Erik ten Hag remains open to coaching again and still likes the idea of leading the Netherlands, yet Erik ten Hag accepts the national job is unlikely soon and is settled in the current FC Twente role.

Erik ten Hag works as technical director at FC Twente, the club where Erik ten Hag began and ended a playing career, and Erik ten Hag holds a contract with FC Twente until June 2028 after leaving management following a short Bayer Leverkusen spell.

The Netherlands are coached by Ronald Koeman, whose contract runs until the end of the ongoing World Cup, and Erik ten Hag knows that timing limits chances of the Netherlands job while Erik ten Hag focuses on respecting the FC Twente agreement.

Erik ten Hag confirmed that commitment when speaking to NOS, saying, “I have signed a two-year contract with FC Twente, so I will be there for the next two years. I am not going to elaborate on my contract here. I would aspire to [being a national team manager]. It has come up before, but that wasn’t the KNVB. If you could experience that, you would love to do it.”

Those comments underline how Erik ten Hag still dreams of becoming a national team manager one day, even though previous talks about such a role involved organisations other than the KNVB, and Erik ten Hag prefers not to break the FC Twente deal early.

Before taking the technical director position at FC Twente, Erik ten Hag built a strong coaching CV, guiding Go Ahead Eagles to a first promotion in 17 years, then leading Utrecht to the KNVB Cup final in 2016 and a European qualification spot the following season.

Erik ten Hag FC Twente role, Netherlands job outlook and past successes

The success with Utrecht led Erik ten Hag to Ajax, where Erik ten Hag captured three Eredivisie titles in a five-year period, and those achievements attracted Manchester United, who appointed Erik ten Hag and later saw the EFL Cup and FA Cup added to the record.

Manchester United dismissed Erik ten Hag in October 2024 after form declined, and Erik ten Hag then endured a very poor run at Bayer Leverkusen, losing the position after only three games at the beginning of the 2025-26 season before turning to the FC Twente boardroom role.

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Despite recent setbacks, Erik ten Hag insists the coaching hunger remains, stating, “I am not tired of the coaching profession itself, but I have become selective. I was a coach for 10 years, and that went pretty well. The experiences with technical directors and owners in recent years were not so good.”

Erik ten Hag now balances the FC Twente responsibilities with a clear interest in future dugout work, but Erik ten Hag expects Ronald Koeman to continue with the Netherlands until the World Cup ends and does not anticipate a swift national approach while remaining bound to FC Twente until June 2028.