Erik ten Hag praised his teams' 'great character' after their fantastic comeback against Fulham in the FA Cup this evening, coming from 1-0 down to 3-1 up.
A lot of controversy was sparked during the course of this game, with Fulham receiving three red cards. Aleksandar Mitrovic, Willian Borges and manager Marco Silva were all shown the red card in the space of 5 minutes, as a handball from Willian denied a goalscoring opportunity for Jadon Sancho.
Ten Hag was asked to comment on the red cards Fulham received, stating "I don’t want to emphasise that. It was a great counter attack but I think everyone saw it was handball."
"Fulham are a good team and you have to be good to overcome them. I think we had a good first half. We had great moments in the attacking transition and we should have been two or three goals up.", the Dutch manager added.
“We won it. We scored three, they scored one. We were concentrated and focused until the end.”.
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Thoughts on the game
Man United were able to beat Fulham 3-1 after being a goal down at Old Trafford and Ten Hag made his thoughts clear on how he thought the game panned out, from the first half to the final whistle.
"I think we played quite decent in the first half; not particularly in possession. In possession I think we had to overload on the left side, we didn't do it very well. But I think in pressing and attacking transitions we created opportunities and we should've been up at half time.", he told the reporters.
"I can't remember a save from David [De Gea] in the first half. In the second half it became difficult out of the dressing room. It was tough, we conceded a goal from a set play and we needed David [De Gea] to survive the game because he made two great saves.
"We had a key moment that I think everyone saw, where it was a great (attacking transition and it was really well done from Antony and then really well done from Jadon [Sancho] and I think it was a clear and obvious penalty."
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Marcel Sabitzer's first goal
January loanee Marcel Sabitzer was able to score his first goal for Man United today after finishing off a good team play from the Red Devils.
"[Marcel Sabitzer] showed a good level. We are happy for his return from injury. We will play a game every three days until the end of the season so we need as many fit players as possible.", Ten Hag commented.
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Strong team character
Man United have endured a hectic schedule this season as Ten Hag has kept the team in all three remaining competitions; the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League, as well as winning the Carabao Cup. He discussed how the team have a strong character.
"We had a massive run from Christmas onwards - I think we have played 25 games or so with roughly two defeats and the rest are draws and especially a lot of wins. You see the progress in the team; this team has a strong character, strong belief and a strong determination to win games. Today was an example of it.", Ten Hag said.
"When you have a difficult period in a game, stay in the game, fight back and turn it around".
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The possibility of another trophy
Since the arrival of Ten Hag in April 2022, Man United have won their first trophy since 2017, where they were managed by Jose Mourinho. Now they have the possibility of winning another under the Dutch manager, as they head to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final.
"I think we are in the position where we want to be - definitely in the position we want to be. We have battled for it, we deserve it, trophies will be won in the end of the season and we are in the position to win trophies, but we have to fight for it. We need our whole squad because we already played from Christmas on every three or four days and will continue to for the rest of the season.", Ten Hag stated.
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Room for improvement
Despite the fantastic performances of Man United since the arrival of Ten Hag, the Dutchman still strives for his team to be greater and become better on the pitch.
"I am happy and pleased with the performance but I see a lot of room for improvement on the ball and today was an example. We have to show more composure on the ball, recognise where the overload is and use that overload to attract opponents and stay more on the ball. I think the attacking transitions today was a good example - we can definitely do better."