Ten Hag won't let Man Utd players celebrate League Cup
On February 26, Man Utd beat Newcastle 2-0 in the League Cup final thanks to the goals of Casemiro and Marcus Rashford. This result helps the "Red Devils" win their first title since 2017 - the Europa League title under Jose Mourinho, and end the club's longest title thirst in the past 40 years.
19 hours after the celebration at Wembley, Man Utd immediately returned to Manchester and trained at Carrington. Left-back Luke Shaw said the whole team currently has "no day off" with the ambition to search for more titles, when they still have the opportunity to win the Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup.
On February 28, at the press conference before the match against West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Ten Hag confirmed this. He said: "We did not celebrate after returning from London, but immediately returned to work. Of course, yesterday the players were still very excited. But after that, the team has to settle down and continue training. The whole team needs to recover well."
Before makingover and winning the League Cup, Man Utd started badly when losing 1-2 to Brighton at Old Trafford and then losing 0-4 at Brentford. But Ten Hag insists not to panic with that bad start, knowing in advance that Man Utd needs time to grasp the new rules and working style.
"You learn a lot from those weeks. Failure is not nice. I hate failure, but at the same time, you also get some good lessons. It's like an opportunity for you to see your shortcomings to improve. good," said the Dutch coach.
Ten Hag revealed Anthony Martial is definitely absent, and Fred and Luke Shaw leave the possibility of playing against West Ham. He also hinted that he will rotate when Man Utd have to play six matches in the next 19 days, starting today.
"Every time a player comes on the field, whether it's a whole match or just a few minutes, a few games, it can change the dynamics," the 53-year-old coach analyzed. "We do it with more than 11 starting players, so I trust them all. I know they will be ready because when they come out on the pitch, they all have responsibilities. That's the most important thing, taking responsibility. and fight for place on the field".
Ten Hag also emphasized that Man Utd is not distracted by Liverpool's trip to the 26th round of the Premier League on March 5. He explained: "I think every game is important. Every match so far, the players have the right attitude and approach. You say this is the biggest game, so against Barca is not the game. It's a big game? We have to focus on one game at a time."
