Neville singles out ‘brilliant’ Ten Hag quality as Man Utd legend makes Ferguson comparison

Jason Soutar
Neville on Man Utd

Gary Neville has heaped praise on Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag for his ‘brilliant substitutions and changes within matches’.

The Red Devils won their first trophy since 2017 with a victory over Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

Ten Hag has been applauded for the amazing job he is doing, less than a year on from the club being in complete and utter disarray.

The future looked extremely bleak, even with a new manager always coming in for Ralf Rangnick at the end of 2021-22, but Ten Hag has completely transformed the atmosphere at Old Trafford.

Winning a trophy at the earliest possible opportunity is better than any United fan imagined at the start of the campaign, especially following embarrassing defeats in their opening two Premier League fixtures.

Furthermore, the Red Devils remain in the Europa League, FA Cup and the Premier League title race – albeit as outsiders.

Ten Hag is doing an awful lot right. From the Cristiano Ronaldo situation to his summer signings, United have gone from being in an awful position to a brilliant one in a matter of months.

One thing that stood out to former United right-back Neville during Sunday’s win at Wembley was Ten Hag’s in-game management.

Neville likened the Dutchman’s ruthlessness and adaptability to that of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

He wrote on Twitter: ‘SAF (Ferguson) was unbelievable at affecting momentum within games and Jose [Mourinho] was great at Chelsea interfering with games with his subs.

‘Wouldn’t say ETH (Ten Hag) is there yet (due to both SAF and Jose Mourinho achievements) but he makes brilliant substitutions and changes within matches. He doesn’t wait!’

United legend and former Valencia boss Neville added: ‘One of the hardest things I found as a coach (there were many) was reading the game at ground level! SAF used to watch a match first half from the stands to gain a clearer understanding of the game. He even raised the dugouts at OT (Old Trafford).

‘So many coaches make subs that we all think, why have they done that. I’m convinced it’s because they can’t see the game properly. A lot of the time you see legs and bodies and not really what’s happening. That’s why a lot of clubs have the coach in the directors’ box watching for them to spot the details.

‘It’s one of the hardest things to do as a coach to get your subs right. Watching a game from the perfect viewing point and with the tactical camera gives you an advantage in reading the game.

‘Managers used to go in the stand but now the perception is “you have to be down with the players”.’

Summer signing Casemiro opened the scoring against Newcastle before Marcus Rashford continued his fine form with a deflected strike six minutes later.

Rashford is the top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues this year with 14 strikes in 16 matches across all competitions.

Prior to Thursday’s Europa League win over Barcelona, the England forward had scored in seven consecutive home matches for the Red Devils.

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