Bonuscodebets had the pleasure of sitting down with former Manchester United and England defender Paul Parker to discuss Manchester United deciding to renew Erik ten Hag’s contract as well as the impending signing of Bayern Munich centre half Matthijs de Ligt.
Media wanted ten Hag sacked
Erik ten Hag signing a new deal wouldn’t have been on the cards prior to the Manchester United vs Manchester City FA Cup final. If reports are to be believed, ten Hag was on the brink of being sacked. It’s funny what 24 hours can do in the football world. Now Hag has had his contract extended for a season and is pressing ahead with transfer plans. Parker is pleased to see ten Hag staying after so much upheaval at the club over the last few seasons.
“I’m pleased that he’s staying. You know, all that went around, all that has been said by other people with guesswork and not really knowing him, it became the fashion to act like you knew what was going on next. I’m pleased. It made sense to keep him. Especially when you look at what was available. It would have been a panic job.
“It was something that was gathering steam through the media as they wanted a new name. They wanted new content about Manchester United. And by Manchester United keeping him, he kind of stopped a lot of things escalating.
However, Parker remains cautious about United only extending his current contract rather than giving him a new deal which could be deemed as a lack of faith from United.
“The fact that they’re giving him an extra year as well. I mean, it seems good on paper, but what does it mean in the game of football? Not really a lot because you don’t know what’s in an extra year. How does that work for him in that sense? But I am really pleased he’s staying and I’m just as pleased that there seems to be some kind of structure.”
New United structure will help stop transfer mistakes of the past
United have been linked with the likes of Joshua Zirkzee and more recently Bayern Munich centre half Mathius de Ligt who has struggled for the most part since leaving the Ajax team in 2019 for new pastures at Juventus. Reports suggest terms have now been agreed with de Ligt and all that remains is for the clubs to agree terms. Parker here leaps to the defence of de Ligt who has failed to hit the heights of his time at Ajax after breaking into the first team as an academy graduate.
“Man United are going to make mistakes signings because you really don’t know the individual that well that you’re going to bring into your workplace, but it’s not going to happen as often as what it has done over these last 12, 13 years.
“Previously they had brought in the wrong people, the wrong animal, to come and play for a club like Manchester United. You have to be a certain kind of individual to play for a club with the status of Manchester United.
“De Ligt hardly played for Bayern Munich, but we have to say Bayern Munich have gone through not a great last couple of seasons, even when they won the league the previous season. He doesn’t play regular football. There’s a good chance he could have been affected by the environment at Bayern Munich. It’s affected a lot of players.”
Parker seems to be of the belief that wider structural issues at the club beyond the players and the manager could be to blame for the likes of de Ligt and Kim Min-Jae not showing the best of themselves in Munich.
“When you’re a manager and you’ve got the players behind the manager, the little crowd of players who sit together, who are always persecuting that manager… the manager feels that. How does he deal with it? I think we found over the last couple of seasons how many managers they’ve had. It hasn’t worked out. They had maybe the most sought after centre half in Kim Min-Jae. They went and got him last summer and all of a sudden he was being persecuted by fans, by everybody.”
De Ligt needs a new environment
Whilst Parker has somewhat given de Ligt grace for some of his recent issues, the former Manchester United left back believes it’s now time for the Dutchman to step up if he is to make the move to United this summer.
“I saw him play for Ajax on a couple occasions in that season ahead under Ten Hag when they got to the semi-finals and he was a seriously, seriously good, very good and young player. So maybe he’s in the headspace where he needs to go somewhere he’s wanted and to play for somebody who you respect. I think that’s got a lot to do with today’s world, today’s life with young players, they have to respect the person they’re working for.
“There aren’t many that you could bring in who has got his experience of playing for three big clubs already in his life. Three of the biggest clubs. When you play for Ajax and then you’ve gone to play for Juventus and then you’ve gone to play for Bayern Munich. And then your next club is Manchester United? If he does fail, he has to look at himself in the mirror.”
