After a tumultuous campaign for Manchester United, manager Erik ten Hag’s future remains up in the air, but he’s been explaining his confidence.
An eighth-place finish in the Premier League left Manchester United on the verge of no European football for the 2024/25 season.
However, this was saved by winning the FA Cup triumph which put United in the Europa League knocked Newcastle out of Europe and sent Chelsea back to the Conference League.
This however hasn’t thus far been enough to secure Erik ten Hag‘s place as manager at Old Trafford next season, with a decision yet to be made.
Speaking this week, the Dutchman has now spoken about some of the problems at Manchester United right now but also provided some reasons to be positive about the future.
Erik ten Hag picks four reasons that the future is bright for Manchester United
As quoted by The Mirror, Ten Hag explained his view on some of the problems at United right now, mainly the club’s transfer failures as he insisted he isn’t at fault.
“The prices paid for players are indeed very high – but I am not responsible for that. The club did all the negotiations, including with very good potential players who didn’t come in the end.
“So it is all a bit more nuanced than the picture that is being painted that the purchase policy is disastrous. It’s all negative, but despite all the problems, the foundation at the club has grown stronger.”
The transfers at Old Trafford haven’t been good for years, with the £86m move for Antony being the worst of the bunch.
After touching on the strong foundations, Ten Hag picked out the four key reasons that the future is so bright at United in his opinion.
“That may not all be visible to the outside world now, but everyone internally will make that analysis.
“With talents like (Kobbie) Mainoo, (Alejandro) Garnacho, (Rasmus) Hojlund and also someone like Amad Diallo, who has developed very strongly, the future looks bright.”
Manchester United’s four talented youngsters are the club’s saving grace
At Manchester United, the youth has always been a huge part of the fabric of the club, going all the way back to the Busby Babes and the Class of ’92.
This season, Ten Hag tapped into this during the 2023/24 season and saw the youth become arguably his most important players.
Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmus Hojlund all played massive roles in the campaign with the two cup final goals coming from Garnacho and Mainoo.
Amad scored the winner against Liverpool in the quarter-finals and Hojlund bagged 16 goals during his first season at the club.
It is these players who kept many fans excited during what was a tough season to watch, but supporting the youth is always something worth doing.