Man Utd boss Ten Hag insists he's 'said everything' on Sancho saga
Former Manchester United forward Robin van Persie has been trying to learn from Pep Guardiola as he looks to continue his rise through the managerial ranks, rather than working with Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman rejected the chance to return to Old Trafford after Ten Hag made the move to the Red Devils, despite being offered the opportunity to be his assistant.
Van Persie has made it no secret since retiring that he has aspirations of becoming a top-level manager, becoming an assistant at Feyenoord just 12 months after hanging up his boots at the club. He has also worked with the Eredivisie side’s younger sides and currently co-caches their Under-18s and Under-19s.
The ex-Arsenal star has been making use of his ties at some of the best clubs in Europe to develop his knowledge further, and The Mirror reports that he spent time with Guardiola before the start of the 2022/23 season to ‘cast an admiring eye’ over how the Spaniard was preparing his Manchester City troops for the campaign.
Van Persie was given the chance to speak with Guardiola about his system and his intentions of one day becoming a Premier League manager, before returning to the Netherlands for the season. However, the 40-year-old did have the chance to return to the English top flight when Ten Hag made the decision to become United boss.
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After leaving Ajax, the Red Devils boss urged Van Persie to follow him to the Theatre of Dreams and become his assistant but the plea fell on deaf ears and Ten Hag eventually turned to Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag to form his coaching team instead.
Van Persie has not dwelt on passing up on the opportunity to make the move to England, and he still believes that he is still developing as a manager. He explained: “I put a lot of time and energy into it but I am not there yet. How do I know? When I spend a day with other coaches, or when I see how the first team at my own club works, I realise how much is involved. It is also the strength of a team that the staff have to work incredibly well together these days.
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“Football tactics, working with physical trainers, with the assistants, everyone who have their own tasks on and off the pitch. I learn from that and then try to make that link to my own staff and team.”
“I want my team to be really attacking because then you have the best chance of winning. But every coach has to throw his own sauce over his team’s attacking football – and that is what I am doing.”
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