Erik ten Hag is currently regarded as one of the best football managers, according to Fred Rutten. However, the Manchester United manager spent a lot of time operating covertly. as a helper to his pal Fred Rutten, for instance.
“I spent an hour and a half in the sea talking football with Erik ten Hag”
The coaching trade was taught to Ten Hag by his countryman Rutten. When he was eventually in charge of running FC Twente and PSV, the seasoned assistant coach of PSV included Ten Hag in his technical staff. Ten Hag had it, as Rutten always saw. “He’s a winner,” he said to Viaplay. “He has always struck me as a manager.”
He recalled how they first became acquainted with Ten Hag. Rutten said, “He has an opinion and he can frequently support that opinion well. I first met him while I played for FC Twente. He played for me, and I was the older guy in the middle of defence. In that, I helped him a little. Then I joined him as a trainer’s assistant. Between the youth and the first squad, Erik served as something of a connector. He managed that situation admirably.”
Both managers’ families took a vacation together
Ten Hag and Rutten are also huge football fans. When the families went on vacation together, the families of the two trainers also noticed this. “Once we got going on football, we didn’t stop. We ultimately decided to take a vacation together with the families as a result of that. Then we talked for an hour and a half while standing in the water. According to our wives, they were there as well,” the former manager of German club Schalke04 claimed.
Rutten said, “We had a couple conversations before he signed for Man Utd.” Ten Hag exploited his instructor as a companion in combat. “How do you handle famous people? He has a strategy, and when it is being carried out, he steps in if something doesn’t go according to plan. So immediately confront the players,” Rutten said, referring to the circumstances surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure. “I wasn’t surprised Erik would win,” he said.
