On August 17, Dutch media NOS discussed Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s enthusiasm for signing Eredivisie players, suggesting that he may follow in the footsteps of Louis van Gaal at Barcelona.
In the late 1990s, when Van Gaal was in charge of Barcelona, he made a frenzy of signings from the Eredivisie, attempting to replicate his success with Ajax. This brought eight Dutch and one Finnish player to Barcelona.
Dutch veteran Ruud van der Leme stated: “History is repeating itself under Ten Hag’s management. During his tenure at Manchester United, Ten Hag has brought in six of his former players, including Lisandro Martinez, Antony, Onana, Amrabat, Mazraoui, and De Ligt. Manchester United spent 95 million euros on Antony, who has struggled significantly in the Premier League.”
Van der Leme also commented on Van Nistelrooy’s role as an assistant coach at Manchester United: “Bringing back Van Nistelrooy was a smart move; although he is still only an assistant coach and hasn’t made any mistakes yet.”
Van der Leme spoke about why Eredivisie players find it difficult to succeed in the Premier League and La Liga: “The La Liga and Premier League are vastly different compared to the Dutch league. These leagues are more intense and harder to adapt to, making it much more challenging for Eredivisie players to fit in.”
When discussing Ten Hag’s assembling of an Eredivisie contingent, De Boer said: “Ten Hag attracts foreign players like Antony, Onana, and Lisandro, all of whom come from Ajax. I believe this is one of his strengths.”
De Boer reflected on the Dutch contingent’s past at Barcelona: “At that time, Dutch became the second language in the Barcelona dressing room. Van Gaal advised us to learn and use Spanish so we wouldn’t form cliques and could improve our relationships with other teammates, but achieving this was difficult. I think it’s very important for players to integrate into the club’s culture. Spanish players deeply understand the history and culture of Real Madrid and Barcelona, allowing them to interact more profoundly with fans. In our era, this wasn’t done well, and the Dutch contingent did overcorrect.”
Despite existing conflicts, Barcelona won the double of La Liga and Copa del Rey in the 1997-98 season. However, their performance in the Champions League was unsatisfactory, with group stage eliminations in the following two seasons. De Boer continued: “When the team’s performance is poor, people start looking for reasons. At that time, people believed that having too many Dutch players led to the decline. Ten Hag’s reliance on the Eredivisie contingent is a double-edged sword. If the team performs well, everything is fine; but if Manchester United doesn’t perform well, you’ll hear criticism about those Eredivisie players.”