Manchester United U23s player and coach Tom Huddlestone has revealed that current Fulham manager Marco Silva was a major influence on his decision to start coaching. The former Premier League midfielder took the same role Paul McShane held in 2021/22.
The former England international played under Silva at Hull City and credits him for making his mind up to move into the world of coaching. With United’s U23s squad, Huddlestone brings a wealth of experience to the table, and it helps him develop a better understanding of coaching as someone knew to the field.
However, it is interesting to read Huddlestone’s comments just a day before the first team take on Fulham in the final Premier League match before the World Cup.
“There have been a few [main influences],” Huddlestone told the official club magazine, as per ManUtd.com. “I think, as a person in general, you pick up different traits from people you work with or are managed by. I’ve worked with a range of good managers.
“I think one that really clicked my coaching ideas into a process was Marco Silva. I only had him for five or six months at Hull but I thought about the detail he went into around the training pitch, the analysis videos before and after every training session and definitely the matches. Maybe that coincided with my age at the time but I thought he sparked an excitement form a coach’s standpoint in me.”
Players have the World Cup on their mind
Ten Hag will hope that the World Cup will not influence the team’s mindset going into the game, but I think that is an impossible ask with the competition just one week away. It’s not through fault of the players either because we all know that the World Cup shouldn’t take place midway through the season, and that’s before we even get into Qatar’s shocking history of human rights abuse.
The manager will field the best team he has available because we can’t afford to drop more points before the World Cup, after losing 3-1 at home against Aston Villa last weekend.
