Erik ten Hag Keeps Two Manchester United Players Away From Clashing Against Each Other In Training As One Of Them Sheds Light On The Incident
Sep 22, 2022 at 4:33 PM
Manchester United left-back Tyrell Malacia has recently opened up on his life at Carrington, revealing many aspects on and off the field. The 23-year-old joined Erik ten Hag’s revolution at United this summer from Feyenoord in a deal worth £14 million. In much less time, Malacia has already benched the Red Devils’ first-choice left-back Luke Shaw and cemented his place in the starting eleven.
However, the Dutch international has revealed one incident where is gaffer had to warn him and his new teammate Antony to ‘go easy’ against each other. Both share a longstanding rivalry from their Dutch Eredivisie days, as Antony plied trade for Ajax, Malacia’s former side Feyenoord’s fiercest rivals. They often clashed each other in Holland, but things changed this summer and are now on the same side.
Malacia opens up on Erik ten Hag’s managerial methods and his United journey so far
Malacia has been called up by the Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal for their upcoming Nations League fixtures against Poland and Belgium. The two games are crucial for the left-back who is working hard to earn his ticket to Qatar, where the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in November-December. He has good amount of club football under his belt, after featuring in all of United’s 8 games so far.
However, apparently it’s still difficult for him to Antony has a teammate than a rival after the winger completed his £86 million switch from Ajax on the deadline day. Antony joined his former teammate from Ajax Lisandro Martinez at United, who had earlier made a £50 million move from the Dutch champions. Talking about his rivalry with the Brazilian, and how Erik ten Hag handles it, Malacia, on Sky Sports said:
“When he [Antony] arrived [at Manchester United], the first thing the coach [Erik ten Hag] said was, ‘Guys, easy on each other’. He’s [Antony] a good player and I love to play against him. And now I play with him, which is fantastic.”
The left-back continued on his start with the 20-time Premier League winners, after losing the first two games of the season against Brighton and Brentford. He said:
“Every game is difficult [in the Premier League], every week is difficult – there are no easy games. [After the Brentford match] we spoke with each other a lot, as a team, we trained and the first thing we had to do was the basics – work hard. That’s where it all started, you’ve seen it in the games. It wasn’t always good football but we worked hard and that’s why we kept winning games. Now we have to have that as a standard and now we have to develop our possession game.”
About Erik ten Hag, he explained:
“I knew him [Erik ten Hag] because I played against him in Holland. Actually before I came here, I spoke with him on the phone and had some good talks with him. It felt good for me. You see what he wants. I think his vision is quite clear. Now, as both individuals and as a team, we have to develop that. It was a big decision to make [to leave Feyenoord] so to know the club and the manager both want me, that was important for me.”
While he now focuses on his international duty with Holland, a crunch Manchester derby awaits Malacia, as well as Ten Hag post the break. The youngster is yet to score or assist for the Red Devils, but his robust performances have fit in perfectly at Ten Hag’s system. He will certainly want to build on the recent results United have had, picking five wins in their last six games in all competitions when he returns to Old Trafford.