Erik ten Hag has admitted his Manchester United cannot match the standards Sir Alex Ferguson set as he argued that expectations at Old Trafford are the highest in the world because of the great Scot.
United’s new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has decided to end Ferguson’s lucrative spell as an ambassador, which is worth more than £2m a year to the 82-year-old, in a cost-cutting measure.
Ten Hag accepted it will have an impact and said Ferguson, who won 13 league titles and two Champions Leagues, built the modern-day United and is now a sounding board for him.
United have not mustered a title challenge since Ferguson retired and are currently 14th in the table and Ten Hag said: “At the moment we can’t match the standards he set but still we won trophies. I want to make every season a success.
“I want trophies and titles, I think about this, and I have to win every game and we as a team have to match the standards to win every game and then you get there where you have to be. Because those are the expectations Sir Alex set for the club.
“There’s almost no club in the world where expectations are so high as at Manchester United and that is set from the era of Sir Alex and then the rest of us who comes after have to deal with this.
“But that is nice, it is a big challenge. Also, it demands the highest standards in every process and we’re not there in every process. We didn’t get so far haven’t got to challenge for Premier League or the Champions League title but that of course that is the ambition. That is what this club has and the expectations are.”
The end of Ferguson’s deal as an ambassador comes after a host of redundancies but Ten Hag feels he will still be able to consult the club’s most successful manager.
He added: “It has an impact on us, Sir Alex is Man United he built Manchester United to where the club is now, it impacts us. But on the other side also we know and Sir Alex knows and he wants to see a winning Manchester United.
“I’m sure he’s always available for every advice and we will need him definitely in the short term as we did in the last two-and-a-half years I am here. Now and then we have good contact. I would say once every half a year I meet formally with him and then of course informally around games I meet him.”