27 January 2023 , 22:30
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Paul Ince says his former club Manchester United became a “soft touch” in their barren six years without a trophy.
But the Reading boss senses Erik ten Hag is restoring the “presence” and awe which used to leave visiting teams fearing the worst at Old Trafford before they had even left the tunnel.
Ince takes the Royals, mid-table in the Championship, to his old stamping ground on Saturday with United in a parallel universe, 34 years on from him leaving West Ham to find the Red Devils living on past glories. He said: “With previous Manchester United sides, I just sensed that teams went to Old Trafford believing they could get something.
“But what Ten Hag is doing now is giving his team a presence, and they are tougher than they have been for four or five years. Were they a soft touch? Probably, yeah. But I sense that he's building something now.
“For a club like Manchester United not to win anything for six years cannot be right. It's important that they win something – and keep winning trophies.”
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Ince helped United to their first silverware in five years when they won the FA Cup in 1990. It was the first of Sir Alex Ferguson's 26 major trophies in 27 years as manager. The Reading manager said: “When I arrived in 1989 and looked back at all the great players who had played for United without winning the title, I was dumbfounded.
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Manchester United have got their winning mentality back under Erik ten Hag (Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)“And although we won the FA Cup in my first season at the club, we only finished 13th in the League (five points above the relegation zone). It was only after we went to Rotterdam and beat Barcelona to win the Cup Winners' Cup the following year that there was a different feeling around the place, a new belief.
“We should have won the title in 1992, when Leeds won it, but from that time, we had an aura and presence about us and we could beat teams before they even set foot on the pitch.
“As well as being able to play, we could go to places like Wimbledon and mix it against Vinnie Jones and John Fashanu. But the most important thing was the presence and creating the awe of facing Manchester United again.”