Erik ten Hag has challenged his Manchester United players to ‘bring consistency’ if they want to win more trophies under his management.
The Red Devils have won two trophies in the two seasons the Dutchman has been in charge. They first lifted the Carabao Cup in his first campaign of 2022/23 before redeeming a poor 2023/24 season with a stunning victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
United finished a club-record low of eighth in the Premier League last season, with Ten Hag forced to go to extremes with his tactics due to a massive injury list.
But there is new hope heading into 2024/25, which will be the first full campaign with INEOS managing the club’s operations.
Before the Community Shield match against City on Saturday, Ten Hag was asked if his team will be able to fight for the Premier League title.
“We will challenge for the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup again,” he replied. “It shows that we are competitive and can beat any opponent. That is what we have shown in the last two seasons.
“We beat Liverpool, we beat Manchester City. Our challenge is to bring consistency to the lower teams – [although] I don’t think there are any lower quality teams in the league – winning points. Other teams are ahead of us in that way and that’s where we have to go.
“We already know that we can beat City, it doesn’t depend on Saturday’s result, that belief will not change.
“The FA Cup is the biggest opportunity. But even so we want to win but we have shown that we can beat City.
“We don’t want to take risks with players and lose players for a long time. That’s what we have to take from last season when you were in a pattern of missing injured players. There must be players.”
United have already lost two key players to injury ahead of their first game of the season, with Rasmus Hojlund and summer signing Leny Yoro out until the autumn.
After facing City at Wembley this weekend, Ten Hag’s men will prepare to host Fulham in the curtain-raiser next Friday.
READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, FOLLOW THE MASSES AND GOSSIP
Source link
