Breaking news: Manchester United next coach Ten Hag mentions 3 player he will sell immediately he secured United job .

 Erik Ten Hag has been warned 

he faces huge challenges to successfully

 exchange Ajax for Manchester United

, and his first job will be to ditch the 

dressing room 'troublemakers'.

Ex-players and pundits in Holland 

have had their say on Ten Hag's 

prospects at Old Trafford, after the 

United hierarchy met with the 

Dutchman this week.

Ten Hag is on a shortlist for the 

hot-seat at the Red Devils, which also 

includes Paris Saint-Germain's Mauricio

 Pochettino, Sevilla coach Julen 

Lopetegui and Spanish national team

 manager Luis Enrique.

United are under considerable 

pressure to finalise their decision soon, 

with other clubs also interested in big 

names on their shortlist, as reported 

by Sportsmail on Thursday night.

But it is the Dutchman Ten Hag who 

is in pole position... despite some of 

his compatriots seeing real difficulties 

ahead if he takes the top job at Old Trafford.

'He just needs to get rid of those 

troublemakers. Ronaldo, Pogba, 

Maguire,' advised Rene van der Gijp, 

a former right-winger with 15 caps 

and two goals for Holland, and now 

a lively chat show host on Vendaag 

Inside, which attracts 1.4 million

 viewers per night.

Van der Gijp's comments were picked

 up by other Dutch media. His point 

is that in Ten Hag's approach there 

is no room for ego or distraction, 

but also that the big-name players

 will simply not accept him.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been a blessing

 and a curse for United's current incumbent

 Ralf Rangnick, Harry Maguire has 

become a problem through poor form

 and Paul Pogba has also not reached

 the levels many know he can.

United fans are drawn to Ten Hag and

 with good reason. There is great 

resonance with the 'United Way': A track

 record of winning; exciting, attacking 

football; a commitment to youth 

and an uncanny ability to rebuild a side.

Given the stodgy, stilted, stuttering form 

that has characterised the nine long 

years since Sir Alex Ferguson vacated

 the dugout, supporters marvel at Ten

 Hag's achievements on the European

 stage with a fraction of the resources

. And they love the style with which 

his team has performed.

Ten Hag flashed across the radar 

of every top club when he took his talented

 youngsters to the semi-finals of the 

Champions League in 2018-19, only 

to lose out in the last minute to Tottenham

 Hotspur.

Ajax drew home and away with 

Bayern Munich in the group stage that

 year, then defeated Juventus and 

Real Madrid, including a 4-1 humbling

 of Los Blancos at the Bernabeu.

This season, while United's £220M 

array of talent infamously failed to get

 a kick against Manchester City at the 

Etihad, Ten Hag has wiped the floor 

with Borussia Dortmund, beating them 

7-1 across two ties in the group games

, with displays of typically incisive 

football. They sit top of the Eredivisie.

Ajax have produced performances 

under Ten Hag that the Red Devils are

 simply not capable of. But can the 

Dutchman make that magic happen 

at Old Trafford? There is no doubt 

that Ten Hag is a wonderful coach, 

but there is concern that the environment

 at Old Trafford – and in the Premier

 League - might not suit him.

At Ajax, the 52-year-old has operated 

in a stable system, built around 

a shared philosophy and team ethic, 

with easy access to the club's hierarchy.

In Amsterdam, his teams are made 

up of graduates from the Ajax School

. They have been expertly prepared

 for the first team and are desperate 

to learn more.

Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Hakim

 Ziyech and Donny van de Beek were

 among the class of 2019, but they have

 been replaced by new talent, of which

 midfielder Ryan Gravenberch is the

 stand-out youngster in a reconditioned

 side..

Ten Hag has combined these youthful

 intakes with experienced players – with 

no ego - who are totally committed to 

him and the cause. The likes of Sebastian 

Haller, 27, who struggled at West Ham

 United, and Daley Blind, 32, who fell 

out of favour at United, have been 

reborn as youth leaders.

Ajax captain, Dusan Tadic, 33, sets

 the tone, describing Ten Hag as 'one

 of the best coaches in the world'.

'He is totally obsessed with football,

 I am sure it is all he thinks about.

 You need a manager like that if you 

want to be one of the best clubs,' 

he told a press conference last year.

 'That is what he has made Ajax.

'The best Ajax sides always have the 

right combination of youth and experience

,' explained the Serbian, who joined 

after a spell with Southampton.

'We have older players who want to 

be a good example and very talented

 youngsters who want to listen and 

to learn,' added Tadic.

But surely that is the antithesis of 

United now.

At the Theatre of Dreams, there is 

a culture of failure that encompasses

 Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and 

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, which has resulted

 in questionable commitment from 

a highly-paid squad, who have operated

 as individuals over a long period of time.

How will those players respond to 

an 'obsessive' coach who will drill 

them to distraction, who has even 

been known to measure the length 

of the grass in order to tailor his approach?

Rangnick, Van Gaal and Mourinho 

are all known as great technicians, too, 

but they have struggled to cut through

 at United.

Pochettino may be better suited to the 

task. He has more experience 

at imposing himself on a new club

 and in the Premier League.

While 'Poch' has come up short at PSG,

 the Argentinian transformed Southampton

, after joining in January 2013, and did 

the same at Tottenham Hotspur from 

2014, where he was the tenth manager

 appointed in 12 years.

But for Ten Hag, the 'conditions to 

perform are crucial', says Dutch journalist, 

John Inan.

'The success of Ten Hag at his first 

clubs arose from the short lines to 

the leadership and control of the [transfer

] policy,' Inan wrote in AD Sportwereld.

argues a tight-knit team was vital 

at both Go Ahead Eagles and Utrecht,

 where Ten Hag made his name in 

Holland after a spell at Bayern Munich

 II, under Pep Guardiola, who was 

redefining Germa football with the

 first team.

It has been the same at Ajax, but in 

contrast, Inan notes, 'at the faltering 

United, the hierarchy in several parts

 of the club has been lost for years'.

Another challenge the Dutch see for 

Ten Hag is the intensity of the Premier

 League, on and off the pitch.

The quality of the league is higher 

than the Eredivisie, where he currently

 plies his trade. Since he arrived at Ajax

 in 2017, the club has won two league

 titles and two KNVB cups. In the past

 11 years, they have finished top 

seven times, and second on four

 occasions.