Do the fans actually trust ETH or is he walking the Green Mile?

I have zero trust in him from a transfer point of view. We desperately need a dedicated Director of Football.
 
We have to place our trust somewhere. Do you favour the board, the owners, the players or the manager?

With that in mind, I’m backing Erik.
 
I’ve heard “relegation” from away from home, a few times in here already. Bloody hell.

:lol:

I suppose they mean ''relegation form away from home when playing against the top 9.'' Guess all the ETH doubters, doom and gloom merchants and people who just love to moan need to be a bit more specific next time.
 
This doesn’t quite cover the reality.



We have a game in hand on both Liverpool and Arsenal. If we win our next home game (Wolves) then we are joint second with Arsenal, who have been lauded on here as a truly wonderful team. And only 4 points off City in first.


It's striking how few goals we've scored at home, although the defence has been tight. The away form has obviously been a problem, but it was last year as well. Didn't we lose something like 7 in a row away from home last year? Outside of the top 9 we've beaten teams, although with a lot of 1-0s. Most if which should have been a lot more comprehensive.

I trust the manager. I think it's obvious that he's the manager who has the biggest chance of making us successful again that we've had since Fergie. What I don't trust is the club and the parasitic owners to utilise his talent and get this club going again. There's only a month left until the season's over and we still don't know who will own the club and what exactly the summer budget might be. Other teams are already signing players, like Brighton getting Pedro from Watford, and yet we probably can't even start drawing up a definitive shortlist.

EtH's had to put up with that backdrop all season, as well as the whole Ronaldo bollocks at the beginning. People forget that he was meant to be our principal striker. Regardless of what you think of that, there's little doubt that he'd have bagged more goals than Wout has managed, and probably been more readily available than Martial too, if he'd actually bought into what the new manager was trying to do.

He's had to deal with a lot this season, and has handled most of it well and managed to build a strong team spirit. There's still a long way to go, and he may never get us back to where we want to be, but a lot of that will be down to the people who run the club, not just him.
 
I think ETH has done a great job this season with the squad and the hectic fixtures.
  • Ten Hag got his summer signings right with Martinez, Casemiro, Eriksen and I think Antony has alot of potential.
  • Adding Benni McCarthy to the staff paid off. In a season where we have been short on strikers and short on goals, Rashford has been excellent.
  • Ten Hag's ability to influence the game with subs is an asset. He doesn't always get it right. But when he does, it really shows.
  • ETH has improved our defence. The partnership of Varane and Martinez together with Casemiro. Even De Gea seems to have found his confidence. Yeah our PL goal difference is pathetic. But I think that's down to our lack of goalscoring and a couple of heavy defeats. The Club needs to invest in a striker, preferably one that can score goals (sorry Wout!).
  • Ten Hag has proven he doesn't pull any punches. I thought he handled the CR situation superbly. I think he'll be just as ruthless in the summer, subject to our ownership being sorted.
So, yeah, I trust Ten Hag. It's not perfect, it never will be. But it has been great for his first season in charge.
He had exceeded my expectations for first season, won silverware, in the final of another and still on top 4 despite being given a lopsided squad.

those complaining have let their imagination/expectations run away from reality. Where we’ve come from to where we are now is progression
 
I have zero trust in him from a transfer point of view. We desperately need a dedicated Director of Football.

Martinez became on of the best CB in the league.
Malacia is a usefull young back up that came for cheap and might developed into a starter quality.
Casemiro has been excellent until his suspensions.
Eriksen came for free, does well and is at the very least a very good squad option.
Antony did cost too much but its his first season and he is still young so let see how that develops atleast.

Wout is shit but by all accounts ETH also wanted Felix. He just didnt get the players he wanted so settled for someone he knows. Why dont you trust ETH with transfers? They seem atleast okay to me.
 
I may have misread or I’m imagining things, but in the same thread aren’t we supposedly “5th” on the table for away form? Meaning basically everyone’s struggled on the road this campaign? Could be making that up though.

Of course against only top half teams drastic improvement is needed, especially around the mentality/tactics of the team folding in drubbings to City, Pool, Brentford etc.

Yeah I think we are. We've won away at most of the bottom clubs. Which is great. But that away record against top half teams is not sustainable.
 
He had exceeded my expectations for first season, won silverware, in the final of another and still on top 4 despite being given a lopsided squad.

those complaining have let their imagination/expectations run away from reality. Where we’ve come from to where we are now is progression
What were your expectations?
 
We wouldn’t be so desperate now if he got the support he needed in January. Players are burnt out.

I have full trust in EtH. Just slightly disappointed he hasn’t used more younger players when allowed to. Very happy with how he has handled both Maguire and Ronaldo. We’ve seen how good the football can be when executed properly.

I would consider it a good season if we finish top four with the LC trophy. City will be pushing for the FA cup and we all know their depth of squad so I don’t expect us to win in our current situation.

I really hope this new owner situation is sorted ASAP. If the glazers stay (urgh), I hope they back EtH.
 
Martinez became on of the best CB in the league.
Malacia is a usefull young back up that came for cheap and might developed into a starter quality.
Casemiro has been excellent until his suspensions.
Eriksen came for free, does well and is at the very least a very good squad option.
Antony did cost too much but its his first season and he is still young so let see how that develops atleast.

Wout is shit but by all accounts ETH also wanted Felix. He just didnt get the players he wanted so settled for someone he knows. Why dont you trust ETH with transfers? They seem atleast okay to me.

Because of how shit our scouting department is/was and how badly the DOF situation is I feel that he’s had to pick players that he’s familiar with.

Antony looks to be a terrible fit and alternatives should have been presented to ETH.

Once again we seem to be linked to players he’s familiar with (Dutch duo Frimpong and Timber).

We need a system and structure in place that will supersede any single manager.

I didn’t trust The transfer judgement of any of our former managers post SAF either. The approach has been scattergun to suit the individual managers footballing style rather than a single footballing philosophy that any new incoming manager aligns to.
 
Well we got in a mess with Ronaldo and ETH did as well as he could. Martial did show form briefly and the manager probably expected something better than he's shown in his latest comeback. It was the case of Martial vastly better than Weghorst when both available as the manager even said but now he's just as inactive. With a half decent striker we could've made this top 4 run much easier, and maybe kept the Europa going. Martial with his form and injuries can't be relied upon as a backup, he has a great chance in recent games with no-one in his way.

It's a shame about the inflated Antony fee, could've used some of that elsewhere. I trust in ETH providing we can give him support in scouting and more backing, it's been mostly good. We have a lot of expensive talent but not many goals, some of the play has been good and should've resulted in more goals.
 
As a manager and coach? Absolutely yes.
As a manager/coach/head of recruitment / head of scouting, no. He shouldn't be trusted with so many roles. Even if he is great at each role separately, no human can do all efficiently simultaneously.
 
This doesn’t quite cover the reality.



We have a game in hand on both Liverpool and Arsenal. If we win our next home game (Wolves) then we are joint second with Arsenal, who have been lauded on here as a truly wonderful team. And only 4 points off City in first.

Ah yeah. We’re very good at home. Which is a great base to build on. Which, to be honest, was my highest hope for this season. Create a good base to build further upon. Form away at top sides hasn’t been the best but that should come in time.
 
Trust is earned. Since that 7-0 at Anfield, I don't have that much faith in him tbh.
 
Yes but no.

On the one hand you have signings like Casemiro and Lisandro to toughen up a spine that was lacking for some time and getting the right players. Big positive. When everyone is fit we dont have the likes of Lindelof and Fred starting. And yes it was plenty of money spent, but we usually do that and end up with an average performer so at least this time we got in some of our best performers.

On the other hand you have the likes of Weghorst as your cover striker, then playing him as a starter game after game. And signing Antony for such a large amount and him not performing very well.

I trust him more than the previous managers in the transfer market because he's actually had a couple of wins not just losses which is our usual record. But the negative ones are still concerning
 
I have zero trust in him from a transfer point of view. We desperately need a dedicated Director of Football.
He's made one bad signing in terms of Wout where he had limited funds to splash on January. Malacia who was made as back up to Shaw, talk about overreacting.
 
Because of how shit our scouting department is/was and how badly the DOF situation is I feel that he’s had to pick players that he’s familiar with.

Antony looks to be a terrible fit and alternatives should have been presented to ETH.

Once again we seem to be linked to players he’s familiar with (Dutch duo Frimpong and Timber).

We need a system and structure in place that will supersede any single manager.

I didn’t trust The transfer judgement of any of our former managers post SAF either. The approach has been scattergun to suit the individual managers footballing style rather than a single footballing philosophy that any new incoming manager aligns to.
It's a endless cycle. Then when the manager gets sacked the new one wants to sell all those players
 
Top 4 and a cup win doesn't outweigh a bad away game?

Not really. Pretty sure in 10 years time I won't give a shit about us finishing top 4 in a random season, nor a Carabao cup.

The clubs biggest ever defeat and that too against its biggest rivals is far more historically significant. Unless ETH actually goes onto win a PL or a CL with us, that defeat will be what he'll be known for - so I'm hoping he'll overwrite it with something actually significant.
 
I’m surprised so many people don’t trust ETH when he’s had a good first season. I understand most football fans are entitled children incapable of looking at the bigger picture but come on.
  • He’s steadied the ship
  • Sorted Ronaldo
  • Sorted Maguire
  • Brought in a new solid spine
  • Got us winning at OT again
  • Won a trophy
  • Got us in the CL
  • He has a plan
No he’s not been perfect but no one is. Sacking him and bringing in another manager would cause us to have to start all over again.

I think people need to understand as well a lot of our squad are scraps he doesn’t want. If they’re not mediocre at football they have a weak mentality.

He’s had to deal with a lot of injuries.

Plus he’s in the toxic work environment of the Glazers.

When you look at the bigger picture he’s done a great job first year.
 
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Because of how shit our scouting department is/was and how badly the DOF situation is I feel that he’s had to pick players that he’s familiar with.

Antony looks to be a terrible fit and alternatives should have been presented to ETH.

Once again we seem to be linked to players he’s familiar with (Dutch duo Frimpong and Timber).

We need a system and structure in place that will supersede any single manager.

I didn’t trust The transfer judgement of any of our former managers post SAF either. The approach has been scattergun to suit the individual managers footballing style rather than a single footballing philosophy that any new incoming manager aligns to.
I may be missing something here, but how is he familiar with Frimpong other than the fact they’re both Dutch? Frimpong lived and played in Britain from the age 7 until 2021 when he moved to Germany.
 
Trust is earned and so far I have not seen anything that earns my trust. It was shaping to be a good season, now I think it is more an ok one, and can turn to be a disaster. I wouldn’t sack him, but I do not think he has been that good.

Transfers: this should be more on the club that we do not have a structure and yet again, based on the manager. I do not think any signing has been unquestionably great. Casemiro looked great, but has massively slowed down. I like Martinez but I think he has too many weaknesses to be a title winning central piece and should be a rotational piece (I think he is more similar in quality to Heinze than Vidic for example). Eriksen is good when you consider he has been free, but he should be backup. Malacia is bad, Sabitzer is mediocre, Weghorst is the worst United regular player I have ever seen, and Antony is shaping to be a colossal waste of money.

Style of play: it is still as shit as it was under Ole and Mourinho.

Dealing with players: he did excellent dealing with Ronaldo and Maguire.

Home form: By far the best thing for him. Old Trafford is a fortress again.

Away form: we shit our bed and get humiliated when we play good teams. 0-7 against Liverpool is a historical result that Liverpool fans will sing 50 years from now.

Trophies: we won the least important trophy in a very easy path. We lost in Europe when we should have won the title. We didn’t compete in the league (but that is acceptable). We are in the final of FA Cup.

Overall: I would say so far a 6.5/10, would be a 7/10 if we finish in UCL zone, 7.5/10 if we both finish in UCL zone and win FA Cup, 3/10 if we don’t get top 4 (and actually in this worst scenario I think he should be sacked).
 
It's been a strange time at the club mentally for a long time. We wilt to Liverpool and European competition. Lost 6-1 to Spurs. Went from a second half team to a first half team. Terrible nervous home form, conceding early goals to great home form. Come back after come back to no come backs, we've become a sucker for late goals conceded. No matter the manager or the players it's been a lack of goals scored and lack of cohesion at great expense.

The manager will have to really nail down a system of playing and select players that can deliver and match teams that are pumped up to beat us like Liverpool. We can't be in this counter attack and make do with this guy and needing 85 million for most positions.
 
Trust is earned and so far I have not seen anything that earns my trust. It was shaping to be a good season, now I think it is more an ok one, and can turn to be a disaster. I wouldn’t sack him, but I do not think he has been that good.

Transfers: this should be more on the club that we do not have a structure and yet again, based on the manager. I do not think any signing has been unquestionably great. Casemiro looked great, but has massively slowed down. I like Martinez but I think he has too many weaknesses to be a title winning central piece and should be a rotational piece (I think he is more similar in quality to Heinze than Vidic for example). Eriksen is good when you consider he has been free, but he should be backup. Malacia is bad, Sabitzer is mediocre, Weghorst is the worst United regular player I have ever seen, and Antony is shaping to be a colossal waste of money.

Style of play: it is still as shit as it was under Ole and Mourinho.

Dealing with players: he did excellent dealing with Ronaldo and Maguire.

Home form: By far the best thing for him. Old Trafford is a fortress again.

Away form: we shit our bed and get humiliated when we play good teams. 0-7 against Liverpool is a historical result that Liverpool fans will sing 50 years from now.

Trophies: we won the least important trophy in a very easy path. We lost in Europe when we should have won the title. We didn’t compete in the league (but that is acceptable). We are in the final of FA Cup.

Overall: I would say so far a 6.5/10, would be a 7/10 if we finish in UCL zone, 7.5/10 if we both finish in UCL zone and win FA Cup, 3/10 if we don’t get top 4 (and actually in this worst scenario I think he should be sacked).

Good post.
 
Not really. Pretty sure in 10 years time I won't give a shit about us finishing top 4 in a random season, nor a Carabao cup.

The clubs biggest ever defeat and that too against its biggest rivals is far more historically significant. Unless ETH actually goes onto win a PL or a CL with us, that defeat will be what he'll be known for - so I'm hoping he'll overwrite it with something actually significant.

Hardly. I don't mean any disrespect, but that is proper small time mentality. 0-7 means feck all unless Liverpool finish ahead of United, which they won't.
 
Hardly. I don't mean any disrespect, but that is proper small time mentality. 0-7 means feck all unless Liverpool finish ahead of United, which they won't.

Tell me how many times United have finished ahead of Liverpool in a league season off the top of your head now?
 
I’m surprised so many people don’t trust ETH when he’s had a good first season. I understand most football fans are entitled children incapable of looking at the bigger picture but come on.
  • He’s steadied the ship
  • Sorted Ronaldo
  • Sorted Maguire
  • Brought in a new solid spine
  • Got us winning at OT again
  • Won a trophy
  • Got us in the CL
  • He has a plan
No he’s not been perfect but no one is. Sacking him and bringing in another manager would cause us to have to start all over again.

I think people need to understand as well a lot of our squad are scraps he doesn’t want. If they’re not mediocre at football they have a weak mentality.

He’s had to deal with a lot of injuries.

Plus he’s in the toxic work environment of the Glazers.

When you look at the bigger picture he’s done a great job first year.
Absolutely, all of this. Great post.

You’ll find most of the ‘EtH OUT’ers (or at least the ones constantly slating him) are the same folk who were shouting to give OGS even more time beyond the 3 years he had here. Why on earth Ole warranted more than 3 years of time/patience to implement his “system”, but Eric isn’t even afforded one year is beyond me. Double standards and hypocrisy are aplenty on the caf.

People also don’t seem to factor in 2 games per week for as long as we can remember this season, along with a World Cup wedged into the middle of the season. Oh, and numerous injuries to key players more recently (primarily our starting CB pairing). Yet we’ve won a cup already, and are in the final of another competition. Top four is also extremely likely. I’d love to know what people expect. Unrealistic expectations indeed.

The guy has only had one transfer window (January doesn’t count since he was royally shafted, being starved of financial resources).Yet people are already questioning him despite this squad barely being his. It’s madness.

He has far more wins in his first 50 games compared to Klopp at Pool and Pep at City, and the best start (win %) of any United manager in the history of the football club. He is on course for statistically the best debut season a United manager has ever made.

And some of the comments I see in here about how the style of football isn’t any different to any previous manager (post Fergie) can only be made by people who don’t know ball. I think a lot of fans watch football games with little clue as to what is actually happening on the pitch, beyond goals scored and games won. Some of the football we’ve played this season has been unrecognisable to what’s preceded this season and has been fantastic. Especially considering our thin squad.

As I say, it’s the same suspects coming into all these EtH threads spouting the same incoherent juvenile rubbish, still butthurt about certain previous managers being sacked. They only post when we lose and are eerily quiet when we win.

Criticism is certainly justified with some aspects to this season, and nobody is saying there shouldn’t be any. But it’s overboard with many in here, and extremely reactionary. Some of the comments you see after a loss are diabolically unjust and akin to those you’d expect from a petulant teenager.

Our away from is certainly under par this season and needs rectifying. But I trust it will be.

Reassessment will be necessary next season.
 
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Tell me how many times United have finished ahead of Liverpool in a league season off the top of your head now?

Many! How is that relevant? It is the league position that counts - one off freak results doesn't matter in the long run.
 
Trust him to do a good job but I don't think he's the genius many make him out to be.

He shouldn't be in charge of recruitment which is more important than any manager to get right if we want to challenge again. We've seen that when we have most of the same players on the pitch as last season, we play just like last season.
 
He's trying to man manage some players and up their confidence levels e.g. Maguire, Sancho and in My opinion he's wasting his time asits not really working. He needs to get rid, recruit and move on with his own group of players
 
Tell me how many times United have finished ahead of Liverpool in a league season off the top of your head now?
Many! How is that relevant? It is the league position that counts - one off freak results doesn't matter in the long run.
The 7-0 is more historically significant and what sticks in your mind as a fan, not disputing that, but it's far more important to growth, future potential, next season prospects, summer plans etc to actually win any cup, finishing above in the league and all that. So I guess if you have the mind set of viewing this season as a process to rebuild properly, then individual freak results don't bother you much and you look at things that actually impact the process or are tangible (finishing top 4, winning trophies, and then how we are progressing in the system and what are the reasons it stalls). If you just look at every season as it's own thing, and don't care about any sort of process or don't believe in that logic of building up a team over a couple years, then yeah you'll care more about every game essentially being it's final form.

For me, I'm all in the process boat, it's gonna take a few seasons to get to City's level, the squads mentality needs to be changed which can only happen over time, and the mentality is a far bigger reason for the big game collapses than anything else (given we outplayed and beat these teams at home). Maybe would be something worth more discussion if we didn't beat them at Old Trafford, but given we did, it's much easier for me to write them off as freak results and a mentality thing more than anything.
 
Antony looks to be a terrible fit and alternatives should have been presented to ETH.

You word this as if Antony was just some random some bod found online.

Rather than a player he's managed and knows better than anyone else.
 
We wouldn’t be so desperate now if he got the support he needed in January. Players are burnt out.
But that isn't really how it works, isn't it? I mean, you don't burn out your players until January and then go out an buy new ones. The mileage on Rashford, Bruno and Eriksen was always getting back at us, no matter if we sign Weghorst or not.

As a manager and coach? Absolutely yes.
As a manager/coach/head of recruitment / head of scouting, no. He shouldn't be trusted with so many roles. Even if he is great at each role separately, no human can do all efficiently simultaneously.
That is 100% my take on things. I hope, he can be part of a great team in the backroom who will create a wonderful organization.

Trust is earned and so far I have not seen anything that earns my trust. It was shaping to be a good season, now I think it is more an ok one, and can turn to be a disaster. I wouldn’t sack him, but I do not think he has been that good.

Transfers: this should be more on the club that we do not have a structure and yet again, based on the manager. I do not think any signing has been unquestionably great. Casemiro looked great, but has massively slowed down. I like Martinez but I think he has too many weaknesses to be a title winning central piece and should be a rotational piece (I think he is more similar in quality to Heinze than Vidic for example). Eriksen is good when you consider he has been free, but he should be backup. Malacia is bad, Sabitzer is mediocre, Weghorst is the worst United regular player I have ever seen, and Antony is shaping to be a colossal waste of money.
Harsh but to a degree understandable.

Style of play: it is still as shit as it was under Ole and Mourinho.
I think, this is very harsh. I mean, to me it is obvious that we are way better organized at the Back and builtup has gone up a level already. You can also see it in heatmaps that we are using the pitch better than before. In terms of midfield control and chance creation, I too had slightly bigger expectations but I guess those are the areas he is going to take on next. Currently though, I know where you are coming from, we are still trying to play long balls in behind way too often. But it isn't just Bruno this time, there are more players to do it so it safe to say it isn't coincidence. Lets see if this fades away once we are more equipped to control games.

Dealing with players: he did excellent dealing with Ronaldo and Maguire.

Home form: By far the best thing for him. Old Trafford is a fortress again.
Agree. Though, to be perfectly honest, I'm not a fan of the distinction between home and away. I feel that we aren't changing much as a team or approach, maybe opponents take less risks these days when they come to OT which is suiting us more.

Away form: we shit our bed and get humiliated when we play good teams. 0-7 against Liverpool is a historical result that Liverpool fans will sing 50 years from now.
Understand your point. But to me personally, those are freak results. If we get back to the top and competing for the biggest titles like we should based on our ressources, I'd laugh at Liverpool fans singing about a 7:0 freak result as long as we go on and win stuff.

Trophies: we won the least important trophy in a very easy path. We lost in Europe when we should have won the title. We didn’t compete in the league (but that is acceptable). We are in the final of FA Cup.
Fair.

Overall: I would say so far a 6.5/10, would be a 7/10 if we finish in UCL zone, 7.5/10 if we both finish in UCL zone and win FA Cup, 3/10 if we don’t get top 4 (and actually in this worst scenario I think he should be sacked).
Understandable but feels a bit shallow to spread the evaluation so much on the results of a few games to come. I'd sign the 6.5 rating though. Which is something to be proud of considering the challenges the manager had with Ronaldo situation and the World cup in the middle. If we win FA Cup and finish strong it can go up to 7, if we all goes downhill from now, it might be a 6.

I know many are understandably fixated on CL places but this season to me personally(!!) was more about establishing a new spine of players, a style of play and a plan how to proceed than on mere results and league table places. The results have been good enough, the underlying numbers are more or less also trending in the right directions. I am not that hard on CL - to be honest, I could do with a year out of Europe as well as long as it means we make use of the won time to evolve as a team. God knows we have quite a lot of distance to cover to close the distance to the best teams out there.
 
Overall: I would say so far a 6.5/10, would be a 7/10 if we finish in UCL zone, 7.5/10 if we both finish in UCL zone and win FA Cup, 3/10 if we don’t get top 4 (and actually in this worst scenario I think he should be sacked).

Overall I agree but probably 3/10 and sacked is a bit harsh. So potentially 1 point in a 60 game season is the difference between 7/10 and 3/10 + sacked. That swing seems a bit dramatic. Our ability to move forward with ETH shouldnt depend on this one point. Either we are showing promise with ETH and have something to build on next season or not irrespective on which side of this 1 point we find ourelves in. So narrowly 5th + cup I would say merits about 5/10. Remember we hadn't won anything in 6 seasons.
 
Overall I agree but probably 3/10 and sacked is a bit harsh. So potentially 1 point in a 60 game season is the difference between 7/10 and 3/10 + sacked. That swing seems a bit dramatic. Our ability to move forward with ETH shouldnt depend on this one point. Either we are showing promise with ETH and have something to build on next season or not irrespective on which side of this 1 point we find ourelves in. So narrowly 5th + cup I would say merits about 5/10. Remember we hadn't won anything in 6 seasons.
In context of things (Chelsea having their worst ever season in EPL, Spurs being shit, Liverpool who were getting 90+ points being shit), not reaching UCL zone is very bad and a total failure IMO. Especially considering that we were 10+ points ahead of Liverpool (even now with 5 matches remaining, all against second half teams and 3 at home, we are 4 points ahead with one extra match). Not getting the fourth is criminal.
 
I have zero trust in him from a transfer point of view. We desperately need a dedicated Director of Football.

How would you have spent £0m in the winter?

His only questionable signing is Anthony, but only for how much we spent on him. Martinez,Eriksen & Malacia are all very good signings.