Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has said the media's reaction to his side's FA Cup tie with Coventry was disgraceful. Despite qualifying for the final, United received a lot of criticism after the match against Coventry. This is after the "Red Devils" squandered a 3-0 advantage, and qualified only after penalty kicks, against opponents from the Championship.
In a press interview, on the eve of the challenge against Sheffield United in the Premier League, Ten Hag was very critical of the reaction of the media after the match against Coventry. Asked if he understood the negative reaction, the Dutchman said:
"No. Absolutely not. The reaction from you (the media) was shameful. Two FA Cup finals in 2 years, it's fantastic. For me as a coach, 4 finals in 4 years. The comments are disgraceful... Football at the end of the day is based on results. We managed to qualify for the final and we deserved it. We lost control in the last 20 minutes and were lucky during penalties, but we managed to go to the final. This is a great achievement."
Meanwhile at United, Brazilian Antony was also criticized for his celebration in front of Coventry players at the end of the penalty shoot-out. Ten Hag also clarified for the media this moment:
"He (Antony) was provoked and he should not react like that. You didn't see the provocation, only the reaction, but he shouldn't have done it anyway... We have to credit Coventry's performance, they managed to get back into the game after 70 minutes where we dominated the game. The match should have been closed on our end, but their reversal was pretty good."
Manchester United are currently seventh in the overall Premier League standings, and victory over Sheffield United is the only acceptable result at home.
