Erik ten Hag: I will win trophies elsewhere if Man Utd sack me
A defiant Erik ten Hag has told Manchester United he will “go somewhere else to win trophies” if the club decide to sack him after lifting the FA Cup.
United – who came in as 8-1 outsiders at Wembley – produced their best performance of the season to beat Manchester City 2-1 thanks to goals from teenagers Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo and deny the Premier League champions a historic double Double.
Despite securing the second trophy of his reign – after last season’s Carabao Cup – to end a torrid, injury-plagued campaign on a high, Ten Hag remains at real risk of being sacked by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team.
But the Dutchman, who won three Eredivisie titles and two Dutch Cups with Ajax, warned United that he would only go on to be successful at another club if they opt to swing the axe.
“Two trophies in two years is not bad, three finals in two years is not bad,” the United manager said. “We have to keep going. I’m not satisfied with it, we have to do better and if they don’t want me any more then I go somewhere else to win trophies because that is what I did my whole career.
“When I started here I said I am here to win and also I want to build a team and both [of those things] I am doing but if they don’t want me any more I go somewhere else and, as I’ve done in my whole managerial career, win games and win trophies.”
Ten Hag, who is due to go away on holiday on Sunday, added: “I don’t think about this [being sacked]. I am in a project and we are exactly where we want to be, we are on our way to constructing a team for the future. I will go with ups and down. When I took over we were in a mess at United.
“The team is developing, the team is winning and at the end of the day it is about winning trophies and the team also plays to an identity. But you need the players to be available and need a strong squad in top football, especially when you play in England and Europe.
“There is still a lot of work to do but … we have value in the squad, high potentials progressing very good, the team is progressing and we are winning trophies.”
Ratcliffe leaves Ten Hag out of celebration statement
Ratcliffe had refused to answer when asked by a television reporter before he left Wembley if Ten Hag – who oversaw United’s lowest league placing for 34 years with an eighth place finish in the Premier League – would remain as manager.
The Ineos owner, who has complete control of football operations at Old Trafford as part of his minority investment in the club, did not reference Ten Hag in a statement hailing the win.
Ratcliffe and Ten Hag shook hands after the Dutchman had been presented with his winners’ medal although the billionaire had enjoyed a much warmer embrace before then with City manager Pep Guardiola, whom he bent over to hug before whispering something in the Catalan’s ear.
“It is a glorious feeling to win the FA Cup final at Wembley,” Ratcliffe said. “Manchester United clearly were not the favourites to win today but they played with total commitment and skill and overcame one of the great teams in football. We are all very proud of the players and the staff who work tirelessly to support them.”
United’s hierarchy are due to conduct a thorough review of the season next week. Asked if he was staying at the club, Ten Hag said: “I don’t know. I don’t have doubt [about myself] but, of course, it’s not up to me.
“This season, it’s a mess, that’s true, but the reasons are there and, in the end, we won the next trophy. There is high potential but it needs time.
“I want to play the best football, I want to play dynamic, attacking football. But you have to win games and win trophies. That’s the mentality we brought in.”
Fernandes: We all deserve this
United have held talks with representatives of a number of managers over the past week, including Kieran McKenna and Thomas Tuchel. Asked about that and whether he felt undermined, Ten Hag said: “I don’t know if they have done this. I can’t answer this question. Maybe you have sources. I don’t have them.”
When quizzed on how he could say United were “exactly where they want to be” after finishing eighth in the league, Ten Hag fired back: “When you make this [comment], I’m sorry to say this, you don’t have any knowledge about football and managing a football team. When you don’t have players available, then you can’t perform. Simple as that. If that is the opinion, no problem. Then I go anywhere else and keep winning trophies. When the players are not there I can’t train them, I can’t coach them and they can’t develop. We will not get the results we want.”
Bruno Fernandes, the United captain, refused to be drawn on whether Ten Hag deserved to stay on as manager. “That’s not for me to decide, I’m just a football player.”
Asked what Ten Hag got right against City, Fernandes added: “Everything. He prepares every game well. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You could see this was about being compact and pressing between the lines.
“It is crucial for everyone. We know the manager is under so much scrutiny, he deserves this, also everyone in the backroom staff and the players, we all deserve this.”