sport news Erik ten Hag's cup final record ahead of Manchester United FA Cup bid trends now
Erik ten Hag will lead Manchester United into FA Cup final battle this weekend with a dual purpose.
Firstly, the Dutch coach will want to complete what has been a very successful first season at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag has returned United to the Champions League with a third-place finish and ended a six-year trophy drought by lifting the Carabao Cup.
Secondly, United are out to prevent Manchester City emulating their historic Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League from 1999.
There would be nothing sweeter in the eyes of United fans than seeing the sanctity of that famous triumph preserved at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.
Given City's excellence this season, however, it may be a case of easier said than done. But, as we explore here, Ten Hag does boast a very decent track record when it comes to crunch cup finals.
Erik ten Hag will aim to bring more silverware to Old Trafford when Manchester United take on rivals Manchester City in Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley
United have improved considerably since Ten Hag took over and could complete a 'Double'
May 24, 2001 - Twente win the KNVB Cup final
Ten Hag the player loved FC Twente so much he had three spells with them.
In the third of these, the 31-year-old central defender achieved the only piece of major silverware in his playing career when Twente shocked PSV Eindhoven to win the 2001 Dutch Cup.
But it was a triumph tinged with sadness, coming a year after an enormous explosion at a fireworks factory in the city of Enschede, where Twente are based, which killed 23 people and injured 1,000 more.
Ten Hag was FC Twente's captain during the third of his spells playing for his local club
The catastrophic explosion destroyed 200 homes, damaged a further 1,500 and the blast, equivalent to 5,000kg of TNT, was felt 20 miles away. The disaster made international news.
Ten Hag was Twente's captain at the time and he wasn't best pleased the team were made to play a match away to Feyenoord on the day of the tragedy.
As recounted in Maarten Meijer's biography of the United boss, the Twente players spent the journey to Rotterdam anxiously ringing home and praying relatives and friends hadn't been caught up in the explosion.
Afterwards, Ten Hag gave a live TV interview in which he said 'half the city is on fire but from a lack of leadership we were required to play anyway.' Impressively, Twente drew 1-1.
He was almost booted out of the club for the criticism and the bad feeling continued into the 2000-2001 campaign.
But a run in the Dutch Cup proved a salvation for everyone and 35,000 'Tukkers', as people from where Ten Hag grew up are known, travelled to De Kuip for the final with a PSV team that contained the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mark van Bommel.
PSV were league champions at the time but couldn't break Twente down. Nonetheless, they led 3-1 in the penalty shoot-out and were on the brink of glory when John de Jong saw his penalty saved.
A catastrophic explosion in a fireworks factory in Enschede caused huge damage in 2000
23 people died and 1,000 were injured, with countless homes destroyed, in the disaster
The Eindhoven club then missed the next two spot-kicks as Twente scored all three of theirs to snatch an unlikely victory, with Ten Hag lifting the cup.
'When I think of the cup final, I think of the euphoria, the happiness, the sensation. It is a price that is inextricably linked to the fireworks disaster,' he later recalled.
'Without wanting to overestimate the importance of football, the cup win gave the city back some pride, a year after the disaster.'
May 26, 2013 - Go Ahead Eagles win promotion into the Eredivisie
Ten Hag's first managerial job was with second-tier Go Ahead Eagles during the 2012-13 season.
Having gained experience as an assistant at Twente and then PSV Eindhoven, it was here the meticulous Ten Hag started to truly hone his leadership skills.
Obsessed with small details, Ten Hag banned mobile phones and playing cards so players were forced to communicate with one another at the training ground.
He insisted players return bibs to the correct coloured piles and even corrected the woman who brought the drinks into the dressing room for not setting them out in straight lines.
Ten Hag is carried shoulder-high by his players after Go Ahead Eagles achieved promotion
But this all paid dividends. Go Ahead finished sixth in the Eerste Divisie, the Dutch second tier, but advanced into a complex set of play-off games to win promotion to the Eredivisie.
They duly overcame Dordrecht 6-3 on aggregate and VVV-Venlo 4-0 to reach a winner-takes-all promotion play-off against FC Volendam.
In the home first leg, Go Ahead stormed to a 3-0 win and the packed crowd spilled onto the pitch to celebrate with the players.
Ten Hag was furious, hauling his team back to the dressing room and sternly reminding them there was a second leg still to play.
Go Ahead actually lost the return 1-0 but easily won on aggregate and Ten Hag was hoisted shoulder-high by his players.
Ten Hag's season at second division Go Ahead allowed him to hone his managerial skills
Defender Bart Vriends remembered: 'I did not often see him with a relaxed kind of vibe, up for a laugh or a chilled training session. He was always very serious.
'I saw Erik laugh out loud for the first time at the end of May, after the promotion. Beer in hand, cap backwards on head.'
Go Ahead desperately wanted Ten Hag to lead them in the Eredivisie, but the allure of taking charge of Bayern Munich's second team, under the tutelage of Guardiola, was too tempting.
May 28, 2017 - Utrecht qualify for the UEFA Europa League
There may not have been actual silverware at stake, but Utrecht's qualification for the Europa League in 2017 is noteworthy for its sheer drama.
Ten Hag was in his second season with the Eredivisie club, who placed fourth behind the traditional Dutch big three of Feyenoord, Ajax and PSV.
They duly joined the quartet fighting out for a spot in the second qualifying round of the following season's Europa League.
Utrecht overcame Heerenveen 5-2
