How Erik ten Hag could ‘do an Antony’ and finally prove Man Utd are TOXIC

Erik ten Hag could receive the opportunity to ‘do an Antony’ by shaking off the Old Trafford curse and reinventing his career after leaving Manchester United.

Ten Hag is believed to be among the frontrunners for the Bayer Leverkusen job if Xabi Alonso moves to Real Madrid this summer, as is anticipated.

United sacked Ten Hag in November with the Dutchman’s reputation seemingly in tatters from his his two-and-a-half years in charge, having spent a large amount of money and leaving the club in 14th place.

However, while Ten Hag’s standing may be in question in England, Leverkusen’s interest suggests the Dutchman may still be highly thought of in Europe, particularly if he is trusted to manage a team that won the Bundesliga 12 months ago.

And Ten Hag will certainly have been encouraged by the form of Antony on loan at Real Betis, a player who defined his failures at United yet is now enjoying a new lease on life just months after leaving Old Trafford.

With Marcus Rashford also having thrived from a change in environment, any potential success by Ten Hag at Leverkusen would undoubtedly indict United as a toxic club where even the brightest minds and talent would struggle to succeed.

Man Utd and their ‘greatest achievement’ of ruining everything

Ten Hag was appointed by United in 2022, arriving with a glowing reputation for overachieving while playing attractive football during his four-year stint with Ajax.

However, he departed United being thought of as stubborn mannered and a poor judge of talent as well as someone who could not handle big personalities or thrive under pressure.

Such a turnaround in perception in just 28 months was staggering, particularly with Ten Hag also having won two domestic trophies for United during his tenure – something which his successor Ruben Amorim could perhaps only dream of, at this stage.

Indeed, Amorim also arrived at United in November as one of Europe’s brightest young coaches, having lost just 11 league games during his entire four-year spell with Sporting – an amount he has already achieved in less than six months at his new club.

Like Ten Hag, Amorim too has seen his stock fall, with some suggestions that the 40-year-old’s job could already be under pressure which has led to a familiar sentiment around United: were people too harsh on the former manager? Was it actually all his fault? Did he actually do well to achieve what he did at Old Trafford?

Those questions are some which have continuously plagued United ever since Jose Mourinho declared in 2019 that finishing second with the Red Devils was his ‘greatest achievement’ in management because ‘people don’t know what is going on behind the scenes.’

Yet, with mass redundancies, confusion at board level and a revolving door of terrible transfers, United’s flaws have become abundantly clear and Amorim may have to pull off a ‘greatest accomplishment’ of his own to turn around the club’s fortunes.

All of which to say, Ten Hag’s potential appointment at Leverkusen could put an even bigger microscope on his former side if he is to recapture his best days, leaving Amorim to question the magnitude of his task to avoid becoming another misjudged character in United’s steep decline.

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