Ex Man Utd goalkeeper Raimond van der Gouw praises Erik ten Hag

Van der Gouw, who is currently PSV Eindhoven’s goalkeeping coach, has seen the work done by Ten Hag over the last four-and-a-half seasons at Ajax.

The Amsterdammers could win the Eredivisie title on Wednesday, having dazzled Europe with their free-flowing performances domestically and continentally. Should United’s new manager look to imprint that playing style at Old Trafford, it will once again hinge on the groundwork done over the coming weeks.

“If you work with Ajax, you have to score a lot of goals and play attractive football because that’s what the fans expect and that’s traditional,” says van der Gouw. “That means dominating, playing in the opponents’ half, and if you do that then you will get a lot of chances and score a lot of goals. They have a strong defensive record as well because, as Johan Cruyff always said, if you have the ball, then the opponent can’t score. Ajax have the ball most of the time, so they don’t need to be too afraid of the opponent scoring. When you’re dominant like them, you play with a lot of space behind you, so there’s always a chance that the opponent can have a counter-attack, but that’s just something that you have to be aware of.