Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag sets his sights on the Premier League title after extending his contract with the club.
Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag is targeting the Premier League title after extending his contract with the club.
There was a host of speculation surrounding the Dutchman’s future at the end of last season, with the club believed to have seriously considered removing him from his position.
However, Ten Hag is remaining at Old Trafford, extending his contract until June 2026, and the Dutchman has now set out his ambitions for the coming seasons.
Man United finished eighth in the Premier League last term, making it their worst-ever performance in the competition’s current format.
However, the 20-time English champions did win the FA Cup, which allowed them to qualify for the group stage of the 2024-25 Europa League.
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Ten Hag says Man United must “improve every day”
“We won an FA Cup, we won a Carabao Cup, but also we have high expectations from ourselves,” Ten Hag told MUTV. “We know it doesn’t come overnight; we have to work for it. We are highly ambitious, so we have to raise our standards day by day, and improve every day.
“Every time, we have to live with the line in our head: good is not good enough. We have to do better.
“We’re working on this. I said it, and it’s a fact: United didn’t win, for over six years, a trophy. Now we’ve won two, but we are up for more and for higher titles, like the English title and even more, like going into Europe.
“That’s a process that takes time, and we’ll work on it, but I know with the set-up at the club, with the changes to the structure, and the changes to infrastructure here around Carrington, we will be ready for the future. We will improve.
“You feel it here, it gives a new energy, it gives a new dynamic and that will help us to achieve our targets. In the short-term, it stays the same: we want to win every game, and we have seen we are capable of beating everyone.”
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Ten Hag is now working in a new structure at Old Trafford
Ten Hag also said that he was very optimistic about the club’s future under the new structure, with minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe now in charge of the football department.
Dan Ashworth has been appointed as sporting director, while Jason Wilcox‘s arrival as technical director was confirmed in the middle of April.
“I’m here now for two years. As I said, I came here to win, to win titles, trophies. We won two trophies, after a dry [spell] of six years, so we are in a good direction,” he added.
“Now, with the new ownership coming in, they can help us. They are very supportive. We’ve made a process, which we’ve constructed across the summer and we are in a very good position, a very strong position to go and attack.
“We are so pleased that around the football, around the first team, we have a strong structure that will help us. They are really supportive and that will help us in many ways, like in scouting and recruitment, like in the departments of medical and performance. They will be so supportive and that will raise the bar.”
Man United are 20-time English champions, with 13 of those successes coming in the Premier League, but they have not lifted the famous trophy since 2013.