Manchester United legend Denis Irwin has commended Erik ten Hag for having his team in all competitions and fighting for the end product.
His comments come ahead of the Reds’ Carabao Cup quarter-final tie this evening against Charlton Athletic, in which they will be keen to get the job done convincingly and book their place in the semi-finals.
Irwin is one player who knew what it meant to win and be successful as a Red. Throughout his time at United, he won seven Premier Leagues, a Champions League, two FA Cups and a League Cup. He played a key role in the team’s success and made history with the club in 1999 when he was part of the squad that won the historic treble.
Having seen it all and won the lot, the Irishman is feeling optimistic about the glory days returning to Old Trafford, and that Ten Hag is the man to do so.
Irwin talks the importance of winning at United
He told MUTV: “Absolutely [I’m pleased with Ten Hag’s approach]. You start the season and there are only four trophies to be won. It’s so hard to win a trophy and yeah, the Premier League is so, so important, I understand that.
“You see from the Carabao [Cup] and the Europa League, the manager doesn’t make that many changes and I’m delighted with that because I think winning a trophy or trying to win a trophy is so important.
“Going back to Sir Alex Ferguson’s era, his first trophy was an FA Cup, second was the Cup Winners’ Cup, third one the League Cup. So he won three cup competitions before actually getting the hands on the Premier League. You just get that winning feeling in the squad, that winning mentality, so it’s vital that we do compete in cup competitions. We’ve seen from the manager this year that he’s very intent on winning one of them.
“It takes a little bit of pressure off when you do win a cup competition. It also breeds confidence within that squad that you can actually win something. It’s been a few years now and we’re Manchester United. We’ve [got] no divine right to win trophies, we’ve got to go out and earn that right. It’s been a few years and we are making a massive effort to win something this year, but within that group of players, within that management and coaching staff, I think it’d be huge if we won something this year.
“We’re involved in a lot of games coming up, which is fantastic as a fan. I think we are getting closer and closer to winning trophies. I think the manager will no doubt be keeping his eye on the Premier League as well because you look at how many wins we’ve had in a row.
“We’ve got some big games coming up against City and Arsenal and even after that, we’ve got ourselves into a great position. So you’ve got to take all that on board, but it’s great to see the manager trying to win a trophy, it really is.”
