I will admit that I haven't watched a lot of Ajax games to have a conclusion about his game management style.
Anybody that did follow Dutch league, how would you describe him on the following:
1. His general aura/style in the games and interviews. He looks a bit 'grim' and overly serious from what I have seen. Is that a fair assumption? Are his interviews usually insightful, transparent or reserved?
2. His in game reaction style. Is he a manager that would sub a player after 30 min if needed, or is he patient and try to accomodate rather than change?
3. His tactical style. We know his general tactical style and there have been a lot of discussion of his team building talent. However how is his usual match prep; is he a reactive type (would he play i.e. 5 at the back if his team faces a better side?), consistent (would he stick tohis game no matter the opposition?) or unpredictable (the opposition will struggle to predict how he will play).
Any insightfull input would be appreciated!
1. He seems great with (most) players. He is generally not too great at press conferences, but it's also pretty clearly because he doesn't care about those. At times (and more often after more experience) he has been praised for some of the interviews, though. His interviews are rather transparent about the tactical plan, but reserved about the more team spirit, atmosphere, and other extra information sides of things.
2. He is not known as a subs-man, more of a consistency and I guess accommodate/patient type of trainer. If someone disrespects the team he isn't afraid to make a change, but he won't drop someone after a mistake or even a string of them if he believes in the tactical plan and player. He's really a builder rather than a spontaneous combustion every game type manager.
3. He will have a clear direction with some slight adjustments depending on the opposition. The team's own play and dominance are most important, but let's say you play against a slower full-back one weekend, he'll be sure to make use of that. It's probably not as set in stone which formation he'll play. At Utrecht we saw a lot of 4-4-2 diamond type stuff, but at Ajax the stadium will be against you from the start if you don't play something that is (presented as) 4-3-3, since it's part of the club culture and the way the squad was already built. But to be honest, many of his earlier tactics were presented as a 4-3-3 'with a 10', while often that 10 played as a shadow striker rather than a true midfielder, with the wingers being less of the old dutch pacy crossing winger types, too. If the mancunians want a 4-4-2 it wouldn't be surprising if he just wrote down someone like Sancho as a striker that drops deep and have more forward winger types on the sides of the midfield if he thought the 4-3-3 would fit the squad better, so to speak.
Same goes for 3 at the back. He'll consider it, but it'd have to fit the squad. Now when Alvarez plays it's already very much of a 3/5 at the back, but instead of the middle one being the deepest, he is a bit more forward, but less so than many other anchor men (imo). But with someone like Varane or Maguire there, it'd look different. And if you don't have technical defenders like Martinez and Timber next to them, he'd probably rather play a technical player close to defense than add an extra defender just because you play against a strong double striker formation. So, in short, he'll be the consistent type with the occasional surprise up his sleeve to hurt the opponent where possible. Also don't be surprised to see a player put in a weird position because Ten Hag will believe it'll work in the long run. Like Mazraoui at RB rather than CM or Frenkie at CB or DM/CM rather than AM. He could practically play someone like Pogba at CB if he thinks it'll be a great fit to his natural positioning play and the team's overall structure.
Hope this answers some of what you were looking for.
oh I’m going to love it if he tells some of those lot to pack their bags and feck off and see how impressed they are.
