Erik ten Hag credited with Ajax successes that Man Utd desperately need

Erik ten Hag's exploits at Ajax have seen him come in for huge praise ahead of his Manchester United arrival.

The Dutchman was announced as the next Red Devils boss just a matter of weeks ago but needed to complete his commitments with Ajax, with whom he has now won another league title. Ten Hag spent five years in charge in the country's capital, helping unearth several quality players.

All the while, on the red half of Manchester, things have gone from bad to worse for the Old Trafford outfit. They sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer earlier this season and interim boss Ralf Rangnick has not had the desired effect. It leaves Ten Hag with a huge job on his hands, but he's performed impressively with Ajax and United will hope he can replicate those achievements in England.

Ajax chief and former United star Edwin Van der Sar has said in a farewell video: "Fantastic what you've achieved. You've put us back on the European map." The Dutch side made the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019 - the first time they'd reached that stage of the competition for 22 years.

United themselves are enduring a lengthy trophy drought, which has now extended to five years. They've been unable to make inroads in the Champions League of late. Ten Hag's first task though will simply be qualifying for the competition and making the Red Devils a force once more.

They've not made it past the last eight in Europe's top competition for over a decade. Most of their recent success has come in the Europa League, winning it in 2017 and coming second in 2021. Ten Hag was able to make Ajax a force in Europe during his tenure.

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Part of his 2019 success was down to the club's academy, with several young players becoming stars in the first team. The likes of Frenkie De Jong and Matthijs De Ligt were crucial figures for the Dutch side and the latter has credited Ten Hag with changing the culture of the club - something that is desperately needed in Manchester.

De Ligt said: "Biggest compliment is that you've created a certain mentality within the club that we missed before." Former United man Rio Ferdinand recently told Vibe with Five on Ten Hag's to do list: "I talk about the culture all the time, and that's number one on my list. The culture has to be right, because you need to see, first and foremost, a work ethic."

Ten Hag has started work with his new employers, stating: "There's a lot of work to be done there [at United]. Of course. There's a lot of work at every club. A manager's job is especially focused on the preparations for next season. And there's a lot of work to be done in that regard."