In the Dutch town of Haaksbergen, the only obvious indication that Erik ten Hag once lived here is a sign fixed to the front window of a shop space that is up for sale.
That is because his family are business people whose real-estate offices are among the biggest in the nearest city, Enschede. Though the Ten Hags now live in Oldenzaal, a small town on the other side of Enschede, Erik and his brothers grew up here in Haaksbergen, a few miles from the German border.
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It is a quiet place, in stark contrast to the noise currently engulfing its most famous son.
Last night, Ten Hag guided Manchester United to their latest embarrassing result of an increasingly painful season — a 4-0 defeat away to Crystal Palace.
The odds of Thomas Tuchel heading to Old Trafford to replace Ten Hag when he leaves his job as Bayern Munich coach this summer have been slashed, and there have been reports in Germany of Ten Hag taking over from Tuchel in Bavaria.
Not that you would guess at any of this in Haaksbergen, a folksy place where everyone seems to know everyone else. Enter the fruit-and-vegetables store and the man behind the counter knows customers by name. It’s the same at the butchers, the bakers and the cheesemakers.
Conversation flows freely but not, it seems, about Ten Hag. Reveal you are a reporter, trying to find out how people feel about Ten Hag’s position at United, and there is a reluctance to engage.
It is explained on the steps of one of Haaksbergen’s several Protestant churches that it is culturally unacceptable in this conservative part of the Netherlands to discuss someone else’s problems publicly, even if they are famous.
A few of Ten Hag’s old friends in Haaksbergen were contacted by The Athletic as well, but they also refused to talk, with one of them suggesting that speaking at this moment would not help him. When asked what that meant precisely, the communication abruptly ended.
It is possible to find the odd person on the narrow lanes that feed off Haaksbergen’s central square willing to speak, although nobody wants to be named fully or photographed. English is also not spoken here as commonly as in other parts of the country.
But almost everyone prepared to offer their views is a staunch defender of Ten Hag — and a critic of the club who currently employ him.
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“He should go to Munich,” says Kevin, who works for a maintenance service commissioned to tidy up the trees and bushes in the centre of Haaksbergen.
Kevin names some of the other managers who have not lived up to the expectations at United since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement after the 2012-13 season — the last one where they won the Premier League title. “There is a pattern, and this says it might not be the fault of the manager — in this case, Erik ten Hag.”
Kevin says he did not watch the capitulation to Palace, after which the Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher described United as one “the most poorly coached teams in the Premier League”.
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He supports FC Twente, Enschede’s club in the domestic top-flight Eredivisie, where Ten Hag had three spells as a player — the last, between 1996 and 2002, being the longest.
“I remember him in the centre of the defence,” Kevin says. “He is a big hero of our town. You will struggle to find anyone who has anything bad to say about him.”
Across the road, sitting at a table outside a cafe, are two older men, who say they are also Twente fans.
“We know all about Erik ten Hag’s problems in Manchester,” says one. “Except, the problems are not of his making. Yes, he has been unable to improve results but he achieved success at Ajax when he worked in front of a stable structure behind him. That has never existed in Manchester. His mistake was going there, believing it might change.”
What about the money he has had to spend at United? He cannot claim he has not been supported financially.
“That is true,” the other man concedes. “Yet at Ajax, where he achieved success, the directors made the signings. In Manchester, the same intelligence does not exist. It means that Ten Hag buys the players he knows. He has always been a trainer, not a recruiter.”
There is a feeling in Haaksbergen that it might be time for Ten Hag to move on, maybe to return to Munich, where he coached Bayern’s reserves from 2013-15, yet there is an argument that similar issues relating to directorial lead exist at the Allianz Arena.
A man carrying cakes from a bakery thinks it might be time to step away from football altogether for a while, to return home to the Netherlands, and take stock, before making any decision about his next job.
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If Ten Hag did that, it would likely be in Oldenzaal, but he sometimes returns to Haaksbergen, where he started out as a youth player in the system at Bon Boys.
“Erik ten Hag is always welcome in Haaksbergen,” says the man, trying to balance his cakes. “We will always support him.”
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(Top photos: Getty Images; Simon Hughes/The Athletic)
