‘You have to be mentally strong to play for Manchester Unitedpublished at 19:21 Greenwich Mean Time 28 October
Man Utd sack Ten Hag
Peter Schmeichel
Former Manchester United goalkeeper on the Monday Night Club
Of course the manager needs money, but he has to buy players that fit the club. Manchester United is probably the hardest place in the world to play football. Every piece of media in the world has spoken about this all day. You don’t necessarily have to be the best player, but you have to be so mentally strong.
Who has been there to help Erik ten Hag? Nobody. At Ajax, they did brilliantly and got all of the way to the Champions League semi-final. Manchester United and Ajax are so different.
The pressure is relentless. Everything you do will be under a microscope. Ajax is not like that, people in Thailand and Argentina aren’t looking at everything they do. There are players who should not be there.
This is where Sir Alex Ferguson was fantastic, he would not just sign a player. He’d find out everything about them and their family, know what kind of player he was bringing in. They haven’t recorded.
They’ve signed some good players, but not signed enough players have been capable of winning for Manchester United. That’s why for so many years, the club has not achieved what they have wanted to. The Premier League has not been work, the Champions League has not been won.