Ten Hag looks forward to Barnsley visit

The competition provided the boss with his first piece of silverware, when we beat Newcastle in the 2023 final.

Ten Hag stated that was now just a memory - albeit a cherished one - as the Reds prepare to host the League One outfit and go again in 2024/25.

It will be the biggest game of the season for the Tykes, adds the Dutchman, and a United team that is still growing into the season may need to draw upon some of the resilience that we showed in Saturday's win at Southampton...

Erik, great to see you. Reflecting on the weekend, what was it that pleased you most about the win at Southampton?
“The resilience. It was a tough start in the game, but then we found a foothold in the game. I think a big contribution from Andre Onana by stopping the penalty. And then another one was Matthijs de Ligt scoring that goal from a set play. After this, it was all ours, but before this, it was difficult to come into the game.”

A really good win. And now we turn our attention to the Carabao Cup, a competition which gave you your first piece of silverware for Manchester United. Fond memories of this competition?
“Yeah, it's great, but memories are memories. We live in the future. You can't live from the past and we have to look forward and we want to win. We are playing in five leagues and we want to win those leagues.”

The Carabao Cup often offers managers opportunities to rotate the team a little. Is that something in your thinking with a busy schedule ahead?
“Yeah, but also we have to construct a team and we have not been able to work on relationships and on patterns and routines so far, because players came late in. We did that pre-season with many players, so also we have to think about this.”

At the weekend, it was interesting to see Jonny Evans and Casemiro come on in slightly different positions for them. Is that something you expect from all of your players – versatility, adaptability?
“Yeah, if it's necessary and you need someone to play in the position where you are not always playing. But Jonny Evans played before as a left full-back. Casemiro played before as a centre-half, so they know those positions.”

Barnsley will come to Old Trafford hoping to cause an upset. They will no doubt relish the opportunity to play against you at Old Trafford, so that should make it a really interesting cup tie...
“Yes, but that's for sure. That is for them, the game of the year. They will be really focused and really energised to go into this game, and it's up to us to make it our game. And yeah, we are really enjoying and looking forward to inviting them [here] and [we want] to go into this game with full energy and motivation.”

And just finally, how's the squad looking then going ahead to the game? I mean, it's not been long. You've had to recover since Saturday, of course…
“No. Exactly. So we will have the same squad as Saturday.”