Lee Sharpe exclusive: Man Utd must not concede early in FA Cup final; Hojlund critics bang out of order!

"Well, I hope so," Lee Sharpe says with a big grin, when Tribalfootball put it to him that the Manchester City players might be hung over when they face Manchester United on Saturday in the FA Cup final.

After all, they've just done something which has never been done before in the history of English football. Won a fourth title on the bounce. Hung over or not, Sharpe still sees a glimmer of hope for the Red Devils on Saturday.

"It looks like Manchester United turn up in the big games. It seems they do give the big teams a tougher game than the smaller teams and they've had two good results against Newcastle and Brighton. I'm sure the manager will have his tactics ready for Man City.

"You know you're never going to get a lot of the ball. It's going to be hard work to defend against but you just hope that City don't score early, forcing Man United to open up," Sharpe says while thinking back to last year when Ilay Gndogan scored the fastest goal ever in a FA Cup final.

Winning without fading

But going back to winning four titles on the bounce; Sharpe came close at Manchester United to winning the trophy four times in five seasons. Quite the contrast to a club like Blackburn who won it, never to be seen again. What makes a team and club stay on top?

"We had a team that sort of self-managed to a certain degree. We had a lot of experienced players that knew what it took to win. We also had a manager that sort of learned from losing the title to Leeds. He was very clever and very wise regarding the players he bought during the summer to strengthen the team.

"But also upwards in the club is important, with the chairman and the owners of clubs who know how and where to spend and how to run the club behind the scenes. Obviously, the finances play a role as well; it's a whole package of things, really, but the manager has to buy the right players and the dressing room has to be the right balance," Sharpe offers as an explanation of how to maintain such high standards over such a long period of time.

Speaking of high standards; Rasmus Hjlund has faced a lot of stick recently, but you won't find Sharpe among those pointing fingers at the young Dane.

"It's bang out of order to criticise him after the season he's had! He's a young lad that's come in to a struggling team who's had pretty much next to nothing as far as service goes. He can seem a little raw and needs some working on, but he looks sharp in the box, he works hard, and he's definitely going to improve.

"Wingers don't get down the line anymore and cross it into the box, they're trying to cut in and score, so Hjlund's chances to score goals have been limited. So, I think he's done a good job as far as what could be expected of him," says Sharpe of the player who managed 15 goals in 31 outings.

Amad Diallo, meanwhile, was nowhere near 31 games and Sharpe would have liked to have seen more of the talented youngster.

"With Antony struggling a little bit, Rashford not having a great season, and obviously Sancho leaving for Dortmund, I'm surprised he's not played more minutes. Every time he's come on, he looks sharp, he looks like he wants to go forward and attack defenders.

"At the same time, he's prepared to put in the hard graft and do the defensive bit as well. Hopefully we get to see more of him because he looks pretty exciting when he does play."

Having been in the starting line-up in the final three games of the season, Ten Hag might just give Diallo a run-in at Wembley. Lee Sharpe certainly won't mind, if he does.

- Lee Sharpe was talking to Tribalfootball on behalf of William Hill