Former Manchester United midfielder Marcel Sabitzer has described Erik ten Hag as a “man obsessed with details” amid scrutiny over the Dutchman’s file to this point this season.
Ten Hag delivered United’s first trophy in six years final season when the workforce received the Carabao Cup at Wembley in February – it was additionally only a fourth piece of silverware for the membership since Sir Alex Ferguson had retired a decade earlier.
But too many performances have been subpar and it’s mirrored within the outcomes – 5 defeats within the first ten dwelling video games of 2023/24 was their worst begin at Old Trafford since 1930/31.
Sabitzer spent the latter half of final season on loan from Bayern Munich – supplied to the membership in late January after restricted recreation time in Germany and following damage to Christian Eriksen. The skilled Austrian made 18 appearances in all competitions and located that he preferred Ten Hag.
“[He is] a man obsessed with details,” Sabitzer informed The Athletic. “You can wake him up at 3am, he’d tell you his whole match plan by heart. He’s very knowledgeable about football and tactics — a very hard worker, a perfectionist.”
Sabitzer added that there isn’t any second guessing with the previous Ajax boss, who has very publicly fallen out with Jadon Sancho within the early a part of this season.
“He’s very straight with you,” Sabitzer continued. “When I had a bad game, he showed me some situations and told me how to do it better next time. I liked that. You knew where you stood with him. He never threw you under the bus. Instead, he told players to go out and do better in the next game. I learned a lot about football working under him. He’s a very good coach.”
As 90min reported in April, Ten Hag had needed to hold Sabitzer on a everlasting switch when his loan deal was to expire in the summertime. The participant was completely satisfied at United, having settled effectively, and the membership was understood to be his first selection within the occasion of transferring on from Bayern.
However, by the top of May staying at Old Trafford appeared unlikely. United had hoped to seal a switch for round £10m, however Bayern valued Sabitzer first at just below £14m after which north of £20m, making the distinction in valuation an excessive amount of to overcome. When he finally left Bayern for Borussia Dortmund a few months later, the price was reported between £13m and £17m.
It was the same story in the course of the talks over Benjamin Pavard, with Bayern elevating the asking value from £30m to £34.5m plus add-ons. During that point, Harry Maguire’s proposed £30m change to West Ham additionally collapsed. Eventually, Pavard was offered to Inter as a substitute for £28m.
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