Manchester United 'broken' after FA Cup final defeat but Erik ten Hag proud of his players

Dutch manager saw his team lose to Manchester rivals City but insists his team have had 'fantastic season'

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag with his players after the FA Cup final defeat against Manchester City. Reuters

Erik ten Hag admitted Manchester United were “broken” after their FA Cup final on Saturday but also said that he was proud of his team after a “fantastic season”.

United were beaten 2-1 by Manchester rivals City at Wmebley Stadium as Pep Guardiola's side completed a Premier League and FA Cup double.

Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring with a stunning volley after 12 seconds, with Bruno Fernandes' penalty cancelling out the quickest goal in FA Cup final history.

But City regained the lead through another Gundogan volley to seal victory, giving them a chance to emulate United's 1999 treble heroes in next weekend's Champions League final.

Ten Hag's first season in charge has seen United finish third in the Premier League, beat Newcastle United to win the League Cup – their first trophy since 2017 – and fall to a narrow FA Cup final defeat against City.

And the Dutch coach believes there are plenty of positives to take out of the campaign. “We are broken, disappointed of course,” Ten Hag said. “So it's tough. But I am proud of my team.

“We had a fantastic season. More than we could have imagined at the start. We finished third, qualified for the Champions League and we won a trophy and made another final. I am very happy with my team.”

Many United fans had started the long, train strike-impacted journey home when their rivals lifted the trophy, but Ten Hag and his team watched those celebrations.

“First of all, show respect always,” the Dutchman said. “But, yeah, of course, it's a motivation.

“You have to feel it in your stomach. This hurts and it has to be fuel.

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“We want to be there and our team, my players, deserved it, but you have to grab it and that is the next step we have to make.”

It was a galling end to the season but Ten Hag insisted his team are one of the few in the world who are capable of going toe-to-toe with City in such a manner.

“I want to congratulate City for winning the FA Cup, but I think it was very narrow, it was head to head,” he said. “We played very competitive out of a very good organisation.

“We didn't allow them out from open play against probably the best team in the world in this moment.

“We fought back after going a quick goal down and I think we are the only team in the world who is capable of fighting back against this team from City.

“So, yeah, I was happy with the performance of my team.”

David De Gea's role has been debated all season and his part in City's second goal has been called into question, leading Ten Hag to be asked whether he was comfortable having him as his No 1 going into next season.

“In this moment, I don't want to talk about such issues, about criticism because we played all a great season, including David De Gea,” he said of the goalkeeper, who has yet to extend his contract beyond the summer.

“He played a fantastic season. If you consider that City and us before today both had 42 wins.

“Now they have one win more, so the difference was made today. Then you can tell we played a fantastic season and it's more than we could have expected before.

“We were third in the league, we are qualified for the Champions League, and we won a trophy and we were in another final.

“So, yeah, I'm really happy with the performance from my team all over.”