Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag Target More Trophies After Winning English League Cup

With a first trophy secured, thoughts now turn to what else a transformed Manchester United can achieve in a season that is shaping up nicely for manager Erik ten Hag. (More Football News)

While a quadruple remains unlikely, United’s four-pronged challenge is still alive after beating Newcastle United 2-0 in the League Cup🔴 final on Sunday.

“We are still in thr🍰ee competitions and we have the chance to win more trophies,” United goalkeeper David de Gea said. “I feel the mentality of the team is a winning one.”

For a team that had become all too accustomed to failure in recent years,ꦐ it is quickly getting a taste fꦗor success after the impressive turnaround overseen by Ten Hag.

“I🀅 am satisfied but I want more. I want much more,” said United captain Bruno Fernandes, who led the celebrations on the field at Wembley.

Ten Hag needed just 10 months to deliver his first trophy as United manager and end a six-year silverware drought for the 20-time English champion. It is United’s first trophy since winning a League Cup and Europa League double under Jose Mourinho in 2017. As trophies go, the League Cup is a modest prize for a club that won it all under iconic former manager Alex Ferguson. But this was a triumph that was relished by thousands of United fans inside the st♐adium after Casemiro’s header and Sven Botman’s own-goal settled the match.

“First you have to win the first one and that is what we did today,” Te𝔉n Hag said. “You can get inspiration from this and more confidence that we can do it.

“We are still at the start of restoring M🅷anchester United t༺o where they belong and that is to be winning trophies.”

Ten Hag celebrated by dancing on the field with players Lisandro Martinez and Antony, who followed him from Ajax to Manchester last summer. And he lovingly cradled the cup when emerging for his post-match news🏅 conferencꦜe.

However, as if to underlওine the fact that he is ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnot getting carried away with his early success, he initially forgot the trophy as he got up to leave the room before quickly retrieving it.

“I’m already on to the next cup! This one is iꦛn!” he joked.

Few expected United to be in such a healthy position at this stage of the season — especially after losing the first two games of the campai💧gn, which included the humiliating 4-0 loss at Brentford in August.

Ten Hag, who won three Dutch titles and two cups with Ajax, is 𝓡off the mark in his new job and there could be more days like this before the season is done.

Third-place United iꦛs in contention for the Premier League title and on T𝓡hursday beat Barcelona in the Europa League to advance to the round of 16 against Real Betis. Next up is West Ham in the FA Cup in the fifth round, with league leader Arsenal and holder Liverpool already eliminated.

While a sustained title challen💯ge still feels like aﷺ step too far for a team that finished 35 points behind champions Manchester City last season, United cannot be ruled out.

“It’s an opportunity, it’s possible,” Ten Hag said of the pursuit for more silverware. “As long as we don’t go over tღhe top, togetherness, keep working, then we can win even more.”

Ten Hag has certainly made believers of the club’s fans, who let off flares that left a red mist inside Wembley aft༒er the final whistle.

Co-owner Avram Glazer also enjoyed the occasion when making a rare appearance at a United match aꦏt time when the club is the subject of takeover bids.

Ferguson was also part of the celebrations ♋in the stan📖ds.

“He was there 𒆙and h🔯e is a happy man tonight,” Ten Hag said.

CASEMIRO’S DELIGHT

Casemiro he🦂aded United in front in the 33rd minute of the final when rising to meet Luke Shaw’s curled free kick.

For a man who has won it all with 🥃Real Madrid, including five Champions League ಌtitles, Casemiro’s delight at opening the scoring at Wembley was clear to see as he ran to the corner to celebrate with a broad smile on his face.

Botman’s own-goal made it 2-0 in the 39th after Wout Weghorst played in Rashford on the left. The in-form forward miscued ♚his shot, but Botman’s attempted block saw the ball fly beyond Newcastle goalkeeper Loris Karius. Rashford ran 🦩away in celebration, but it was adjudged to be an own-goal.

The Saudi Arabian-backed Newcastle mounted a fightback in the second half, but could not find a breakthrough goal, with De G💮ea keeping a club record 181st clean sheet for United.

STILL WAITING

For Newꦬcastle United, the wait for a fir🦩st major domestic trophy since the FA Cup in 1955 goes on.

While it can still be a season of celebration if manager Eddie Howe ca🎀n deliver Champions League qualification, he acknowledged there remains a gap for his team to close.

“It is a proce🍷ss, we want to be here on a regular basis,” Howe said. “There is a long way to go to be the team 🙈we want to be.”

PREMIER LEAGUE

Graham Pot♛ter is said to have the full support of Chelsea’s owners, but it is impossible to ignore his team’s woeful run of form, which continued with a 2-0 loss to fo🍌urth-place Tottenham in the only Premier League game on Sunday.

It🅺 is now six games without a winꦡ for the Blues, who were Champions League winners as recently as 2021.

That feels like a long time ago now, and thoughts of returni🔯ng to those heights also seem like a distant dream for a team that looks certain to miss out on Champions League qualification and is fighting just to stay in the top half of the table.

“You can feel the desire of the players to turn 🍃results around, but sometimes you go through moments where you have to suffer,” Potter said.

Defeat was even more painful as it came against💞 fierce London rivals Spurs, who can dream about playing in the top tier of European soccer next season after moving four poiౠnts ahead of Newcastle.

Second-half goals from Oliver Skipp and Harry Ka💯ne sealed the win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.