Erik ten Hag concurs with Ralf Rangnick’s harsh evaluation of the culture at Manchester United and commends Jadon Sancho.

Mainoo is extremely grateful to Erik ten Hag for showing faith in him. Ten Hag agrees with Ralf Rangnick’s assessment that Manchester United needs a better “attitude and energy.” Rangnick, the current Austria manager, criticized the club when he left two years ago, comparing the situation at Old Trafford to the need for open-heart surgery. During his time as manager, Rangnick only achieved 11 victories out of 29 matches, resulting in a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.

Ten Hag told Dutch newspaper AD Sportwereld, “Rangnick was absolutely right. We’ve been working very hard on that for two years, but he said it just right.”

Despite winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in his two seasons at United, Ten Hag faced the possibility of being fired towards the end of last season as the team finished eighth in the league.

“Our standards still need to go up,” Ten Hag added. “I knew when I started that it was going to be a tough job. There are a lot of people who have advised me. Louis van Gaal too.”

“We want this club back to where it was more than a decade ago, to a club that wins the Premier League, which can win Champions Leagues. We are really a long way away from that, I think.”

“I think we’ve taken steps since then, otherwise we wouldn’t have won two prizes, but we are not yet so far that a ‘winning culture’ already prevails here in all respects.”

“Our standards, our norms and values, still need to go up. I was not shocked [by what I inherited]. But the culture, the mentality was really not good. To win, to really achieve top performance every week, we had to change a lot.”

Another ongoing issue for the United manager is the situation with Jadon Sancho. The disagreement between Sancho and Ten Hag led to the winger returning to Borussia Dortmund on loan in January. However, Sancho quickly regained his form and made a significant impact for Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League, especially in their semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Sancho’s impressive performance against PSG demonstrated his ability to unsettle defenders and defend against opposing attackers. Despite their previous disagreements, Ten Hag has welcomed Sancho back into the first-team fold during pre-season, and the winger played in United’s 2-0 victory over Rangers on Saturday.

“We spoke well. Everyone can make a mistake,” Ten Hag said about Sancho. “This club needs good players, and one thing is certain: Jadon Sancho is a very good player. I hope that we will still click and that he will contribute to our success.”

Ten Hag is currently in the process of rebuilding and reshaping the club’s playing personnel, and Sancho has the potential to play a significant role in that endeavor.