Gary Lineker shows he hasn't forgotten Erik ten Hag row with Man Utd comment

Gary Lineker brought up his awkward exchange with Erik ten Hag at the FA Cup final just hours after Manchester United sacked the Dutchman.

Ten Hag, 54, was dismissed of his services by the Red Devils less than 24 hours after United's 2-1 away defeat to West Ham United. However, the likes of Lineker, Alan Shearer and others thought the Dutchman was going to lose his job after the FA Cup Final.

Having finished in eighth position and finishing bottom of their Champions League group, Ten Hag's final game initially looked like their Wembley clash with Manchester City. After United beat their fierce rivals to win the cup, Ten Hag made a prickly comment towards Lineker and Shearer about the way they treated him. Now the Dutchman has been sacked, the Match of the Day host was quick to remember their frosty exchange.

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Reacting to the news about Ten Hag on the Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: “We had the experience, didn’t we, of the FA Cup Final, where he had a bit of a go, particularly at Alan?"

Their exchange at Wembley Stadium began when Lineker asked him if he felt he had been "treated unfairly" by the Match of the Day pundits. Without hesitating, Ten Hag replied: "I think so. The team, me as well, it was not right."

A defensive Shearer then jumped in and said: "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?

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"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."

An unrelenting Ten Hag then looked towards Shearer and said: "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. Today some massive players - Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Casemiro - were not in the squad."

Looking back on their exchange, Shearer thought United intended on sacking Ten Hag after the cup final, but thought they would look bad doing so after their second trophy in two seasons. Shearer said: “I think that as bizarre as it seems, it perhaps put a spanner in the works with their plans, because they had big decisions to make.

"United were brilliant in the FA Cup Final. Then, all of a sudden, I think their plans were ‘Oh s***, this probably has to change now. This is not going to look good if we [sack him]’.

"They stuck with him, they gave him a new contract, they spoke to other managers and then the United fans hope and expect things to improve from the beginning of the season and they just haven’t."

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