Erik ten Hag has challenged his Manchester United side to be more consistent against the Premier League's "lower class" teams this season.
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Man Utd have difficult pre-seasonTen Hag eyes more cup successChallenges team to improve consistencyWHAT HAPPENED?
United boss Ten Hag believes his team can beat anyone on any given day but the real challenge is maintaining high standards match after match to compete for the biggest trophies. The ex-Ajax manager is hoping they can challenge for the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup this term.
AdvertisementWHAT ERIK TEN HAG SAID
He said in a press conference: "Well, we will again, we will challenge for the Carabao Cup and we will challenge for the FA Cup as well. And so that shows we are competitive and it shows that we can beat any opponent. That is what we proved in the last two seasons. It doesn't matter how we faced all of them in the FA Cup and we beat Liverpool, we beat Man City. But our challenge is to bring consistency in and also I say this with all the respect against lower-class teams, I don't think there are lower-class teams in the Premier League. [Everyone] has to win the points and I think other teams are ahead of us in that prospect and therefore we have to catch up."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Ten Hag led the Red Devils to FA Cup success last season but they also ended up eighth in the division – their lowest ever Premier League finish. If they don't start strong this term, the Dutchman will be under pressure to keep his job very soon.
Ben StansallWHAT NEXT?
Ten Hag's team, who have had an underwhelming and difficult pre-season due to bad results and injuries, will take on one of the best sides in the world on Saturday afternoon in Manchester City at Wembley in the Community Shield.