Erik ten Hag accepts that it’s Champions League or bust for him at Manchester United this season.
Ten Hag knows he must deliver a top-four finish and a return to Europe’s elite if the vote of confidence given to him by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is going to be more than just a stay of execution.
United spoke to several potential successors interested in replacing the Dutchman in the summer – after his team had rescued a disappointing Premier League campaign by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final. It then took another month for Ratcliffe’s INEOS chief Dave Brailsford to drop in on Ten Hag during a family holiday in Ibiza to inform the 54-year-old that his job was safe.
United’s response to Ten Hag’s request for a contract extension was to trigger the 12-month clause in his existing deal which now takes him to the summer of 2026. But the former Ajax coach is under no illusions that his chances of still being in Manchester for another two full seasons hinge on him taking the 13-time Premier League champions back to the very top.
Ten Hag said: “The last time Manchester United were champions was 2013. That’s 11 years ago. But there is still the expectation that we will win every game and play at the top of the Premier League. This club hasn’t been ready to do that. We have had to build.
“I think we have made steps since I came here – otherwise we wouldn't have won two prizes. But we are not so far advanced yet that there is a winning culture here in all respects.
“Our standards, our norms and values, still have to go up in lots of areas if we want this club back to where it was over a decade ago, to a club that wins the Premier League, that can win Champions Leagues. We are really still some way off, I think.
“But Manchester United is the biggest club in the country and perhaps the world. This is a club that is either loved or hated. There is nothing in between. So when it doesn’t go well, everyone falls over themselves to say something critical about us in very strong words.”
United kick-off the Premier League season by welcoming Fulham to Old Trafford on Friday night. Ten Hag will be desperate to put down a marker after being handed almost £90million to add Leny Yoro and Joshua Kirkzee.
Those arrivals have meant that Ten Hag has spent in excess of £450m since arriving at Old Trafford two summers ago. He added: “United were in a situation where there were a lot of long contracts and that made it complicated to thoroughly refresh and strengthen the team.
“When we started, my thought was that in roughly six transfer windows it would be solvable. Formally, we have now had four transfer periods, but because of the Financial Fair Play restrictions we have we have only been able to actually do business in two periods.”
Two seasons ago, United lost their opening two games against Brighton and Brentford but were still able to finish third and win the Carabao Cup. Last year, they lost four of their first seven games and ended the season in eighth, their lowest finish of the Premier League era.
Ten Hag described that experience as a “bagger”, which is a Dutch term to describe being dragged across the bottom of a river. This time, it’s sink or swim.