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Manchester United finally ended their six-year silver medal wait by beating Newcastle United 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
It was a glorious occasion for fans and players as they took an important step in reclaiming the club’s lost glory.
Erik ten Hag deserves applause for turning the club’s fortunes around in such a short time. It’s hard to imagine this team having so many players from last season who don’t bother to give 100 percent in games.
ETH has an iron grip on the club
The former Ajax manager received the biggest ovation from the fans as he lifted the trophy and was seen celebrating with the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson and was even invited to give a victory speech in the dressing room.
Sky Sports asked the former United manager at the end of the match how the Dutchman has managed to improve the team in such a short time.
????️ “I don’t think he’s a striker. He operates from the left side. His finishing is always good. Unfortunately for us, he is the main source of goals, we could use one more”.
Sir Alex Ferguson says Marcus Rashford is not a striker and Manchester United need another. ???? pic.twitter.com/hCNL5PQsFq
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 27, 2023
“United is built on success and has done well. His signings have been really good, I think that was important, and he has control of the club which is very important to him.
“You come to United and you try to start well right away. He’s done very well, he’s really done it.”
Ten Hag is known to be a stickler for discipline and the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and one Cristiano Ronaldo have borne the brunt of the manager’s wrath at times this season.
And he’s also known for being a control freak and likes to keep track of the smallest details and that showed before the game when he forced players to ditch their designer suits in favor of training gear.
Rashford is not a natural striker, United need an elite number 9
That has not always been the case at the club in the recent past with sponsorship activities and player power running rampant in past seasons, often to the detriment of the manager.
The legendary Scot was also asked about the form the club’s top scorer Rashford is showing. The Mancunian scored United’s second and 25th of the season on Sunday.
While praising the England international, Sir Alex also stressed that Rashford is not a natural number 9 and that United need to bring in someone of that caliber if they are to continue moving up.
“I don’t think he’s a striker. He operates away from the left side. But he is fantastic. His finishing is always good and he always keeps his shots low, which is really important for a striker.
“He is in a great vein of form. Unfortunately for us, it is the main source of goals, we could use one more. But he is doing it”.
It’s extraordinary to think that Ten Hag are putting together these impressive results with Wout Weghorst not known as a prolific striker, while Anthony Martial remains permanently sidelined due to injury. Squad depth is still a big problem.
This is exactly why the club and Ten Hag are trying to rectify the situation ahead of next season as they look for an elite goalscorer with names like Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen, Dusan Vlahovic and Benjamin Sesko.
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