With the tension building ahead of the Manchester derby later today, Erik Ten Hag has responded to comments from Pep Guardiola suggesting he could have succeeded him at Manchester city.
It was back in April, before Ten Hag had been confirmed as the next United manager that Guardiola first made the comments.
He praised the 52-year old saying, “Could Erik Ten Hag be here at City? Definitely. I think he could be the one, for the way he approaches the game.”
Guardiola has just one year left on his contract with City.
Responding to the Spaniard’s comments, Ten Hag said as per The Mirror, “That’s a nice compliment, first. But I chose 100 percent Manchester United, with everything in it.”
He continued, “I didn’t regret it for one second.”
Ten Hag and Guardiola are far from being strangers after having worked together at Bayern Munich between 2013 – 2015.
The Reds’ boss has a lot of admiration for Guardiola but says he is his own coach now with his own philosophy.
“First of all, it’s most important that no person is the same. I have to stick by myself and then, I learn a lot from many human beings in football, especially from top coaches.”
“I admire Pep a lot,” he continues, “Because he’s not only successful, he’s doing it in a certain way that really attracts people to football and that’s a reward.”
The two managers will not be complementing each other today though, as they face off in one of the biggest games in football.
Of course, whatever happens at the conclusion of Guardiola’s contract, Ten Hag is comfortable at United now so any door that was slightly ajar at the Citizens will stay firmly shut where Ten Hag is concerned.
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