Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, has selected a 22-man travelling team for the FA Cup final matchup with Manchester City.
For the Friday afternoon final, United boarded the train and travelled to London. Security made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Stockport Station illegally by using the back entrance with players and personnel.
City travelled via Manchester Piccadilly to London. It’s thought that Ten Hag boarded the train last as part of a superstitious ceremony for the Dutchman. When United is playing away from home, the manager is always the last to get off the team coach.
In a season where United have recorded 65 separate cases of injury or illness that have caused a player to miss a game, they are only missing three players for Saturday’s final.
Left back Tyrell Malacia has missed the entirety of the season with a knee injury, Luke Shaw has been sidelined for three months with a hamstring problem and Harry Maguire has been ruled out with a muscular injury.
In the four finals that United have advanced to since Maguire joined the team in 2019, he has not in the starting lineup.
The 31-year-old was sidelined for the League Cup and FA Cup finals of the previous season due to an ankle ligament injury that kept him out of the Europa League final in May 2021.
In light of the likelihood that he will be fired following the championship, Ten Hag may manage United for the last time. Regarding Ten Hag’s stance, United has refrained from commenting. Although United won the League Cup the previous season, they fell to City 2-1 in the FA Cup final.
At what may have been his final pre-game press conference at United’s Carrington training complex on Friday, Ten Hag brought up his finals record.
“It’s all about trophies and we have a huge opportunity to win a trophy,” Ten Hag stressed. “So the last ten years, not so many trophies in this club but we have an opportunity to win two trophies in two years.
“Every game I want to win and that’s it. I just focus on this game as I do for every game and I know it’s an important game because it’s about a trophy.
“An FA Cup final is a big event and we are there, even in the season which is not in our way we are there. We have an opportunity and it’s never been easy but we have to go for it and we will go for it.
“We have to believe as we did last season, as we know often against good opponents, we play our best football and I expect this to do the same again on Saturday.
“I came here to win trophies, Saturday I have the next opportunity, we achieved this, we earned this opportunity as a team and now we have to go for it.
“At Etihad, for 70 minutes we were very good in the game, we had opportunities to score a second goal and then they could sub, we didn’t have a bench and that’s a big difference.
“On Saturday, we will have a bench and a much stronger side.”
United squad: Onana, Bayindir, Heaton, Dalot, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Evans, Kambwala, Lindelof, Casemiro, Mainoo, Eriksen, McTominay, Amrabat, Mount, Fernandes, Amad, Antony, Garnacho, Rashford, Hojlund
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