Erik ten Hag thinks his Manchester United side can cope with their demanding fixture list as they continue their pursuit of a historic quadruple.
The Red Devils ended their six-year wait for silverware at the weekend by beating Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, but immediately have to get back to business as they take on West Ham in the FA Cup this evening.
Manchester United are also still in the UEFA Europa League following their impressive win over Barcelona last week, and currently sit just eight points off the top of the Premier League.
Should United go on reach the final of the FA Cup and Europa League, they will played 65 games this season – two more than Liverpool last season – but Erik ten Hag thinks his ‘ambitious’ squad can cope with such a heavy workload, saying that their desire to win trophies is giving them energy.
“Yes I think so,” the United manager said at his pre-match press conference. “Until now, we have managed it quite well and I think we can do it also until the end of the season. Except Anthony Martial, the availability from all the players is there.
“First, mentally – they are really ambitious, that is one thing and that gives them energy. Second, we have the type of players who can handle the load, the physical load.
“In my experience in Ajax, when we dropped out of Europe the levels went down, and when you are in it gives energy.”
Ten Hag was referring to the 2019/20 season, which, after being knocked out of the Champions League group stages, Ajax lost their next Eredivisie match to AZ Alkmaar.
They then lost back-to-back games against AZ and Utrecht after being knocked out of the Europa League knockout stages in the same season.
