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LONDON. — Manchester United’s season may have had its dark moments but can still end as a highly successful campaign of transition for manager Erik ten Hag after they reached the FA Cup final with victory over Brighton on Sunday.
The glass half-empty outsiders may look in at Old Trafford affairs and focus on the 4-0 humiliation at Brentford in the second English Premier League game of the season, six goals conceded at Manchester City then seven at Liverpool, as well as the embarrassing Europa League quarter-final collapse against Sevilla.
What is far more significant in the overall ledger is that in Ten Hag’s opening salvo they have won their first trophy since 2017 in the League Cup, look in prime position to return to the Champions League via the top four, and have now reached a second domestic Wembley show-piece this term as they prepare to face Manchester City in the FA Cup final on June 3.
One side of the equation undoubtedly reflects the distance Ten Hag needs to travel but the other demonstrates, for all the very obvious faults of a team still requiring a major overhaul to deliver an injection of quality and mental strength, the Dutch manager has got them moving in the right direction following the years on the margins.
On that basis, if United can add a place in the top four to the League Cup going into the first all-Manchester FA Cup final, then Ten Hag can reflect on his first season with satisfaction, with the knowledge he still has so much to do to take United closer to where they want to be.
There are problems at Manchester United that many performances have highlighted but Ten Hag gives the appearance of a manager who can finally find solutions – and if he can do it while winning trophies and putting them back in the Champions League, all the better.
It has certainly been the very definition of a mixed bag this term and goalkeeper David de Gea could be labelled the poster boy for the roller-coaster quality of United’s performances after the last four days.
De Gea came into the FA Cup semi-final under heavy scrutiny following his calamitous part as Manchester United subsided to defeat in Seville.
And yet, in keeping with the two faces Erik ten Hag’s side can display, De Gea delivered an exemplary performance to ensure they came out on the right side of a semi-final they entered as underdogs in the eyes of many observers.
He looked a bag nerves in Spain, especially with the ball at his feet, but here against this fine Brighton side in a semi-final that fell short of expectations, De Gea delivered when it mattered.
De Gea started by showing athleticism to turn away Alexis Mac Allister’s early free-kick while he also denied Julio Enciso with a fine save to turn his powerful effort over the top. He was powerless to stop six Brighton penalties but, once the unfortunate Solly March skied the seventh, Victor Lindelof stepped forward to complete the formalities.
It gives Manchester United what may yet prove to be an opportunity to deny arch-rivals Manchester City a repeat of their historic feat of 1999, when Sir Alex Ferguson’s side won the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup. — BBC Sport
Online Reporter