Erik Ten Hag gives sensational FA Cup final day interview as he slams Man United fans for having ‘no sense of reality’ amid 11-year title drought… and insists INEOS wants to build WITH him in the driver’s seat.

Erik ten Hag has slammed Manchester United fans for having “no sense of reality” amid an 11-year title drought in an incendiary interview on the day of the club’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.

The troubled manager is believed to be heading for the exit at Old Trafford whether or not his side triumph at Wembley on Saturday against their crosstown rivals after two seasons in charge of the Manchester club.

Ten Hag has claimed he remains in the plans of new Man United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team since the petrochemical billionaire took over as head of football operations in February.

But under the Dutchman’s leadership, the club suffered their worst Premier League result in the round of 16, and European football next season depends on Saturday’s result.

Speaking to Dutch media outlet VI, Ten Hag stressed that the club’s aspirations were too high compared to the reality of their current situation.

The club endured an uneven season which saw them finish in their lowest position in the Premier League.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe (right) has reportedly already made the decision to sack Ten Hag regardless of the result of Saturday’s FA Cup final.

“Manchester United last won the championship in 2013, 11 years ago,” Ten Hag began. “But they still expect us to win every game while competing at the top.

“This club is not ready for that.

“We were supposed to start building something and we took the first steps last year, but then you find out how big this club is and that no one is ever satisfied.

“Within the club people were happy, but outside the club there was noise saying that I had only won the Carabao Cup, lost the FA Cup final and had become 3rd .

If critics expected much more from Ten Hag’s team, then the head coach said “you have no sense of reality” because “other clubs had a much better team” than his team United.

Ten Hag was also ruthlessly realistic about the 2023-24 campaign, adding: “Let me be clear. It was bad. It was c***.’

But the coach insisted: “Despite everything, we are going to play an FA Cup final.”

Ten Hag went to suggest that his club was an easy target for belligerent pundits, and that this had been a factor in the club’s downturn and negative perception of its role in Man United’s poor form.

The club won their last Premier League title 11 years ago, the final act of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign.

Ten Hag took aim at pundits (pictured: former Man United players and Sky Sports presenters Roy Keane and Gary Neville) for making United ‘easy prey’

Rio Ferdinand, Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes – all former Man United players – have heavily criticized the team at various points during the club’s patchy season, and Ten Hag has previously lashed out at pundits and fans and called for “patience”. ‘ as the team continues its process under his leadership.

He had stronger words on Saturday, saying his United side were “easy prey”.

“The pundits in England want to score, they want to show that they are worth their money, and for that, Manchester United are easy prey,” Ten Hag said.

“It’s the biggest club in England and perhaps the world. The club is loved or hated, there is no in-between.

“So when things go wrong, they all start talking and saying really big words. All this negativity from these so-called experts who don’t have the ability to analyze something with facts, but would rather attack people to make themselves look better.

“And these are the same people who congratulated me last year. Last year I was able to walk on water, this year I’m the worst manager in the Premier League.

At the root of the club’s problems is a huge number of injuries, a topic that Ten Hag went on to mention.

The Dutchman pointed out that Tyrell Malacia didn’t even enter the training pitch due to the severity of his injury.

Luke Shaw has been unavailable to manage for much of Man United’s 2023-24 campaign

“The injuries have been really crazy,” Ten Hag told the Dutch media outlet. “Not long ago I had to start my 15th different central defender pairing of the season.

“I had 33 different defensive lines this season. Sofyan Amrabat had to play left-back four times. We had injuries all over the field.

“Casemiro has been away for a long time. Rasmus Hojlund, the striker we bought, has suffered three injuries and I can go on and on. This is the central story of our season.

“Tyrell Malacia hasn’t played a single minute of football this season,” Ten Hag continued. “In fact, he didn’t even spend a single moment on the training ground. We signed him as a backup to Luke Shaw.

Regarding the English defender, Ten Hag brutally recalled the player’s injuries, emphasizing: “Luke Shaw is the best left-back in the world. This guy is so good.

“But he suffered a horrible injury early in his career and because of that he will never be able to play 60 games in a season.”

But the manager was full of plans for the following season, optimistic about his continued presence in the dugout, he said, due to discussions with INEOS itself.

Rasmus Hojlund (centre) has also not always been fit as his Dutch manager demanded.

“We need to sign an additional striker this summer,” Ten Hag said of his decision to reshape the squad in the upcoming transfer window. “And if we can bring in another central midfielder and a replacement for Varane, things will look good again.

“If the team stays fit, we can try to aim for the top four again.”

Ten Hag added that Ratcliffe and Co “want to change everything” and “they want to rebuild with (him)”.

“That’s what they told me directly,” he stressed. “INEOS will change things within the club and some projects have already started. Carrington will be completely destroyed, a new training ground will come.”

For all of Ten Hag’s confident zeal, Man United are said to view Ipswich’s Thomas Tuchel and Kieran McKenna as serious candidates to take over at the club next season.

Away from the subject of Man United, Ten Hag saved a word for his former director of football at Ajax, Marc Overmars.

The former Netherlands international quit his job at Amsterdam in February 2022 after admitting his “unacceptable” behavior after it emerged within the club that he had sent inappropriate messages and photographs to several women who worked there.

But amid the Dutch giants’ seismic move away from Eredivisie dominance in recent seasons, Ten Hag has offered an ironclad defense to the disgraced club boss.

Ratcliffe (right, with United majority owner Avram Glazer) wants to make significant changes

But, Ten Hag insists, those changes INEOS seeks to make will include its contribution.

Ten Hag also staunchly defended former Ajax boss Marc Overmars (left, in 2019)

“I remain convinced that I find the way Marc Overmars was treated shameful,” Ten Hag said. “The departure of Marc Overmars killed Ajax at the time.

“And from the club’s point of view it was really stupid to immediately throw him under the bus.”

“Overmars was the connecting factor within the club. He did not write a single letter on paper, but every outgoing and incoming line was created by him. He was intelligent, he had a strategic vision. When they got rid of him, everything fell apart.

Overmars then took over as head of football at Belgian club Royal Antwerp, but was forced to take a step back in January when his suspension from Dutch football imposed in November 2023 was extended globally.

The 51-year-old lost his appeal to overturn the one-year suspension in February.