John O’Shea won the FA Cup with Manchester United in 2004 and he believes success in the competition this season will be important in deciding Erik ten Hag’s future as manager.
The former defender has told No Tippy Tappy Football that he believes United’s upcoming FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City won’t be as easy a game as it looks on paper.
It’s sound advice from O’Shea, who recently held a coaching position at fellow Championship side Birmingham City before a two-game stint as Republic of Ireland interim manager, but this United side has received enough warning about underestimating opponents this season. They cannot let that happen at Wembley on Sunday.
O’Shea claims Coventry have enough firepower to cause problems for United, so Ten Hag’s side will need to be “on guard”.
“The FA Cup semi-final against Coventry is absolutely crucial for Manchester United,” O’Shea said. “First and foremost, they need to take care of Coventry before thinking about the final. You’d imagine Manchester City will be favourites against Chelsea but, with Cole Palmer, you can possibly see it going the other way – I wouldn’t mind that!
“Coventry do have a bit of firepower, it’s not going to be that straightforward for United who have been conceding some goals, so Coventry will be confident. That’s been an issue for United, but if their front four or five turn up then you’d like to think they’ll win the game and have too much for Coventry’s defenders, but they’ll still need to be on guard.
“Coventry have probably slipped up a little bit themselves. I thought they were going to get the play-offs but now it looks like they might just miss out, but they do have firepower of their own.
“Going to Wembley is a massive occasion for Coventry but I’d be hopeful United can get themselves across the line.”
O’Shea continued to comment on how important Sunday’s cup tie could be for Ten Hag and his future, but also stressed that United should stand by the Dutchman in order to progress as a club.
“It’s an important game for Erik ten Hag in terms of getting another trophy on the board,” he added. “To be honest I think it’s more than likely that City will end up winning it and it certainly won’t be a surprise if they beat Chelsea in the other semi-final – we’ll have to wait and see! If United do manage to win it then that will certainly do Ten Hag a few favours.
“When a new owner comes in and they’re changing lots of things at the club with recruitment, Director of Football et cetera, it’s possible that the manager changes too. You’ve seen that a lot at United over the past few years, but I don’t think it’s the answer, he should probably stay on a little bit longer but it’ll be down to the powers that be to decide! Winning the FA Cup would definitely help his case, though.
“In terms of recruitment, I think that’s been the key issue for United. If you look at Liverpool, they’ve got Richard Hughes in from Bournemouth who’ll help them on the recruitment side of things and there are always teams behind the scenes who deal with these moves. The sooner United get people like that in, the sooner they can look at some good transfer targets this summer.”
United will go to Wembley on Sunday as favourites. Let us know your scoreline predictions in the comment section.
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