Bryan Robson hails Erik ten Hag for bringing ‘the discipline back to United’ as the Dutchman’s strong hand guides the Red Devils towards a title race and a first piece of silverware for six years after the 53-year-old ‘laid the rules’ down
Bryan Robson was effusive in his praise of how Erik ten Hag has instilled discipline at Manchester United, and claimed that it has contributed to their results on the pitch.
The former Red Devils captain hailed the way in which the Dutchman has brought order into the dressing room, and insisted that it is evident even in the way that the players train.
The former Ajax boss endured a rocky start to his tenure at Old Trafford, with back-to-back losses to Brighton and Brentford, but has since helped the club win their first piece of silverware in six years.
And he has shown himself to be more than willing to bench players that fail to comply with his strict rules and regulation, with Marcus Rashford one of those to be punished for tardiness.
The legendary form United captain was in Australia as United embarked on their pre-season tour in summer 2022, and recalled how Ten Hag took control of training sessions in a discussion with Graeme Souness for Sportsmail.
Bryan Robson was full of praise for Erik ten Hag’s disciplinarian approach with Manchester United currently thriving
Robson claimed that Ten Hag’s more strict approach was evident even in the way the side trains
‘He’s brought in the discipline back into United, the way they’ve got to train, he knows exactly what he wants on the pitch so he sets the players out so that they know the direction they’ve got to go in.
‘That does’t mean he takes away the flare of the players, but he makes them disciplined and the work rate has got to be there. That shows even in training even on pre-season when I was in Australia with them.
‘I watched training every day and the discipline was there to be seen and the players knew that that is back within the group of players.
‘Then a couple of the lads were late for a meeting and for me he laid the rules there. So they were late for a meeting, and he went “well, if you’re not disciplined enough to turn up for a meting on time, you’re not playing”, and put them on the bench.
‘It’s just things like which you install as a manager where players know the boundaries, and all of a sudden you get more of the discipline on the pitch.’
Having slumped to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League in 2021-22 under Ralf Rangnick, who was statistically the worst ever United boss in the top-flight, the club has reasserted itself as a force in the English game.
The Red Devils have secured wins over top six rivals Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham this season, as well as knocking Barcelona out of the Europa League.
They are currently sat third in the top-flight, and travel to a Liverpool side bereft of form on Sunday, themselves searching for a route back into the top four.
The Dutchman has guided the Red Devils to a first piece of major silverware in six years
And although much has been made of Ten Hag’s man-management, with the likes of Luke Shaw and Rashford returning to their best form, Souness was full of praise for the club’s recently-found emphasis on ‘aggression’.
‘For all his coaching, and for all the emphasis on coaching from people in the game today, he came out with something about being aggreessive.
‘He was parking the tactics, parking the coaching, parking all the terminology, something along the lines of “You need to be aggressive to play this game, you need to get on the ball and be brave”.
‘You can talk about formations and tactics and everything else, but unless you’re really aggressive in football, you won’t win too many games, and I think Man United are an aggressive lot right now.’
