ANDER HERRERA has opened up on the huge task Erik ten Hag faces turning Manchester United back into title contenders.
The Spaniard played for the Red Devils the last time they won a trophy in 2017.
Herrera, 33, still holds a huge fondness for United and wants them to get back to winning ways.
But he reckons the task for Ten Hag is an enormous one because of the amount of competition he faces.
Appearing on the UTD podcast, Herrera said: “We have to realise that now the coaches are fighting against five or six teams to win trophies.
“Before, Sir Alex did amazing, but it was mostly Liverpool, Arsenal and United fighting for the trophies.
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“So it is not easy for Ten Hag now to fight Tottenham, Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Arsenal and even Newcastle now.
“It is tough to be a Manchester United coach.”
Beyond a rocky opening month, Ten Hag has had a decent start to life at Old Trafford, despite difficult circumstances.
Man Utd won nine of their last 12 matches prior to the World Cup – and their Dutch boss is determined for them to keep up good habits when they return to domestic action.
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Herrera played for three bosses at Old Trafford between 2014 and 2019; Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
During his recent podcast appearance, he assessed the managerial trio.
He revealed: “Very different managers. Van Gaal I can say, positional game coach, like a teacher sometimes for young players.
“Mourinho, a s***house coach. It doesn’t matter what you have to do to win, I just want to win, and we won. And Ole, a legend of the club.
“He believed so much in Sir Alex Ferguson’s philosophy and he wanted to bring that philosophy back to the club, but it was not easy. The players were different, the moment was different, football was different.”
Herrera left United for Paris Saint-Germain in 2019 – playing three seasons for the French side before returning to previous club Athletic Bilbao on loan last summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
