We are in the process and I knew before that big teams like City, when you are not good you get hammered and we were not good. Ten Hag can be heard belting out this instruction at almost every session as he seeks to improve how quickly the team responds to losing possession, but also to sharpen their decisions on the ball.

Hard to break down for the opposition team in possession and hard to defend against out of possession.Get Passion4FM’s Football Manager 2022 Ajax tactics, that replicates Erik ten Hag’s Ajax tactics of 2021-2022 season. Soon after it was inked, meetings were held with senior executives at the club's Mayfair offices, together with assistants Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren. In most scenarios it isn’t the man on the ball who decides where the ball goes, but players without the ball. Ten Hag’s difficulty with English and his Haaksbergen approach to questions beyond football have built an aura of inscrutability, which Meijer partly dispels.

At the other hand, it could be seen as a decoy run: a run with the only purpose to attract the closest markers attention and drag him away from zone 14 (the area where most dangerous chances are created). Erik ten Hag (born 2 February 1970) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Manchester United. Erik ten Hags Ajax Tactics is one I’ve wanted to recreate in Football Manager for a long time, but I’ve prioritized differently. His on-record statements have not isolated Ronaldo, neither depreciating an asset nor closing the door on an amicable resolution between the megastar and the club.

With its pressing intensity, one-twos, quick short passes and manipulation of space to dominate the opposition team, Erik ten Hag has built a Dutch team that can compete against the best teams in Europe.

With a native’s eye for their society’s nuances, fellow rural Hollander Meijer expertly contextualises how upbringing shaped both man and coach.For Ten Hag and his team there are two more friendlies next weekend – against Lens and Athletic Club – before the season begins in earnest with Wolves’s visit to Old Trafford on 14 August. He realised the scale of work meant there was no time to waste, with a dossier drafted on the state of United and the way forward before his contract was signed. Ten Hag might not nominate Sancho as an exemplar of the on-field consistency required, though he still has faith in a forward who could be deployed as a false nine given his ability to drop deep and run in behind, shown by his goal in the tour opener against Arsenal. However, Haller, who stands at 190cm, will of course be the main aim for a cross, as his jumping reach and physic in aerial situations will most likely beat his marker.

By using positional superiority to get players between the lines or behind the opponent’s defensive line, they aim to force one of the defenders to move wide – creating space in the center for runs into channels from the attacking midfielder, or the box to box midfielder. They have made the most key passes in the Eredivisie and is capable of creating chances from all over the pitch. Most often, they will provide security to the center channel something that lets Ajax focus play down the flanks.

Actually, they are pretty brilliant at unbalancing the oppositions team with movements and rotations, and using change of tempo both in passing directness and speed of exchanging passes to attack the opponent. Everyone knows where to run and be, and when to do so, depending on the location of the ball and the movements of their teammates. In the 4-3-3 system, the role of Ryan Gravenberch shifts from an orthodox box to box midfielder (MCL) or a segundo volante (DMLC) to a Mezzala or central midfielder.