'I worked closely with Erik ten Hag last season – what I learned might surprise fans'

John Barnes has revealed ex- assistant Steve McClaren has been sharing how he's only experienced Erik ten Hag being an "unbelievable coach".

legend Barnes claims that McClaren praised tactics at the club during their time working together, noting that McClaren learned so much while at Old Trafford working alongside the under-fire manager.

McClaren, who was also Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant more than two decades ago, was one of the Dutchman's coaches at United from 2022 until this summer. He moved on ahead of the new campaign and was named as the head coach of the Jamaica national team.

Barnes has told the podcast, via Betway, that he had discussed McLaren with his assistant coach for Jamaica, Trevor Sinclair, who claims the former England manager has taken plenty of tactics from the current United manager.

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Barnes said: "I spoke to Trevor Sinclair, who's now the Jamaica assistant coach to Steve McClaren. He said Steve McClaren was at and got so many good ideas from Ten Hag. He said he's an unbelievable coach.

"Steve McClaren said that he's learned as much in the two years as he learned in the 10 years before, with what Ten Hag was doing from a coaching perspective. That's purely from a tactical perspective."

The 60-year-old supposedly admitted to Sinclair that he feels Ten Hag's tactics are good, and he is correct to continue his style of coaching at Old Trafford. Barnes added: "[Ten Hag] feels, once the game starts, the players really know what they should be doing, so why do I have to be up there shouting?"

The ex-Liverpool star went on to compare Ten Hag with at Anfield, stating that managers need to be themselves in order to get the best out of the team they have built. Barnes continued: "People say to me that the problem with Arne Slot is because he's not like Jurgen, but you have to be who you are.

"So if you're not that kind of a person to be up and shouting, you don't do that. Is that going to get the Manchester United players to chase around more if you're there shouting and screaming? I think that's a problem. I think if the Man Utd players out of possession were just to work harder, then I think they'd be okay."

While McClaren may continue to praise Ten Hag and his tactics at United, fans are not so convinced of his current reign at their club. United are down in 14th place in the , with just two wins from seven games and a disappointing run so far in the .

A seven-hour crisis meeting was held in London on Tuesday by United chiefs, and Ten Hag's future in Manchester still remains unclear.

Co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer met with CEO Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and director Sir Dave Brailsford to discuss the current state of the club.

No word has come out surrounding any movement on the managerial position – although Barnes may believe that Ten Hag deserves another chance to turn a corner after the international break.

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