Does anyone have doubts that a new manager will be able to fix this?

They won't 'fix' it with these players. It's not a very good squad at all. Desperately lacking goalscorers being the main issue.
 
A new manager will very likely take us up from 14th to the europa league places. With several seasons they might take us to 3rd like Ten Hag. The problem will be staying there as Mourinho, Ole and Ten Hag have shown. They all had some success at first and then terrible results and a need to find someone else
 
fastwalker said:
Post SAF, we seem to have had every guise of manager. The 'chosen one' David Moyes, who was hand picked by the great SAF himself but who lasted just months. The 'proven winners' in Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, who had done it and won it all. Then the 'fan favourite' in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then 'the Pep protégé' in Erik Ten Hag. That does not include the caretakers [Giggs, Ralf Rangnick and now Ruud Van Nistelrooy] .

Much as I believe that INEOS are right to remove ETH [in terms of league position, points and performance, we are worse off than when he arrived], I am actually dreading what happens next. People criticize ETH for lacking tactical acumen, but but it seems that United's problems go way deeper than that.

Are you confident that a new manager will be able to fix this? Or is this managerial merry-go-round the new normal for United?
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If the question is "will a new manager definitely fix all of our issues?" then clearly nobody can be sure...but that doesn't mean we need to look at this as anything other than a big positive step.

Remember, Ashworth and Berrada only officially started in June. Imagine if the first thing they did once officially in their new positions was to sack a manager who had just won the FA Cup and was experiencing a major upturn in popularity amongst the fanbase (largely thanks for most of them only being able to form an opinion based on the last game that was played).

The FA Cup win vs City was an all-time top football moment for me, and I have seen United win everything...but let's face it, EtH was appalling
 
Ekeke said:
A new manager will very likely take us up from 14th to the europa league places. With several seasons they might take us to 3rd like Ten Hag. The problem will be staying there as Mourinho, Ole and Ten Hag have shown. They all had some success at first and then terrible results and a need to find someone else
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Did you miss that we've appointed an entire new executive team since then?

There's every reason to be hugely positive about the future.

I also feel many are about to be surprised by how good this squad is, once it doesn't have a deluded crackpot at the helm
 
Lentwood said:
Did you miss that we've appointed an entire new executive team since then?

There's every reason to be hugely positive about the future.

I also feel many are about to be surprised by how good this squad is, once it doesn't have a deluded crackpot at the helm
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We've done lots of things with no indication that it has changed anything. A new manager will no doubt do better but may have the same problems keeping it up like the rest have.
 
I can see why people might have doubts. It's hard to assess the squad quality with the current 'game model' or philosophy or whatever you may call it. There's been an emphasis on quick transitional football for a while but we do have some technically excellent players that could play a more possession-orientated game.

Just hope nobody whispers 'United DNA' in the new manager's ear. I feel sometimes the history of the club weighs new managers down a bit and gets them thinking they have to play a certain way. Probably only LvG actually ignored all that stuff.
 
Fix what?

A new bloke will come in, we’ll look alright in spells and get back into the top four, the supporters will get all excited and claim that this one is finally the one, and then slowly we’ll start to struggle and things will come tumbling down. A tale as old as 2013.

The squad has massive issues in as much as our attacking players are largely shite, and our best players who are actually good at football are often dead from the neck up.

Doubts, I have a few.
 
This has got me thinking 'who goes?' in the latest, never-ending cycle of piling up what we call the 'deadwood' - in fixing things you're:
  • letting Maguire, Lindelof, and Eriksen go when their contracts end...or before
  • showing the door to Antony...any door, anywhere, soon (probably as a loan)
  • easing out Casemiro, Shaw and Malacia (who is looking like a player who won't play here again)
  • finding a buyer for Mount (or, again, finding a loan option)...such a weird signing
  • making a quick decision on Zirkzee (I had hopes, think he deserves more time, but also think it won't work out and we should sell sooner rather than later)
  • having to make big decisions on Onana (v much an ETH signing, though he has got better) and Ugarte (who needs a chance to play)
  • hoping all of Garnacho (over-played), Mainoo (at risk of being over-played) and Rasmus (raw but I think he could make it) come good
  • making very big decisions about Bruno and Rashford, neither of whom merit their status and pay deals
 
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I think the new manager is going to have to figure out the root cause of what’s been going wrong in the last 3 years before he can figure out what to do right, ie identify core issues with everything from coaching, fitness, mentality, motivation, conduct, confidence, tactics, etc. It’s a huge task.
Put aside all the BS around the Glazers and INEOS, and focus on the team and supporting staff.
 
Be better than ten Hag, most certainly even Ole was better. If by fix this you mean, make us win stuff again, then no. Only consistently good recruitment and a training team that helps players improve will be able to do that, a head coach can only be a part of that and there is still a lot more work to be done at the club.

Oh yeah and the Glazers need to feck off, as long as they get to sign of on any financial decisions the club is making we are fecked.
 
When I watch most opposition play competent football it does give me confidence that a new manager can come in and coach this group of players to perform far higher than they have been doing.

Not suggesting that any new manager will be the saviour…we’ve been here too many times.

I would however expect a marked improvement and to see start climbing the table.
 
I am genuinely of the belief that absolutely nobody will turn this train wreck around, and I think we could hire Amorim, Nagelsmann or Zidane.
They will all fall flat on their arse.
 
At some point a manager will make a success of it.

It took us 25 years from 1968 to 1993. It took Liverpool 30 years from 1990 to 2020. City 44 years from 1968 to 2012. Chelsea 50 years from 1955 to 2005, Arsenal 20 years from 2004 to .... and so on.

Let's hope this is the one!
 
We're not getting a new manager, we're getting a head coach.

I don't see why a very good one won't be able to succeed here, especially now we have an experienced management team supporting them
 
Well, someone’s got to at some point? Whether it’ll be Amorim or someone else, time will tell.
 
Surely they won't be signing any more of Ten Hag's former players at least (though I do like Onana and de Ligt.).
 
As many posters have pointed out, the squad is meh.
Our attackers lack creativity and are not clinical at all. Good at times, but often very mediocre, mid table levels.
Midfield is ok until Bruno gets frustrated and starts making hollywood passes and shots.
Our defense isn't bad though, and Onana is looking good this year.
 
Ekeke said:
We've done lots of things with no indication that it has changed anything. A new manager will no doubt do better but may have the same problems keeping it up like the rest have.
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Loads of things have changed. We previously had the clueless offspring of an American uber-capitalist running the club and a bunch of bankers who couldn't explain the offside rule running the football operation.

The very fact we have appointed footballing people to run the club is gigantic.
 
USREDEVIL said:
As many posters have pointed out, the squad is meh.
Our attackers lack creativity and are not clinical at all. Good at times, but often very mediocre, mid table levels.
Midfield is ok until Bruno gets frustrated and starts making hollywood passes and shots.
Our defense isn't bad though, and Onana is looking good this year.
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The squad isn't "meh", it's a very good squad, being made to look very bad by a very bad manager.

Sure, there are areas that require improvement, but we're much, much better than we've been allowed to look under EtH because of his crazy tactics
 
Lentwood said:
The squad isn't "meh", it's a very good squad, being made to look very bad by a very bad manager.

Sure, there are areas that require improvement, but we're much, much better than we've been allowed to look under EtH because of his crazy tactics
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I agree. A competent manager should easily get a tune out of this squad. Not a title winning squad but much better than it is right now - they need a purpose and an identity the rest will follow.
 
Another manager will get more out of this squad than Ten Hag. But no, I don't think it will fix anything in the long term. No one can succeed here I feel like. The last 12 years have made me quite pessimistic about it. It feels like no matter what is tried it always fails spectacularly.
 
The Cat said:
I agree. A competent manager should easily get a tune out of this squad. Not a title winning squad but much better than it is right now - they need a purpose and an identity the rest will follow.
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Lest we forget, we finished 3rd in EtHs first season with a weaker squad than we have now. We also deservedly beat City in the FA Cup final, outplaying them for 90mins.

It was only when we tried to play EtHs actual own brand of football that we had issues. Whenever he needed results, he'd abandon his crazy chaos ball and the team would deliver for him.

Even in his first season we saw this, losing 6-1 on aggregate to Brighton and Brentford in his first two games in-charge before he abandoned his initial ideas.
 
Fix? Well that remains to be seen and is a much larger, more complicated question. A new manager can definitely improve our situation by choosing not to play a 3 - 0 - 7 formation.

All joking aside, I imagine anything at this point will be an improvement. Get in a manager who can play within the structure that is being set by INEOS and we will come good eventually. Fans will need to be patient though. That cannot be overstated.
 
We'll get the new manager bounce for sure. I'm more confident this time around only because we have proper football hierarchy in place. That is the one thing we did not have with the previous 5 managers. It would have been nice to start the season off with a new manager. Only those in the board room know why we didn't take steps to get Amorim or other targets in the summer.
 
I enjoyed Ten Hag at times and I won’t say anything bad about him but I have a feeling we’ll look back on this day and the day that started our return to the very top, Amorim is the man.
 
A good manager can easily fix this, this situation is nothing like the previous iterations. We have loads of good players.
 
Ikon said:
I am genuinely of the belief that absolutely nobody will turn this train wreck around, and I think we could hire Amorim, Nagelsmann or Zidane.
They will all fall flat on their arse.
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I feel your pain but I think we'll be ok. INEOS have set the structure well for us, but Ten Hag was a bit of a pre-INEOS hangover. True, they should have dealt with him sooner, but who knows what was happening in the background. Once we get in the right manager who can work within the structure INEOS set and I think we will come good.
 
Lentwood said:
Did you miss that we've appointed an entire new executive team since then?

There's every reason to be hugely positive about the future.

I also feel many are about to be surprised by how good this squad is, once it doesn't have a deluded crackpot at the helm
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Agreed. Good post. These are my thoughts on the matter. Times will come good lads. Keep the chins up
 
The idea of the INEOS restructuring is that we're now looking to sort out the problems "deeper" than the manager.

While the Glazers left Woodward/Arnold in charge of the football side of things, the most we ever did was a superficial appointment of Murtough as Director of Football, and Fletcher as Technical Director (but not actually doing the job you'd expect a Technical Director to do). The manager still had a lot of control and responsibility.

Despite that, it was clear that Ten Hag just wasn't the man. Hopefully the next guy is, but even if he isn't, at least now we're (working towards) operating with a proper structure that should make managerial transitions easier.
 
New executive team, already some clear-outs happened with likely more to come for non-performers (thanks to new exec team and new head coach), new ideas and fresh voice + hopefully good tactical knowledge + man-management.

Those who parrot "SaMe CyCle of fiRinG maNagErs" - you need to smarten up because you've decided to back the wrong person in the long list of managers we've had to stop wanting a change when you've (hopefully?) watched nearly 3 years of ETH ball. Not 3 games, but 3 seasons!
 
Well, no one will be able to do it alone. But if they manage to get someone in with the necessary blend of tactical understanding, charisma and people skills, who is also able to work in alignment with the management team, it's a pretty good start.

If they don't follow it up with signings, continued infrastructure investments and backing him through the inevitable difficult patches down the line then we'll be doing this soon enough again.
 
Lentwood said:
Loads of things have changed. We previously had the clueless offspring of an American uber-capitalist running the club and a bunch of bankers who couldn't explain the offside rule running the football operation.

The very fact we have appointed footballing people to run the club is gigantic.
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The results have got even worse
 
The squad lacks the necessary physicality that the PL demands, that was one of Ten Hags greatest failings, not only targeting players with that lack but then playing a style of play that was inevitably and catastrophically going to expose it. A new manager is not going to be able to make this core group, quicker, younger or more mobile but what they can do is play a style that suits the players they have while they go about building their own squad.

No-one should be in any doubt that Utd are immediately going to have to go back into major squad changes to be able to compete at the very top level.
 
Marginal gains. Replace players bit by bit, select managers who fit the ethos. Repeat until succesful.
 
If a manager can't turn it around then why did we sack Ten Hag? Or why are we spending £10m bringing Amorim in? We might as well just appoint Big Sam if it's all down to the playing squad.

Cheer up you miserable lot, for the first time in 18 months we might actually be going somewhere instead of spiralling down the drain.
 
You have to consider the true talent level of the squad regardless of the manager and come up with a reasonable expectation, right?

You could put Pep or Ancelotti in charge of Everton and there's still a limit to how high Everton can finish because their true talent level would preclude anything beyond it.

Is our true talent level 14th, of course not, but is it first or second or third, no.

The right manager might get this squad to fifth if everything goes right and things go wrong at other clubs.

If our aspirations are higher then we need better players.
 
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