Paul Ince leaves reporters in stitches with Erik ten Hag comment

Ten Hag hails ‘unstoppable’ Rashford as Man Utd move towards Wembley

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Reading boss Paul Ince left reporters in stitches with a quip about his first meeting with Erik ten Hag ahead of his return to Manchester United. The Red Devils icon will take his Championship side to Old Trafford in a crunch FA Cup tie on Saturday. 

The former midfielder will go back to United hoping to pull off an upset. Reading are 14th in the Championship table and their FA Cup third-round win over Watford is their only triumph in their last six matches. 

In his pre-match press conference, Ince discussed the excellent work done by Ten Hag to turn around United’s form this season. The 55-year-old then left reporters in fits of laughter after joking about his first meeting with the Dutchman. 

The ex-England star was asked if he had yet met the Red Devils boss. Turning around the phrasing to imply that it would be more of an honour for Ten Hag to meet him, Ince quipped: “No, he hasn’t met me yet!”

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Ince then winked at the individual asking the question to insist he was joking. He then went on to talk more seriously about Ten Hag’s improvement of the United squad, who sit fourth in the Premier League. 

He said: “It looks to me that he’s raised the standards of the club. He’s doing it his way, which is so important. It helps when you’re winning games, and when you’ve got a lot of money to spend. He’s brought in the right players. 

“We’ve talked for so many years about Man Utd’s recruitment. I feel like he’s getting there. They’re starting to gel.

“When you go back to Sir Alex and the years he was at Man Utd, it’s so important to have that stability. You can’t keep chopping and changing managers. They’ve done that too often in the last four or five years. Hopefully, he’s here for a long time.”

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Reading will have to keep Marcus Rashford quiet should they pull off a shock win. If he plays, Rashford will be hoping to score his 11th goal in as many matches. 

Ten Hag said of the England striker: “There are more players who are playing really well but I am happy with Marcus, his performance and his development. From the start of the season he is growing and keeps doing that. We have to keep his process going and if he is in that mood and spirit, I think he is unstoppable.

“It is up to the team to get him in the right positions. In possession we have a plan, [but it is up to some players like] like Rashy, Bruno [Fernandes] and Christian Eriksen to be creative in the final third and do something no one expects, some crazy stuff.”

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