Ten Hag’s statement in regards to the “two trophies” is true – however it will not be the one measure of progress

An FA Cup winning manager has never been so near dropping the microphone.

In a room filled with journalists who had spent the past few days reporting on his boss's plans to switch him, a battered, beleaguered but combative Erik ten Hag defended his record as Manchester United manager.

“Two trophies in two years is not bad,” he said. “Three finals in two years is not bad. If they don't want me, I'll go somewhere else to win trophies because that's my job.”

It was a superb line price repeating, and it was. With Ten Hag's contract renewed and his future sorted, he sat down with MUTV in July and reiterated his stance on the “two trophies”.

A couple of days later, he said it again in Trondheim after United's first pre-season friendly, adding: “With the exception of (Manchester) City, that's more than any other club in English football.”

He repeated this again after the friendly match against Rangers in Edinburgh.

Then we went on tour through the USA again.

And that was just the preparation. Since the beginning of the season, Ten Hag has mentioned his two cup victories in six conversations with journalists, during pre- and post-match press conferences, not to say interviews with television channels.

The latest incident got here after Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Liverpool, during a tense exchange with a journalist who Ten Hag challenged to call the “mistakes” his team had been accused of constructing. After the journalist rattled off a protracted list of repeated errors, Ten Hag appealed to his old stalwarts.

“I have a different vision. I think we have won the most trophies in English football after City,” he said. “I feel sorry for you.”

Of course he's right. That's as true today because it was at Wembley. But three games into the brand new season, that argument, which he used to cleverly take aim at his critics in May, is quickly becoming a crutch to fall back on.

On Friday, Ten Hag reiterated his favourite point, adding: “There is only one thing that matters in football and that is whether or not you win prizes and trophies at the end of the season.” But as others have identified, that view is in stark contrast to that of his predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

“In any cup competition you can win a trophy but sometimes it's more of an ego thing for other managers and clubs to finally win something,” Solskjaer said in March 2021.

“It's not like a cup says 'we're back'. It's about the gradual development of being at the top of the league and consistency and the odd trophy. Sometimes a cup competition can hide the fact that you're still struggling a bit.”

Solskjaer's words are those of a manager who had the alternative problem to Ten Hag. Under the Norwegian, United's league position steadily improved – from sixth to 3rd to second – but their trophy cabinet was empty.

Solskjaer defended his record by claiming the league is a real measure of progress, just as Ten Hag defends his record by pointing to trophies. Opinions differ as to which view is correct.

Although it was crucial for Solskjaer's United to qualify for the Champions League on the ultimate weekend of the 2019-20 season, do you remember who they beat that day? Do you remember what the rating was? Maybe, but that 2-0 win behind closed doors at Leicester City will not be a result that may stand the test of time.

Nor are memories created by second place within the league. Solskjaer's team ended 2021 in second place, 12 points behind champions Manchester City, having not been top of the table since late January.

The only trophy United got here near winning this 12 months was the Europa League. Before the ultimate in Gdansk, Solskjaer claimed that trophies sometimes “hide other facts”. But after United lost to Villarreal on penalties, he admitted that he couldn’t consider the season a hit due to his failure to win trophies.

Ask anyone who has known the inner workings of Old Trafford through the years and they’re going to let you know that you simply cannot survive as a United manager without winning trophies. Solskjaer's tenure is arguably proof of this, while Ten Hag's tenure proves the alternative: in case you deliver a trophy and the most effective day of United's post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, you’ll be able to survive anything, even the worst-ever Premier League finish.

Of course, there was also the 4-3 quarter-final win over Liverpool – among the best games and atmosphere at Old Trafford this century. Add to that the Carabao Cup win and the last two years have provided fans with indelible memories, highs to make up for the lows.

Solskjaer's view, nevertheless, is way closer to the sober assessment of elite-level performance in modern football. A league season of 38 home and away games is undoubtedly a more reliable measure of a team's quality, and can also be normally the gateway to lucrative Champions League qualification, which influences budgets in a way the FA Cup cannot.

As Ten Hag points out, United can have been the second most successful team in English football during the last two years, but nobody would seriously claim they were the second best.

And nobody would argue that United are more interested by difficult City for major titles than Arsenal, although Mikel Arteta has only been capable of add one Community Shield to his tally of honours since Ten Hag's appointment.

That's the truth. In a calmer moment, away from the confrontational atmosphere and open battles of a press conference, even Ten Hag would agree that trophies will not be enough. You need each cups and points.

United's ten-year winning streak will only end when the club is once more commonly competing for the Premier League title and reaching the ultimate stages of the Champions League.

While there have been mitigating circumstances last season – injuries, off-field unrest, uncertainty over the takeover, the shortage of a longtime left-back – United underperformed in major competitions.

That's why, despite winning the domestic cup, their coach is under pressure to prove that progress has been and may still be made, and why he can only point to his two trophies for therefore long. When he's not standing in front of a room filled with journalists and TV cameras, even Ten Hag would accept that.