The pair were denied a compelling title race in the Eredivisie, but they will renew their rivalry on Sunday in England's biggest fixture
In his four full years in charge of Ajax, Erik ten Hag enjoyed one waltz to the Eredivisie title and two closely fought contests with PSV, securing the crown each time with one game to spare. But perhaps the most interesting title race of all was the one that was never allowed to finish.
In March 2020, the Johan Cruyff Arena hosted a top-of-the-table clash between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, coached by a young upstart by the name of Arne Slot. Three points separated the two teams before kick-off, and a win for Ajax would have given them a six-point cushion. But they were outplayed on their own turf, with AZ slicing them open repeatedly.
The visitors scored in just the third minute after a misplaced pass from Daley Blind, had a goal ruled out by VAR and then a delightful chip by Oussama Idrissi over a hapless Andre Onana sealed a famous win. At full-time, Slot and his coaching staff staged a group hug. They were now level on points with Ajax and dreaming of a first title in 11 years.
AZ and Slot never got to live out that dream, as just two weeks later the Dutch season was halted by the coronavirus pandemic. In mid-April, while other European leagues were planning to resume behind closed doors, the Dutch Football Association agreed to cancel the season and declare it null and void. Some argued it was unfair on Ajax, who were top at the time that the campaign ended. It was equally unfair on AZ, who had done the double on the Amsterdam giants and had the momentum.
That win was as good as it got for Slot at AZ as he was sacked midway through the next campaign for getting distracted by an offer from Feyenoord. Slot and Ten Hag were now the head coaches of the Netherlands' most fierce rivalry, and Ten Hag had his revenge in the 2021-22 season, winning both games against Feyenoord on his way to clinching his third title with Ajax just as he had agreed to take over at Manchester United.
With Ten Hag out of the picture, Slot finally got his hands on the Dutch title in 2023, and one year later, he accepted another enticing offer, this time from Liverpool. Now, on Sunday, the two Dutchmen will continue their rivalry as the heads of England's best supported and most successful sides.
Getty 'Overly lyrical'
Ten Hag and Slot had a competitive yet friendly rivalry when they were both in the Eredivisie. But when Ten Hag was under-fire at United before last season's FA Cup final and Slot had been confirmed as the next Liverpool manager, the Red Devils boss took aim at Feyenoord while speaking to . He felt the Rotterdam outfit had been getting too much credit despite finishing seven points behind runaway champions PSV.
"PSV are a well deserved champion. Better than the rest by such a large distance, including Feyenoord. Peter Bosz did an excellent job at PSV last season. The club is alive and sparkling," Ten Hag said.
"On the other hand, I think people are overly lyrical about Feyenoord. In my opinion, the difference between PSV and Feyenoord was too big from Feyenoord's perspective as reigning national champions. Feyenoord was stable this year, but not top. PSV was two classes better in all areas. In terms of dominating the ball, in terms of pressing, in terms of intensity, you name it."
AdvertisementGetty Images'Good and normal relationship'
Ten Hag did not personally question Slot's coaching talents, though, and he welcomed his appointment by Liverpool. "I think it is a very good and beautiful choice from both sides. This is great for the Dutch coaches' guild."
Ten Hag also struck a conciliatory tone when he spoke to Dutch newspaper in August. "I think the fact that there are now two Dutch managers at the helm at Liverpool and Manchester United is fantastic for our football,” he said. "It is fantastic what Arne has achieved at Feyenoord, how he has helped that club get back on track, and the football that Liverpool prefers to play also suits Arne Slot completely. I think it’s a very good match."
Slot has also played down any hint of a rivalry with Ten Hag whilst also admitting the pair were not close. "It’s as good and normal a relationship as I have with other managers. The relationship I would call it very good; we all respect each other because of what the managers did at their former clubs," he said on Friday.
"Friends? No, friends is something else, but it’s a very good relationship. A friend is someone you see a lot and go to dinner. We don’t know each other well enough."
AFPStronger foundations
Slot has certainly got off to a more comfortable start at Liverpool than Ten Hag has enjoyed in all three of his seasons in England. Liverpool earned a hard-fought 2-0 win at promoted Ipswich and then coasted to another 2-0 win over Brentford in Slot's Anfield bow.
There was a somewhat subdued atmosphere for his home debut, a far cry from the raucous mood of Jurgen Klopp's last season. Instead, there was a feeling of serenity, which contrasted with the chaos Ten Hag has endured at the start of each of his three seasons with United.
He suffered a loss at home to Brighton on his debut and was then hammered 4-0 by Brentford; his first away game of last season resulted in defeat at Tottenham; the first road trip of this season to Brighton last week had a familiar outcome to many of last season's low-points: losing in added time.
Ten Hag pre-empted the inevitable comparison which would be made between him and Slot when speaking last May. "Jurgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders have left a strong foundation," he said. "He [Slot] ends up with better foundations than I did when I went to Manchester United from the Netherlands, in terms of structure in the club, in terms of balance in the squad."
Ten Hag' assessment was understandable, as Liverpool had finished last season in third place, having qualified for the Champions League in seven of the previous eight seasons under Klopp, including winning the league and coming second twice.
Slot was happy to admit this after the Brentford game, saying: "I inherited a team and all of them stayed. We try to keep a lot, a lot, a lot almost the same and try to adjust maybe one or two things where we think we could win."
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GettyTen Hag's transfer toils
Ten Hag, by contrast, inherited a United team that had achieved their worst points total in the Premier League and had returned a goal difference of zero. He also had problematic players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Anthony Martial to deal with. However, he has had five transfer windows to build the squad he wanted, being armed with a war chest of close to £600 million ($787m). And yet, last season United had their worst-ever finish to a Premier League campaign and posted a negative goal difference.
He has also been allowed to sign many of the targets he wanted, a number of whom he has worked with previously. Indeed, he has spent £250m ($328m) on former Ajax players alone, and yet a lot of those signings have simply not worked.
Antony has been a total disaster, one of the worst, if not worst, Premier League signings of all time at £85m ($111m). United were keen to offload the Brazilian this summer, but could not find anyone who wanted to take him on loan, that's how bad he has been.
Mason Mount, meanwhile, has been perennially injured, missing almost all of last season and has now been ruled out for a fresh six weeks with a hamstring injury. And this is a player who, Ten Hag stressed, had no major injury record before joining United.
Andre Onana has made a series of high-profile errors, particularly in the Champions League, and has not improved United's build-up play as intended while Rasmus Hojlund has had just one consistent period in the league and was out of the team by the end of last season.
The loan signings have not worked either. Wout Weghorst left without scoring a Premier League goal and Sofyan Amrabat could hardly cope with the pace of the Premier League. Ten Hag has had some rotten luck, such as with the injuries to Mount and star summer signing Leny Yoro, but the recruitment under his watch has been very poor.