Ten Hag guilty of his own ‘mortal sin’ as Donny van de Beek set to leave

Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, once chastised the club for not playing Donny van de Beek more often, but he has used the midfielder sparingly since taking over.

Erik ten Hag called Manchester United’s treatment of Donny van de Beek a “mortal sin” before becoming manager, but he has been guilty of the same since taking over.

Ten Hag was Ajax manager when Van de Beek was at his peak while also playing for the Dutch giants, and the pair clearly know how to work together. The midfielder joined Manchester United in the summer of 2020, but it quickly became clear that he would struggle for playing time.

Ten Hag admitted in December 2021, while still Ajax manager but being linked with a move to United himself, that he couldn’t understand why Van de Beek was being used so sparingly by the Premier League titans.

“That’s difficult for me, Donny.” “It’s a mortal sin,” he told the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant. “If you haven’t had a chance, development will stall.” You occasionally encourage them.”

Ten Hag was appointed United manager seven months after those comments, and many believed that this was the break Van de Beek needed. Reuniting with a manager under whom he excelled at Ajax, surely this will jump-start his stalled United career.

Ten Hag, on the other hand, followed in the footsteps of predecessors Ralf Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer by using Van de Beek sparingly. Since his former manager took over, the Netherlands international has appeared in just eight Premier League games.

The current season is more than four months old, and Van de Beek has only played 21 minutes of football across all competitions, with only two of those coming in the Premier League. As a result, Van de Beek is about to embark on a new adventure.

The 26-year-old is expected to join Eintracht Frankfurt on loan around the turn of the year, with the option to sign him permanently for £12.5 million in the summer if he impresses. His impending, albeit temporary, departure should come as no surprise given Ten Hag’s recent comments on the situation.

“I think Donny has to play,” Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho said earlier this month. “He was in the squad during games, so he had the opportunity.”

“The season got off to a slow start because he was still recovering from physical setbacks.” But he’s back now and doing well in training, so if you can’t give him perspective, I can see he has to play for his career and everything.”