Erik ten Hag has reminded his Manchester United side that "good is not enough" after the Dutchman was quizzed on the potential of winning a trophy this season.
After a turbulent start to his Old Trafford tenure, Ten Hag has steadied the ship at Old Trafford to propel United into contention for a Champions League spot. That has led to some people speculating that United could be in a position to end their five-year trophy drought - particularly as they have a winnable Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against League One outfit Charlton in midweek.
But Ten Hag has no interest in plotting out a path to glory, with the former Ajax chief instead insisting that United need to focus on areas where they can still improve.
Speaking ahead of Friday's FA Cup tie with Everton, he said: "I don't think about [winning trophies] at this stage of the season. We are where we want to be but still go from game to game, we play in many competitions, focus from game to game and don't think too far ahead.
"We have many elements in our game we have to improve. As we push the players because good is not good enough, also in the organisation we have to push each other and when there are opportunities at the top you have to be ready for that. My main focus is to improve the team."
Ten Hag's warning isn't the first team he's urged the Premier League giants to raise their game since his summer arrival - and arguably, nobody has responded better to the 52-year-old's call to arms than David de Gea.
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The veteran shot-stopper's position was perceived to be under threat earlier in the season due to Ten Hag's preference for a ball-playing goalkeeper. De Gea is still adapting to his new role but has since shown improvements.
And he earned plenty of praise from his manager after clocking up his 500th appearance for United earlier this season. Speaking back in October, Ten Hag said: "It is fantastic. If you perform in 500 games for a club like Manchester United, that tells a lot about you. The talent, the personality – so that achievement is huge and I really reward that, I value that, and I want to congratulate him [for] that.
''He has one of the highest standards. He is pushing everyone every time, and to himself, he does what he can, he gives 100 per cent, but that is also what we expect from him – that is the demand. He is an experienced player, he is one of the leaders, so we have to show that to push the team, then you have to be the example by itself.''
De Gea has also made all the right noises off the pitch, too. He has relished the challenge put to him by Ten Hag this season, who will be hoping more of the Spaniard's teammates follow suit.
Speaking during the club's pre-season tour of Australia and Thailand, De Gea told the official Manchester United website: "I think the whole team is working very hard. They are very intense sessions with the manager, he knows very clearly what he wants for the team and there is a lot of information at the beginning, as I said, but with the time here [on tour] we are getting the right messages so I think it’s great.
"It's very intense training and everyone is focused on football and I feel that I have seen great, great things."
