Erik ten Hag’s first season at Manchester United was full of expectation and the Dutchman certainly did not disappoint in his maiden campaign at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag inherited a broken squad but a good summer transfer window and perfect decision-making on personnel ensured that United were prepared for a long and gruelling nine months.
United were hopeless in the chase for Champions League football in the previous season and had to settle for a place in the Europa League the following year.
Speaking recently, Marcus Rashford has revealed that Ten Hag did not tell his players that they had to seal a return to the Champions League by way of finishing in the top four in the Premier League.
“When he came in, I didn’t hear him speak about getting in the top four once, he just wanted to win trophies,” he told The Overlap, via the official Manchester United website.
“If you’ve got that mentality, I’ve always been around people that have that mentality. He said it doesn’t matter what we’re playing in, the Europa League or Premier League, any of the cup trophies. He wanted to try to win everything.
“Listen, the players, we give it everything required. We let ourselves down definitely in the Europa League and I feel like, in the league, there was a period where we weren’t defending as well and we stopped scoring as many goals as we were scoring. So that’s something that I’ll definitely want to correct for this season.”
Ten Hag ended United’s six-year wait for silverware by lifting the Carabao Cup last season and although that was a nice moment, he will be aiming for bigger prizes this year.
United are well-prepared to challenge for major honours this season following another good summer window, with Ten Hag landing all of his prime targets.
Mason Mount became the first arrival last month, with Andre Onana replacing David de Gea later. Rasmus Hojlund, the Atalanta, forward, is set to be announced as United’s third signing of the summer this weekend.
