Report: Tottenham still regret not pushing to hire this manager back in 2021

As Tottenham Hotspur search for a new manager yet again, it is thought the club holds a certain degree of regret that they did not hire Erik Ten Hag when they interviewed him back in 2021.

After the sacking of Jose Mourinho in the 2020/21 season, Tottenham endured a long and ultimately unsuccessful manager hunt.

Erik ten Hag
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Nuno Espirito Santo was eventually appointed but was sacked by November of that year.

Fast forward two years and Spurs are now looking for a replacement for Antonio Conte, who departed the club at the end of March. The Lilywhites are also on their second interim coach for the season.

Meanwhile, ten Hag has enjoyed a successful first season with Manchester United. The Dutchman has led the Red Devils to an FA Cup final, won the Carabao Cup, and seemingly has a top-four finish secured too, barring any disasters in the next two games.

It could all have been very different for Ten Hag, who reportedly interviewed for the Tottenham job back in 2021 (Daily Mail).

Now, according to a report from Football.London, it has emerged there is regret among the Tottenham hierarchy that they did not hire ten Hag when they had the chance.

The report claims Spurs now wish they had “made more headway” when speaking to Ten Hag in 2021, at a time when the former Ajax boss was “open to the move.”

With Spurs now looking at hiring Arne Slot, described as the next “big thing” in Dutch football, it is believed the club are keen not to “miss the boat” this time around.

Spurs Web Opinion

It’s hard to say for sure whether Erik Ten Hag would have enjoyed the same success with Spurs as he has at Manchester United.

Two very different teams with very different infrastructures make it difficult to compare, but I would have thought we would have been better off with him than where we find ourselves now at least.

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