Ten Haag has won his first piece of silverware as Man Utd boss after their 2-0 victory at Wembley against Newcastle. Casemiro’s bullet header opened the scoring in the first half before Rashford doubled the lead with his shot that took a deflection to beat Karius, who was playing his first game in two years.
Newcastle had most of the ball after that point but United’s defence was solid and Newcastle could not find a way through. Man Utd responded with counterattacks and could have extended their lead in the second-half, if not for some great saves from Karius.
It was Newcastl’es first cup final since 1999 and the fan showed the passion would always expect from them. It wasn’t to be, but we know this is juts the start of a new era for Newcastle and they will have their chance again. United were the victors at the final whistle and you have to say it feels like the start of something new at this club too.
It was not only ten Haag’s first trophy, but Man Utd’s first major trophy in six years. When he took over, Ten Haag knew the scale of the task in front of him, having become the sixth coach since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club. Many managers had been and gone in a short space of time and the club was looking for a visionary who could take the team forward.
Like Ferguson, Ten Haag always has an eye on the next game and hates complacency. “Don’t be satisfied because satisfaction leads to laziness and when you get lazy you don’t win any more games and you can’t win trophies,” he said after the Carabao Cup success. He has turned the team into winners in such a short space of time, and there is a FA Cup quarter final, still plenty to play for in the Premier League and the next round of the Europa League to look forward to. They’re not out of any of those races yet and if you had asked a United fan at the start of the season you would expect them to take the current situation with no questions asked.
One down three to go. It will be interesting to see how far they will go this season.