Ten Hag's talk of silverware is losing shine

ERIK ten Hag is judging it all on the trophies. Ever since United won the FA Cup in May, he has rarely wasted an opportunity to point to a record of two pieces of silverware in two seasons.

- TYRONE MARSHALL

He did it last week, in the build-up to the game with Liverpool, and he did it in the aftermath when it was probably the last thing supporters wanted to hear. So regularly has he pointed to this record that it might be worth putting such bold claims to one side for a while.

"In the last two years we won, behind City, the most trophies in English football," Ten Hag said on Friday. "That is the reality. They are the facts."

There is no disputing those facts and it's clear that the Carabao Cup win in his first season and the FA Cup win in his second is proof enough for Ten Hag that he is on the right track. To him, those successes are stronger evidence of progress than a Premier League record of 16 defeats in 41 games and an eightplace finish last season.

You won't be surprised to hear that is a contrast to his predecessor as permanent manager at Old Trafford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer couldn't get his team over the line to win a trophy, but his two full seasons in charge at United produced league finishes of third and second.

"Sometimes the trophy can hide other things that are happening at the club. It's in the league positions that you see whether you're progressing," Solskjaer said in March 2021.