Frenkie de Jong's comments on Erik ten Hag don't add up as pressure mounts on Man Utd boss

Frenkie de Jong gave his opinion on Erik ten Hag as a coach in the past – and it implies the Manchester United manager may not be solely responsible for the team's struggles.

During the pair's spell together at Ajax from 2017 to 2019, the Dutch duo celebrated winning the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup in the 2018/19 season. After Barcelona snapped up De Jong, Ten Hag continued to steer Ajax to success until 2022, securing two further league titles, another cup victory and a Johan Cruyff Shield before he took over the reigns at Old Trafford.

Despite his notable achievements in the Netherlands, Ten Hag's experience in Manchester hasn't mirrored that success, finishing third in his first season and then suffering a dismal eighth-place finish in the 2023/24 campaign. Nevertheless, De Jong's commendations for his former coach suggest external factors may have played a role in Ten Hag's challenging moments with United.

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Speaking to ESPN back in 2019, De Jong lauded his previous mentor, as he said: "All of the technical staff were really important. You can have quality players, but you need good tactics as well. I think it's one of the most important things today in football and for me, we had amazing tactics.

"Every game I had the feeling, 'OK we're going to beat them because we're going to do this, this and this and we have the quality players'. So I think a big part of the success was also the technical staff. It's not as simple as 'go out and enjoy yourself'.

"I think these days, in football, it's really, really important