Agreed but it's not just to do with personnel. It's is ETH a manager that coaches his players to pass and move as we would need to do to a high level to have a 2x no 8 system. It was said before most wanted that system, me included. Not sure he's the guy to implement it. More than happy to be proven wrong and I am rooting for him
Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24
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He was right. Nostradamus over there.
I did say Martinelli to a lesser extent. In any case I think him and Rashford are about the same talent wise.
I would heavily disagree with that, but to each their own.
It's strange because he had some of the blueprint last year, our issue was mainly De Gea killing our ability to retain possession out of the back, Eriksen being on his last leg, and not having a fit striker. I never watched us and thought our shape was poor though. You put someone similar to Eriksen with better mobility/carrying in that team along with Onana and we are instantly better instead of just switching shape completely.
OK agreed. Just saying we're not looking like being coached yet to be good in possession as you would need to be to allow for 2 attacking mids
If we don’t get new midfielder, I hope ETG starts playing Mainoo and Hannibal, even if it means we fail to make top four. We need to grow our new bloods rather than going out to spend silly amount on anybody.
We needed to be getting the Gvardiol Bellingham’s and Haalands of this world to close the gap in quality. We’ve been so bad at recruitment for so long that we aren’t a really top destination anymore so we need to get creative and take players from the next tier down. Sancho is one who I would put in the top bracket as a prospect but if it doesn’t work out in another year or two we should always aggressively be looking to try again and boost the quality and physicality. Our way would be to just hold on and on like we’ve done with Martial.
Erik ten Gaal
Because Sancho didn't look really great as a false 9 even in pre season friendly? ETH wanted to see how that would go and imo tbh I don't think it's a good idea to do that in the PL.
And I'd strongly disagree with your notion of our players are not good enough. Bruno is in the top 3 CAM in the world atm. Same would be said regarding Rashford and Casemiro.
Imo our problem last match was rather physical and tactical. Both Bruno and Mount didn't really understand what they're supposed to do yet. Then we lacked a focal point for Onana to go long ball to if there's no option to pass to build from the back. And we're losing all the 50/50. Of course we'd look like crap.
Imo things would get better as Mount gradually settle in and our players get used to the new setup. And get more ready physically. And Hojlund might provide that focal point for long balls. We'll improve I'm sure about that. It's kinda hard to not to imo.
I hate typing on phone!Erik ten Gaal
I'd say the opposite. He doesn't recognise things not working and flogs a dead horse. He was criticised for it a lot last season, with his Weghorst idea coming to mind. Playing Weghorst as a 10 with Bruno RW was so bad to watch.
ETH was out-thought by O'Neill.
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We will be fine. Fans need to remember we were always slow starters under Fergie as well. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
Yeah this is a major problem at the club, since back to Moyes days. I feel city and Chelsea are far more ruthless when a player comes in and fails. This idea that players need 2nd and 3rd seasons to get going is a gigantic myth that is mainly perpetuated by United fans. If you look in the PL in the last five years or so there’s not a single player who came in for large sums, failed in his first season and then turned it around. (Pepe, Werner, Sancho, Keita, Ndombele etc)
Sancho should have been flogged in the summer and Antony needs to be flogged next summer. All we do with these players is drive their price and contract down. It’s such a stupid way to run your football club. We have managed it twice over the years with Lukaku and Di Maria and we got good money for them and the decision was vindicated with how their careers went.
Agreed. This idea that new signings also need several months to fit into the team and start performing is another strange myth I've only seen on the Caf. Sure, some players start out a bit slow, but the majority of big signings that succeed hit the ground running right away.
Not after Mourinho tore that playbook though. There's probably a Fergie quote about it too.
For all that talk about our physical training and focus on nutrition etc we still look weak and not really ready. So far I am not sure our preparation was on point
Exactly. This is a manager who managed to get thumped by 6 and 7 goals at the Etihad and Anfield in the same season. He's not a fast learner at all.
Do you think it's just a coincidence that we've now started signing so many of his ex-players or ex-eridivisie players in the last year or so?
E.T.H. has to do something about our forwards giving the ball away, they seem unable to make 5 yard passes, and so many bad decisions. Start with the basics before all these fancy systems that don't suit our players.
Yeah, quite concerning that O'Neill was able to get his ideas through and drill a team that well within a week while Ten Hag made a team with champions league and world cup winning players look unprepared and out of sorts.
The warning signs of how disjointed we look have been there since pre season.
However I will argue this is normal. Even at Ajax the dressing room and fans were skeptical until it all suddenly clicked and they fully understood the system and reasoning behind it.
How long do you believe it would take , 10 to 12 games into season should be enough to see semblance of clear direction of where its all heading at least I am hoping that's the case .
I think is more of a fitness issue than tactics. We are slow off the blocks, so many under hit passes, it almost feels like we are still in pre-season. I'll worry more if this is sitll the same in October.
Its been a year and everyone bar Onana and Mount in that line up has been through it already. The same old issues are there too see as Antony is horribly one footed and we can't seem to play through a man marking scheme.
While I don't think that EtH is threading on a tight rope by any means, he is getting his main targets and little by little the focus shifts solely to him and his staff. Last year was a good starting season with a lot of positives and negatives, but there always was the feeling that we did not improve as much as we should have because of the schedule, injuries and suspensions.
Our pre-season seems to have done little to alleviate the mistakes in our game. Many claim that having a striker will greatly improve our game but that is not the case. We have signed an inexperienced kid to lead the line and expect him to magically fix blunders that happen all over the pitch is bonkers.
I'm not saying that EtH is incapable of taking us to the next level, just that he will be even more scrutinized if he fails to do so this season, especially in areas, which seem to be a perpetual weakness in our play.
Our pre-season seems to have done little to alleviate the mistakes in our game. Many claim that having a striker will greatly improve our game but that is not the case. We have signed an inexperienced kid to lead the line and expect him to magically fix blunders that happen all over the pitch is bonkers.
I'm not saying that EtH is incapable of taking us to the next level, just that he will be even more scrutinized if he fails to do so this season, especially in areas, which seem to be a perpetual weakness in our play.
I don't think it would take long. The whole team have been training on this, some games will be up some down but theyl learn from it more and more.
Antony was the least of our problems and showed better variation in play against Wolves. He also operated with no overlapping full back pretty much the entire game. How many wingers can you name that would flourish with that lack of support?
If he cant get a proper decent tune out of our forwards, its going to be a bit sticky. He's clearly put his faith in the likes of Sancho and Antony, backed them to succeed, they need to produce and deliver.
Pleased with AWB the other night, in truth he looked more dangerous than Shaw.
Pleased with AWB the other night, in truth he looked more dangerous than Shaw.
I find it hard to believe that the committee has such a fetish for signing almost exclusively players that have some history with the Dutch league.
It's not a case of the manager has 1 plan and if that plan doesn't work then you change managers. Managers have to show they can quickly adapt their plans, adjust where needed, and keep moving forward. Ten Hag has always been adaptable and has quickly shown that to be the case here. Klopp had to adapt multiple times until it clicked, and now has to start changing again. People are so annoyingly impatient nowadays.
How many times did Sir Alex start seasons slowly? Almost every time. He had to adapt his systems, sometimes it took the players some time to get going, the early days of the seasons are often just a huge mix of factors that bare little relation to how the season will actually go.
Hojlund and Mount? Mount had a year on loan there years ago, putting him with some actual dutch league relevance is nonsense. Onana is top goalkeeper so again, not sure why it matters.
The manager of course has a say and has a preference. It's not a problem.
Hojlund and Casemiro are the only players without a history in the Dutch league.
Eriksen, Malacia, Antony, Lisandro, Mount and Onana all played there.
The recruitment process is clearly and obviously still manager driven. Which is obviously a problem. We have by far the highest net spent in the world in recent years and still a crap squad.
He’s not Fergie though, is he?
How do you expect our midfield to be setup in 3 months time? Will it still be Casemiro, Bruno and Mount?
It's not, there have been numerous posts explaining how our transfer policy now works.
I am not impatient and nor I am suggesting to change manager but What I want is definite improvement in our style of football , more cohesion and better chance creation .
Last season there were mitigating circumstances so quality of football could be excused but now it's more or less Ten Hag's team so expecting good football is bare minimum and 10 -12 games into the season we definitely should atleast be doing that by that time most of new signings should be up and running as well .
You’re defo right on the future superstars thing. I’d say it’s slim chance any of our younger players can reach Saka or Odegard level.
Perhaps Garnacho can but that’s about it. Arsenal have some seriously elite footballers if they progress skill wise.
United are good at making mid table footballers. Incredible at it which is impressive but we just don’t have the best in class training facilities.
Madrid on the other hand really seem to train young players to world class potential in recent years to their credit.
First match is a legit 4/10 from ETH.
there are some characters here isn’t it!? Sometimes you wonder who they actually support
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