A trophy or the top four? Ten Hag reveals Man Utd priority

• Ten Hag reveals Man Utd’s priority
• The last trophy the Red Devils won was in 2017
• Also lost their place in the Champions League
• Numerous targets have been set for the Dutch coach

The Red Devils appointed the Dutch strategist in an effort to restart their progress after several discouraging years of inactivity. While it would have been unimaginable during Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at Old Trafford, one of the most decorated teams in international football is reaching the six-year mark without winning a trophy, but they also understand how crucial it is to regain respect among the top teams in Europe.

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When asked about his ambitions for the 2022–23 season, Ten Hag responded: “We are playing in a lot of cups, I want to win trophies, of course, but we want to qualify as one of the first four, that has to be the aim, to get there. That is going to be hard this season because I think also what I hear around me is that this is the strongest Premier League in years.

“At the top, you have seven or eight teams who all invested a lot, it is not one or two clubs who invested a lot, it’s not only us who invested a lot but also clubs like Newcastle United, invested really a lot, West Ham United, also massive investments, so there are many more clubs that invested but we want to be one of the first four.”

The Red Devils will play Aston Villa at home in the Carabao Cup on Thursday. A win there would advance them to the fourth round and put them one step closer to winning a prestigious domestic trophy. They would also advance to the Europa League knockout play-off stage, where a titanic matchup with Barcelona awaits.

With a three-point deficit separating them from the Champions League berths before a trip to Fulham on Sunday, Ten Hag is still searching for consistency from his United players after the occasional blip has left them fifth in the Premier League table heading into the World Cup break.