Erik ten Hag was proud of Manchester United's resilience after the Red Devils twice came from behind to seal a frantic 4-2 win over Aston Villa in the EFL Cup on Thursday.
United were heading for a second consecutive third-round exit from the competition when Ollie Watkins opened the scoring at Old Trafford, and again when Diogo Dalot put through his own net after Anthony Martial equalised.
However, Marcus Rashford got United back on level terms before goals from Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay took the game away from Villa, helping the Red Devils into the fourth round.
Ten Hag hit out at an "unacceptable" performance when United fell to a 3-1 Premier League defeat to Villa on Sunday, but he was thrilled by Thursday's comeback against the same opponents.
"Two halves are never the same, it's true. First half, we controlled the game by good pressing, we won a lot of balls in the opponents' half, but then did the wrong things," he told Sky Sports shortly before United were drawn with Burnley in the fourth round.
"At half-time, we said, 'keep the pressing but be more direct, pass the ball behind their defence'. Then we came back, we fought back.
"I'm really proud of the team that they could do that after Sunday's defeat.
"I'm really happy with that resilience, that's what we need to show every game, that's why I was so disappointed – so mad – with the performance on Sunday.
"We didn't fight, we didn't cooperate, we were sloppy – especially in the defensive discipline, and a United player always has to show 100 per cent discipline."
United travel to Fulham for their final Premier League game before the World Cup on Sunday, and Ten Hag says the extended break will allow for a better analysis of his team's progress.
"Now we have a little more time, we can go a bit deeper, and we will see where we can improve. We will have a good reflection, definitely," Ten Hag added.
"It's a quick game, an intense game, and what we have to do better is to play football at a high intensity, that's what the top teams do.
"I think we have made a step in the right direction, but on the ball, we can be more in control. There's still a long way to go."
Meanwhile, Rashford hit the net for the eighth time this season on the day he was named in Gareth Southgate's England squad for the World Cup, and the 25-year-old believes focusing on United has benefited him.
"For me, the focus is United. If you're performing for United then England is always going to be around the corner," Rashford said.
"I'm obviously really pleased to be back in the mix and back with the squad, and it's going to be a massive month so I'm looking forward to that, but hopefully we can close this chapter off with a win on Sunday."
Rangnick confirms Bayern Munich contact
Ralf Rangnick has confirmed Bayern Munich have been in contact over their soon-to-be vacant coaching position.
Bayern are on the lookout for a new coach, with Thomas Tuchel set to depart at the end of the season.
The Bundesliga giants wanted to appoint Xabi Alonso, but the 42-year-old snubbed their advances, and those of Liverpool, to stay at Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern's search has now seemingly led them to Rangnick, the former Manchester United interim boss who is now coach of Austria's national team.
Rangnick, though, is paying full attention to Austria's upcoming Euro 2024 campaign.
"There has been contact from the side of Bayern Munich and I have informed the Austrian Football Association," Rangnick said in an interview with 90 Minuten.
"We have a very trusting relationship. My focus is on the Austrian national team. We are focusing completely on the European championships.
"I feel very well here. At the moment there is no reason to intensively deal with this."
Rangnick has plenty of Bundesliga experience, having previously coached Stuttgart, Schalke, Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig.
While Bayern's hopes of securing a 12th Bundesliga title have long since been over, they remain in with a shout of salvaging their season, with a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid on the horizon.
According to Opta's predictive model, Bayern only have a 37 per cent chance of overcoming Los Blancos, however.
Austria, meanwhile, have been drawn into a Euro 2024 group that also includes Poland, the Netherlands and tournament favourites France.
Rangnick's team will face Les Bleus on June 17, before taking on Poland four days later, and rounding off their group campaign against the Dutch on June 25.
Haaland out of Brighton clash, confirms Man City boss Guardiola
Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland when they take on Brighton, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
Haaland missed Saturday's FA Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea with a muscular injury he sustained against Real Madrid last week.
And the issue will also see the striker, who has scored 20 Premier League goals this season, miss out against the Seagulls on Thursday.
"Erling is not ready for tomorrow," said Guardiola, who added that City will be able to call on Phil Foden and John Stones.
"It's not a big issue but he's not available."
Haaland has scored, on average, every 109 minutes in the league this season.
However, the Norwegian has actually underperformed his expected goals (xG) of 23.7.
He has also chipped in with five assists, giving him an overall goal contributions tally of 25. Haaland has created 28 goalscoring chances for team-mates across the campaign.
After Arsenal's 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea on Tuesday, reigning Premier League champions Manchester City sit four points off the summit in third place, albeit with two games in hand.
Second-place Liverpool will aim to move level on points with the Gunners by beating Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday.
Liverpool line up Feyenoord coach Slot as Klopp replacement
Arne Slot appears to be at the front of the queue to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.
Klopp confirmed in January that he would be leaving the Reds at the end of the season.
Xabi Alonso, who has led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, was swiftly established as a leading candidate to take the helm at Anfield, where he starred as a player for the Reds between 2004 and 2009.
The 42-year-old, however, is staying put in Germany, and Liverpool's search for Klopp's successor has taken them to Feyenoord's door.
Slot has been previously linked to jobs in the Premier League. Leeds United wanted to appoint him last season before their relegation to the Championship, while he was targeted by Tottenham before they appointed Ange Postecoglou.
The Dutchman intimated when linked with Spurs: "A normal next step would be to go abroad and I've always said that the best league in the world is the Premier League."
Ideally, Liverpool will be aiming for a coach who can come close to replicating Klopp's style of play, and in particular has a flair for working with and developing young players.
Slot has enjoyed fantastic success in Rotterdam. He became Feyenoord head coach in December 2022, after leaving AZ, and went on to win the Eredivisie title in 2022-23, having reached the Europa League final in the previous season.
The 45-year-old has a 64.4 per cent win record from 146 games in charge, winning 94, drawing 29 and losing just 23.
His Feyenoord team have scored 329 goals, an average of 2.2 per match, conceding 147 in return. Slot's points per game is a hugely impressive 2.13.
Feyenoord are, though, set to relinquish their Eredivisie crown, as they trail leaders PSV by nine points. They have, however, won the KNVB Cup this term.
As there is no break clause in the Dutchman's contract, it has been reported that a compensation fee in the region of €10million (£8.5m) could prise him away from Feyenoord.
Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim is another coach who has been heavily linked with the Liverpool job, albeit he is reportedly in talks with West Ham.
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