Former head coach of "Bayer" and "Manchester United" Erik ten Hag critically assessed the growing influence of club owners in modern football. According to the Dutch expert, this process often doesn't serve the interests of football - on the contrary, decisions are costly.
For information, ten Hag was dismissed from his position at Bayer Leverkusen on September 1, 2025. Currently, he is the technical director of the Dutch club "Twente." That is, he sees the processes not only as a coach, but also from the point of view of the club management.
Ten Hag emphasized that the situation is worsening year by year: "The situation is becoming increasingly tense. More and more club owners want to prove themselves. Usually, they don't understand football well."
According to him, some owners act with a mindset of appearing more on stage, demonstrating their influence, and "I'll decide too." But football is not PR, where the price of a wrong decision is very high: the result is lost, the team spirit is broken, the fan gets nervous.
Ten Hag also strongly criticized technical directors. According to a quote from the online publication Daily Mail, he said that sometimes decisions are built not on sports logic, but on favorable conditions and a "self-justification" mechanism:
"Technical directors also often make decisions when the results are unsatisfactory due to favorable conditions."
Simply put, when the result deteriorates, it's easy to find someone to blame, but getting to the root of the problem is difficult. Ten Hag is giving a signal at this very point that "football managers should understand real football."
These words perfectly match current football realities: as money increases, the struggle for influence also intensifies. But for the fan, one thing is important - the result on the field and the quality of the game. That's why ten Hag's speech once again expressed a familiar idea aloud: if football is managed by those who understand it like players, the club will also breathe.
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