Erik ten Hag

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.

Ten Hag played as a centre-back and began his career with Eredivisie club Twente. He joined De Graafschap in 1990, and won the Eerste Divisie in his first season. He rejoined Twente in 1992 and transferred to RKC Waalwijk two years later, where he remained for one season before signing with Utrecht in 1995. Ten Hag returned to Twente for a third time in 1996, where he won KNVB Cup in 2001. He retired in 2002, at age 32.

Ten Hag began his managerial career in 2012 at Go Ahead Eagles, where he led the club to promotion to the Eredivisie in his debut season. He then joined Bayern Munich II in 2013, winning promotion to the Regionalliga Bayern in 2014. He returned to the Netherlands in 2015 as sporting director and head coach at Utrecht. He joined Ajax in 2017, where he won three Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, and led the team to the semi-finals of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. In 2022, he was appointed as the manager of Manchester United. In his first two seasons with the club, United won the EFL Cup and FA Cup.

Early life
Erik ten Hag was born on 2 February 1970 in Haaksbergen, Overijssel.

Playing career
Ten Hag played primarily as a centre-back for Twente, De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and Utrecht. He had three stints with Twente, with whom he won the KNVB Cup in the 2000–01 season.

Ten Hag also won the Eerste Divisie with De Graafschap in the 1990–91 season, ten years before winning the cup with Twente. He retired from active playing in 2002 at the age of 32 while playing for Twente, after the end of the 2001–02 Eredivisie season.

Pre-managerial career
Following his retirement, Ten Hag took on a coaching role at Twente's academy, initially overseeing the U17 team, followed by the U19 team until 2006, when he was promoted to assistant manager. He worked under Fred Rutten and later Steve McClaren until 2009. He then joined PSV, working as an assistant under Rutten once more.

Early career
In 2012, Ten Hag was appointed as manager of Go Ahead Eagles in the Eerste Divisie by Marc Overmars, who was a shareholder of the club. During his only season at Go Ahead Eagles, he led the team to its first promotion in 17 years.

He coached Bayern Munich II from 6 June 2013, until 2015, when he was replaced by Heiko Vogel. During his time as manager, Ten Hag led his team to the Regionalliga Bayern.

Ten Hag then became the sporting director and head coach of Utrecht in summer 2015, on a two-year deal. In his first season, he led the club to the 2016 KNVB Cup final, losing 2–1 to Giovanni van Bronckhorst's Feyenoord; a league finish of fifth put them in the playoffs for a UEFA Europa League place, losing 3–1 on aggregate to Heracles Almelo. The following season, a fourth-place finish put Utrecht in the playoffs again, where they secured a European place on penalties against AZ Alkmaar. Utrecht were sixth when Ten Hag left at the mid-point of the 2017–18 Eredivisie season.

2017–18 season
On 28 December 2017, Ten Hag was appointed as the head coach of Ajax after the club dismissed Marcel Keizer. He signed a deal until June 2020. He arrived at a team that had already been eliminated from the domestic cup, as well as the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa League. His debut on 21 January 2018 was a 2–0 home win in De Klassieker against Feyenoord.

2018–19 season
Ten Hag led the team to the semi-finals of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1997, by winning against defending champions Real Madrid 4–1 in the Santiago Bernabéu at the round of 16 stage, and also beating Juventus away 1–2 having drawn the first leg 1–1 at home in the quarter-finals. In the first leg of the semi-final, he led his team to a 1–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in the recently completed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However in the second leg, a second-half hat-trick by Lucas Moura for Tottenham Hotspur, with the last goal being scored in the 96th minute to make it 3–2 (3–3 on aggregate) to win on away goals, eliminated Ajax.

He won his first managerial trophy with Ajax on 5 May 2019, the 2018–19 KNVB Cup, beating Willem II in the final. Ten days later, Ajax won the Eredivisie as well, after a 1–4 away victory over De Graafschap, completing a double. At the end of the season, Ten Hag signed a new contract until 2022.

2019–20 season
Ajax began their 2019–20 season with a 2–0 victory over PSV in the 2019 Johan Cruyff Shield. During the 2019–20 Eredivisie season, Ajax won 14 and drew two of their first 16 matches. This was followed by successive defeats to Willem II and to AZ. Ajax's form following these defeats fluctuated, with the club going on to lose three further games in their next eight, as well as a second league defeat of the season to AZ. However, due to the emergence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Eredivisie season was null and voided, which meant that despite Ajax being top on goal difference to AZ, there wouldn't be an official winner of the 2019–20 Eredivisie season. Ajax's European campaign was relatively less successful compared to the previous season, having finished third in their group in the 2019–20 Champions League and being subsequently relegated to the UEFA Europa League. Ajax was resultantly knocked out by Getafe after a 3–2 aggregate loss in the Round of 32 of the 2019–20 Europa League.

2020–21 season
Ajax began the 2020–21 season by winning their first three games, before a 1–0 defeat at Groningen, which proved to be one of the two league defeats that Ten Hag's team sustained over the course of the season. On 24 October 2020, Ten Hag led Ajax to a historic 13–0 victory over VVV-Venlo, breaking the Eredivisie record of the biggest recorded victory in the history of the competition. In the Europa League, the team lost 3–2 on aggregate to Roma in the quarter-finals. On 18 April 2021, Ten Hag guided Ajax to their record-extending 20th KNVB Cup with a 2–1 win over Vitesse in the final. Two weeks later, Ten Hag extended his contract with Ajax through to the end of the 2022–23 season.

2021–22 season
Ajax began their 2021–22 campaign with a 4–0 defeat in the Johan Cruyff Shield to PSV, before going unbeaten for the first seven league games before a 1–0 home defeat to Utrecht. This proved to be one of Ajax' three league defeats over the season, as Ajax won the title, with results including 5–0 home win over PSV on 24 October 2021. Ajax won all six of their group matches in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League. On 16 January 2022, Ten Hag became the fastest manager in league history to reach 100 wins with Ajax, achieving the feat in 128 matches, when his side beat Utrecht 3–0 away on match day 19.

Ajax were eventually knocked out by Benfica in the round of 16, while winning their third Eredivisie title in four years, after a 5–0 home victory over Heerenveen on 11 May 2022. Ten Hag's side also reached the 2022 KNVB Cup Final, a 2–1 defeat to PSV.

Manchester United


On 21 April 2022, Ten Hag was appointed as manager of Manchester United starting from the end of the 2021–22 season until June 2025, with the option of extending for a further year. Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren were later revealed to be joining Ten Hag as part of his coaching staff. On 16 May, it was confirmed that Ten Hag had left his Ajax role early to begin his preparations as Manchester United manager for the 2022–23 season.

2022–23 season
Ten Hag lost his first Premier League match, 2–1 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on 7 August. Following a 4–0 defeat away to Brentford on 13 August in his second Premier League match, Ten Hag became the first Manchester United manager since John Chapman in 1921 to lose his first two games in charge. On 22 August, Ten Hag won his first competitive game as Manchester United manager when his side recorded a 2–1 victory against arch-rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford. This was United's first league win against Liverpool since March 2018. On 11 January 2023, Ten Hag led Manchester United to a 3–0 win over Charlton Athletic in the EFL Cup, and in doing so became the fastest Manchester United manager to reach 20 competitive wins, achieving the feat in 27 games. On 26 February, Ten Hag's side beat Newcastle United 2–0 to win the EFL Cup, claiming their first trophy since 2017. However, in their first league game after lifting the trophy, Ten Hag's side lost a record 7–0 at Anfield, home of their rivals Liverpool. It was the heaviest defeat in the history of that fixture, as well as United's joint-heaviest defeat ever, and the first time they had conceded seven goals since 1931.

In his first season at the club, Ten Hag also led Manchester United to a place in the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, by finishing third place in the top four of the Premier League, and also got to the 2023 FA Cup final, eventually losing to local rivals Manchester City, with a scoreline of 2–1.

2023–24 season
Manchester United began the 2023–24 season with a 1–0 win in the Premier League over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 14 August. On 1 November, Manchester United exited the EFL Cup in the fourth round with a 3–0 loss at home to Newcastle United, who they beat in the final the season prior. Ten Hag was awarded Premier League Manager of the Month for November. On 12 December, Manchester United exited the Champions League after losing 1–0 to Bayern Munich, finishing bottom of their group with 4 points assuring no European football for the rest of the season. Manchester United ended the Premier League season with a 2–0 win against Brighton to finish in eighth place with 60 points, their lowest position in the top flight since the 1989–90 season.

Nevertheless, United reached the 2024 FA Cup final but with significant speculation over Ten Hag's future as manager ahead of the match. United won the FA Cup final against Manchester City, earning Ten Hag a second major trophy with the club and securing a spot in the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League.

On 4 July 2024, Manchester United triggered a one-year extension to Ten Hag's contract to keep him with the club until 2026.

Personal life
Ten Hag and his wife, Bianca, have two daughters and a son.

Player
De Graafschap
 * Eerste Divisie: 1990–91

Twente
 * KNVB Cup: 2000–01

Manager
Bayern Munich II
 * Regionalliga Bayern: 2013–14

Utrecht
 * KNVB Cup runner-up: 2015–16

Ajax
 * Eredivisie: 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22
 * KNVB Cup: 2018–19, 2020–21; runner-up: 2021–22
 * Johan Cruyff Shield: 2019

Manchester United
 * FA Cup: 2023–24; runner-up: 2022–23
 * EFL Cup: 2022–23

Individual
 * Rinus Michels Award: 2015–16, 2018–19, 2020–21
 * Premier League Manager of the Month: September 2022, February 2023, November 2023