Erik ten Hag says if Manchester United don’t want him, he will find success elsewhere.
United defied overwhelming pre-match odds to secure a well-deserved 2-1 FA Cup final victory against Manchester City at Wembley.
First-half goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo ensured a win that also guaranteed a spot in next season’s Europa League.
This triumph occurred amid intense speculation that Ten Hag would be dismissed regardless of the result.
The Dutchman admitted he was unsure about the validity of these rumors.
However, after adding the FA Cup to last season’s EFL Cup triumph, making him the first United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson to win trophies in consecutive seasons, Ten Hag expressed a note of defiance.
“Two trophies in two years is not bad,” he said. “Three finals in two years is not bad.
“I’m not satisfied with it. We have to do better. If they don’t want me, then I go somewhere else to win trophies because that is what I do.”
New co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS colleagues will decide Ten Hag’s future.
Ratcliffe issued a statement at the final whistle, expressing pride in United’s performance and commending “the staff who work tirelessly to support their team.” However, there was no specific mention of Ten Hag.
When later asked, “Jim, is Erik staying?” on his way to the United dressing room in the mixed zone, Ratcliffe briefly stopped and turned around but continued without answering.
Ten Hag didn’t emulate fellow Dutchman Louis van Gaal, who, eight years ago after United’s last FA Cup triumph against Crystal Palace, marched into the press conference with the trophy and dramatically placed it on the desk.
Nonetheless, Ten Hag did offer a pointed critique of some of the criticism directed at him and his team.
“When I took over we were in a mess,” he added.
“The team is developing, the team is winning and the team plays to an identity. But you need a strong squad and the players to be available.”
When Ten Hag was asked if finishing eighth, United’s lowest league placing since 1989-90 and with a minus goal difference was good enough, he retorted: “When you make this, you don’t have any knowledge about managing a football team. When you don’t have players available, you cannot win.”
Having said before the game he was going on holiday on Sunday, an interview with Ten Hag emerged on Saturday morning in which he stated talks had taken place with INEOS and they were committed to him.
Asked to clarify those comments, Ten Hag said: “Do I have to repeat myself 10, 15, 20 times?
“They don’t have to tell me every week.”
The 54-year-old added he was unaware of talks between United and his potential replacements, stating: “Maybe you have sources. I don’t have them.”
Ten Hag’s defiant post-match mood was also clear in a pitchside BBC Match of the Day interview where he was asked if media criticism this season had been unfair.
“I think so,” he said. “On the team and me as well. It was not right.
“”I tell you [the media] this all year – when the players are fit, we can play good football.”
Ten Hag is now responsible for two of the five major trophies United have won since Ferguson retired in 2013. And, in goalscorers Garnacho and Mainoo, he feels he is developing two teenage talents that can take the club back towards the levels they used to occupy under their legendary Scottish manager.
“When you see the last decade there were not so many finals and trophies for this club and not so many young talents coming through with high potential,” said Ten Hag.
“We strengthen the squad by our coaching and training but we still need transfer windows to bring better players in and also players who are always available or often available because when the players are not robust enough, you cannot win trophies.”