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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has brought back an age-old Sir Alex Ferguson tradition of inviting club directors to the dressing room after matches to speak to the team, according to The Daily Mail.
Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford last summer and has overseen a massive cultural overhaul at the club. While there is still a lot to do before the Red Devils are the finished article and are back to challenging for top honours, he has done a remarkable job.
United are on course to finish within the top four and qualify for the Champions League. They need six points from their remaining three Premier League titles to guarantee the achievement of this objective.
The 20-time English champions have already won the Carabao Cup and brought a six-year trophy drought to an end. United also have an FA Cup final to look forward to against Manchester City on June 3.
Overall, it’s been a successful campaign for United and with a takeover imminent, there is plenty of promise and hope for the future.
According to The Mail, in an attempt to enhance unity across the club, Ten Hag has restored the practice of inviting club directors into the dressing room after matches to speak to the team.
“Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has reinstated one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s traditions of inviting club directors inside the dressing room after every match irrespective of the result,” the outlet claims.
“Chief executive Richard Arnold has also encouraged the move and makes sure one or two board members — often David Gill and Michael Edelson — visit the dressing room after every fixture to offer congratulations or commiserations to the players.”
“The idea is to promote a greater sense of unity throughout the club, and it appears to have gone down well with staff and players.”
Ironically, by his own admission, Arnold has in the past conceded that he has no influence over footballing matters at United.
The Peoples Person covered a report which detailed how Arnold turned down the chance to join John Murtough in the Under 18’s dressing room after the youth side won a tournament.
Arnold told Murtough, “That’s the football area, not mine.” The Mail’s report therefore seems at odds with Arnold’s own claim of precisely the opposite – that he stays away from the dressing room and steers clear of football matters.
In fact, the United CEO claims to have adopted a different approach to that of his predecessor, Ed Woodward. Woodward, who recently landed a new job, was a micro-manager during his tenure at United and regularly dipped his nose into sporting affairs rather than let experienced people handle that side of things.