Erik ten Hag must learn winning cups will never be enough for Manchester United managers

Question has to be asked: what kind of message is Ten Hag sending out by talking about winning cups and not league titles?

A word of PR advice to Erik ten Hag: stop talking about the trophies. Or as a predecessor of his at Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, put it: “Sometimes the trophy can hide other things that are happening at the club. It’s in the league positions that you see whether you’re progressing.”
Solskjaer was wrong to dismiss the merit of winning a trophy – the closest he came was losing the Europa League final on a penalty shoot-out in 2021 – while Ten Hag is mistaken in placing so much value on the League Cup and FA Cup triumphs.
“It’s not like a trophy will say that we’re back,” Solskjaer added. “It’s the gradual progression and the consistency of being top of the league, in and around there, and the odd trophies. Sometimes the cup competition can hide the fact you’re still struggling a bit.”
On this point, Solskjaer was absolutely right. And Ten Hag? Before the 3-0 humiliation against Liverpool on Sunday, he said United had “performed better than anyone else” apart from Manchester City since he was appointed, because his side won the 2023 League Cup and last season’s FA Cup. Afterwards he doubled down on that claim and predicted that they would win more silverware this season. Another League Cup, perhaps?
He is completely – and presumably deliberately – missing the point. During the Roman Abramovich years at Chelsea, managers were judged on league performance not trophies. In 2012, Roberto Di Matteo was sacked just eight months after winning the Champions League because Chelsea had won only two of their eight games prior to the dismissal and were losing ground in the Premier League. They were third.
That is an extreme example but for clubs of United’s stature, heritage and resource, you simply cannot be regarded – or, crucially, want to be regarded – as a cup team. It is said the FA Cup win in 1990 saved Sir Alex Ferguson but he used it as a springboard, not something to hark back to.
United finished 13th that season. But they then went sixth, second, first and won 12 more league titles under Ferguson, never finishing lower than third.
With Ten Hag, United have finished third, then eighth. Down in 14th at present, they will surely end up in a higher position, but is that progress? Does he really want to be judged on the vagaries of cup competitions? Or is he clutching at straws?
By his own reasoning, it would not have been unfair of United to sack him had he lost to City in the FA Cup final.
It has also been argued that last season was more successful for United than Arsenal. Yes, United won a trophy while Mikel Arteta’s side finished second to City in the league, again, without winning anything. But any rational assessment would conclude that Arsenal are not only in a better state than United – with a far more contented fanbase – but heading more confidently in the right direction.
It may well be that City’s dominance is such, as they strive for a fifth successive title, that the rest of the pack can hope only to win cup competitions. But for United, as with Arsenal and Liverpool, it is about being title contenders. About being close. About making a fight of it. History has shown that it takes time to win the league and teams do not suddenly emerge from nowhere – with Leicester City the exception – to achieve it.
But the question has to be asked: what kind of message is Ten Hag sending out by talking about winning cups? He is the first United manager to win a trophy in six years – undoubtedly an achievement – but he has to move on now, and quickly. The narrative is grating for United fans. Rightly or wrongly, they expect more.
The club have invested heavily under Ten Hag. However low was the base that he inherited, that investment is undeniable. Now they are also sorting out the infrastructure around the club to give him the required support. The consensus is that they enjoyed a good summer transfer window.
But they have lost two of their three league games. They have a negative goal difference – just as they did last season – and questions remain as to what kind of team Ten Hag is trying to create. What is his style of play? Where is the identity?
It is 11 years since United won the league. Systemic failings at the club have seen them burn through a succession of managers. It is not always the manager’s fault and it is true that, until recently, Ten Hag has not had the expertise around him to succeed. He was left exposed, doing too much, lacking help. But those excuses have gone. He has kept his job. He has been backed.
So talking about winning cups must stop. Ten Hag is protesting too much and, while his reaction might be that of a proud manager who feels his achievements have been undervalued, he unfortunately sounds more like one who is failing to understand the magnitude of what is expected at United. Regardless of what support the owners intend to give him, that shortcoming is as unsustainable as using knockout competitions to measure success. Especially at this club.