Erik ten Hag has hailed Sir Alex Ferguson as a ‘guidance for all managers’ following his induction into the Premier League Hall of Fame.
Ferguson and ex-Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger became the first managers to be inducted into the newly-established Premier League Hall of Fame on Wednesday. The induction was just desserts for an astonishing career at the top of the game for Ferguson, who won an astonishing 13 Premier League titles during his 27-year tenure at Old Trafford.
Current Man Utd manager Ten Hag, who has led the club to Carabao Cup success in his maiden season in charge, has been pictured having dinner with Ferguson in recent months, and it’s widely known that he’s looked to the Scot for advice and guidance about United.
Now, speaking to the Premier League’s official website, Ten Hag has said of Ferguson’s induction: “He left a legacy. Manchester United is Alex Ferguson and by setting the highest standards and highest values, bringing a winning attitude, he built that into the new club.
“He’s a guidance for all the managers in top football. How you construct and mould teams, how you coach them and manage them. He won 13 times the Premier League. No-one else can ever do that again, such a huge performance. And then all the other cups he won, he won the Treble… no-one ever did it before or after so that tells you everything.
“Winning so many trophies, and in an attacking way. He had the right feeling when to rebuild and to reconstruct a new team, to refresh it because he did it over two decades.”
Speaking about meeting up with Ferguson and learning from the Premier League icon, Ten Hag said: “I am really pleased he wants to share his knowledge with me. It is great to talk to him, learn from him, and I hope we can do it more and often. In football, it is about winning, that makes him the number one.
“There are many others who are really successful – Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp but he did it over 26 years and he won the most.”
Sir Alex Ferguson on Hall of Fame induction
“I’m truly delighted to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. It’s an honour when you receive recognition like this. However, it’s not just about me as a person. It’s about the job at Manchester United and the bond we had over many years, so I’m also proud for the club, the staff and my players.
“My job was to send the fans home happy. United’s history and my own expectations were the things that drove me, and I then had to try and develop all my players with the same expectations and make sure we could go out and achieve them.
“I feel Arsene is a very worthy inductee as he transformed Arsenal Football Club fantastically. They became a tough team to compete with and we both wanted to win, which motivated us further. Through the years since retirement, we’d go for dinner together in a little restaurant he knows well in Switzerland. He is a really interesting man and I enjoy his company, but it is still my job to pick the wine!”
