Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

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The manager will be sacked at some point this season - I feel it - and it will be yet another wrong answer to the wrong question.

It's like constantly putting a plaster on an infected wound. Hides the problem but doesn't fix it, and underneath it's getting worse and worse.

I'm really now just wondering if we should just stick with one manager through thick and thin, regardless of how far we fall in the short term.

I'm sick of this merry go round.
 
One of the issues I have is that I feel even with him having Antony, Mount, Varane and Shaw available, we will improve but not collectively as a team but as they are better individuals or more suited to their roles. So I think that ultimately lies on ETH. We don't look like a team that is missing particular pieces, we just look a bit broken.

I was fine with last season but I think the quality of our football was overstated then. I was so impressed with us against Spurs at home and thought our tie against Barca was really promising but aside from those games, generally not impressive even if our results were good.

Shaw and Varane have had consistent injury problems for years, it’s nothing new and precisely why we needed cover at CB. The board didn’t let Maguire go and so he wasn’t replaced. Surely by now it’s not a shock to the clubs management and fans when Lindelof and Maguire come in we look defensively shakey.
 
More importantly we still have multiple on-field issues, and that's entirely down to Ten Hag
Bullshit. He has his share but it is not his problem that the club had so many issues and cannot sell the crap players who free up more money to spend.
 
EtH said we are focusing on transition.
Which is the most ridiculous thing ever. He said you have to look at the history of the club etc. What manager whose hired for his type of football primarily, changes his approach to match what past managers have done at the club?
That was it for me with him, before the season had started. And we've gone backwards.
 
Just saw the post match conference and once again he said “We didn’t follow the plan”. He has said the exact same thing so many times now. Are the players not listening to him or they don’t understand the plan or is he unable to convey the message? Why the feck he keeps on repeating the same thing? He said that multiple times in the pre season too.


I think this is what he means when he says "players don't follow the plan". Just look at Rashford jogging around like it's a friendly. And I've seen many more of our players do that today as well.
 


I think this is what he means when he says "players don't follow the plan". Just look at Rashford jogging around like it's a friendly. And I've seen many more of our players do that today as well.

It says more about ETH than Rashford.
 
Shaw and Varane have had consistent injury problems for years, it’s nothing new and precisely why we needed cover at CB. The board didn’t let Maguire go and so he wasn’t replaced. Surely by now it’s not a shock to the clubs management and fans when Lindelof and Maguire come in we look defensively shakey.
Don't tell blatent lies. Maguire himself wouldn't leave despite the club accepting offers for him.
 
He needs to be courageous enough to overhaul our midfield. We need to go back to flat 433.
All this other formations have failed, 4231,Ralf 4222, diamond, etc.

The guy is not a very good coach if he doesn't see how without 3 competent midfielders you can't compete in today's world.

We will go round the circle with nothing to show for it. Just a carabao cup. He is completely blindsided.

  • We dont score enough goals. We have scored 6 goals, one more than Nottingham, Sheffield who have 5 goals

  • We concede alot of goals. We have leaked same number of goals as LUTON. 10. this is the second highest number in the league. Most conceded is 11 goals in the whole league.

  • We don't control games.
  • We don't win away from home against big teams.
  • We fold when we go behind. Even against Nottingham we needed a Red card + Penalty to win the game at home.

Extremely baffling he doesn't want to arrest the slide of the team.
 
Bullshit. He has his share but it is not his problem that the club had so many issues and cannot sell the crap players who free up more money to spend.
I have been thinking the same thing, how can he be blamed for the length and terms of contract of a player he never had a say in buying, no player is going to accept a transfer that takes them off the gravy train at OT, no-one is going to take a £100k a week pay cut.
Add to that injuries, and his choices become very limited, yes he could have played Pellestri, we don't watch him in training every day, there must be reasons why the likes of him and Hannibal don't start.

My own personal view is that there is still a culture in the dressing room that thinks it knows better than the manager, and certain players are willing to throw him under the bus because he is a disciplinarian.
 
People want to see progress and we see regression. The recruitment has done a horrible job the glazers as well. But on the field with what he has we should be able to see progress on how we use the ball. This season he has changed the system to a point where we treat the ball worse than during Ole's reign. A lot of us just want to see the team have a system, play good football. Is that a hard ask, when teams are waltzing through us where is the hope?

He came in as a total football type manager. Our key players are Rashford and Bruno. Both undroppable and both whose biggest weakness is passing the ball. On this basis the total football concept the manager wants to implements already fails.

This is my issue with United from the very top. They appoint a manager and allow them to go full steam ahead without considering the bigger picture. Clubs like Brighton (at present anyway) look at managers with a consistent approach which means there isn’t a huge amount of changes required on the pitch. United don’t consider this, then we’re spending £500m to suit the managers style. By this point the manager hasn’t worked, we have a bunch of players not suited to each other and then requiring another ‘rebuild’. This is the reason we have spent more than any other club to assemble this, frankly, average squad of players.

We’re gone Moyes (defensive), Van Gaal (total football), Mourinho (defensive), Solskjaer (counter attack), Ten Hag (total football). It’s a complete mess in direction and stems from the very top. We have needed a DOF for years. We are miles behind the likes of City and even clubs like Brighton and Brentford have a better structure than us. The only reason we do better is because we have the spending power.
 


This is embarrassing to watch. None of player pressed their target or gave up & casually watched oppo making passes
And Redditors told me, De Zerbi can fix these sub 95 IQs? I don't think so.

Christ on a bike.

That's complete dogshite.

I'd take a lesser quality player with a ton of workrate over someone like Rashford. At least if you know we don't have the ball that fella will run his socks off to win it back.
 


I think this is what he means when he says "players don't follow the plan". Just look at Rashford jogging around like it's a friendly. And I've seen many more of our players do that today as well.


Our "pressing" is largely pathetic across the entire pitch. Physicality is also nonexistent. Rangnick talked about the same issues 2 years ago. It's laughable.
 
A change of coach is pointless. What will a new coach do with a club with such a poor culture. The players and fans are tired of this circus which just excaberates the problem.
I’m not saying change the coach, however if you think a new Qatar owned United would put up with the current team on the field then you’re living in another universe.

With a wining culture dictated by the new owners, then everything filters down through the pyramid. The current owners are used to losing, both in the EPL and NFL they are not winners so they do not know how to cultivate a winning philosophy, they therefore recruit people like Ed Woodward, John Murtough and Richard Arnold to destroy a football legacy.

ETH can not be fully blamed however but has to take some responsibility for his decisions, if he survived a takeover and an incoming new DOF, CEO and Chariman, they would not tolerate a start of three defeats from the first 5 EPL games after losing 3 from 7 in the previous season, so he would inevitably be sacked.

That’s how you create a wining culture by not accepting mediocrity on the field of play. United fans conveniently blame the Glazers every time we lose, but we didn’t gloat when we won, they’ve have allowed ridiculous amounts of money to be spent on mediocre players with little drive and hunger, Sanchez, Falcao, Pogba, Sancho and Di Mariah however the managers have always accepted these players and then when the players fail on the pitch we blame the owners, yes they are at fault for allowing the inept morons who they employed to run the club with no clear idea how a successful elite football club works, all I see is a repeat of Mourinho season who apparently played boring football in his second season after wining trophies in his first, the team scored more than 70 goals and got over 80 points plus reached a second final in the FA Cup but he then fell out with Woodward who would not let him improve his squad in the third year, I’ve yet to see football under ETH that is infinitely better than Mourinho or Ole and enfact his team very rarely score 4 or more goals, this season is the season to judge him so yes if he doesn’t sort out the team and quickly he will be under huge pressure especially since Roberto De Zerbi being very getable for Man United and whilst we are at we should recruit the whole of Brighton’s football infrastructure
 
Does anyone else think the manager is also probably thoroughly pissed off and fed up with this club?

The off field problems are clearly a distraction but they extend far beyond the Sancho, Antony and Greenwood debacles. The sale of the club is a distraction clearly, but also the poor preseason is another. Failure to get players out had a knock on effect of failing the get the right players in. Getting Ambarat on the last day of the window is not an idea situation for EtH. The injuries to key players also impact that.

I'm not saying EtH is blameless, he isn't, but it works both ways. The morale does not seem high, and that extends to the manager. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be happy to be sacked so he can walk from this circus with a wad of cash.
 
Don't tell blatent lies. Maguire himself wouldn't leave despite the club accepting offers for him.

A sensible club cuts their losses. Pay him off. It made far more sense to get £30m for him and pay him the £10m to settle his contract. £20m for him at this stage is more than fair given how much of an issue he is for this squad. He has absolutely no value on the pitch anymore. Maguire doesn’t suit the managers tactics so it’s never going to work for him at United.

Instead we have kept him and now have an unreliable option sat on the bench. We may as well give a youngster ago. Heck Tuanzebe suits Ten Hag’s tactics more.
 
Just realised that if Wolves got what they deserved, we'd be on 3 points out of 15. Which we got after being 2-0 down at home v Forest.

Please please improve. This is disastrous.
 
Shaw and Varane have had consistent injury problems for years, it’s nothing new and precisely why we needed cover at CB. The board didn’t let Maguire go and so he wasn’t replaced. Surely by now it’s not a shock to the clubs management and fans when Lindelof and Maguire come in we look defensively shakey.
The board accepted an offer, so not true
 
That he can't instill any kind of work ethic or explain what he wants to the players.
Work ethic? At Man Utd? What are you on mate... we've never had any work ethic since SAF retired. Players have rebelled against Moyes, Mourinho and Ole. The reason they can do that is because our spinless board backs them. They don't treat them as employees as all the other normal clubs do, but as financial assets(Glazeronomics 101). As such our star players know they are basically undropable and the manager has not a lot of say in who get's shipped out.

Also please explain to me how Rashford not tracking back is somehow ETH's fault. Fairly certain ETH instructed him to close down his players. If he's not doing it, then it's on Rashford.

Now I will say this: if ETH persists with the same players who don't listen to his instructions, then that is on him.
 
A sensible club cuts their losses. Pay him off. It made far more sense to get £30m for him and pay him the £10m to settle his contract. £20m for him at this stage is more than fair given how much of an issue he is for this squad. He has absolutely no value on the pitch anymore. Maguire doesn’t suit the managers tactics so it’s never going to work for him at United.

Instead we have kept him and now have an unreliable option sat on the bench. We may as well give a youngster ago. Heck Tuanzebe suits Ten Hag’s tactics more.
How do you get rid of a player who legally doesn't have to leave the terms of his contract if he's done nothing wrong?
 
Does anyone else think the manager is also probably thoroughly pissed off and fed up with this club?

The off field problems are clearly a distraction but they extend far beyond the Sancho, Antony and Greenwood debacles. The sale of the club is a distraction clearly, but also the poor preseason is another. Failure to get players out had a knock on effect of failing the get the right players in. Getting Ambarat on the last day of the window is not an idea situation for EtH. The injuries to key players also impact that.

I'm not saying EtH is blameless, he isn't, but it works both ways. The morale does not seem high, and that extends to the manager. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be happy to be sacked so he can walk from this circus with a wad of cash.

Ten Hag signed Antony. Ten Hag decided to publicly out Sancho. Ten Hag has apparently overtrained players in pre-season causing an injury crisis.

The club sale shouldn’t impact what happens in the pitch unless it stops transfer activity. Ten Hag has blown nearly £200m on 4 players. I’d argue none of them strengthen our starting so that’s on him as well.
 
Firstly, we have a DoF, and secondly, even if we didn’t - we have a different recruitment structure with the idea of doing the same things.

And other clubs with DoFs absolutely get signings wrong as often as us. In fact, typically, they simply have worse football teams than us. Our signings have had us consistently finishing above them.

I haven’t got a huge problem with a manager getting the players he wants. Otherwise we may as well do away with the manager role and let this all-knowing dof who apparently decides who our players are and what our tactics are just run the team. Managers signing their own players, in theory, is only a problem for the next manager. That isn’t an irrelevant problem of course, but it does nothing to absolve them of blame while still currently managing these players that they wanted. Our current failures are on Ten Hag, who has been given money to buy himself a team, and made contract decisions regarding others - yet that team isn’t good enough. If he was a better manager, with a team of his own choosing, he’d be doing better. If Mason Mount does not improve our midfield it is Ten Hag’s fault, not someone above him.

These managers need to stop hiding behind the Glazers and be accountable for their failures. All of this ‘any manager would fail here’ shit is just rubbish. Why should any manager be doomed to failure by being given a load of money and being allowed to build a team of their own? Ten Hag needs to go if he doesn’t improve this quickly. He’s had a shot and can have no complaints.
We have a dof of football in name only, he is a complete non entity. And the idea that other clubs get signings wrong as often as us is laughable. You could say Chelsea or Everton in recent years but no one else has thrown away as much in fees and wages as us over the past 10 years.

Having said that I do agree ten hag is getting a bit of an easy ride
 
He came in as a total football type manager. Our key players are Rashford and Bruno. Both undroppable and both whose biggest weakness is passing the ball. On this basis the total football concept the manager wants to implements already fails.

This is my issue with United from the very top. They appoint a manager and allow them to go full steam ahead without considering the bigger picture. Clubs like Brighton (at present anyway) look at managers with a consistent approach which means there isn’t a huge amount of changes required on the pitch. United don’t consider this, then we’re spending £500m to suit the managers style. By this point the manager hasn’t worked, we have a bunch of players not suited to each other and then requiring another ‘rebuild’. This is the reason we have spent more than any other club to assemble this, frankly, average squad of players.

We’re gone Moyes (defensive), Van Gaal (total football), Mourinho (defensive), Solskjaer (counter attack), Ten Hag (total football). It’s a complete mess in direction and stems from the very top. We have needed a DOF for years. We are miles behind the likes of City and even clubs like Brighton and Brentford have a better structure than us. The only reason we do better is because we have the spending power.
I liken ETH to a mechanic who has been given parts from totally different makes and models of cars and is being told to build one that works, it can't be done.
My fear is that the only way change will happen is through those players he doesn't want running down their contract, and that will take at leat two seasons.

No player is undroppable, I think he made the wrong choice in Bruno as Captain, the bloke winges and whines too much, he doesn't have the drive to be Captain.
For me Rashford is lazy, when he isn't on the ball he just strolls around, he needs time on the bench to wake him up.

If ETH can't have the money, then it's the long game that Fergie had to go through, build an academy of players, instil in them the way you want to play. Unfortunately the JCL's in the fan base won't handle this, and he will be gone before we can achieve anything.
 
How do you get rid of a player who legally doesn't have to leave the terms of his contract if he's done nothing wrong?

He was willing to leave but wanted paying off. It’s was written by plenty of journalists. Why don’t you do some research.
 
Just a simple question guys, I have seen also another poster here as pointed out.

How ETH has played 3 times with Brighton yet its the all home games have had the same same trajectory?

Is ETH tactically inferior or something else? We all knew how Brighton would play and how the game would pan out (with them playing from the back and having possession) how comes it looked a shock to players on the pitch?

Does ETH really learn? We have the same same problems we've had since he came. Being cut through easily. Being overrun. And it seems nothing is being done to address it.

Very weird. I think he still thinks he is in Holland where he can autopilot to results or trophies..

Finally a statement which I agree with ETH thinks he can auto pilot, he believes that an aging CDM and two attacking midfielder against a team that will dominate possession will work he’s had 4 goes and only fluked a pen shoot out once, we need to see a 4231 system asap and hope that Amrabat is as good as we think Bruno starts if he’s poor he’s benched and start Ericsen or Mount but let’s be clear only one of these three must start until we become more difficult to beat?
 
Does anyone else think the manager is also probably thoroughly pissed off and fed up with this club?

The off field problems are clearly a distraction but they extend far beyond the Sancho, Antony and Greenwood debacles. The sale of the club is a distraction clearly, but also the poor preseason is another. Failure to get players out had a knock on effect of failing the get the right players in. Getting Ambarat on the last day of the window is not an idea situation for EtH. The injuries to key players also impact that.

I'm not saying EtH is blameless, he isn't, but it works both ways. The morale does not seem high, and that extends to the manager. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be happy to be sacked so he can walk from this circus with a wad of cash.

I hadn’t thought of this but I’d imagine you are correct. I’d say the same could be said about every United manager, even sir Alex having to deal with selling Ronaldo and replacing him with Antonio Valencia.

I really don’t believe some people really get how toxic the club’s environment must be due to the negligence of the glazers.

In alternative universes, klopp or Pep being united managers makes little difference the last 10 years. If you have a dysfunctional club infrastructure, it’s not setup for success for anybody.

At some point ALL fans have to look at our club and ask “is the problem that every signing and manager we have had the last 10 years or is the club broken from the top down and it doesn’t matter who manages or plays for us”. It’s clearly the second but I understand why alot of fans don’t want to see it because there is no hope (certainly while the glazers are stinking the place out) when you open your eyes.
 
Our "pressing" is largely pathetic across the entire pitch. Physicality is also nonexistent. Rangnick talked about the same issues 2 years ago. It's laughable.
There was another twitter post saying that we still employ the same fitness coach that we've had since 2012. ETH attempt to bring his man from Ajax was blocked by the Glazers.

That actually would explain why we've had a sever injury crisis every year since SAF retired. Actually the problem was before that. We would have an injury ravaged squad all the way back since 2006. The only year we've managed to avoid serious injuries was in 2007/2008 when we did the double. Every season after that we've had an injury crisis and the CBs were at the center of it.

I still remember Carrick as CB and Fletcher as RB in that 3-1 defeat to Fulham all those years ago. Looks like we haven't changed that much. I imagine ETH must be fumming right now.
 
Just saw the post match conference and once again he said “We didn’t follow the plan”. He has said the exact same thing so many times now. Are the players not listening to him or they don’t understand the plan or is he unable to convey the message? Why the feck he keeps on repeating the same thing? He said that multiple times in the pre season too.
The players aren’t listening to him is what he’s saying. Every time we concede we go to shit
 
There was another twitter post saying that we still employ the same fitness coach that we've had since 2012. ETH attempt to bring his man from Ajax was blocked by the Glazers.

That actually would explain why we've had a sever injury crisis every year since SAF retired. Actually the problem was before that. We would have an injury ravaged squad all the way back since 2006. The only year we've managed to avoid serious injuries was in 2007/2008 when we did the double. Every season after that we've had an injury crisis and the CBs were at the center of it.

I still remember Carrick as CB and Fletcher as RB in that 3-1 defeat to Fulham all those years ago. Looks like we haven't changed that much. I imagine ETH must be fumming right now.

“Blocked by the Glazers”. What’s funny about reading this , which has happened at other times, is that they haven’t a notion about what the club needs. The last 10 years have categorically proven that, they shouldn’t be deciding anything, just write the cheques and STFU
 
I just don’t think he’s inspirational or motivating really. That’s the biggest issue over the fact he does need time to implement ideas. Those won’t work if he doesn’t have the team onside like Arteta for example has seemed to do.
 
“Blocked by the Glazers”. What’s funny about reading this , which has happened at other times, is that they haven’t a notion about what the club needs. The last 10 years have categorically proven that, they shouldn’t be deciding anything, just write the cheques and STFU
Questions need to be asked of the DOF and how he’s allowed a manager to spend daft money on shit players when it’s his job to stop the recruitment from going to shit.
 
Just saw the post match conference and once again he said “We didn’t follow the plan”. He has said the exact same thing so many times now. Are the players not listening to him or they don’t understand the plan or is he unable to convey the message? Why the feck he keeps on repeating the same thing? He said that multiple times in the pre season too.
Each player has rules to follow depending on what’s happening and, it seems, they aren’t doing what they should when they should. Or at least they aren’t maintaining adherence to the rules through the whole match.

Imo the reasons for this are probably multiple:

Players are not always selected in the same position so may be unclear on their rules.

The rules are complicated and require concentration and continuous game awareness to carry out. Some players struggle with this.

Results and performances haven’t been good for ages. This undermines the players’ confidence in themselves and in the rules.

The system and rules are not sufficiently drilled yet. Players accidentally abandon the rules in adversity because it is not second nature for them yet.

Some players are more effective, or believe themselves to be more effective, if they play with freedom and are pre-disposed to resist rules.

It will get better but it looks like it’s going to take a long while.
 
Questions need to be asked of the DOF and how he’s allowed a manager to spend daft money on shit players when it’s his job to stop the recruitment from going to shit.

I said this years ago, a simple solution is to reset everything. Do what city did when they got their dirty money, you look at all the best run clubs in the world and you put in the best football infrastructure to match it. Roman did the same when he took over Chelsea.

But no, they care so little that they are happy to throw bad money after bad money so morons can say “well money is being spent” while the club rots from the inside out.
 
That video is damning on Rashford. It's not even deep into the second half; it's the first half and twice in the space of 10 seconds he finds himself mere yards from his opposition player on the ball and he does absolutely nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Niente.

There's no fvcking excuse. He's been pulling this shit for years.Years! You're all asking why our pressing doesn't work like other teams over the years? This fecking guy. He's disengaged off the ball permanently. Our midfield can't press because they can't trust Marcus to just do his fecking part.

Have you seen Martinelli? Or Diaz? Or Grealish? Or Mitoma? Or whoever the feck plays LW for other top clubs. They bust their ass off pressing, harrying, chasing. Rashford does non of that. Non.

Absolutely sick of it. I'd swap his goals for a winger who made our overall team function better in a heartbeat. His occasional 20+ goal seasons are not enough to compensate for all the cons that come with his tactical laziness.
 
Love the implications that he should be extremely frustrated with the club for not backing him. Imagine signing six £50m+ players of your own choice in 12 months, having the team regress to a point where we are genuinely one of the worst sides to watch in the league and feeling let down. The cult following around the guy because he speaks about tactics in a sophisticated language is odd.
 
Every manager we have had for years - every team has looked better coached than us. I've forgotten the amount of times the entire fanbase has complained about what it is we actually do in training no matter who the manager was. This was the whole crux of Solksjaers reign and why everyone wanted Carrick's and McKenna's heads. Why is it other managers/coaches come into other clubs and transform them in weeks when ours can't seem to do that in months/years. Maybe a lot of our players are just egotistical unintelligent people?
Over paid sh!t houses that think they have made it to the pinnacle and have put the brakes on. Living off the past successes. They play like they are winning 5-0 every week. Likes of Rashford plays likes he’s god gift and his goals to shots ratio is 1:1. They’re an absolute joke, people idolise them over stats ffs. If these jokers have good stats, imagine the midfield and strikers we had of 90’s earlier 00’s stats.

This group is a group of jokers that don’t have any thing or any one to answer to, there is no leadership whatsoever. And when they do by the manager, the manager gets called a liar by said player and turns half the fanbase split.

We have the complete wrong mindset both as players and as fans, we are in a sorry state. Players like Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho are the fecking heroes when they are whats wrong here. I cannot pick out the likes of Mctominay or Maguire because of lack of quality they at least try, them 2 are on the club. Fans will reply to this and say but but Rashford this stat, or Bruno is the best says Kevin De Bruyne. Feck them I don’t care.

That he can't instill any kind of work ethic or explain what he wants to the players.
WTF is this absolute rubbish! I instill my own fecking work ethic on a Saturday afternoon turning out for the dog and duck, the manager doesnt fecking pick me if I dont. This guys getting paid 250k a week for someone else to motivate him?? Wtf is this nonsense your coming out with.
 
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We need a commanding centre back, someone to help Casemiro in midfield (hopefully Amrabat) and need to rethink our tactic of single pivots or diamond formations. It’s too easy for teams to play through us and if it continues he’s gonna get sacked for being stubborn.
 
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