Pep Guardiola makes feelings clear after Erik ten Hag's Man Utd ultimatum

Pep Guardiola was undone by Erik ten Hag's Manchester United side in the FA Cup final and the Catalan has heaped praise on his opposite number, who still faces the sack

Pep Guardiola maintained Erik ten Hag is an "extraordinary manager" with his Manchester United future still unclear.

The Dutchman has just presided over the worst Premier League campaign in the club's history but finished by delivering a shock win in the FA Cup final. Ten Hag's future has been under the microscope for months, even more so after Sir Jim Ratcliffe came on board.

United are determined to be challengers once again with their title drought dating back to 2013. Ten Hag's victory at Wembley may not be enough to save him after the club conduct a review into whether or not they'll stick by the former Ajax boss.

Guardiola, who crossed paths with Ten Hag at Bayern Munich, believes the club have a great manager on their hands. He said: "They have to take a decision. He's a lovely person and an extraordinary manager. Winning the FA Cup is important for them like last season it was for us."

Ten Hag said of rumours the club will sack him: "If they don't want me any more, I go somewhere else and win trophies, that's what I've done my whole career."

The United boss ended the club's trophy drought last term when he secured the Carabao Cup and has backed that up with another piece of silverware. There has been talk of several men coming in to replace him, namely the likes of Kieran McKenna and Thomas Tuchel.

Since the exit of Sir Alex Ferguson no United manager has lasted longer than three years with Ten Hag about to cap two years in the job. He has continued to be defiant regarding his position, often citing the injury issues they've experienced as a reason for their struggles.

Guardiola said after the reverse to United, which curtailed their hopes of landing successive doubles, that he had got certain tactical elements wrong which allowed the Red Devils to stop the Premier League champions playing their usual game.

He said: "Congratulations to Manchester United on winning the FA Cup. I think my gameplan was not good. The second half was much much better. We were more intense, in part because we were 2-0 down and had nothing to lose. It was a tight game. We had clear chances in the second half which wasn't easy because they had man-marking and defended the pockets but we had the chances and unfortunately we scored a goal a little bit late."

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