Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag has revealed he always felt assured of success despite his side’s slow start to the ongoing season.
Successive defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford earlier on had cast serious doubts on whether he was the man to lead the club back to their glory days, but the former Ajax boss has since overseen a complete renaissance.
United’s impressive performance since the FIFA World Cup break have put them in the conversation for the Premier League title race. The English giants have also defeated Barcelona, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur over the course of the season.
Last Sunday, the 13-time Premier League champions won their first trophy under the tutelage of the 53-year-old manager. They defeating high-flying Newcastle United in the final of the Carabao Cup to end their six-year trophy drought, thereby signaling the beginning of a new era in one of England’s most prestigious clubs.
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣3️⃣ #CarabaoCup winners: Manchester United 🏆🤩 pic.twitter.com/7EbRHBihqe
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 26, 2023
Speaking in a presser ahead of their FA Cup fifth round clash against West Ham on Wednesday, Ten Hag revealed he didn’t panic when the club was not getting good results at the start of the season.
”When the right results weren’t there at the start of the season, I am not in panic because I know it’s part of the process,” he said.
“And you can find out; you learn a lot in those weeks. When you lose, it’s not nice and you hate to lose but you also get some good lessons and you get a lot of view on what are the opportunities; what are the deficits so you work on that and your way of play.”
The manager went ahead to highlight the importance of the players getting back to work and switching their attention away from the Carabao Cup triumph.
”Of course, yesterday were still enthusiastic. They had to celebrate this momentum. But, yesterday, after we settled down, we got back to work and that was what we had to do. There was recovery, and the ones who played less did a good training session.”
Furthermore, the Dutchman was skeptical about the availability of Luke Shaw and Fred for the clash against the Hammers. The duo started United’s last eight games in all competition, a run that saw them play eight matches in 26 days.
Ten Hag and his boys will welcome former Red Devils’ manager David Moyes and his Hammers team to Old Trafford later today with a spot in the quarterfinals up for grabs.
