Erik ten Hag has responded to Pep Guardiola’s claims that the Dutchman could have replaced him at Manchester City.
Guardiola discussed the credentials of Ten Hag in April and admitted he could see the 52-year-old as his successor at the Etihad. The Spaniard worked alongside Ten Hag for two seasons at Bayern Munich, with the latter in charge of the second team in Bavaria.
“Could Erik ten Hag be here at City? Definitely,” Guardiola said in April. “I think he could be the one for the way he approaches the game.”
Guardiola had been impressed with Ten Hag’s work in senior management at Ajax, where his achievements attracted interest from Manchester United.
Ten Hag was appointed as United manager during the summer and will come face-to-face with Guardiola in the first Manchester Derby of the season this weekend.
Ten Hag was asked on Guardiola’s past comments ahead of the clash and admits he has no regrets about joining City’s cross-town rivals.
“It’s a nice compliment, first, but I’m 100 per cent convinced I choose Manchester United with everything in it and I didn’t regret it for one second,” he told his pre-match press conference.
Ten Hag was named as the Premier League’s Manager of the Month after a successful September, in which he guided the Red Devils to wins over Leicester and Arsenal – extending the club’s winning run to four Premier League games.
The Dutchman was keen to point out the collective effort in his accolade and insisted there remains significant room for improvement from his side.
“It is for what we achieved as a group. We did it together and it tells us we are going in the right direction. But there is a lot of space to improve.”
