Ahead of hosting Match of the Day for the final time, fans will be reminded of one of the more cringeworthy moments from Gary Lineker’s broadcasting career. That’s after he fell foul of former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag in the wake of his FA Cup triumph last year.
Ten Hag, 55, endured an agonising second season with the Red Devils but defied the odds to beat Manchester City 2-1 and claim another piece of silverware in England. Lineker had boots on the ground at Wembley and was on hand to interview Ten Hag following arguably his greatest coaching achievement. He and his fellow pundits had spent the majority of the campaign criticising Ten Hag and United, who finished what was then a club-record low of eighth in the Premier League. Ruben Amorim will far eclipse that this Sunday, however, with 14th the best United can hope for, irrespective of their season-ending clash at home to Aston Villa.
Lineker asked Ten Hag whether he felt “unfairly treated” by the media, including “the likes of ourselves” while pointing to Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Micah Richards. And confronted by those who had critiqued him for much of the term, Ten Hag was short and snappy with his response.
“I think so,” came the Dutchman’s retort in prickly fashion. “The team, me as well, it was not right.” It made for somewhat awkward viewing as Lineker & Co. briefly squirmed in a more direct confrontation than they are accustomed to. But Ten Hag seemed only too happy to take the opportunity to air some of his grievances.
Shearer attempted to ease the atmosphere with a backhanded compliment to the ex-United boss: “The only thing I would say to that though… you had a team out there today who showed a great attitude, great ability, won every single tackle.
“That hasn’t always been the case this season though, has it? So you can understand why we do criticise sometimes. If you played like that every single week, you wouldn’t have finished in eighth. Today was unbelievable.”
Ten Hag responded by insisting the team that beat City at Wembley wasn’t always at his disposal, replying: “We didn’t have the players [due to injuries]. You’re right, we’ve seen the same things, there was not always good football. Definitely not. But we had to make all the time compromises. Then you can’t play the football you want to play. I’m now two years here and probably three or four times we had a full squad.”
Lineker will be back in his natural habitat for Sunday’s Premier League crescendo as he presents MOTD for the final time. It will mark the end of his 26-year stint at the helm of the flagship football show, though he will continue to host FA Cup and World Cup coverage next season.
