ETH to leave MU soon after FA Cup final with his fate all but decided

ERIK TEN HAG will be packing his bags and fleeing the UK within 24 hours of the final whistle at Wembley this afternoon.

So there will be no hanging around to either celebrate or lick his wounds after the meeting with Pep Guardiola’s Double-chasing Manchester City.

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He has been surprisingly smiley and upbeat in the last few weeks, the Dutchman, as if a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

That weight of expectation that comes with being Manchester United manager.

As he suspected for some time, that will be a burden for someone else to carry following the FA Cup final.

So the grey pallor has found a bit of colour and it was as if he was enjoying the usual verbal jousting with the regular United press pack.

When he was asked about sitting down to do a season’s review with Sir Jim Ratcliffe after the final, he was most jovial of all.

Ten Hag said: “No, we already did that and on Sunday I will go on holiday. I think I deserve it.”

He might as well have said, "I’m well out of this".

There have never been any public assurances about his job from new part owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe since he bought his 27.7 per cent share in the club and took over football operations.

Ten Hag said: “It is not necessary, we will go for next season.”

Go where? Because he certainly is not going back to Carrington or Old Trafford.

Ten Hag has just overseen United’s worst league season in 34 years, having finished eighth in the Prem.

They also crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage.

But he is in a third final in 15 months, with the chance of a second piece of silverware.

If he lifts it, the Dutchman believes his tenure will be viewed very differently to how it currently is.

He said: “I think so, yes. That’s the truth. We will be in a very different place if we win on Saturday because we will be in Europe and we will have another trophy.

“But still, three finals in two seasons is very good, I would say, because this club when I entered it was not in a good state, absolutely not. I think we improved a lot.”

It was as if Ten Hag was trying to convince everyone that he had in fact done a good job, even if it was now over.

The former Ajax chief explained: “This club is in a transition period — and we have progressed many players to high levels.

“Some young players also came into the team and became internationals and will go to the Copa America and the Euros, which is very good.

“We want to improve the squad, we want to create a team for the future, but in the meantime we want to win trophies.

“On Saturday, we have a big opportunity to win another trophy.

“A third final in two years, I would say, is not too bad. I am sure that many people forget this, absolutely.”

It is clear that one of the main things Ten Hag had been looking into with Ratcliffe is why his squad have been so badly depleted with injuries.

He said: “When you consider all the injuries we’ve had, it’s a horrible season for us.”

If they can get solve that problem and strengthen their squad in the summer, he believes that whoever is United boss will have them back in the top four.

He thinks he would have been there again himself had the injury room not been so full.

He said: “We can definitely compete for the top four, but the competition of the Premier League means there are many teams in this moment that battle for the top four, but we are definitely in there.

“We would have been there this season if players had been available.

“That is the biggest thing that has to change, the players are, over the course of the season, available.”

Although the magic of the Cup seems to stretch to the United treatment room.

There were 11 out injured for the 4-0 Premier League defeat at Crystal Palace on May 6, yet only three of th­em will be unavailable for this final against rivals City.

Is that a bunch of players running through a brick wall for their boss?
Is it really just a coincidence?

Ten Hag said: “It will definitely motivate players to play in a Cup final and all the players are desperate for it.

“The demands in this game will be high and you have to play to your highest levels, you have to be fit, mentally, physically, to play a part and to contribute in this game.

“The players all know this, and they are experienced.

“They have dealt more often with these occasions in finals, so the more games you would have played, the better the chance you will play a good game on Saturday, but if not, then you still have a good opportunity.

“Because it’s a final, the adrenaline, the occasion, it will drive you.”

Ten Hag says he has already had messages of good luck from Ratcliffe and his right-hand man Sir Dave Brailsford.

He said “Of course. We are together. Since January they have been part of this club and they want us to win  trophies.”

The next message, though, will be "bon voyage".

He is a good man Ten Hag, who did a good job at United.

He has been hung out to dry with the lack of public backing since Ratcliffe arrived.

You never thought a manager would be best off out of Old Trafford.
But that is how it feels right now.