'Always in conflict' - Ex-Man Utd star 'surprised' Erik ten Hag lasted at Old Trafford until October

Former Manchester United centre-back Raphael Varane has admitted that he didn’t have a great working relationship with Erik ten Hag and claims he was surprised to see the Dutchman last at Old Trafford for as long as he did.

Ten Hag arrived at United from Ajax to great fanfare in the summer of 2022 and was expected to restore the club to it’s former glory after a chaotic 2021/22 campaign under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and later Ralf Ragnick.

In his first season, he steered the Red Devils to a commendable third place, an FA Cup final and most significantly a League Cup triumph to end the club’s six-year wait for silverware. But as results unravelled and United fell to a dismal 8th in the Dutchman’s second year at the club, it seemed that the writing was on the wall for Ten Hag to lose his job despite his shock FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.

The likes of Thomas Tuchel, Roberto de Zerbi, Kieran McKenna and his eventual successor Ruben Amorim were all linked with the prestigious job over the summer, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s and United’s hierarchy flipped the narrative by handing Ten Hag a contract extension while backing him with a net spend of £101.8m as further reinforcements such as Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte and Mathijis de Ligt all arrived.

Raphael Varane makes honest Erik ten Hag admission

Raphael Varane, who was brought to Manchester United for £41m by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has worked with a number of the world’s best managers during a trophy-laden career with Real Madrid and France. However, he does not put Erik ten Hag in that category when reflecting on his time in charge.

Speaking to The Athletic, Varane insisted that his relationship with Ten Hag was hard to define, with both ups and downs. But, what was clear was that the manager had lost the connection with his players by the end of last season.

The 2018 World Cup winner said: "It’s hard to find the right words. It was very tense at times. Sometimes, he made an effort to listen to the players’ feedback. Sometimes, he made decisions without listening to the players’ feelings. So there were ups and downs. It was complicated at times. We had a robust discussion. We told each other some truths, but then I didn’t play for almost two months.

"I said I didn’t agree with certain ways of doing things regarding the relationship between him and the team. It wasn’t something that I thought was good for the team because some of the players weren’t at all satisfied. It was not good in terms of the relationship with the coach. He said: 'Okay, I hear what you said’ and after that I didn’t play.”

‘I was surprised he stayed’

Raphael Varane claims Erik ten Hag often clashed with the leaders in the dressing room and claimed the atmosphere was often one of conflict.

"He always needed an example of a player who was alone the entire time he was at Manchester,” said Varane. “He did that with at least one important player on the team.

"He was always in conflict with certain leaders of the group. That is his way of managing. I was surprised he stayed [after the FA Cup final]. The connection with the group no longer existed."

Varane’s time at United was ultimately underwhelming due to injuries and inconsistency. Gary Neville described his arrival as ‘exciting’ and potentially the ‘last piece of the jigsaw’, but in the end he failed to live up to expectations in his three seasons.

The Frenchman, however, did end his United journey on a high by helping the team to an FA Cup triumph on his final game and admitted that Ten Hag did show good leadership by restoring him to the team and giving him trust in that moment.

"I also have to recognise what was good [about Ten Hag’s management]," he added. “He gave me the peace of mind to come back from my injury to play in the FA Cup final. He was counting on me. That was very positive, because it allowed me to play my role in the team. We had ups and downs. I can’t say everything was bad. There were complicated moments."

Read more: Raphael Varane opens up on the main difference between playing for Manchester United and Real Madrid.