Arne Slot inherited higher group than I did – Man Utd’s Ten Hag

Erik ten Hag believes Arne Slot could have a neater time taking on at Liverpool than he skilled when he arrived at Manchester United.

Ten Hag says the mess he inherited at Previous Trafford in the summertime of 2022 was “probably the most troublesome factor I’ll ever do in my life.”

In distinction, the United boss insists Slot, who has taken over from Jürgen Klopp, has walked right into a Liverpool group which is in “a distinct section of the lifecycle.”

The 2 Dutchmen meet within the Premier League for the primary time on Sunday when United face Liverpool at Previous Trafford.

“That was one of many causes I wished to return right here, to have this problem,” Ten Hag mentioned when requested in regards to the scenario he discovered on the membership when he arrived from Ajax.

“I knew beforehand that this was probably the most troublesome factor I might ever do in my life, to return right into a membership the place there have been a variety of issues which we needed to remedy.”

Ten Hag inherited a United group which had come off the again of a depressing season beneath Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, ending sixth within the Premier League with simply 58 factors.

Liverpool, in the meantime, completed third beneath Klopp final season and received the Carabao Cup.

“I am not right here to speak for him [Slot] however Liverpool, it is clear, they’re in a distinct section of the lifecycle,” Ten Hag mentioned. “They’ve a group that’s mature, gamers who’ve been taking part in for a very long time collectively and who’re very skilled. We’ve way more of a combination and must construct a brand new group.

“There’s a group and the constructions are actually clear, I believe the gamers, the partnerships, the relationships in that group are very clear and that’s what he inherited, that has been constructed over the previous years. So issues are nonetheless the identical, however I’ve additionally seen some issues that he already introduced in.”

Ten Hag has had a combined time at United, profitable two trophies in two years but in addition main the group to their lowest ever Premier League end final season.

The 54-year-old has additionally spent closely within the switch market — together with greater than £180 million ($236.3m) on 5 new gamers this summer time — however he insists the overhaul of the squad has been needed.

“I inherited a historical past from six years of no trophies, that meant the dressing-room and the qualities weren’t proper,” Ten Hag added. “So we needed to construct, we needed to assemble, to carry out and to convey up the next degree. We did this with transfers, however we additionally did it by bringing academy gamers into the group.

“What you see now could be that we’ve got introduced new gamers in, many younger gamers, and we’re in a lifecycle from the beginning. We’re nonetheless within the transition stage, we’ve got younger gamers and now we’ve got to assemble a group from it for the long run.”