Erik ten Hag was in his own personal version of the trenches, figuring out how to battle back against bad results, when he walked Carrington with a female member of Manchester United’s security personnel. He asked his colleague about her own experiences, and she explained her background in the British military, including an assignment in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
In the week leading up to the FA Cup final against Manchester City, Ten Hag found himself recalling this conversation as he searched for novel ways to inspire a performance from his team. The backdrop was a difficult season in which United finished the Premier League campaign in eighth position and were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage. The FA Cup final against Pep Guardiola’s imperious City represented an opportunity for redemption for his beleaguered side, and Ten Hag may have been hoping for a dose of salvation when it came to his position as manager of United.
And so Ten Hag became inventive. He asked United’s security staffer to record a video for his team, which was shown to the players at the Marriott Hotel in London in the lead-up to the final. The Dutchman was so moved by his colleague’s story that he reserved the video for his final team meeting with the squad before they…
