Erik ten Hag directly addresses Man Utd future after 'very brave' Alan Shearer question

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag directly addressed his future after the FA Cup win over Manchester City - and a 'very brave' question from BBC pundit Alan Shearer.

United won the FA Cup final 2-1 through goals from academy graduates Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.

City scored what proved to be a consolation goal through Jeremy Doku, but United held on to win after a superb performance at Wembley.

Ten Hag's future was in doubt before the final, with The Guardian claiming he would be sacked after the final.

After captain Bruno Fernandes was quizzed about the Dutchman's position after the final whistle, Ten Hag himself then conducted his media duties with BBC's Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.

Unsurprisingly, several questions were asked about the manager's future.

Ten Hag said: "It [the win] was more to prove a point after a first year with so many setbacks, with all the injuries. Every time we had to survive, the team showed so much resilience and I'm very proud of them.

When asked by Lineker if he had been harshly treated by sections of the media this season, he replied: "I think so [harshly treated by media]. The team, me as well, was not right."

Shearer then questioned whether some of the criticism was fair, given that the performance at Wembley was better than what has largely been seen from United this season.

Ten Hag said: We didn't have the players. You are right, we have seen the same things. There was not always good football, definitely not. But we had to all the time make compromises. Then you can't play football you want to play. I am two years here, and maybe we had three four times, the full squad involved. Also today, some massive players like Maguire, Shaw, Casemiro not involved."

🗣 Gary Lineker: "This could conceivably be your last game, do you know?"

🗣 Erik ten Hag: "I don't know."#BBCFootball #BBCFACup pic.twitter.com/Jkb3bFP9Y4

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 25, 2024

On his position, he added: "I don’t know [if it’s my last game]. The only thing I am doing is preparing my team, progressing my team, developing my team and individual players. This is for me a project. When I came in, I can say it was a mess. We are now better, but we are by far not where we want to be.

"Football is about winning trophies, and at the end of the day I want to play the best football. I want to play dynamic, attacking football.

"But in the end, you have to win games and you have to win trophies. That is the mentality we brought in. We only had one opportunity, and we did it. I am so proud of the players and the staff, we did an incredible job."

After Ten Hag had finished the interview, Lineker exclaimed to Shearer: "You were very brave asking that question!"