Ten Hag: This team showed so much resilience

Skip to Main NavigationSkip to content

Saturday 25 May 2024 19:03

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says his players deserve all the credit that comes their way after the Emirates FA Cup final victory over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.

Goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo in the first half ultimately led to United emerging as 2-1 winners to claim a 13th FA Cup success.

Basking in the glorious Wembley sunshine, Erik was overjoyed following the full-time whistle as he joined the squad in parading the trophy in front of our loyal supporters.

Below, you can watch his post-match interview with club media or scroll down to read his thoughts on an afternoon that will live long in the memory, as shared with MUTV and BBC Sport…

POINT TO PROVE”As always the rivalry is always there and it is always much more important when you play against a team from your own city. For us it was not about this, it was about proving a point after having such a bad year with so many setbacks and all the injuries and every time we had to survive. The team showed so much resilience and I am so proud of them.”

INJURY-HIT CAMPAIGN

“We didn’t have the players. You are right we have seen the same thing, it has not always been good football. But we have had to make a lot of compromises and then you can’t play the football you want to play. I have been here two years and we have maybe had three or four times when we have had the full squad available. Today again we have had players like Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Casemiro not on board.”

SILVERWARE IS THE PRIORITY”Football is about winning trophies at the end of the day. I want to play the best football, attacking football, dynamic football. But in the end, you have to win games and trophies. That is the mentality we brought in and we had only one opportunity this season, in the FA Cup. I am very proud of the players and the staff because they did a fantastic job.”

PRAISE FOR MAINOO”It was really incredible to watch Kobbie at his age. We wanted to bring him [through] and in the second game of the season he got an injury. It then took him so long to get back to fitness. I think we have to keep it calm because here in England we do so much in pushing young players high and then hammer them when they have one or two bad performances.”

PRAISE FOR EVERYBODY”I am proud as well, firstly of the players and the staff. The fans for the whole season, I remember at Crystal Palace a few weeks ago we were bad and they still backed us, they are incredible. I said after Brighton last week we have the best fans in the world.”

WHAT WAS SAID IN THE CHANGING ROOM

“We did some special things [in the dressing room].[The] coaches were great and the staff produced some emotional videos, the emotion went into their minds. The videos fired the players’ bodies and it helped that we were such a team.”

Watch Erik’s post-match press conference Video

Watch Erik’s post-match press conferenceTen Hag says winning the FA Cup was on his bucket list, as he discusses our win over City with journalists at Wembley…

MORE WEMBLEY VIDEOS:Matchday Review: FA Cup final Video

Matchday Review: FA Cup finalCelebrations, interviews and the FA Cup trophy feature in our must-watch Wembley reaction round-up…

Varane: What a way to end Video

Varane: What a way to endRaphael Varane is emotional as he expresses his pride and happiness after our FA Cup triumph…

Saturday 25 May 2024 19:03