Ten Hag claims Man Utd were ‘a mess’ before him as he insists his ‘project’ still exists

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was vague about his future after winning the FA Cup final against Manchester City but reiterated the progress he believes his side have made.

Ten Hag brought the curtains down on his second season as Man Utd manager by winning the FA Cup and preventing their rivals from doing a domestic double. Goals in the first half from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo took the game away from the Premier League champions, who could only reply late on via Jeremy Doku.

Reports prior to the game claimed Ten Hag would be sacked by Man Utd regardless of how it went, but some may have taken encouragement from how the manager got his team playing on the big occasion.

Wayne Rooney does not believe Sir Jim Ratcliffe will make his decision based on one match, but if this is the end for Ten Hag, he has gone out on a high.

United finished eighth in the Premier League, way below expectations, but have at least won a trophy in each of Ten Hag’s seasons in charge.

And in the bigger picture, the Dutch tactician agrees that the criticism of his team and himself has been excessive.

After getting his hands on the trophy, Ten Hag was asked by the BBC if the criticism has been unfair and he replied: “I think so. The team. Me as well. It was not right.

“But we didn’t have the players. We have seen the same things, not always good football – definitely not – but we had to make compromises all the time and then you can’t play the football you want to play.

“I had maybe three or four times in two years we had the full squad available. Even today we were missing massive players like Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Casemiro.”

Ten Hag insists Man Utd better than when he took charge

Ten Hag refused to talk about his future before the game and was unable to make a commitment after it either, but did point out that he has got United in a better place than when his project began.

Asked if he has a future at Man Utd, he said: “I don’t know. The only thing I’m doing is preparing my team, developing my team. This is a project for me.

“When I came in I can say it was a mess. Now we are better. We are not where we want to be.

“Football is about winning trophies. I want to play the best football, dynamic, attacking football but in the end you have to win games and trophies. That’s the mentality we brought in. This was our one opportunity and we did it. I’m very proud of the players and staff.”

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