'The pattern has been repeated too often'

Can you imagine what would be being said about Manchester United and Erik ten Hag if they had lost to Coventry City after being 3-0 up with 20 minutes to go at Wembley?

Ten Hag said in the build-up to the FA Cup semi-final that he did not care what is said about him externally.

But there were so many senior United figures in the Royal Box and they must have been sharing the same sense of incredulity many of the club's fans were feeling at what was unfolding.

This follows matches in the Champions League against Copenhagen and Galatasaray where United had established winning positions and failed to execute, and more recently in the Premier League against Brentford, Chelsea and Liverpool.

The pattern has been repeated too often - and Ten Hag knows it.

United were badly affected by injuries on Sunday - Mason Mount, Sofyan Amrabat and Willy Kambwala all missed out at Wembley, in addition to all the other absences.

But they still had full, current internationals on the field and should have managed the situation far better.

That they did not reflects badly on both Ten Hag and his players.