Erik ten Hag praised for making 'clever' appointment at Manchester United

Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke has praised a 'clever' appointment made by Erik ten Hag this summer.

United had a difficult start to the season having lost to Brighton and Brentford in their opening two matches. However, fans will be hoping they have managed to turn the corner with wins against Liverpool and Southampton

Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford scored either side of the break to give United a two-goal advantage against Liverpool before Mohamed Salah pulled a goal back but it was not enough to avoid defeat at Old Trafford.

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Then, United won 1-0 at Southampton on Saturday thanks to Bruno Fernandes' second-half goal.

Ten Hag has begun to bring in the changes needed at United both on and off the pitch. One such change is the arrival of his backroom staff with Mitchell van der Gaag having joined him from Ajax.

But it was the appointment of Steve McClaren as assistant coach which most impressed Yorke, who was speaking to Lord Ping. "He’s gone in and been quite clever in bringing in Steve McClaren," he explained.

"Someone Erik feels comfortable with and someone that was part of the coaching team for some of the most successful teams in United’s history. That was a good appointment.

"I understand why the appointment of McClaren raised a few eyebrows, but when you become a manager, you have to trust the people in and around you, to give you the best advice. Those tough decisions."

McClaren - who was Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at United between 1999 and 2001 - had mainly been out of the coaching limelight since leaving QPR in 2019. However, the former England head coach had been working as an advisor at Derby