Erik ten Hag insists Manchester United are in a stronger position now than they were a year ago.
As the deluded Dutchman refused to even contemplate the prospect of seeing United qualify for the Europa Conference League for the first time or even fail to reach Europe completely, he reckons the club's new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe will recognise that the team has made progress this season.
In another strange defence of his two-year reign, Ten Hag claimed once again that injuries have wrecked United’s dreams this season - but feels that the emergence of youngsters like Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo mean that the future at Old Trafford is bright.
Last season, United ended their six-year wait for a trophy by winning the Carabao Cup in Ten hag’s debut season. They also finished third in the Premier League to return to the Champions League and reached the FA Cup Final.
But Ten Hag said: “When you look at the results, you would say ‘no’, but we know the reasons behind it so I would now say ‘yes’ because we have more players, we have more high quality players in the squad and from that perspective we are in a better position.
“I think that we developed some young players with high potential who can really add to the quality levels of our squad.
“With established, experienced players, they can make a very good mix and be a very strong squad that can compete at the highest level. I think that is also what we showed this season against top teams that often we are very competitive.”
United have six days to rescue something from the current campaign. If they beat rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup Final on Saturday they will qualify for the Europa League.
But they will enter European football’s third-ranked competition if they leapfrog Newcastle into seventh place in the Premier League on the final day of the season and then lose at Wembley.
Ten Hag insists he is 100 percent focused on beating Pep Guardiola ’s side after losing to the Blues last year. He said: “I never think in a negative scenario. We have the opportunity left in our own hands, so go for it.
“I think that for every player, Manchester United is a very attractive club. Of course you want to play at the highest levels, but if you want to go into a project in a club like Manchester United, I’m sure it is still a very attractive club for every player.”
Ten Hag could pay the price for United’s poor results when Ratcliffe and his INEOS group review a campaign which has seen them lose 14 out of 37 games. If his team fail to beat Brighton by three clear goals at the Amex Stadium they will finish with a negative goal difference for the first time since 1990.
That was the season when Sir Alex Ferguson rescued his job by lifting the FA Cup. United also finished bottom of a Champions League group that included Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Copenhagen.