Interview with Jamie Jackson, author of Because They Can Play Good F*cking Football
A book on Erik ten Hag’s first season as Manchester United manager told as story based on what has been happening.
The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson launched a new book last week which promises to document Erik ten Hag’s first season in charge of Manchester United.
I caught up with Jamie to get a brief lowdown on what he has planned for Because They Can Play Good F*cking Football, a title referencing a quote from Erik ten Hag at the start of the season.
Without further ado, here is what Jamie had to say and you can subscribe to Because They Can Play Good F*cking Football here.
We also recommend subscribing to Jamie’s newsletter for daily doses of poetry.
Hi Jamie, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. I thoroughly enjoyed your book on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and we had a chat about that already, so what can readers expect this time around as you open a new series of chapters on Erik ten Hag?
Jamie: “Hi Dale, So my new book on Erik, Because They Can Play F’cking Good Football, is about Ten Hag’s first season as Manchester United manager told as story based on what has been happening. From March-April it is published in weekly chapters on my Substack (newsletter) catching up the season. Then from May the final weeks of the season are written more or less “live”, so as they occur and Man Utd’s season climaxes - in the Premier League and hopefully still too in the Europa League and FA Cup.
“I hope people - whether Man Utd fans or now - through my writing are taken away by the sheer thrill, excitement, highs and lows of managing this gargantuan club is like.
“One way of describing Because They Can Play F’cking Good Football is that if it was a movie it would be Pulp Fiction as reading it should be true escapism like any great film is. P. S. If some readers don’t know, the title is a direct quote - from Erik, after United beat Liverpool in August.”
United started the season with defeats to Brighton and Brentford. Little did we think things would pick up like they did after beating Liverpool. What do you think has been the biggest challenge for Ten Hag at United?
Jamie: “Erik basically walked into a complete mess, so cleaning this up. There were dressing room factions, fans were seriously and understandably disenchanted, no structure to the team, no mode of play, there was (and still is) the Glazers situation to navigate, he had to filet/rebuild the squad.
“In two words make all at the club ‘believe’ and be ‘happy’ again. I can tell you he has done both, there’s a smile on the faces of the people who work at the club and the team and fans definitely believe again.
“What he has achieved already - winning the Carabao Cup - 3rd place, a 6 point gap to 5th, shows how good he is - and there may well be more trophies - the FA Cup and/or Europa League. If Utd finish 4th and win nothing else still a very impressive season.”
How have you found dealing with Ten Hag in a press conference setting?
Jamie: “The way he handles the media shows this is super-intelligent man. He is friendly, open and hard when needed - and so far I have never seen him even close to losing control.”
What is your aim for your new book on Ten Hag?
Jamie: “To entertain the reader, to offer a fresh slant on Man Utd are viewed, to shake up sports writing.”
How big a role is John Murtough having behind the scenes since Ten Hag arrived?
Jamie: “JM has a big one in working with ETH to identify potential arrivals - led by the manager - work to offload players who are surplus, again led by the manager, and to smooth the pipeline from academy to first-team squad.”
Do Spurs regret not appointing Ten Hag when they hired Antonio Conte?
Jamie: “Yes - they must be thinking, what were they doing. I called for Conte immediately after Ole was sacked. That was a mistake on my part as while ETH was not in the picture then the way Conte manages is not about uniting a club and playing the United way.”