Chelsea Opinion: Appointment of Erik ten Hag could mark the beginning of a new era for the Blues

According to Metro, Chelsea and Barcelona are keen to raid Champions League semi-finalists Ajax for manager Erik ten Hag, who has earned plenty of plaudits for his managerial skills this season.

The 49-year-old has been hailed as the mastermind behind Ajax’s fairy-tale run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, as ten Hag steered the Dutch giants to the last four of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time since 1997.

Ajax almost made it to the finals of the Champions League, only to be denied by Lucas Moura’s 96th-minute winner, but ten Hag has carved out a great reputation for himself in Europe.

Putting the Champions League heartbreak behind him, the Dutchman guided Ajax to a victory in the finals of the KNVB Cup over Willem II on the 5th of May and sealed the Eredivisie title with a victory over De Graafschap ten days later to bring the domestic double back to the club.

It hasn’t been too long since Erik ten Hag took over as the manager of Ajax. The 49-year-old replaced Marcel Keizer in December 2017 and has been instrumental in the club’s rapid progress over the past year and a half, overseeing the development of players like Frenkie de Jong, Hakim Ziyech, David Neres, Donny van de Beek, Matthijs de Ligt and a few others.

The Dutchman has impressed greatly with his ability to inspire the players and get the best out of them on the pitch. It has been remarkable to see how he has channelised the potentials of so many incredibly-talented youngsters in the right direction to propel Ajax to such great heights on the European stage.

One of the main reasons behind Ajax’s success against teams like Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League was their ability to hold their own and play their natural game with a fearless mindset. They never looked overwhelmed by the reputation of the opposition and it was apparent that all the players were high on confidence and playing with a certain level of self-belief.

Hence, it is not only ten Hag’s free-flowing aesthetic philosophy or man-management skills that have caught the eye but he also deserves plenty of credit for the mental conditioning of players.

Ajax are set to brace themselves for approaches for several of their first-team stars this summer, with the likes of van de Beek, Ziyech, Neres, de Ligt, Andre Onana, Noussair Mazraoui and others linked with moves to the Premier League, while Frenkie de Jong has already completed a move to Barcelona. And Erik ten Hag might be the latest casualty of Ajax’s impressive season.

The Metro understands that ten Hag is unfazed by his links with Barcelona and Chelsea and has expressed his desire to stay at Ajax and work for the development of the club. That, however, should not stop Chelsea from making an effort to lure him away from the Johann Cruyff Arena.

Maurizio Sarri only took charge last summer but his future at Stamford Bridge is far from settled, despite guiding the Blues to a top-four finish in the Premier League, finals of the Carabao Cup and Europa League.

The Blues still have a chance to finish the season with silverware should they beat Arsenal in the Europa League finals at Baku but it remains to be seen whether that would be enough to save the Italian from receiving the marching orders.

Frankly speaking, Sarri’s first season at Chelsea has been a pretty eventful one- starting off on a high, faltering midway through the campaign and signing off with a bang by securing a third-place finish.

While that doesn’t look too bad on paper, Chelsea should consider themselves lucky to have finished 3rd in the standings, despite a lacklustre run of form in the latter stages of the season.

In fact, it would be fair to say that the Blues have been largely unimpressive and frustrating this season, with their boring one-dimensional possession-based football often sending the fans to sleep.

Chelsea have a horrible record against the other top-six sides this season and the players have lacked inspiration more often than not. Sarri deserves a fair share of the blame for not being able to motivate his players. The Italian, infamous for his stubbornness, hasn’t shown the urge or the intent to tinker with his tactics in order to improve the results.

Erik ten Hag, on the other hand, has done a terrific job to keep up the levels of motivation among the players throughout the season. Moreover, he could bring a high-intensity brand of football to Stamford Bridge, as opposed to ‘Sarri Ball’. He might not steer Chelsea to the title in his first season but his presence could mark the beginning of a new era at the club.

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It is high time for the Blues to stop throwing around millions and start building for the future, something which would be best accomplished by having ten Hag at the helm of affairs.