Erik ten Hag stated on Saturday that his Manchester United squad is “broken” and “disappointed” after losing the FA Cup final to their fierce rivals Manchester City, but he is proud of his players despite the loss.
At Wembley Stadium, City captain Ilkay Gundogan scored the quickest goal ever scored in an FA Cup final with only 12 seconds remaining on the clock.
Bruno Fernandes scored from the penalty spot to tie the game, but Gundogan scored again early in the second half, and the final score was 2-1 in Gundogan’s favor.
“We are broken, disappointed of course, but I said I am proud of my team,” Ten Hag remarked in his interview with the BBC.
“Despite having given up two easy goals, we were still in the game and performed very well.” There was a wonderful sense of community and an impressive level of organization.”
He went on to say that the squad shown resiliency, individuality, and character. We are well aware that we still have a ways to go, but we will improve as a result of this. It was a challenge for us; although we were unsuccessful, we have a lot of things to look forward to in the upcoming season.
Despite the loss, United captain Fernandes stated that the team had made “big steps for next season.”
In February, the Red Devils ended a trophy drought that had lasted for six years when they defeated Newcastle in the final of the League Cup. Additionally, in Ten Hag’s first season as manager, the Red Devils finished third in the Premier League.
However, they finished in second place in the bright London weather as Premier League winners City maintained their chances of winning all three titles.
Fernandes remarked that everyone is in a bad mood and that things are quite challenging. “We intended to finish the season in a different way, but it wasn’t feasible for us to do so.
“We’ve made a lot of progress for the upcoming season. Even while it wasn’t a particularly successful season overall, it was nonetheless a very nice one. We have to come back the next year and work on winning more significant medals.
The midfielder from Portugal stated that the followers of United deserved more.
“Our fans have been great all season, and they deserved a different result today,” he added. “Our players also deserved a different result.”
We are sorry that we were unable to bring the fans the happiness that they so well deserve.
We are appreciative of everything they have done for us during this campaign. I assure you that we will visit once more during the next season.