Erik ten Hag should do what Louis van Gaal did with Manchester United outgoings

Erik ten Hag is wary of ever being compared with Louis van Gaal but the Man United manager could do with his directness.

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For those who have outstayed their welcome at football clubs, the writing is not usually on the wall but on a banner.

Manchester United's matchgoers pride themselves on not outright scapegoating players. You could also count on two hands how many former players have been booed at Old Trafford in the last 30 years and only the owners warrant ink daubed onto a bedsheet.

The most brazen act of mutiny was to don a Jose Mourinho scarf while Louis van Gaal was still the manager. And on the night a handful of fans donned such scarves for the goalless draw with Chelsea in December 2015, a vocal contingent in the second tier of the Stretford End chanted, "F--k off Mourinho".

United supporters are more emotionally invested in backing than sacking. The game was well and truly up for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he was specifically booed as he approached the away end at Vicarage Road. It should never have got to that.

Also read: United set Maguire valuation ahead of Ten Hag talks

Van Gaal copped it at Old Trafford once, after a goalless half at the Scoreboard End against Southampton. United lost 1-0 and it was a month on from that December of discontent that Van Gaal somehow survived.

His best performance that month was his "wine and mince pies" press conference that he calmly walked out of. Van Gaal was on borrowed time and it was a matter of time until Mourinho was appointed. Five months, to be exact.

The mood towards Van Gaal was markedly different from the denouement of his first season. United only won one of their last six games but had secured Champions League qualification and Van Gaal brought the house down at the end-of-season awards do.

David Moyes was dithering whereas Van Gaal was decisive. "I've talked with every player," he revealed after the final fixture at Hull of the 2014-15 season. "I know which players have to go and have to come. Now is not the right time to say."

Van Gaal informed Robin van Persie he could go over a round of golf at Mere prior to the Hull game. Erik ten Hag also plays rounds at Mere, where he is striving to bring his handicap down from 28.

Ten Hag and Van Gaal share tenets but the former is wary of comparisons with his compatriot. In Van Gaal's film, he visits Ajax's training centre to impart his wisdom to the players and gift them his new book.

Ten Hag is addresisng the players in English, presumably due to the number of overseas players in the squad, while Van Gaal hovers. "I would invite Mr Van Gaal, please come in. He wrote a book and he wants to offer it to us. I think there are a lot of lessons in the book. It's a guidance for us as coaches and for the players as well. The floor is yours."

Van Gaal immediately switches to Dutch. "Thank you, Erik," he begins before turning to the players. "I'll take this in Dutch. So you know at once that if you had come here in my time you would've had to learn Dutch."

With Van Gaal's popularity soaring during the World Cup, an observer remarked to Ten Hag that "everyone likes Louis again".

"Not everyone likes Louis," Ten Hag replied, smiling mischievously.

Ten Hag can be concise but could do with being as direct as Van Gaal. He publicly and repeatedly insisted he wanted to keep David de Gea and naively contacted Dean Henderson about an improbable mid-season recall from his loan at Nottingham Forest.

Van Gaal's treatment of 'keepers eight years ago was more confrontational but constructive. De Gea, Victor Valdes and Anders Lindegaard were all sat in the same row of the Old Trafford directors' box on the opening day against Tottenham. Valdes and Lindegaard were for sale and De Gea wanted to be in Madrid. Valdes and Lindegaard left and De Gea would have done had Real Madrid not left it so late.

De Gea deserved clarity before his contract was shredded and so do others. Harry Maguire is another United golfing enthusiast but he is in the rough. On Sunday, he bizarrely shared an Instagram story from a transfer account that said he was "waiting to speak with Erik ten Hag about his future".

Maguire must be able to read the writing on the wall: 16 starts last season; eight of them in cup ties. Four defenders are ahead of him in the pecking order for centre half and one, Luke Shaw, is a left-back by trade.

Ten Hag, like Van Gaal, favours a right and left-footed combination. Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof, the two right-footers, started ahead of Maguire in the FA Cup final.

The European Championship is in 11 months and Maguire, excellent at two World Cups and world-class at the last Euros, has to be playing regularly if he is to continue his white rose axis with fellow Yorkshireman John Stones.

Maguire is represented by the same agency as Wayne Rooney and there are parallels with their declines. Rooney was granted a cameo in the Europa League final in 2017 - his final United appearance - so he was in his kit to lift the trophy. Maguire was paid that backhanded compliment when he entered the League Cup final in the 88th minute.

United's £50million valuation of Maguire is unrealistic. Maguire is not good enough for a successful United side but he would enhance the majority of Premier League defences and there would be takers if the price was right.

Trim it by £10m, factor in add-ons and that is a reasonable target. Then the only writing required will be for the paperwork.

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