FA Cup final defeat clouds Manchester United’s season
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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and his players look dejected after the FA Cup final loss to Manchester City.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Manchester United’s painful FA Cup final loss to Manchester City casts a cloud over a largely impressive season under Erik ten Hag, in which they ended their trophy drought and regained their place in the Champions League.
City captain Ilkay Gundogan scored twice in a 2-1 win for the Premier League champions
Ten Hag, in his first campaign at Old Trafford, praised his men for their performance against “probably the best team in the world” before reflecting on the overall campaign.
“We played a fantastic season and it’s more than we could have expected before,” said the Dutchman, who admitted that his players were “broken and disappointed” by the defeat.
“We were third in the league, we are qualified for the Champions League, we won a trophy and we were in another final.
“So, yeah, I’m really happy with the performance from my team all over.”
But in the cold light of day, he will be aware that although the scoreline was close at Wembley, Pep Guardiola’s men were in control for most of the match against his largely toothless side.
United’s campaign is difficult to sum up.
They beat Newcastle in the League Cup final
But their season has been also peppered with heavy defeats – they were mauled 4-0 by Brentford, 6-3 by City and 7-0 by Liverpool.
United briefly threatened to make the Premier League a three-horse race. But, in the end they finished 14 points behind City in the table, with just one more point than they achieved in the 2020-21 season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when they came second to City.
Marcus Rashford’s career-best 30 goals in all competitions papered over the cracks up front, with the team short of alternative firepower.
Forward Anthony Martial and winger Antony were unfit for the final, leaving Wout Weghorst – who has failed to score a single Premier League goal since arriving on loan in January – as one of ten Hag’s few attacking options.
By contrast, City had a bench packed with attacking quality, including Julian Alvarez, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden.
Another summer of expensive rebuilding is required to get United back to the standards ten Hag demands.
The club have been strongly linked with Tottenham forward Harry Kane,
The position of goalkeeper is also a major talking point after several high-profile errors from David de Gea in recent weeks.
The Spaniard, who won the Premier League Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets, was slow to react to Gundogan’s shot for the second goal.
The 32-year-old has yet to sign a new contract even though his deal expires in a matter of weeks.
Ten Hag avoided commenting on his goalkeeper’s performance, saying that “we all played a great season, including David de Gea”.
The situation at United is complicated by uncertainty over the ownership of the club, which could impact transfer plans during the summer window.
The unpopular Glazer family has still not made a decision on the future of the club even though they announced in November they were considering a sale.
Co-owner Avram Glazer was at Wembley for the final and ignored questions about the takeover.
“I think in this moment I don’t want to discuss that,” ten Hag said when asked about the takeover situation and potential transfers.
“It’s about finalising the season. We have to analyse the season, go into the depth, then set the right conclusions and then take action. It’s about that.”
The former Ajax boss is single-minded about his aim of restoring United to former glories.
“I have only one plan and that is to improve this club and to improve this team. I will fight for that,” he added.
AFP, REUTERS
