Pep Guardiola ‘completely agrees’ with Erik ten Hag excuse for Manchester United form

Pep Guardiola speaking to the media ahead of the FA Cup final (Picture: YouTube)

Pep Guardiola says he ‘completely agrees’ with Erik ten Hag’s suggestion that the main reason Manchester United have struggled this season is due to injuries.

United set several unwanted records this season as they slumped to their lowest-ever Premier League finish.

Ten Hag wants to end a difficult campaign by lifting the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday, though it remains to be seen whether that would be enough to save him his job at Old Trafford.

Manchester United have expressed interest in a number of managers as they consider sacking Ten Hag, with club officials in contact with Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna and considering talking to Mauricio Pochettino following his departure from Chelsea.

Guardiola stopped short of urging United not to sack Ten Hag but did say he agreed with the Dutchman’s assessment of the team’s struggles this season.

‘In the big clubs, when you don’t win, always you are in trouble,’ Guardiola said at his FA Cup final press conference. ‘That’s not a secret. I would be in trouble if we didn’t win. 

‘He’s done very, very good things and I have huge respect for his job in the past. 

‘I completely agree when I listen to him say he hasn’t had a full squad all season and has had a lot, a lot of injuries. 

‘They should think this is the reason why. Players have to be fit otherwise you cannot use them. 

‘They’ve had a lot of problems and then the manager has suffered a lot. I think the squad is really good but when players are injured you cannot use them.’ 

Asked directly if he had been surprised by how poor Manchester United have been, Guardiola added: ‘I’m not there. I’m pretty sure they know the realise why.

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‘For me, it’s a lot of injuries. If I lose a lot of central defenders I would be in trouble. I think this is the reality.’

Having become the first team in the Premier League to win four successive titles, Guardiola now wants his Manchester City side to become the first to clinch back-to-back domestic doubles.

The 2024 FA Cup final is a repeat of last year’s showpiece event, in which City won 2-1 against the same opponents.

‘It is football, it’s never happened before in our history [repeat derby finals] and two years, two times in a row,’ Guardiola said.

Manchester City are the FA Cup holders (Picture: Getty)

‘We respect United, always like that for history. In last decade we have been better but in terms of history you have to of course have to respect them massively.  What they feel like I don’t know, I’m not there.

‘We play FA Cup [and] we can do back to back doubles, we have [a] chance to do this.

‘The FA Cup for itself is FA Cup, Wembley, all our fans going to London. It’s the last game of season, last effort. 

‘We travel, everyone. I’m impressed how good we have trained after a few days off, so focused, everyone wants to be involved, we will do our best for sure.’

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