‘Worst team in the world!’ – How Ten Hag channelled Mourinho to win FA Cup

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 27 May 2024 14:01 BST
• 4 min read

Erik ten Hag may have done just enough to save his job at Manchester United thanks to a 2-1 victory over Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final.

Prior to the match, Ten Hag had admitted that the season had been “rubbish”. While the former Ajax head coach excused the team’s performance because of the volume of injury problems that the squad had suffered, it is hard to argue with the analysis.

Certainly, finishing eighth was a major backward step after a third-place finish in the Dutchman’s debut season.

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There has been a groundswell of support among Man Utd fans in favour of Ten Hag following the weekend’s triumph.

The battling nature of the Red Devils’ performance on Saturday has been echoed by that of the spikey nature of their manager in the media.

Ten Hag, pushed into a corner late last week when it was claimed he would be sacked even if he won the FA Cup, came out fighting.

“I hear that the new owners want to change everything but want to build with me. At least that is what they say directly to me and what they have expressed to me,” he defiantly claimed in an interview with Voetbal International.

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He added of the season as a whole: “Let’s be clear, it’s just bad, it’s just rubbish.

“This season is by far the hardest season I've ever had. Of course I also had my moments of frustration and disappointment, but a little later I pick things up again and we continue. Because I know what needs to be improved and where we want to go with this club.”

The blend of pragmatism and grit channelled the spirit of Jose Mourinho when he won the 2017 Europa League with Man Utd.

“In a bad season, in a season where sometimes I felt that my team was the worst team in the world, where I felt that sometimes I was the worst manager in the world we managed to win three trophies and we go to the Champions League by winning a trophy, not by finishing second or third or fourth,” Mourinho said.

Mourinho had led United to a 2-0 win over an Ajax side Ten Hag was just a matter of months away from joining.

The Dutchman would have watched that match, however, and what his Man Utd side produced to overcome City was straight out of Mourinho’s playbook.

“Tonight was the victory of pragmatism, the victory of the humble people, the people that respect opponents, the people that tried to stop the opponents' qualities, tried to exploit the opponents' weaknesses.

“For me, it was a victory of a fantastic group, but based on pragmatism and based on humble principles. No poets, just humble people.”

Mourinho said this after the Europa League triumph, yet Ten Hag might have as easily uttered it after Saturday’s game.

FA Cup victory might not have come in the style that Ten Hag would have wanted, but it came, and that may yet be enough to save his job. Jose would have been proud.