When Manchester United were searching for a new manager back in 2022, there was a lot to consider.
Mainly,the club simply needed a direction, after five trophyless years were punctuated by a few aimless, miserable months under an interim manager.
Erik ten Hag‘s reign presented a fresh start, and while the club are now once again debating whether to make another new beginning, the Dutchman can be proud of what he has achieved, winning two trophies in two seasons.
Arguably just a big achievement, Ten Hag is making the most of a special group, with the2022 FA Youth Cup winners shining as a beacon of hope during a woeful first team season that year.
Getting ‘something’ out of that group was a top goal for any new manager. And when Erik ten Hag was announced, football director John Murtough highlighted his ‘commitment to youth’ as a key reason why the club were keen to bring him on.
Erik ten Hag has ‘commitment to youth’
Erik ten Hag handed debuts to 23 different Ajax academy players during his time in charge at the Eredivise club.
At Manchester United he has tried to be selective, insistent young players must earn their chance. It’s tough to make the team, with six players making their United debuts under him so far.
The FA Youth Cup team have not all made it. Some players’ journeys are yet to be determined, while others have left the club, Marc Jurado and Isak Hansen-Aaroen.
Two players who have are Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.
You could argue that both players were so talented they would have made it whoever was manager. Garnacho actually made his debut under Rangnick.
But that would be to churlishly underestimate the impact of Ten Hag and his coaching staff on the young duo’s development.
He created the conditions for Garnacho and Mainoo to succeed and thrive, and carefully selected the right moments to bring them through.
Mainoo’s success this season was partly due to groundwork Ten Hag laid the previous year with him, and during pre-season, while with Garnacho, he resisted the temptation to throw him in instantly, and made him work for it, even laying down the rules on discipline during his first pre-season.
Now, the duo are thriving. Garnacho and Mainoo have taken steps to become first team regulars, with the winger making 50 appearances this season and the midfielder 32 in total.
After this past weekend, the pair are history makers, scoring in the FA Cup Finalto defeat Pep Guardiola’s City.
The duo emulated Cristiano Ronaldo, becoming the first teenagers to score in the final at Wembley since 2004.
If ‘any manager’ would have used Garnacho and Mainoo, Erik ten Hag has maximised them.
Ten Hag has turned them into FA Cup Winners, from FA Youth Cup Winners, in just two years.
Of all the different scenarios which could have played out, this is the best case scenario for the young duo, and it is truly remarkable what they have achieved.
Manchester United’s next generation
The success of Garnacho and Mainoo sets them up for more, whoever is in charge at Manchester United beyond this season. The appointment of Erik ten Hag was the right choice to get them to this point.
But it should not be lost on new decision makers Ineos that Manchester United have a very special group of players in the under-18s at present.
While they missed out on the Youth Cup, they completed a clean sweep of everything else, winning their own treble. This included winning the under-18s Premier League Cup for the first time, winning the league title, and then winning the national north versus south champions winners title game against Chelsea.
In this group there are a few notable names. Louis Jackson, who was also part of Garnacho and Mainoo’s 2022 Youth Cup side, when he was just 16.
Harry Amass, Habeeb Ogunneye, and Ethan Wheatley. All three have been part of Ten Hag’s first team squad lately, with the latter making his debut.
Jacob Devaney, Elyh Harrison, Ethan Williams, Jack Kingdon and Gabriele Biancheri are all promising players who have a shot to reach the first team too.
The odds would say not all of them will, not at a club where demands are as high as United, but Garnahco and Mainoo have demonstrated that it is possible.
Erik ten Hag has also shown he is manager who can maximise the potential of the very best youth talent at the club.
This has to go into consideration when choosing a boss in 2024, just as it did in 2022. If Ten Hag does not continue, then the parameters will remain the same, the boss must use the club’s brilliant academy to the team’s benefit, use the limitless potential of some of these exciting players, just as Ten Hag has been doing with Garnacho and Mainoo.