What Carragher and Neville REALLY thought of ETH when they interviewed him

Jamie Carragher has revealed he came away with a distinct impression of Erik ten Hag after meeting him early in his spell at Manchester United.

After a disastrous campaign that ended with Ralf Rangnick taking interim control of the club, Ten Hag was appointed United's new manager in April 2022.

During his four-year spell at Ajax the Dutchman had earned a reputation for his ability to get the best out of his players, and in 2019 led the club to their first Champions League semi-final in more than 20 years.

However, taking the reins at Old Trafford represented an entirely different challenge.

After significant investment in the transfer window, Ten Hag suffered back-to-back losses in his first two Premier League games including a humiliating 4-0 defeat by Brentford.

With pressure already mounting on Ten Hag ahead of a visit of Liverpool, Carragher and Gary Neville interviewed him at United's Carrington training base.

Writing in his column for The Telegraph this week, Carragher claimed Ten Hag was lacking a certain 'X-factor' present in the best coaches that became immediately apparent upon their meeting.

'The most successful have an aura and personality.' Carragher wrote.

'Only those working in the same environment can offer a first-hand account of how the manager operates behind the scenes, but for those of us on the outside looking in, perceptions matter.

'Without dwelling too much on United’s recent past, this was a red flag against Ten Hag from day one.

'Two games into his reign, Gary Neville and I had the pleasure of interviewing Ten Hag at United’s training ground. He was a polite guy but there was no sense of an x-factor.

'Driving away from the meeting that day, I turned to Gary and said: “He must be a supercoach because there isn’t much charisma.”'

Despite his stuttering start to life in Manchester, Ten Hag would lead United to a 2-1 victory over Liverpool just days after the interview was filmed.

The club would then go on to finish third in the league that season, whilst also capturing their first trophy in six years as they defeated Newcastle to win the EFL Cup.

Ten Hag would follow up with more silverware in his second season, as United defeated rivals Man City to win the FA Cup, but a dismal league campaign left his future uncertain.

Crisis talks over the summer saw the Dutchman retain his position, but his position at the club appeared increasingly tenuous heading into the current campaign.

Despite another summer of spending United suffered their worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign with just three wins from their opening nine games.

The club's Ineos ownership had unsurprisingly became impatient in their quest to deliver results and Ten Hag was summarily dismissed with the club languishing in the bottom half of the table.

His successor, former Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim, will take charge of his first game this Sunday as United travel to Portman Road to face Ipswich.