Erik ten Hag explained in his pre-match press conference that he does not analyse FC Twente matches because he watches them as a supporter.
The Dutchman will take on his boyhood club as Manchester United manager in the Europa League on Wednesday night.
Ten Hag is not only a supporter. He was born in the area and fulfilled a childhood dream when he played for the club, making over 200 appearances in three separate spells.
It is a club he has great admiration for and says that is will be hard to hurt something he ‘loves’.
“I would have preferred to play against somebody else,” Ten Hag told reporters at his press conference on Tuesday, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
“Of all the teams, Twente is the team I follow the most. I watch them as a fan, as a supporter, not as an analyst. It’s a different way of watching their games.”
This, alone, makes me think more about how I watch United, which I’ll admit comes with a lot of emotion the best of times. I’ve experienced the highs and lows (seen it all, as we sing) but do I watch other teams differently? Yes, with less interest, but I’m not an qualified analyst or tactico as some are referred to these days.
Ten Hag added: “Twente brought me a lot, I was put through their academy, so for me great deal of history there.”
United fans can have no grievance over a manager respecting an opponent, especially when it’s not a rival and it’s a club up he passionately supports. We can’t exactly pretend that it’s going to take away from the job at hand tomorrow night, which is to get the Europa League off to a winning start after a disastrous Champions League campaign last term.
There will be part of Ten Hag that will be excited about the occasion, I’m sure. His former club will be excited about the occasion at Old Trafford and he can show them how far he’s come. Hopefully, with a convincing win to give United a positive start in the competition.
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