Erik ten Hag has set out his objective for Manchester United to win the Carabao Cup in back-to-back seasons.
Manchester United begin their defence of the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
The Reds ended a six-year wait for a trophy after beating Newcastle 2-0 at Wembley, thanks to goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford.
The duo are available to face Palace tonight, although they are both left out of the Stretty News predicted XI with one eye on Saturday’s league clash against Roy Hodgson’s side.
Ten Hag will expect whatever line-up he names to get the job done because he is planning to add to his trophies this season, despite an underwhelming start to the campaign.
United fans will be hoping for an away draw in the next round should Ten Hag’s side progress in the Carabao Cup.
“It is only a few months since we lifted the Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium and we all remember what a feeling that was,” Ten Hag wrote in his pre-match programme notes, as cited by the Manchester Evening News.
“It was an important competition for us last season and that has not changed this year. We want to defend the trophy, so as we welcome Roy Hodgson and Crystal Palace tonight, this is an opportunity for us to keep moving in the right direction.”
Ten Hag is hoping that United can build on Saturday’s 1-0 win over Burnley in the Premier League. After such a slow start to the season, it’s important that we build momentum between now and Christmas, especially if we want to climb up the table and go far in the cup competitions.
The manager adds: “We want to win so we can reach the fourth round, of course, but it is also important for us to build on the positive performance and result we earned at Burnley on Saturday evening.
“Consistency is what we need now, not only from game to game but also within games. Even among our defeats this season, we have had some good spells of play and shown real quality, only to let ourselves down at key moments. Now, after showing a lot of character at Turf Moor, we need to follow one good result with another and keep building.”
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