Erik ten Hag has coached the best talent in the world at Ajax but must learn to manage stars, says Ibrahimovic

Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic was invited by Piers Morgan for an interview regarding Erik ten Hag and Manchester United. After the last interview with this journalist, the club terminated the contract with Cristiano Ronaldo, so there was definitely something to look forward to. However, Zlatan tried to explain the possible problem that the Dutch coach has at Old Trafford.

The first question was directed to an area that has been troubling the club itself for a long time, but now it is most evident – the players are not playing well, on the contrary, far below their potential.

“The new manager has come from Ajax. It’s a club that works with the best talent in the world, there are no stars. So what is his experience? Working with talents, it’s different than working with stars”, said the former striker, who retired at the end of last season, in his opening remarks.

Looking at the Dutch coach’s past, he is really not used to coaching world stars. Leaving aside coaching Twente’s youth team, where he then became assistant coach, he held the same position at PSV Eidhoven.

After that, he ventured into a coaching role, first leading the Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich reserves, Utrecht and then the aforementioned Ajax. So what star could he have come into contact with there?

After all, at Manchester United he has to tame other egos such as Cristiano Ronaldo, which he still managed relatively well, but with Jadon Sancho he hasn’t done so well.

“At United there are different players, a different mentality, they are used to being stars, I’m not sure if the same treatment of players will get the same results as at Ajax,” Ibrahimovic continued.

It wouldn’t be an interview featured by Piers Morgan if we didn’t get to Ronaldo. Ibrahimovic faced the question of whether it was the coach’s inexperience in coaching big stars that resulted in the player situations faced by the aforementioned Ronaldo-Sancho pairing.

“I don’t know if it’s the coach’s fault, he can’t buy experience, he has to get it, but the whole club is one big puzzle, every player is a piece. They all have an obligation to fit in or adapt to make it work.”

As time went on, the conversation turned to winning titles, which was the norm in the red part of Manchester before the last decade. Ibrahimovic played at United, so he knows what that entails and his words matched that.

“In that situation you need a project to follow. But at the club it looks like they have a plan, but from one second to the next it collapses and it’s over. You have to believe in the project, either you believe in it or you don’t believe in it”, says Zlatan.

He seems to be referring to a few fired managers who had a plan and a project, but no one followed through. Ten Haga’s current situation isn’t exactly rosy either.

“The whole thing is tricky. It depends on how much time the owner gives it, but one day it’s you and the next day someone else is in that position. But the results speak for themselves,” the Swedish football legend concluded on the subject.

We will find out in the next few days or weeks if the Dutch coach still has the confidence of the management and if the whole situation of the club will improve. On Saturday, the team has a home game against Brentford, which would be the right one to manage, as losing three home games in a row is already a disgrace.

After that, the Hag will have a representative break to work out how to kick the players into gear so that they can finally perform on the pitch to the best of their ability.

Source: Piers Morgan