Erik Ten Hag comes up with staunch defense of his job after Manchester United’s FA Cup win

Manchester United played some of their best football on the final day of the English season to secure the FA Cup. The Red Devils beat their city rivals Manchester City in a close game at the Wembley Stadium to win the title with a 2-1 margin. 

At the end of the game under fire manager Erik Ten Hag came out all guns blazing and defended himself after a rather dismal season. The managed who has been speculated to lose his job made a case for himself during his chat with former football star Alan Shearer. 

Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring thanks to a defensive howler from the City back line. Kobbie Mainoo made it 2-0 to give United and their fans a great start to the game. Jeremy Doku made it 2-1 in the 87th minute due to a mistake by Andre Onana. In the end, the United defence held on to gain the cup and qualify for the Europa League despite finishing 8th in the league. 

Erik Ten Hag silences critics after FA Cup win 

Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag was a man who was relieved at the end of the final whistle. The Dutch manager was seen grinning ear to ear with each of his actions closely being monitored ahead of the game. 

Once the title was won, Alan Shearer during an interview for BBC Sport said “The only thing I would say to that is that you have had a team out there today who have shown a great attitude, who’ve shown great ability, who have won every single tackle. That hasn’t always been the case this season though, has it? So you do understand why we do criticise sometimes. If you had that every single week, you would not have finished eighth. Today was unbelievable”

Earlier during the interview former England striker Gary Lineker had asked if Erik Ten Hag was put under pressure by the media. The United manager said, “I think so. The team, me as well, it was not right”. 

Addressing Shearer’s comments, Ten Hag said, “But we did not have the players. You are right, we have seen the same things. There was 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 have been here for two years and probably we had three or four times where we had the full squad on board.”

While casting doubts about his future the former Ajax Manager said, “Also today, some massive players like Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Casemiro were not on board. "I don’t know [if this was my last game] but the only thing I am doing is preparing my team, developing my team, progressing my players because for me this is a project. When I came in, it was a mess and we are now better but we are far not where we want to be."

Ending the chat with the duo, Ten Hag said he was happy and proud of his team. “Football is about winning trophies," Ten Hag concluded. "At the end of the day, I want to play the best football. I want to play dynamic football, attacking football but in the end, you have to win games and you have to win trophies and now we are. That is the mentality we brought in. We only had one opportunity - the FA Cup - and we did it. As I say, I am so proud of the players and staff because they have done an incredible job," he concluded.