Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has admitted he is not looking forward to facing FC Twente in the UEFA Europa League and would have preferred to play “someone else”.
The Red Devils host the Eredivisie on Wednesday night to kick off their European campaign, qualifying for the second-tier competition after winning the FA Cup in May. Have Haghowever, he is not so excited about this first game after being drawn to face Twente.
The Dutchman grew up as a Twente fan and enjoyed three spells as a player, starting and ending his career at De Grolsch Veste. He also spent time coaching the club’s youth teams before moving into management.
“Twente is the team I follow the most,” he told reporters before the game. “I look at them as a fan, as a follower, not as an analyst. It’s a different way to watch their matches.
“I would have preferred to play against someone else. It’s not nice to hurt something you love. Twente brought me a lot, they put me through their academy, so for me there’s a lot of history.”
Ten Hag also gave his take on the update Europa League format, in which 36 teams will play eight different opponents in a league format, as opposed to the previous method of eight groups of four teams each.
“There are too many matches, too many competitions, it’s clear,” he continued. “The players are overworked, that’s not good for football. Maybe it’s good for commercials. As a club alone we can’t change that.
“It is about clubs, players and managers. We have to work on this to improve the game and find the right balance. We are professionals and the income has to come, but we have to balance it.”
united will face Twente on Wednesday before returning to Premier League action at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
