Ten Hag Faces Critical Man Utd Test as Man City Eyes Historic FA Cup 2024 Triumph
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is under intense scrutiny as he prepares to thwart Manchester City’s historic ambitions in the upcoming FA Cup final on Saturday at Wembley Stadium.
The main event at Wembley will feature a Manchester derby for the second year in a row.
On their way to an amazing treble-winning season that encompassed Premier League and Champions League glory, City defeated United 2-1 in the championship game last year. As they demonstrated this weekend by winning the Premier League for a historic fourth time in a row, City continues to be England’s strongest team.
Ten Hag had broken United’s six-year trophy drought earlier in the season with the League Cup, so even after that defeat a year ago, United left Wembley full of hope for the future.
However, the volatile campaign that has the Dutchman fighting to keep his job has left the Red Devils unsettled when they return to north London.
United failed to advance past the Champions League group stage and ended eighth in the Premier League, their lowest final standing since 1990.
Although Ten Hag has attributed United’s problems on injuries, Jim Ratcliffe, the club’s new co-owner, may not be persuaded to stick with him.
Following confrontations with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, the Dutch coach allegedly generated discord within his team, which in turn led to a string of humiliating losses against teams including Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Fulham, Copenhagen, and Galatasaray.
Only after blowing a three-goal lead and surviving a penalty shootout against second-tier Coventry in a semi-final that exposed the weaknesses in Ten Hag’s inconsistent squad did United make it to the FA Cup final.
The positions at Old Trafford have been connected to former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, Ipswich executive Kieran McKenna, and England manager Gareth Southgate.
Ten Hag’s chances of playing for United for a third season would increase if they can prevent City from becoming the first English team to win the FA Cup and Premier League twice in a row.
Ten Hag declared, “I came here to win trophies.” “I’m just concentrating on the task at hand. The goal is to win the game on Saturday before moving forward with the proposal.”
Having lost six of the previous seven Manchester derbies, United has to win the Cup for the first time in eight years in order to avoid being without a European schedule for the first time since 2014–15.
Although a spot in the Europa League isn’t exactly what United supporters hope for, goalie Andre Onana wants to show his appreciation for their support by winning at Wembley.
After a mistake-filled debut season at United, Onana stated: “It’s been a difficult season for them and for us.”
Also Read: FA Cup Final 2023: Manchester City’s Victory in Historic Clash Against Manchester United
“I’m grateful that they supported me because I found it challenging at first. Let’s finish at Wembley on Saturday. We intend to fight to the very end.” Six titles in seven years has been City’s dynastic reign in the Premier League, earning them the title of greatest English team of all time according to many experts.
After winning their previous nine league games, Pep Guardiola’s team defeated Arsenal by two points, putting them in position to make more history this weekend at Wembley.
Kyle Walker, the captain of City, remarked, “To do what we’ve done year in, year out, I don’t think many teams would be able to do that, especially in this Premier League,” while thinking about a possible title repeat.
Walker thinks that Guardiola’s passion and determination are essential to City’s almost limitless desire for achievement.
“I believe that the manager should be the first to take the lead. He’s dependent on victory. He replied, “It rubs off on us that he is addicted.”
Playmaker Bernardo Silva of City, who has won the FA Cup twice under Guardiola, made ominous remarks about United, saying that his team performs best when the stakes are highest.
“Sometimes at the beginning of the season when we don’t have that much pressure, the team relaxes when it shouldn’t and at the end of the season we always compensate for it,” he stated.
