Ten Hag: We have to believe

Manchester United take on local rivals Manchester City in a repeat of last season’s FA Cup final on Saturday afternoon.

While City are clear favourites, Erik ten Hag has spoken to the press about the need for his players to believe and play to the best of their ability to bring the trophy home.

It’s all about trophies and we have a huge opportunity to win a trophy. In the last 10 years [there have been] not many trophies in this club but we have an opportunity to win two trophies in two years.

In a season that’s not [gone] our way, we are there. We have an opportunity and it will never be easy but we have to go for it and we will go for it. We have to believe it as we did last season and as we know, often against good opponents, we play our best football and I expect us to do this on Saturday.

I came here to win trophies. On Saturday, I have the next opportunity and we achieved this. We earned the opportunity as a team and now we have to go for it. In the same time, in the last two years, of course, after every season you review it and we will see where we are in the project and things we have to change. We spoke lately about it, underneath there are very good things. Players coming up, players developing, and in the same time on Saturday we have a big opportunity to win the next trophy.

When United faced City at Old Trafford earlier this season, VAR made an unfathomable decision to award City a penalty after Hojlund touched Rodri in the penalty area. This sort of incident takes place at every single corner and freekick each weekend, but there hasn’t been a penalty awarded by VAR before or since.

Ten Hag reflected on this game.

I think we were very competitive until a VAR decision at Old Trafford. A tough decision. I didn’t understand, no-one understood. We haven’t seen this in the rest of the season, the decision in such a moment in a penalty situation. At the Etihad, we were, for 70 minutes, very good in the game and had opportunities to go ahead. They could substitute but we didn’t have the players on the bench. That is a big difference. On Saturday, we will have a bench and will have a much stronger side.

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