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Erik ten Hag’s arrival at Manchester United changed the trajectory of not only the club but also of several players who were under-performing at that time.
Marcus Rashford is probably the best example of how the Dutchman has gotten the best out of a player. Another less heralded example is Diogo Dalot.
The Portuguese was almost on the brink of getting sold under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and from there to starting 38 times across all competitions last season has been quite the turnaround.
Dalot’s turnaround under ETH
And the Portugal international, who recently signed a new long-term deal the club, feels the project under Ten Hag and his impact since his arrival have been major factors in his renaissance at Old Trafford.
“I think it’s a combination of me and the club, the connection that we have,” the Portugal international was quoted as saying by The Manchester Evening News. “The project that the club believe that I can be a part of.”
“Obviously the manager, the important role that he had since he came here to help me to develop even more, so I think this is the perfect combination for me. I didn’t have any doubts on keeping here at this club and fighting for even more.”
The 24-year-old was the de-facto starting right-back in the first half of last season but lost his place in the second-half of the campaign following an injury he sustained at the World Cup.
So far this pre-season, Ten Hag has place his faith in Aaron Wan-Bissaka with the Englishman starting all four pre-season friendlies and it seems he might start the first game of the upcoming campaign.
But Dalot seems unfazed and welcomed the challenge and felt this would keep him on his toes and help him reach new heights while simultaneously benefiting the squad.
Competing for the PL title is the aim
“If you want to play for this club, you have to be able to compete – not just as a team, but as individual as well. Every position we have at least now two players that can play and they can start a game for this club.
“I like to have this type of competition. I think I have a good team-mate to do that, which makes me even more motivated to raise the level and fight for the position.”
As for his aims for the coming season, the former Porto star made it clear that while winning the Carabao Cup and reaching the FA Cup final were great achievements, challenging for the Premier League is what this club is meant to do.
“Being up there competing for the Premier League, that’s where we want to aim. We have a lot of teams to compete against but we are Man United so we have to look at it, not as a motivation but as a responsibility to fulfil the objectives of this club.”
