The Dutch manager agrees with Pep Guardiola’s acknowledgment of Liverpool as his primary competitor but says that this situation will and must evolve.

Erik ten Hag criticized the inability to compete with Manchester City for the Premier League championship as unacceptable. He emphasized the need to narrow the gap using Manchester United’s own strategies and core identity.

Under the leadership of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United have recruited City’s chief operations officer Omar Berrada and are looking to hire former Etihad academy chief Jason Wilcox. Pep Guardiola has mentioned that rival clubs are trying to emulate the success strategy of the Treble-winners.

Guardiola considers Liverpool to be his main competitor, a sentiment shared by Ten Hag. Ten Hag believes that surpassing City should be achieved by maintaining United’s unique personality, inspired by Ratcliffe’s ambition to dethrone their opponents.

Ten Hag said that Pep’s statements are a realistic appraisal of the way things have been over the last decade. “However, we cannot approve it.” We must rebound, as Sir Jim advises. We must demonstrate ambition. We want to be the top-ranked and believe it is a commendable goal. We need to have the methods in place to accomplish this task.

One must study successful opponents to improve and advance to higher levels. However, we must also ensure that we approach it in a unified manner. This club has a unique atmosphere and distinct DNA compared to others. And you choose effective elements to include into your own model.

Ratcliffe aims to improve United’s performance within three years by assuming control of football operations with his 27.7% ownership share in the club. Ten Hag said that the new co-owner’s desire, reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at Old Trafford, was well received.

Ten Hag believes his squad can compete with Guardiola’s team at the Etihad Stadium, despite United conceding 10 goals in their past two Premier League trips there.

“We must demonstrate ambition to be the best, as that is what United represents.” He said that we are aware of our current position.

“We have experienced situations where we directly confront challenges, and that is the mindset we share as a team.” We must seize those opportunities and demonstrate our abilities in every match. I believe that with the current team we possess, we are capable of competing on equal terms with our opponents. The brief history demonstrates that.

“I respect them, but I believe we can still win this game.” We shall demonstrate our ability to win this game. In the Cup final and previous matches at Old Trafford, we were close to winning. However, a VAR decision changed the game. We need to prevent the opponents from gaining momentum in the upcoming match on Sunday.