Manchester United beat Newcastle 2-0 at Wembley to win their first trophy in nearly six years. The Reds' progress this season under Ten Hach is visible to the naked eye, and if they had not lost to Brighton and Brentford in the opening two games of the season, they would now be more serious contenders for the Premier League title.
In addition, Manchester United have FA Cup titles to chase and have just reached the round of 16 after beating Barca 4-2 over two legs in the knock-off rounds of the Europa League a few days ago.
United have won 38 trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson's 26 years, including 13 Premier Leagues, two Champions Leagues, five FA Cups and four League Cups under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Since Ferguson's departure in 2013, United have won few titles, only one FA Cup under Louis van Gaal; won the League Cup, Europa League and Community Shield under Jose Mourinho; He also received only one community shield during Moyes' tenure.
But now, under Ten Hag, United look hopeful of regaining their former glory. Ten Hach has done impressive work at Old Trafford since arriving at United from Ajax last summer, and he is the sixth manager to try to revive United since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.
Why did Manchester United choose Ten Hach as manager?
Although fans are always full of complaints and criticism at the mention of former Manchester United chairman Edwood and director of negotiations Matt Judge, it is undeniable that they did do a good thing for Manchester United by setting the template for the club's appointment of Ten Hag. Edwood and Judge set out what requirements United's potential new manager should meet, which was then pushed forward by CEO Arnold, football director Murtaugh and technical director Fletcher.
Potential new managers are judged on the following criteria: Can he lead the team to win? Can you win with style? Can it make players better? Are young players being developed? Does his team have the ability to possess the ball? Does he have the personality and charisma needed to be a Manchester United manager in all situations?
Soon, Ten Hach stood out among the candidates. Of course, before taking the job of Manchester United manager, Ten Hach also spoke to the club a number of times.
In the end, Ten Hach passed United's test and was officially appointed in April 2022. At the time, Ten Hach had five games left at Ajax and they had to make sure they won the Eredivisie smoothly. Until the end of that season, Murtaugh would take one day a week to fly with staff to Amsterdam for meetings with Tenhach.
Ten Hag's Manchester United seem to have returned to the "Ferguson era"
Immediately after Ajax's final match in May, Ten Hach flew to London, where he spent a week meeting more staff. Before attending United's season finale against Crystal Palace, Ten Hach deliberately stayed away from Manchester United's Carrington training base. The next day, he held his first press conference since taking office.
Ten Hag's strict demands on player discipline are evident to all. Manchester United defender Luke Shaw told the BBC: "One of the most important things in the squad is his [Ten Hag's] control of the team and the rules he makes. Everyone must follow the rules. If you don't do what he asks for, then you can't play, no matter who you are. ”
During his trip to Australia for pre-season, Manchester United's young striker Garnacho was late for a meeting and then missed out on a chance to play in the following pre-season.
Something that later made bigger headlines was Marcus Rashford being removed from the starting line-up on New Year's Eve game against Wolves due to "disciplinary issues". Marcus Rashford came off the bench that game to score the winning goal. After the game he said he understood the manager's decision and he had a reason for doing so.
'Rashford was in hot form then and he is now.' "Removing our best players from the starting line-up shows who our manager is and shows us the standards he sets and what you're going to face if you don't play by the rules. ”
In the middle of the events at Garnercho and Rashford, there was also the Cristiano Ronaldo affair. In the pre-season game against Rayo Vallecano, Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted in midfield and left Old Trafford early. Tenhach rebuked the Portuguese star for this.
Then at home to Tottenham on 19 October, Cristiano Ronaldo refused to come off the bench in the final stages of the game and left early in anger. Ten Hach responded by excluding Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad in the next game against Chelsea.
United have had a number of conflicts with their players in the past, and United have often supported players rather than managers, but that has changed. Ten Hach has absolute authority to deal with the team's problems according to his wishes.
Just days after Cristiano Ronaldo made an explosive interview with Pierce Morgan and criticised Ten Hag, Manchester United announced the superstar's departure.
This "dominance" of Ten Hach over the team makes it seem that Manchester United have returned to the Ferguson era.
Can he lead Manchester United through its renaissance?
Ten Hach is also a very modern manager. Whether it's pressing high, possession or full-back plug-in, the manager, who learned from Pep Guardiola at Bayern, brings new ideas to United's game.
Luke Shaw said: "The manager wants us to be a team based on possession. We did a lot of tactical training, practicing what he wanted us to do when we were in possession, how he wanted each of us to run. He wants us to be an oppressive and aggressive team, sometimes overwhelmed. ”
Ten Hach will also make some bold tactical decisions. One is to let striker Westhorst play the No.10 position in order to give Rashford more freedom to threaten the opposing goal. The other is to have Luke Shaw play centre-back.
However, United appointed Ten Hach to carry out a long-term plan, so they still have a lot of work to do under the Dutchman.
Whether he will be able to lead United to great things is difficult to say, but it can be seen that the team is now always focused on the next game. On social media, you can't see Manchester United posting antics of their dressing room celebrations.
In any case, United's first trophy under Ten Hach is a testament to the impact he has had on the team. Perhaps this will be the beginning of Manchester United's renaissance.