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4 months ago
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Erik ten Hag has opened up on the secret Ibiza talks which saved his Manchester United job - and explains why he didn't panic when communication with Ineos dried up after the FA Cup final.
There was a growing sense that Ten Hag would be axed regardless of the outcome of the FA Cup final.
But after defeating Manchester City at Wembley, Ten Hag gave Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team a decision to make, eventually ending up with them jetting out to Ibiza to meet Ten Hag for face to face talks.
'The communication did fall away yes,' Ten Hag said, in a wide-ranging interview with Dutch publication AD.
'But I just celebrated holidays with my loved ones, and I let things come to me. I have no influence on that anyway.'
Erik ten Hag (middle) has explained why he did not panic when communication with Ineos ceased over the summer with his job in limbo (pictured on holiday with his family)
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (right) and his Ineos team eventually decided to back Ten Hag with a new deal
'It's not like I panicked,' he added. 'Why? It's a decision that wasn't in my hands. I just waited for it.
'At that moment you just think in two scenarios: whether we continue, or not. It's that simple and I'm level-headed enough to look at it that way.'
In Ibiza, Mail Sport previously reported that there was a four-hour summit which took the format of a frank, honest and 'grown up conversation'.
Now, opening up on that discussion, Ten Hag described it as 'confrontational' and robust.
'They didn't say "we still want to go on", but: we want to go on,' he added.
'The argument they gave was in a short summary: we looked at everything and put it next to each other, but we think we already have the best manager in house.
'Then I said: "then we have to discuss a number of things, about how we interact with each other and work together." We had a good, honest, but also confrontational conversation about that. As it should be at the top.'
After winning the FA Cup final, Ten Hag remained calm before a 'confrontational' Ibiza summit
Thomas Tuchel held talks with United, but the German decided to take a break from football
Roberto De Zerbi (left) and Thomas Frank (right) were also courted by Man United officials
Ten Hag is very straightforward as an orator and leaves little room for ambiguity, which he relayed to Ineos during this summit.
'I also said to them then: if you think this is not the way, then we just have to break up.'
Sir Jim Ratcliffe held talks with Thomas Tuchel in Monaco, before the former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss felt he needed a break from football.
Roberto De Zerbi and Thomas Frank were also courted by United officials, while there was interest in former first team coach Kieran McKenna, before he elected to stay at Ipswich.
Earlier this month United gave the Dutchman a one-year contract extension until June 2026.
The new contract on existing terms indicates increased support for Ten Hag from a leadership team that includes new sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox.
He has also been backed to bring Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake in to freshen up the coaching team, with both becoming his new assistants at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag, who had one year left on his existing contract, said: 'I am very pleased to have reached agreement with the club to continue working together.
'Looking back at the past two years, we can reflect with pride on two trophies and many examples of progression from where we were when I joined.
Ten Hag has been handed a one-year contract extension to keep him at the club until 2026
Incoming Man United sporting director Dan Ashworth hailed Ten Hag as one of the 'the most consistently successful coaches' in Europe
'However, we must also be clear that there is still lots of hard work ahead to reach the levels expected of Manchester United, which means challenging for English and European titles.
'In my discussions with the club, we have found complete unity in our vision for reaching those goals, and we are all strongly committed to making that journey together.'
Ashworth welcomed the news ahead of Ten Hag's return for pre-season training on Monday, saying: 'With two trophies in the past two seasons, Erik has reinforced his record as one of the most consistently successful coaches in European football.
'While the club's review of last season highlighted areas for improvement, it also reached a clear conclusion that Erik was the best partner for us to work with in driving up standards and outcomes.
'This group of players and staff have already shown they are capable of competing and winning at the top level; now we need to do it more consistently.
With our strengthened football leadership team now in place, we are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with Erik to achieve our shared ambitions for this football club.'
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