There are ‘no days off’ for Manchester United under Erik ten Hag, as the Red Devils team have swiftly discovered following their Carabao Cup triumph.
Just 19 hours after beating Newcastle to lift the trophy at Wembley, the United players were back at it at their Carrington training centre.
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While United fans have been warned against celebrating too wildly – Martin Keown: “It’s only the League Cup” – Sunday’s victory was a big moment for Ten Hag’s side as they ended the Old Trafford giants’ longest trophy drought in 40 years – earning the club’s first silverware since 2017.
United stars and their boss celebrated with vigour under the arch, but didn’t go on to paint the town red as they flew home and landed back in Manchester at 11:30pm.
And there was no time to bask in their glory back home, either, with the players back on the training pitch by 1:30pm on Monday afternoon as Ten Hag began preparations for their FA Cup fifth-round tie against West Ham on Wednesday.
The players were only in for a recovery session less than 24 hours after their trophy lift, but Luke Shaw says the team is more hungry than ever to collect more honours.
“I think obviously we don’t want to look too far,” said the United and England left-back. “I think of course the game is a really big game on Wednesday.
“It’s a competition that of course we want to look to win. I think that’s why we’re in today. There’s no days off.
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“There were not really many celebrations last night… in the changing room and stuff it was a nice feeling to get our first one all together. I think getting a little bit of a taste of that, we want more and that’s our aim for the rest of the season.
“Our full focus after that was just to make sure that we come in today and prepare for that game because, like I said, it’s a competition that we want to stay involved in.
“We know it’s going to be a tough test against West Ham.”
Ten Hag’s arrival has transformed the culture of the Man United team, with the signing of Casemiro from Real Madrid and the decision to kick out Cristiano Ronaldo key to their change of mentality and fortunes on the pitch.
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And Shaw says the players are loving life with the Dutchman in charge.
“Yeah, a big change,” said the defender. “Maybe if we think back, maybe it was good that happened at the start because a lot has changed since then.
“I think a lot of that is down to the manager with how he acted with us after that game and the decisions and stuff he did after that game that obviously changed the mentality here.
“We all love working under him and we all believe in what he wants us to do. We’re really enjoying our football at the moment so hopefully that can continue.”
