Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag remains under pressure despite reaching the FA Cup final with a penalty shootout victory over Coventry City
Erik ten Hag should have followed the example of his most illustrious predecessor at Manchester United after Sunday’s lamentable penalty shoot-out win over Coventry.
Rather than heralding his side’s “huge achievement” at reaching a second straight FA Cup final – after blowing a 3-0 lead with 20 minutes to go and receiving a VAR let-off in the final minute of extra-time – Ten Hag should have borrowed from former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
After his Aberdeen side beat Rangers 1-0 in extra-time to win the Scottish Cup in 1983, a scowling Ferguson refused to praise his players, choosing instead to berate them for what he saw as a betrayal of the standards he had set.
“We’re the luckiest team in the world,” growled Ferguson in a memorable post-match interview, the clip resurfacing on social media in the wake of United’s implosion against Coventry.
“It was a disgrace of a performance. Our standards have been set long ago. No way can we take any glory from that.”
Had Ten Hag adopted a similar approach on Sunday, after United managed to scrape past the Championship’s eighth-placed team, acknowledging his side’s failings and admitting such a collapse was embarrassing, he would have emerged from the debacle with more credit.
Even United fans – whose end at Wembley emptied swiftly after their team’s narrow win – were lamenting their side’s humiliating display, from a position of total control to one where they had to rely on the most marginal of VAR offside calls to limp to penalties, where they eventually prevailed.
Ten Hag branded the negative reaction to United’s shoot-out win “a disgrace”, burying his head further in the sand when it was put to him that many of his own supporters shared that view.
“I’m not sure if they said this,” said Ten Hag. “I haven’t heard it from them. I have also heard other comments from fans who are very happy that they are twice in the FA Cup final in two years.
“We were not happy with it [losing a 3-0 lead so easily]. I can see the fans are not happy with it as well, but they get fed by opinions. But all over, what I heard is that the fans are very happy we are again in the FA Cup final.
“Even for Manchester United, it is not business as usual – they were not so often in the FA Cup final and they were never in the FA Cup final twice in a row.”
Ten Hag even got that wrong – United reached the FA Cup final in 1957 and 1958, 1976 and 1977, and three years in a row, from 1994 to 1996. Ten Hag chided one reporter last season, saying “do your research” over a perceived inaccuracy – on this occasion, he should have done the same.
On Wednesday, United have the chance to atone somewhat for Sunday, when they host the Premier League’s bottom club, Sheffield United.
With United 16 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, a Champions League spot has all but gone, with a European place also now in jeopardy, with West Ham and Chelsea breathing down their necks.
One win in their last seven Premier League games is a damning indictment of Ten Hag’s United, with the Dutchman on his way to becoming the latest – and most high-profile – victim of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Old Trafford overhaul.
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
