Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag praised his players for ignoring the detractors and fighting to defeat Manchester City in the final of the 2023/24 FA Cup despite going into the match with the odds stacked against them.
United took the lead through Alejandro Garnacho, who pounced on a poor backwards header from Josko Gvardiol following a miscommunication between the defender and Stefan Ortega.
Young midfielder Kobbie Mainoo put them up minutes later to round up a brilliant first half for the Re Devils, who then held on in the second half until Jeremy Doku struck to halve the deficit in the dying minutes of the game.
They were able to hold on to claim their first FA Cup title in eight years in front of a teeming Wembley crowd.
It glossed over the poor season that the club had and ten Hag, aware of this fact, praised his players for doing all they could to end the season on a high.
“As always the rivalry is always there and it is always much more important when you play against a team from your own city,” the Dutchman’s statement to the media began. “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.
“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.”
The former AFC Ajax Amsterdam manager then stated matter-of-factly that the trophy has glossed over every issue they had this season, a statement which has annoyed a few Manchester United fans.
“Football is about winning trophies at the end of the day,” he said. “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.”
