Erik Ten Hag exclusive interview: Man Utd boss on togetherness, Carabao Cup final and Sir Alex Ferguson's example

Erik ten Hag on Newcastle" They're so  delicate to beat and it's a big compliment for them, but we've to find a way to beat them and no matter what." Watch the Carabao Cup final live on Sky Sports Football from 3 pm on Sunday; kick- off4.30 pm

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It now seems a fooling of the mind, an altogether alien earth in which Erik ten Hag was being framed in the same  environment as Frank de Boer, writes Melissa Reddy.   After brutal Premier League beatings by Brighton and Brentford in his opening games in charge of Manchester United, there were  laying  requests offering odds on whether the former Ajax  master would be sacked  briskly than De Boer's 77 days at Crystal Palace.   Ten Hag was the first  director to lose each of his first two matches in United's unker since John Chapman in 1921. The  figures were  unattractive, the club were bottom of the table, and the long  shanks             were out.

Ten Hag,  still, was unflustered. As detailed  preliminarily on Sky Sports News, staff close to him at Carrington believe the Dutchman's  topmost strength is how he reacts in dark moments.   When he was being questioned and  scouted in August, the 53- time-old offered a  important response." I wanted this challenge," Ten Hag said, adding" In my career  far and wide, the  launch was  delicate but I got it done and I am convinced I'll get it done then as well."   The Portugal  transnational and other  elderly members of the  team have spotlighted Ten Hag's authority and surety in his  styles as a core  motorist behind United being the only  platoon in Europe's major leagues in the  blend for four  glories.

The  director has been  harmonious in his  turndown to sway from  enforcing the loftiest  norms and a culture of excellence at the club Alejandro Garnacho was late for a meeting duringpre-season and didn't feature for the rest of the  stint, the in- form Marcus Rashford was also dropped for belatedness and Cristiano Ronaldo was  removed altogether for constantly putting himself ahead of United.

It does not count who you are, it's Ten Hag's way or you  gesture  farewell.   The exactingness is  enmeshed  with  wimpiness, as seen in his caring  running of Jadon Sancho and the help in getting him to rediscover his focus and love for the game.   maybe the stylish encapsulation of Ten Hag's warmth and ice is how he mingles with staff from different departments in the canteen at Carrington, beaming at hearing  perceptivity about their home life before asking them a pantomimist about the job.

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" You have to be sharp, you have to be over to date with what is going on in your area because he'll ask you," as explained by one hand." And he wants details." This can stretch to which  tackle United are wearing down from home and what the palm  rate is in it.   Ten Hag subscribes to the specifics, from the  dimension of training cone distances to how long a player has been in the ice bath.   He believes every action counts and there's an edge in the  lowest habits- like his pitch  examinations.

Ten Hag's surveying of the  face home and down feeds into his  politic planning, but he may spend  redundant time examining a Wembley turf he is only ever seen on television.   Ahead of the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, his first crack at winning flatware in England, he sat down with Sky Sports News to talk about restoring a faded  mammoth and the excitement of turning out at the country's" theatre."   Erik, your first time at Wembley is an  occasion to lead Manchester United to flatware. Not a bad visit

" It's a great moment I to go to Wembley. I  suppose. It's a real theatre to play a game, to play a final. It's really  instigative to go there. And of course if you go there, you want to win and it's a big day for us."   As a  director, do you still get that excitement over  effects like that? Visiting a new  colosseum?

" Yeah. Still as well. But every match gives excitement, of course there are differences between them. And so I had the experience now to go to a different league and that's great. To get experience of a different culture and different  colosseums that's great to have that in your life and it makes life  instigative. So Sunday, I am really looking forward to going to the  colosseum. It's so well known, but I only know it from  TV. Sunday I've to  witness it for myself and I am really looking forward to it."