Erik Ten Hag Wins His First 'Battle' As Manchester United Manager

Erik ten Hag is set to win his first 'battle' with Manchester United, after the club initially weren't keen on his first choice for a coaching role.

Ten Hag was announced as new permanent manager at Old Trafford on Thursday, and will take over from Ralf Rangnick in the summer after the season is over.

The Dutchman has a hell of a job on his hands to turn fortunes around for the 13 times Premier League champions, with Rangnick claiming they're six years behind Liverpool.

Fans will be hoping that Ten Hag is allowed to make the changes he wants in order to get the best out of his players, and he was nearly dealt an early blow.

According to the Telegraph, the 52-year-old wanted Ajax assistant manager Mitchell van der Gaag and former United number two Steve McClaren to join him at the club.

McClaren working at United. Image: PA Images

Whilst United had no issue with Van der Gaag they reportedly wanted to push back on McClaren, whose last job was as technical director at Derby County.

However, the report claims that the new manager has now won the 'battle' and the club will green light the move for the man who sat on the bench alongside Sir Alex Ferguson.

McClaren originally joined the club part way through the 1998/99 season, in which the Red Devils won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble.

McClaren and Ten Hag in charge of Twente against Manchester City in the Champions League. Image: PA Images

He left in 2001, to become manager of Middlesbrough, and had built a reputation as an excellent coach during his time as Fergie's number two.

Ten Hag has worked with the 60-year-old in the past and was actually his assistant at FC Twente, where the Englishman actually won the Eredivisie.

It's no surprise that the new manager wants to make changes to the coaching team at United, especially considering how the results have been.

Darren Fletcher has reportedly annoyed Rangnick by giving instructions to the players during matches, despite his role as technical director.

Mike Phelan, who was also assistant to Fergie in the past, is another who continued in the wake of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking, whilst Rangnick brought in Chris Armas and the American is set to leave when the German does.