Coach Ten Hag Declares Only Losing to Pep Guardiola in the Premier League
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Manchester United’s manager Erik Ten Hag has declared that, since taking charge of the club, only Pep Guardiola has had a superior record in the Premier League.
In the 2023/24 season, Manchester United lagged 31 points behind Manchester City in the Premier League and was eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League, finishing at the bottom of their group. Despite this, Ten Hag remains firm in defending his achievements and highlights the positive impact he has had since taking on the role in England.
In a recent interview with The Times, the 54-year-old manager said, “I feel more confident after winning the FA Cup. Manchester United had not won a trophy in six years before I arrived.”
“In the past two years, if you exclude Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, we have won the most trophies in England. This shows that we are in a strong position. Look, we can defeat any opponent, not just once but multiple times against both Manchester City and Liverpool.”
With two trophies won with Manchester United, Ten Hag has surpassed managers like Jürgen Klopp and David Moyes, who each won only one trophy in the past two years. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola has secured four trophies for Manchester City in the same period.
However, Ten Hag remains modest and acknowledges that Manchester United still has much work to do to progress further. He emphasized, “The road ahead is still long, and we need to be more persistent, while building a strong winning culture. This applies not only to the team but to the entire club, which must meet higher standards.”
In his first season, Ten Hag led Manchester United to win the League Cup and secure a third-place finish in the Premier League. However, the 2023/24 season was more challenging, with the “Red Devils” finishing eighth in the Premier League with a goal difference of -1. This was the lowest position for the team at the top flight of English football since the 1989/90 season.
Fortunately, Manchester United salvaged a disappointing season by winning the FA Cup, defeating city rivals Manchester City in the final. This achievement secured the “Red Devils” a spot in the Europa League for the next season.
There were rumors that Ten Hag was on the brink of being sacked before the FA Cup final. However, at the last moment, INEOS – the new owners of Manchester United, led by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe – decided to keep him and subsequently triggered a contract extension for an additional season.
