Exclusive: Stan Collymore hails Erik Ten Hag and says teams fear Man United again

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Sunday afternoon saw Manchester United end their six-year-long trophy drought.

The Red Devils lifted the EFL Cup after beating Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United 2-0 at Wembley Stadium.

United’s impressive performance saw Casemiro score the game’s opener before Marcus Rashford forced an own-goal from defender Sven Botman.

Keeping the Magpies at bay, goalkeeper David De Gea secured a clean sheet with the Red Devils going on to lift the prestigious trophy on Wembley’s famous turf.

Reacting to the Red Devils’ trophy-winning performance, as well as the good work manager Erik Ten Hag has done since his arrival from Ajax just over six months ago, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore has heaped the praise on the Dutchman and admitted United are very much in this season’s title race.

“Man United looked like a team with great belief and that is a testament to the job Erik Ten Hag has done,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.

“The team, on the whole, are going from strength to strength and they’ll now be looking at the Premier League table and feel like they’re in a position to effect the outcome.”

United have 14 Premier League games remaining with an away game against Spurs in April being the side’s only top-four opponent, so there is no denying that the 20-time league winners will have plenty of opportunities to close the gap on Man City and Arsenal, and Collymore is expecting them to do just that.

“I think Ten Hag will be telling his team to focus on each game as they come and let all the fans and pundits talk about Arsenal and Manchester City but they’ll quite happily play the role of outsiders quietly sitting back and going about their business,” Collymore added.

“We know they’ve got a big enough squad to make changes in a run-in so I expect to see them challenge, not just in the league, but also in the FA Cup and Europa League. To win the first trophy up for grabs and still be in the other three competitions come March is a great position to be in.

“As for how the squad looks with a few months to go – they look humble and fit and raring to go. I think other clubs, home and abroad, will be looking at Man United with a sense of worry.”

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