Ten Hag saves United career or City win double? – FA Cup final talking points
Bragging rights are on the line at Wembley.
Saturday’s Manchester derby at Wembley has more riding on it than simply the destination of this season’s FA Cup.
Not only are City and United gunning for local supremacy, there is broader significance to the final regardless of which side, red or blue, lifts the cup.
Here the PA news agency looks at what is at stake.
Erik ten Hag’s future
New minority owners Ineos, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, must now decide to what extent the team’s decline is the fault of their Dutch coach’s leadership, and whether he is the right man to helm whatever structural changes it plans to implement.
With a number of high-profile managers on the market this summer – among them three former Chelsea bosses in Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter – the cup final will be the owners’ last chance to learn about the team’s character under Ten Hag before making a call on his future.
Other clubs’ European hopes
Sixth-placed Chelsea stand to qualify for Europe’s secondary competition if Pep Guardiola’s team triumph while Newcastle, who played in the Champions League this season, would take a Europa Conference League berth.
If United win the cup then the Blues will play in the Conference League and Eddie Howe’s team will miss out on Europe altogether.
City’s ‘double double’
It could be a second piece of history this campaign after they became the first side in English football history to win four straight league titles.
Whatever the outcome, it will be the first time since the 1884/85 season that the final has been contested by the same teams in consecutive seasons, with the most recent pairing having been Blackburn and Scottish side Queen’s Park, with Rovers winning both games.
Haaland’s goalscoring landmark
To pull it off he needs two goals at Wembley, which would in turn take his City total to 92 since joining from Borussia Dortmund less than two years ago.
