Sky Sports' interviews with Former Tenhach's former team-mates and former players have shown the world that the manager, who is likely to take over the hot potato of Manchester United next season, may not be well known for his career.
In Ajax, people laugh at his accent because he comes from the east of the country as a Tukker, an area known for its down-to-earth approach. In the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam, many people don't believe that the great Ajax can get anything out of him, but they are all wrong. Having won two domestic doubles and reached the champions league semi-finals, Tenhach has brought Ajax the best football he has seen in years. His approach was successful, and his attitude conquered those who questioned it. It may feel like he's moving up to what may be called the highest position in football, but his progress is absolutely very stable. Now 52 years old, he has gone from a youth team coach to a youth coach to an assistant coach at a domestic and foreign club and a head coach at all levels.
In a series of interviews with his former teammates, from those who played with him since he was a teenager to his teammates who were later captained by him, to players promoted to the top of his first tenure as head coach, these interviews bring to mind the image of a unique thinker, an inspiration and a disciplinarian. That's what made him up— Tenhach.
"An ordinary player who always knows the game best"
Tenhach grew up in the north of the small town of Haaksbergen, not far from the city of Enschede, and his early years were idyllic, bouncing around the pitch and playing until dark. When Tenhach played at the local club Bon Boys, he had already done very well.
His childhood friend Tenward, who worked as a journalist, recalls Thatnhach as a happy and somewhat rebellious teenager, not a strict disciplined man obsessed with details. But Tenhach is the captain of the Bon Boys, and according to Tenward, leadership seems to be in Tenhach's genes.
Tennhach's former teammate Parplatz also recalls that when Tenhach was drafted by the region's largest club, Twente, Parplatz played with him for the youth team, the reserve team and, ultimately, the first team. He told Sky Sports: "After that, when Tenhach was the head of youth training and I was the coach, we even worked together. Their last conversation was at the summer party when Twente won the second Dutch Cup in history after a gap of 20 years.
"When I moved back to Twente that year, I wasn't healthy because of some injuries to my muscles. Tenhach was already captain at the time. He's actually an ordinary player, but he has a good sense of teamwork. Even when he was playing, he was actually a coach and he always knew more than we did. ”
In a team that includes stars such as Dutch international Heiserlink and parplatz, who had more success at Eindhoven, not everyone appreciates the centre-back who is calling the shots at them behind his back. Parplatz added: "It's not always popular with the players because he's not the best player and it's sometimes difficult to get players who are better than you to agree with you. But Tenhach thinks like a coach, in fact he always has the best tactical thinking. Twenty years on, you can tell he's always been right. ”
"He meticulously crafted his career"
Tenhach and Parplatz's playing careers during the Twente period began as teenagers and ended in 2002. But it immediately seamlessly transitioned to becoming the coach of the U17, and tenhach took over the U19 echelon a season later. Walter Brama, the player who is now back in Twente used to be from the Twente academy. He recalls that when Tenhach's first decision was to shorten their two-week vacation, the impact was very fast and the progress was stable.
Parplatz added: "He was very careful to build his career. Tenhach later served as assistant coach under Fred Ratten and Steve McLaren before joining Eindhoven for three seasons with Ratten. In the summer of 2012, at the age of 42, he got his first head coaching job at Forward Eagles after a decade of work.
"It's a gradual process that slowly develops its own philosophy and coaching style. This is very good. Now you see a lot of veteran players who want to coach the first team immediately after retiring. It's hard, you have to be very good, and that only applies to a small number of players. "The chances at the Forward Eagle are not significant. It was a team relegated from the Dutch Serie A in 1996 and remained in the second division for the next 16 seasons. Standards were slipping, expectations had been falling, and Tenhach quickly changed that.
"He changed the mentality of the club"
When O'Fgull learned that Tenhach would be his new manager, he was not optimistic. The youngster was sacked by Twent as a teenager in an attempt to succeed in the ensuing arena, when the person who terminated him was Tenhach.
O'Forge told Sky Sports: "When I was sent away, he was the head of academy at Twente and he told me I wasn't good enough. I got a contract at the Forward Eagles, so you can imagine how I felt when the club announced Tenhach as the new manager. But fortunately the result is completely different. ”
At the end of that season, there were celebrations on the pitch and in the stands, as the club finally returned to the Dutch League after 17 years of waiting, and no one would suspect that Tenhach was the main factor in making this success.
O'Fgull said: "It was the most special day of my career, I wasn't a great player, but because of Tenhach, I played in the highest league. He's the best manager I've ever had, and you don't see such a good coach in the second division. ”
Bart Frienz, another Eagles player at the time, was on loan that winter from Utrecht to strengthen the defense. That season seemed to him like it was yesterday, because he had been making a documentary about that season, and the core was to interview his teammates at the time, and Tenghach.
Every player told him the same thing, Frienz told Sky Sports: "In just a few weeks before the preseason, Tenhach changed the club's professional standards, which is the real conclusion in the conversation with all the people involved. It is a mid-sized Second Division club located in a small eastern city. During his time in charge, the team evolved into a different picture. He changed the mentality of the club, changed the mentality of the players and the staff, and in fact, it all started from day one. ”
Tenhach was picky, and the first thing he noticed was that the lady in charge of the club equipment would take out a drink and put it on the table in the dressing room, and Frienz said: "She will put the drink there very casually." But for Tenhach to line up drinks, in his eyes, everything has to be perfect and people need time to get used to it. We had a guy who was in charge of the pitch, and Tenhach would come to him every day and say the lawn had to be about two millimeters. It was a big difference for everyone at the club and he changed all that. Remember, in the Netherlands, this is not a big club. We didn't have the best facilities but he did the best with everything. Most coaches come to clubs like the Forward Eagles and their attitude is that I just deal with it, but Tenhach is not dealing with it, but to make everything better and better. ”
As O'Fogoul discovered in preseason, the details are everything, "We did a lot of work, but a couple of afternoons we had to run in groups in the woods and he would make us have to run a distance in two minutes. We wanted to prove ourselves to him, so our group ran out in a minute and fifty seconds. But he said, 'No, if I let you run for two minutes, I don't want you to run for two minutes and ten seconds or one minute and fifty seconds.' That's what he is, and if you don't come as planned you're in trouble. ’”
"He's 10 years ahead of his time"
Some of the stories about Tenhach make him sound like a stern overseer, but there's another side to his coaching. He is an innovator who is committed to high standards. This means asking the players for a better environment at the same time.
Frienz is from Utrecht, a bigger and more advanced club. But the attention to detail still surprised him, "He put the bed in the dressing room so we could rest and sleep between training sessions, which was really fresh at the time. And video analytics helps take things to another level," which is the first time I've experienced this. Remember, this was the race of the Forward Eagles 10 years ago. After the game, we would let us go to his room alone to watch a video of our game and he would never be satisfied. ”
O'Forge also recalled: "He also had windows on the office door and we all felt like he was trying to see what we were doing through the window. But Tenhach said, 'No, if the door is closed and there are no windows, it will be difficult for them to come in because the players think I'm too busy to knock on the door.' But with the window they could see if I was available, which made it easier to come in. Frienz agrees: "It also impressed me, something I've never seen before." He put that big glass window up just to make things more transparent and help with communication. This is a small example of how he changed his mind. "Both former players gave some seemingly insignificant examples that clearly impressed the players of the time.
"He would tell us the tactical pattern"
What Tenhach needs to do is not just change his mind, he must change the outcome. The process also begins in preseason, but it takes longer to reach perfection. Countless hours of work were put into the training ground before the victory began.
O'Forge recalled: "We played a lot of 11-on-0 matches where the teams would line up like a game, but there were no opponents on the pitch, practicing how to pass the ball on the pitch. It's a favorite of the coaches but not much fun for the players. Every time we start with a goalkeeper, he tells us how to attack. He wanted the slash ball and every time we played a straight ball he would stop us and let us start attacking again. He is very strict with himself. After four weeks of playing without opponents, I was wondering what this was, it was so boring. But after a few months of the season, we know what we have to do and everyone is looking at the game in the same way, which is very clear and effective. ”
When Frienz arrived at the team in January, Tenhach had already established his idea, and by then the mood had changed. "There are very interesting training sessions." O'Forge agrees, "We're confident in our style of play and the game is getting better and better. That style is 4-3-3, like at Ajax. Sometimes he makes some changes at half-time, but it's not surprising. Maybe a midfielder would have to pull back 10 metres to get more possession. This is his great quality. He knows how to change to get better. ”
"He can make the whole team happy"
Perhaps influenced by the termination of the contract at Twente, O'Fogur at first thought there was a problem between Tenhach and him. "He would yell at me and I thought he didn't like me. The other players are aware of this, and they think so. I asked him what I was doing wrong and why he was always yelling at me. He told me that I'm the kind of person who is happy 90% of the time, but if I'm angry, I can give more and improve faster. When he told me this, I realized that when he shouted, he just wanted me to give more. I used to be negative, but after that I became positive. He believed me, but felt I could give more. ”
Frienz also recalls: "A lot of times, it's just about football, not about family or anything. Every day he talks like football and wants to keep improving. But he also knows exactly what every player needs, and as a coach, that's a really good thing. I rarely see him feeling relaxed, smiling or very cold in training. He's always serious, but I guess that's the standard of top football. It took us a while to learn about this, but it worked. ”
Harsh but fair as the players' evaluations allowed Tenhach to earn respect in the dressing room. "Every player in the team, even the players on the bench, is very happy with him," Frienz added.
Parplatz also pointed to the ability to unite the team. At Ajax, a club that used to be often divided, the atmosphere in the team was rarely a problem, "He was always good to the players. He always protected them. He's tough on the players, but the players are always very positive about him – even players who don't play, or players who leave for another club. They all said he was a good coach and a good guy. ”
"We knew he was so good to stay"
As the Eagles escalated, there were a lot of frustrated voices in the team, as Tenhach decided not to follow them on in the Eredivisie, but to Bayern Munich and lead the reserve team, while the head coach of the first team at the time was Guardiola.
O'Forge said: "I was surprised and a little disappointed because I knew he was going to make me a better player. But he was a little too good for us. So it's normal for him to leave, and so are the players, and if he's too good, they'll leave. He was so good that he couldn't possibly stay. We were lucky because in the first year of the Dutch league we kept 9 of the original 11 players, so in the first year of his departure, we played the game that Tenhach wanted us to play, and I think that's why we were relegated that year. ”
Since then, Tenhach's success has not been so surprising. "I know he has that ability. We know he's special. He went to Bayern Munich and then to Utrecht. "Friens even played a role in Tenhach's move to Utrecht and I remember the Utrecht board contacted me because they wanted some information about this potential new manager candidate. I'm positive about that. They chose him, and it was a huge success. This doesn't surprise me at all. ”
"He's just going to adapt to the players he has"
Tenhach must evolve since the Age of the Forward Eagle. In Utrecht, he switched from a 4-3-3 formation to a two-striker and it worked. They were fifth in his first season and fourth in his second season – leading the club into Europe.
"I think he just adapted to the players that exist," Frionz said. "We have wingers and we play a game of attacking, dominating, passing. At Utrecht, he changed formations to accommodate the players he had. He didn't stick to this Dutch style of football. ”
At Ajax, he did return to a 4-3-3 formation, but had his own shifts on and off the pitch. He had to convince a club, a club with a very clear philosophy of how things should be done, that he had his own ideas. It would take time, but that's what he did.
"In the beginning, people also needed to get used to him," Frienz said. "He's a serious guy from the east of the country with a funny accent that doesn't seem quite right for Ajax at first. But after a few weeks everything was fine. He changed his mindset. I think he actually changed the standards of the club. ”
"He needs time and patience to reap success"
A recurring theme in Tenhach's career was proving people wrong. It will be a challenge at Manchester United for a number of reasons. Patience is a virtue, but the Premier League is full of evil people, will it give him time? Even his admirers were skeptical.
"If your board is impatient, those months are over." O'Fgull said, "But in Utrecht and Ajax, the board trusted him and you see what happened next." The same goes for the Forward Eagle. Up and down, after that, it's all the way up. In Ajax, they have patience. If there are no results in the first few months, I don't know if United will have the patience because there is still a lot to do. If given time, he would do the job well. He proved himself good enough everywhere. ”
Parplatz said: "He would often repeat it. At first in Utrecht and Ajax this almost became a problem for him. He has trained them very hard and long to integrate his philosophy into the players. This takes time. The players in Utrecht and Ajax are not used to this. He brought with him a new philosophy that at first was a struggle for him. He demands too much from the players. Later, you can see that this pays off. In the beginning, it was difficult to convince the player of his ideas. But you see how his current Ajax is performing, it's unbelievable. ”
O'Forge doesn't think the 11-on-0 conversation will repeat itself. "He has to do it with us because we're not that good and need some model to build. He didn't let Tadić and Blind do 11-on-0, they had more freedom. I don't think he's going to tell Cristiano what to do. ”
"How will he deal with English football?"
This thinking reminds us that Manchester United is different. Parplatz remembers his conversations with McLaren at Twente, "He used to tell us what the media was like there. A day at Manchester United is 24 hours. It's something you have to get used to. Only a handful of Dutch coaches have coached at the biggest clubs in the world, such as Van Gaal who have coached Manchester United, Leo Benhaek and Hiddink at Real Madrid, and John Cruyff and Ronald Koeman at Barcelona. That's the level we're talking about. ”
"He knows German football. He knows Dutch football. How will he deal with English football and everything that comes with it? This is an interesting question. Can he handle it? Having just spent an hour with Tenhach reminiscing about their time at the Forward Eagles, Frienz is sure his former manager will adapt, as if he had to adapt to every previous challenge," I sounded like his agent but I thought United had chosen him very wisely. The club seems difficult to manage but I do think it was a wise decision. His success didn't surprise me at all, and he's still the best coach I've ever seen in my career. For me, the season we had together was a huge success and a season to remember. But for him, it was just the beginning of his coaching career. ”
（SuperWise）
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