I’ve heard “relegation” from away from home, a few times in here already. Bloody hell.
We have oneI have zero trust in him from a transfer point of view. We desperately need a dedicated Director of Football.
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.
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.I think ETH has done a great job this season with the squad and the hectic fixtures.
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.
- 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.
I have zero trust in him from a transfer point of view. We desperately need a dedicated Director of Football.
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.
What were your expectations?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
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.
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.
Top 6, sort some of the squad out, improve players, identify the stayers and goers, see some kind of style implemented on the pitchWhat were your expectations?
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.I have zero trust in him from a transfer point of view. We desperately need a dedicated Director of Football.
It's a endless cycle. Then when the manager gets sacked the new one wants to sell all those playersBecause 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.
Top 4 and a cup win doesn't outweigh a bad away game?Trust is earned. Since that 7-0 at Anfield, I don't have that much faith in him tbh.
Top 4 and a cup win doesn't outweigh a bad away game?
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.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.
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).
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.
Absolutely, all of this. Great post.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.
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.
- 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
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.
Tell me how many times United have finished ahead of Liverpool in a league season off the top of your head now?
Tell me how many times United have finished ahead of Liverpool in a league season off the top of your head now?
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.Many! How is that relevant? It is the league position that counts - one off freak results doesn't matter in the long run.
Antony looks to be a terrible fit and alternatives should have been presented to ETH.
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.We wouldn’t be so desperate now if he got the support he needed in January. Players are burnt out.
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.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.
Harsh but to a degree understandable.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.
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.Style of play: it is still as shit as it was under Ole and Mourinho.
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.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.
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.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.
Fair.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.
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.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 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).
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.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.
I have zero trust in him from a transfer point of view. We desperately need a dedicated Director of Football.
Not including Casemiro here?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.