels like a new start’: Barcelona Sporting Director Jordi Cruyff backs Erik ten Hag as the ‘new heir’ at Manchester United, and says he is ‘sure they will get back to where they need to’ under the Dutchman’s management

  • Erik ten Hag has quickly turned around Manchester United’s fortunes
  • After losing their first two games, they have surged to fifth in the league 
  • Jordi Cruyff spoke of a ‘new start’ at United, and named ten Hag the ‘new heir’ 
  •  He praised the Dutchman for ‘finding the right balance’ in his squad

Jordi Cruyff has thrown his support behind Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager and backed him to take the club ‘back where they need to get.’

United got off to a terrible start under ten Hag with back-to-back losses to begin the Premier League season, but have since bounced back and find themselves fifth in the table.

For Cruyff, son of football legend Johan, the turnaround has been down to ten Hag’s ability to build a cohesive team. He told Sky Sports: ‘United have always had over the years a good squad.

Jordi Cruyff has spoken of a ‘new start’ at Man United, and named Erik ten Hag the ‘new heir’

The club has bounced back from a poor start to the Premier League season and now sits fourth

The club has bounced back from a poor start to the Premier League season and now sits fourth

‘If you look at the squad player by player you can see that it is a good squad so there has never been a lack of talent. Sometimes good players do not make a winning team.

‘That is part of the formula where things are getting more complicated. Before you would just say: “He is a good player, he fits our style of play, our DNA, we will sign him.”‘

The former United midfielder continued: ‘Nowadays it is not just about that player it is about fitting him in with a player beside him, in front of him, behind him. Can they play together? That is a complete different story, it is not like a computer game.

Cruyff backed ten Hag to take the Red Devils 'back to where they need to get'

Cruyff backed ten Hag to take the Red Devils ‘back to where they need to get’

‘In the end it is about finding the right balance and I think in ten Hag they got a new heir. It feels like it is a new start and I am talking only from the outside what I read and follow a bit.’

While Cruyff accepted the task would be hard, he backed the United boss as the right man to take the club forward: ‘The new start gives a lot of expectancies so it is always difficult to manage that and in the Premier League it is always a tough league. It is very hard to predict at the start of the season who will be in the top four.

‘It is a tough challenge but with enough time and enough patience and with the necessary movements in the transfer periods, I am sure they will get back to where they need to get.’

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