LOS ANGELES — For most clubs, the summer transfer window is about revamping the squad. For Manchester United, it has also been about getting rid of manager Erik ten Hag's coaching staff and virtually starting over.
Aside from bringing back one of the best goalscorers the club has ever seen, the most notable thing about the changes is that the new arrivals aren't really support staff at all.
New assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 goals for United between 2001 and 2006, will be in charge of PSV Eindhoven from 2022 to 2023. Rene Hake has left his job as head coach at Go Ahead Eagles to move to Old Trafford. Even new set-piece coach Andreas Georgson was in charge of Norwegian side Lillestrom before being called up.
A fourth could have been included, Steve McClaren, who has managed eight clubs in three countries and spent a year in charge of England before it was announced on Wednesday that he was leaving Old Trafford to manage the Jamaica national team. McClaren's departure means United's training sessions will be run by entirely new faces, in addition to Ten Hag himself.
It is tempting to question the wisdom of bringing together four men accustomed to doing things their own way and asking them to work together. But club sources insist it is no coincidence that all three of the managers now at the club have all been managers in their own right.
Given the shambolic manner in which Ten Hag kept his job at the end of last season, it is also tempting to think that if things do not go well for the Dutchman next season, United will have several replacements ready to go.
However, that is not the view within United. They believe the changes only strengthen Ten Hag's position by surrounding him with big personalities and good coaches.
“I think Ruud coming back has been great, especially for me,” said defender Jonny Evans. “I grew up idolising Ruud and the way he plays. It's good to have someone of that calibre and respect in the team. It's been great and it's always good to get a new lease on life.”
According to sources, Van Nistelrooy, Hake and Georgson are all aware of their specific roles in the team and their areas of particular responsibility. Crucially, sources insist that the players will be under no illusions that Ten Hag is in control. Any suggestion that his authority has been eroded by the lengthy end-of-season review led by INEOS or by new coaching appointments has been quickly denied by sources within the club. He has retained his title of “coach” and remains in charge.
The official explanation for why the changes were necessary is that INEOS felt the coaching staff needed to be “refreshed”.
Mitchell van der Gaag and Benni McCarthy, who joined Ten Hag in 2022 as assistant coach and first-team coach respectively, have both left and there is now a distance between last year's disastrous campaign and the new season, even if the manager remains the same.
“I was sad to see Benni and Mitchell go,” said midfielder Christian Eriksen. “I had a good relationship with both of them and they are amazing lads. It's difficult, but with Ruud and René I'm sure everything will be fine.”
Both Ten Hag and INEOS sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford left talks in Ibiza following the FA Cup final win over Manchester City feeling that a “reset” was needed after a poor season, which saw United finish eighth in the Premier League, sources have told ESPN. The new appointments are designed to give the players a sense of a fresh start that reflects what has happened off the pitch since Sir Jim Ratcliffe took charge.
“I think they are [the new coaches] I will be active and they will all take a part in it. [the responsibility]” said goalkeeper Tom Heaton. “With Ruud, you could be forgiven for thinking he's a United legend and he's just a face. But his level of detail – and I've been in a couple of meetings where I've heard it – has been outstanding. The same goes for René.”
It has been noticeable during United's training sessions at UCLA that Hake has been at the center of almost everything.
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On Friday, he was explaining the rules of a 7-on-7 game and took on the role of referee to ensure the rules (defenders had to pass each other first before playing the ball across the lines toward midfield) were strictly adhered to.
On the sidelines, Van Nistelrooy and Darren Fletcher, now assistant coach of the first team after being replaced as technical director by Jason Wilcox, were shouting encouragement to individual players as Ten Hag watched intently. So did Wilcox, new sporting director Dan Ashworth and Brailsford, who sat together in the stands at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on the UCLA campus.
At the end of each small-sided match, Ten Hag would not let the next one start until the club photographer had run onto the pitch to take pictures of the winning team. Boosting morale during the US tour has been a priority and has led to Ten Hag changing focus regarding his preparations for the new season. This came after some players felt isolated on last season's tour, sources told ESPN.
Last summer, the training camp at Pingry School in New Jersey was miles from anywhere, leaving players with nothing to do during their free time. This year in Los Angeles, the club has chosen the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills (a much cheaper option than the Beverly Wilshire Hotel used on previous tours) near the city center.
The 10-day training camp at UCLA has meant less travel, more time to relax and players being allowed to leave the hotel and visit Rodeo Drive during afternoon rest periods between double sessions.
Eriksen has said this summer's tour already “feels better” than last year's, a sentiment echoed by Evans. “It's been good,” Evans said. “We're staying close to downtown Los Angeles and we've had the chance to go out and have a coffee.”
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Evans and the rest of the defenders have been working closely with Van Nistelrooy, who is keen to be seen as a complete coach and not just someone brought in to work with the forwards. He started working with the defenders towards the end of his playing career at Malaga under Manuel Pellegrini and, since returning to United, has been giving advice on what the forwards like and dislike. Former Chelsea and Italy striker Gianfranco Zola has earned a reputation for working with defenders for the same reason.
“I think he learned a lot [under Pellegrini] “He saw real value in that,” Evans said. “He's probably quite obsessed with defensive structure himself and as a striker, I'm sure that was always quite interesting in terms of where he could score his goals.”
Van Nistelrooy, who won the Dutch Cup during his time in charge of PSV, began the summer looking for a coaching job and spoke to Burnley after Vincent Kompany left for Bayern Munich. However, sources close to the Dutchman have said that once United got in touch with him, he could not turn down the chance to return.
Another new signing is Jelle ten Rouwelaar, who replaces Richard Hartis as goalkeeping coach. Ten Rouwelaar had just joined Ajax from Burnley, but United were so keen on signing him that they agreed to pay the Dutch side 100,000 euros.
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According to Heaton, Ten Rouwelaar's sessions are more “cognitive” and designed to help the team build from the back more effectively, starting with the goalkeeper.
“Teams are very structured in terms of what they do in their pressing, whether it's one man, two man or three man,” Heaton said. “So you have to think about that, you have to count your numbers, you have to count the numbers on the backline.”
“Are we going to bet big or small? Where are they coming from? Who wants to make the jump? I think it's more about being more perceptive about what's in front of us.”
United will hope their summer of change off the pitch will help facilitate a change in fortunes on it.
