The Ineos plan for Manchester United is now beginning to take shape, now Jason Wilcox has reportedly stamped his authority on Erik ten Hag.
Jason Wilcox was only announced as the new Manchester United technical director last Friday and already he’s making himself known.
Present on Sunday for the FA Cup semi-final and also the U18 Premier League Cup final on Tuesday, he’s engrained himself at the club very quickly.
He is expected to be in charge of a lot this summer, with the arrival of Dan Ashworth not yet looking imminent.
But as the season winds down, Wilcox has now handed Erik ten Hag an ultimatum and told him what he wants him to do, as early as Wednesday’s fixture vs Sheffield United.
Here’s what has been reported.
What has Wilcox told Ten Hag he must do vs Sheffield Utd
Ahead of a return to Old Trafford for an 8 pm kickoff against the league’s worst side, what could go wrong?
Well based on recent form, quite a lot. Now Ten Hag has been issued a demand by the new technical director, who will no doubt be watching keenly.
According to journalist Alan Nixon, Wilcox has now told Ten Hag that he must play the “new” United way of football from here on out.
This, the report adds, begins on Wednesday with a drastic change expected against Sheffield United.
A possession-based style is what Wilcox has told Ten Hag he must adhere to over the next few weeks if he wants to continue in his job beyond May.
This is great news for Manchester United but terrible for the manager
For Wilcox to come in and make this demand, shows that he and Ineos are not messing around anymore.
It’s a demand which places pressure upon Ten Hag, but it is something that should be fairly simple to implement at least against teams like Wednesday’s opponent and Burnley.
Nobody will expect it to be perfect with so many injuries and players unfamiliar, but Ten Hag needs to show something and actually dominate a game.
That being said, the first half against Coventry did show some dominant football and lots of possession only for it to be thrown away.
It seems it is judgement day for Ten Hag, and our fingers are crossed for him to show improvements.