Manchester United defeated Coventry on penalties on Sunday, advancing them to the Emirates FA Cup finals for the second successive season. A match-up display that caused ten hag to have mixed feelings.
The Reds beat Coventry 4-2 on penalties after the Championship side came back from 3 nil down to take the game to extra time.
Man United will return to Wembley on May 25th for another Manchester derby final. Ten Hag is eager to exact revenge for the loss from the previous season, but he also believes his team needs to grow and learn from their setback against the resilient Sky Blues.
Ten Hag not pleased despite ‘progress’ against Coventry
“It’s mixed feelings. The way we did it isn’t OK. We should have managed it better but it’s a huge performance. If you analyse the game we controlled 75 minutes but then allowed them to return into the game. We can be happy with the achievement, getting to the final, that’s huge. If you see United was, in the last 20 seasons, five times in the FA Cup final and now we are twice there in two years. We need to win that final though. When we [are] 100 per cent in it then we can do it.”
He added: “It was an incredible game, a strange game too. We had total control for so long and then gave it away in the last part of the game. We did show resilience to win the penalty shootout. We had control for 75 minutes and have to give Coventry a compliment for what they did in the last 15 minutes. We have to improve. We talk a lot about this. First you have to put yourself in a winning position but then you have to take it over the line. In these moments we are making mistakes and not keeping our responsibilities. We have to show resilience. By the end we did show resilience and determination to win the shootout. When you are so in control you should win easy.”
Having now advanced against Coventry, Ten Hag has now rallied on his side to go ahead and win the trophy against their local rivals.
He said: “I want to win it. I’m sure we have a good chance to win this final, although we play the best team in the world. We do have a chance though. We showed that this season. This season has had many ups but also many downs. Winning the FA Cup doesn’t make it successful, we want to win more. We have been in three finals in two years, which is good, but we had a lot of setbacks this season. We’ve had a lot of injuries and hopefully those players can be back for the final. If we go with a squad who believe then we have a chance to win a trophy.”
