Signing strong, bright characters means the manager now has the players to make up for a lack of personal magnetism
Antony and Casemiro during Manchester United training earlier this month – the pair arrived for a combined £133m in the summer transfer window.What prompted the change of plan is unclear. Perhaps it was the poor start and the Glazers’ fear of reduced dividends. Or perhaps Ten Hag advised them that were he to resign citing their desire for a trust fund rather than a football club, that trust fund immediately becomes less generous.
On which point, it is instructive to consider the players recruited. Ordinarily, a manager infatuated with those he already knows looks like Harry Redknapp signing Niko Kranjcar for the 67th time, but the circumstances here are more forgiving. At Ajax it was not incumbent upon Ten Hag to scout talent, so it makes sense that those for whom he will vouch are those he knows and, given United’s embarrassing state relative to Ajax’s healthy one, those players may well be the best available to him.
Or, in other words, Ten Hag’s skills as a coach and as a man – what we might call his charisma – have attracted players who might otherwise have been out of reach.
Similarly, the uplifting devotion with which Eriksen fought back from his near-death experience, along with his Mensa-level footballing IQ, accords him a status able to lift those around him, while the confidence, aggression and enthusiasm of Malacia and Martínez have already made a huge difference.
Which is to say that the best kind of charisma is charisma that inspires others to find theirs, and in that aspect, Ten Hag is set. But as Atkinson, Van Gaal and Mourinho can confirm, ultimately, only one kind of charisma counts: the unrivalled charisma of sustained success.
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