Erik ten Hag: Man Utd boss' TV chat with Johan Cruyff, aged 13, is remarkable

New Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, has made an encouraging start to life at Old Trafford – winning all three of his games in charge so far.

The United job is the most high-profile of the 52-year-old’s managerial career so far.

Ten Hag began his journey as a head coach with Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles in 2012, before going on to manage the Bayern Munich second team and Utrecht.

Success in those posts ultimately saw him make the move to Ajax, where he was in charge for five years until he departed for United back in May.

On paper, then, Ten Hag has only 10 years of management experience. However, an interaction that the Red Devils’ boss had with the legendary Johan Cruyff on Dutch television when he was just 13 years of age has recently resurfaced – and its content is truly fascinating.

The exchange, which took place back in 1984, has been translated into English by Twitter user @TenHagBall, shows that a young Ten Hag had wisdom well beyond his years when it comes to the psychological side of the game.

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Ten Hag, dressed in a red polo and with far more hair than we’re used to seeing today, was part of a panel of young aspiring footballers who were given the opportunity to chat to Cruyff about the beautiful game.

At one point, Barcelona icon Cruyff talked to the youngsters about the communication between them and their coaches.

“It happens a lot right, that a trainer yells. Or does that not happen with you guys?”

Ten Hag then spoke up with a thoughtful response.

“I think you should watch out that you don’t yell to the youth too much, because you can break a player like that. But on a higher level, such as the first team of Ajax, you