Same height, same “haircut” and less than a year between them in age, no wonder Erik ten Hag was called “Pep’s double” when they both arrived at Bayern Munich – in the same month of course.
Guardiola and Ten Hag – FA Cup final rivals on Saturday – worked for two years together in Munich, Guardiola as first-team manager, Ten Hag looking after the reserves.
It is a misconception the Dutchman was Guardiola’s appointment, it was the club who hired him from Go Ahead Eagles, and the links between first and second teams weren’t that close despite training on adjacent pitches.
Neither manager has therefore tried to overplay their relationship as particularly close. Nonetheless there is a healthy respect and Ten Hag didn’t miss the opportunity to take notes if he was in a position to study Guardiola’s training sessions.
Ironically, Guardiola’s methods would have been less a mystery to Ten Hag than coaches from other parts of the world.
Erik ten Hag (right) worked closely with Pep Guardiola (left) during their time at Bayern Munich
Eight years since they worked together, they are set to face off in the final of the FA Cup
Manchester United have desires on stopping Man City in their quest to match the Red Devils’ 1999 Treble winners
Though Guardiola’s work has evolved since joining Manchester City, he was at the time a Johan Cruyff acolyte sharing a similar view of the game. Because of nationality and his profession, ten Hag was fully aware of the Cruyff philosophy, who was practically a demi-God in Holland.
Ten Hag also had one other advantage over Guardiola in settling in Bavaria. Growing up near the Dutch-German border, he was fluent in the language.
The pair have already started a rivalry in England but based on mutual courtesy. Guardiola backed his former colleague’s appointment at United and joked if he’d waited he would have been ideal as his successor at The Etihad.
Guardiola’s City thrashed United 6-3 in their first meeting at Old Trafford in October, United edged the return 2-1 at Old Trafford though the equaliser from Bruno Fernandes was controversial.
The decider at Wembley is going to be huge with United desperate to preserve their record as the only English club in history to win the ultimate Treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
Ten Hag’s decision to quit a first-team post to look after the “ressies” at the age of 42 was partly influenced by being able to work in close quarters with Guardiola. Guardiola won three consecutive Bundesliga titles while ten Hag won the second-team championship before leaving to take over Utrecht in 2015.
The United boss says they are different managers now. ‘Of course I know him but we worked together eight to 10 years ago and as a manager one of the main things is you always have to develop,’ he said. ‘That is what he has done and hope I did too.
‘He’s definitely one of the best managers in the world. For me he is, yes, but there are many more really good world class managers in football.’
Guardiola has been impressed by the work Ten Hag has done at Old Trafford but does point out his timing was also good with the club having sunk to a place of lower expectations when he arrived last summer.
Ten Hag described working with Guardiola at Bayern Munich as ‘winning the lottery’
The pair weren’t close at Bayern Munich, but there was a mutual level of respect between them
Man City would be one game away from the Treble if they beat their biggest rivals on Saturday
‘Imagine taking over at United after they had won three Champions Leagues or three Premier Leagues in a row,’ pondered the City boss.
‘That would be tougher, the bridge is probably lower now because they didn’t qualify for the Champions League last season.
‘At the end, the hierarchy in clubs is so important. How much do they believe in the manager and how much time do they give.
‘Results matter but the clubs also has to look at how the he trains, how he behaves, how he solves problems, how he handles the media. The club must trust what he is doing and give time.’
There are pictures of Guardiola and Ten Hag from Bayern in earnest conversations on the training pitch.
Ten Hag is clean-shaven at that time so it’s hard to tell he is actually a few months older than 52-year-old Guardiola.
Past associations don’t always make for healthy future relationships. Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were close at Barcelona when Guardiola was captain and Mourinho on Sir Bobby Robson and then Louis van Gaal’s coaching staff. Yet they became the worst of enemies later on when rivals at Barcelona and Real Madrid, the animosity then transferring years later to England.
Ten Hag has pleasantly described being able to work close to Guardiola as “winning the lottery” in his coaching education.
Yet he’s been clever enough not to ape City’s style at Old Trafford given the players he has available. Starting right at the back, David de Gea is no Ederson with his feet.
He would regard Steve McClaren, his manager at FC Twente and now assistant at United, as more of a mentor than Guardiola. Both Guardiola and ten Hag are also devotees of Louis van Gaal rather than each other. Guardiola had the Dutchman as his manager at Barca
But Guardiola admired ten Hag’s work ethic and humble personality. In return, the Dutchman would have taken the moniker “mini-Pep” given to him at Bayern as a compliment.
Past associations don’t always lead to healthy future relationships as shown from Guardiola and Jose Mourinho following their time together at Barcelona
‘I learnt a lot from him,’ he later reflected when manager of Ajax. ‘Nobody will ever forget him. He has won so many trophies for a start but it is mainly about how his teams play.
‘He loves to win games with beautiful football just like his teacher Johan Cruyff.’
The stakes are so high in the FA Cup final however, either man would swap a masterclass for lifting the trophy at the end of Saturday afternoon.
And one hopes, and expects, the mutual appreciation will continue.
