Erik ten Hag has confirmed that assistant coach Mitchell van der Gaag will be the man in charge on the touchline during Manchester United's trip to Everton.
The United manager is banned from the touchline for the game against Everton after accumulating three yellow cards during the Premier League season so far. That means he is unable to enter the dressing room before, during or after the game; however, he can communicate instructions to his staff.
Ten Hag will be able to watch from the director's box, with United's coaching staff handling matters from the dugout with Van der Gaag, the man in charge. Steve McClaren, in his role as assistant coach, will also be on the sidelines.
“I’m quite confident. I will have an even better overview [from the stands], but we have a very good backroom staff,” Ten Hag told MUTV after confirming Van der Gaag would leave things from the dugout.
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“They are very capable and experienced, so they know what to do. That will not affect our game.”
An assistant to Ten Hag at Ajax as well as United, Van der Gaag has more than a decade's worth of experience as a head coach. The two first linked up together in 2019.
Prior to that, the 52-year-old spent his playing career in his native Netherlands during the same era as Ten Hag before beginning his time in the dugout in Portugal. After spells in charge of Maritimo and Belenenses, he moved to Cyprus to coach Ermis before returning home to coach FC Eindhoven, Excelsior and NAC Breda before moving to Ajax.
Ten Hag is also confident his players are ready to cope in what could be a highly
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