Erik ten Hag admitted that Manchester United’s season has not been good enough so far after they recorded their worst ever result in the Premier League by finishing eighth.
The Red Devils managed to beat Brighton in the final match of the 2023/24 Premier League. Playing at the Amex Stadium, Sunday (19/5/2024, the visiting team won with a score of 2-0.
Diogo Dalot put Man United ahead after his well-aimed kick ripped through the opponent’s net in the 73rd minute. Substitute Rasmus Hojlund doubled their lead and decided their victory after scoring a goal in the 88th minute.
However, Ten Hag’s side finished three points behind sixth-placed Chelsea and will miss out on playing in European competition for the first time in 10 years unless they beat Manchester City in next week’s FA Cup final.
Post-match, Ten Hag said that he had felt the support throughout the season from Man United fans, despite the mixed results and wanted to reward them in next weekend’s FA Cup final against Man City.
“They are amazing, I don’t know what to say. There are no words,” said Ten Hag.
“If you have a season like we had, and they stick with us. In the good times and the bad, and we have to pay for it. We have the best fans in the world.
“We have to do everything to deliver a trophy next week and also, for the future, we have to do better.”
Brentford lost when they met Newcastle, making Man United finish in eighth place in the Premier League, their worst result since 1989/90, when they ended the season in 13th place.
“It’s difficult, but we’ve talked about this before and this is a very difficult season for us,” continued Ten Hag.
“We know it’s not good enough, so far. It’s simple. There are several reasons but, in the end, it doesn’t matter. This is Manchester United. You have to finish higher and this is not good enough.
“We know that the competition is very tight. We had 60 points, two years ago, 58 points and were sixth and, now, 60 points and eighth. However, that was not good enough. We are disappointed.”
Regarding the victory over Brighton, the Dutch coach admitted that the Red Devils’ game in the first half was quite worrying. However, in the second half the performance of his team was able to improve.
“The first half was too static. We changed something in the first half, and after that we had more control.
“We had a lot of problems marking Joao Pedro in the first half, but then we had more control, and we were better on the ball. In the end, the win was quite good.”
