I think you’re seeing a lot of problems that aren’t really there. We just have a few too many players who are either missing, lacking match fitness or out of form. If we just carry on with the process we will look much better without fundamentally changing anything.Some thoughts on the current tactical situation:
All in all, I think all is not lost, but this squad and its structure is very weird. Not sure if our summer signings actually massively improved the team, and I am still unsure if it can be fixed quickly. Ten Hag still has some time to do it, but the clock is ticking quickly and I don't know if he can.
- I think we look a bit too haphazard in midfield, all three that started yesterday are not natural ball-carriers, neither are they adept at controlling the tempo of the match. Them lacking both means that we can never really control the game. We both lack directness when needed and often play too direct, as Bruno's, Casemiro's and Rashford's desire to play quick balls into space is often too soon in buildup for our actions, meaning that we lack men in the box most of the time when the ball played in space arrives there.
- The other problem we have is a constant lack of width and unpredictability on both sides of the pitch and that is a major, major issue. Even when all players are fit and in our first eleven, there is no one that really plays unpredictably and using both feet. It infuriates me how often Antony/Rashford/Bruno/Pellistri/etc. are only able to do one single variation of a move, meaning that defenders easily read what they are about to do in the final third. The only player who does things differently is Garnacho and even he can be wildly inconsistent by doing that.
- Onana was brought in to change our buildup approach but has so far been proven ineffective. Opponents have adjusted to this quickly by starting to press us in midfield rather than in our third, as we do not have a single press resistant player playing in there (maybe Amrabat can be that), so they can quickly force turnovers from there. I would try Amrabat in Casemiro's position for a few matches to make us more solid there, maybe play a box midfield and plainly ignore the width problem by putting Bruno on the right anyway.
True, but if you are manager at United and cannot tell a good player from a decent one then you shouldn't be manager.The poor structure has allowed him to make those mistakes. He should not have been in a position to make them in the first place. Why would you allow a manager with lets say such a narrow experience outside Holland act like a DOF.
You have 2 out of 11 starting players for RM's 3 CLs.Except our 10s of millions of players are harry maguire, jadon sancho, martial, lindelof. They aren't very good. No manager can get a tune out of those players and whoever is manager next season will be looking to move them on.
Problem is that when the transfers would be bad, upper management would be blamed directly for their bad decisions instead of having a very comfortable manager-shaped shield in front of them. Clearly this would be the worst case scenario for poor Glazers.The success will begin when we don’t allow managers to get autonomy on signings.
No it won’t. The job title of the person who decides the signings is not vital. It is the quality / competence / ability / credentials of the decision maker that matters. We don’t have anyone at the club who can claim to be better able to recruit than the manager.The success will begin when we don’t allow managers to get autonomy on signings.
The success will begin when we don’t allow managers to get autonomy on signings.
Why pick one example that worked out and ignore dozens and dozens of others that didn't though? Literally every club is a "carousel for managers". Those that aren't can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And if/when things get bad, they will sack the manager too.Arteta gets five years to get it right, Ten Hag won‘t get that. The one thing that won‘t work is firing managers.
Things are shiit right now, but I don‘t want MU to become a carrousel for managers.
The problem still lies with the ownership in my opinion. The summer transfer window clearly showed that. We couldn’t afford Kane and we scrambled around in the last few days to get Amrabat in on loan.
The point being that the manager is forced to stick with underperforming players because we can’t just bin them and get an upgrade like City and other top teams do.
The DoF seems to be incompetent too.
Our front 3 is just not good enough. Especially the right wing position. Ten Hag has to take blame for demanding Antony at 85m but he is then forced to stick with him for years even if he realizes he’s not good enough for the league.
Until the glazers are gone nothing will change long term.
It is a collective issue. Manager can't hide behind glazers, same way players can't hide behind manager but ultimately we have an awful structure. We should win games and will finish 3rd 4th here and there but we also seem to have these awful seasons.I’m not saying it doesn’t but we have won games in the past and we can win games currently without ripping everything up and starting again. For some reason we’re the only club that needs this to happen to win games of football against the likes of Palace. People talk like everything is the issue when the reality is, we’re not winning games because the manager is making a mess of the team. When the Glazers start taking training and picking the team then we can blame them for the results and performances.
Even if we got Kane though how is he scoring goals? the setup is all wrong
We've played 7 and could easily have lost every game we've been that bad.
You say the front 3 isn't good enough but he's spent 160m on it in the last 12 months
I don’t think it’s too much for him at all. We paid a bit too much for some of the guys he wanted but I think too much is made of that.Too many idiotic decisions so far - like signing a striker that hardly scores or a winger that hardly creates.
Good manager imo but this club is too much for him.
How many games has his 160m worth of front 3 played together?
Well, I think Kane would have scored that Hojlund header yesterday. He would have improved our build up and ball retention in the final 3rd too.Even if we got Kane though how is he scoring goals? the setup is all wrong
We've played 7 and could easily have lost every game we've been that bad.
You say the front 3 isn't good enough but he's spent 160m on it in the last 12 months
Board might not be the same if the club is soldI don’t think it’s too much for him at all. We paid a bit too much for some of the guys he wanted but I think too much is made of that.
My thing now is that we just have to get used to the obvious fact that the kind of improvement we needed (and must achieve if we are going to win big titles) is not going to happen in the space of a couple of years. It just isn’t.
Improvement will not follow a linear incline. There will be downs as well as ups. Not every decision he takes will come off. It is the overall sum of the decisions (big and small) that matters.
I don’t know if he’ll be given the time but I think he will. I think the club will do what we did 30-odd years ago - we’ll ignore the noise and go with our gut instinct that this guy will get it done eventually.
I could be giving the board too much credit but they ought to be able to see that the job is a big one and a long term one.
True, I wasn’t thinking about that. It all goes out the window at that point, unless the new owners somehow take a learning from history.Board might not be the same if the club is sold
I don't think it's that straightforward to be honest, his ajax side got plenty of goals with arguably inferior personnel.I don't think we should sack him 7 games into the season. But he certainly isn't who we thought he was supposed to be -- the epitome of today's modern manager.
Seems like we have a modern version of LVG -- lots of possession but can't buy a goal if our life depended on it.
He needs to go back to the drawing board. Maybe his vision of modern-day football is missing a critical ingredient -- goals.
I just don’t think there is a fundamental problem. We have little problems aplenty but they are solvable without any radical changes. Selection is obviously going to be divisive when we are losing and l wouldn’t bother to suggest EtH is getting it “right”. But the team he picks on a given day is just a small part of the puzzle. It’s the big picture we need to be thinking about.Taking his role out of the "everyone at the club is shit" equation, I think his time might be up. What looked to be positive work last season has stalled and he has no solutions. We've come into this season with injuries that include players he's brought in when they were already injured, we are struggling to do the basics, we have no real Plan B when things aren't working. His man management is also frustrating. One minute I think he's doing the right thing (Ronaldo, Sancho spring to mind), but then the next he fecks things up like trying to force Mount and Fernandes together when it already hasn't worked this season, or playing Rashford at the expense of an improving and active Garnacho.
The problem is that I don't trust the board to find the right replacement, and even if they did I'm sure they'd find a way to sabotage him with their sheer incompetence. But one problem at a time...
Seems like even the match going fans have already seen enough which I am kinda surprised to see this quickly considering the backing the ole and moyes got at old Trafford during bad periods before they got sacked.
This was always going to be painful.
I just didn't expect fans to get all panicked and knee jerk after 7 games.
It isn't just this season, its how it went after the Carabao cup win. You said you expected him to win the next few games, or at least most. What's your expectation now? Brentford, Sheffield United to come before City in the league. If we don't get 6 points before City, will you be worried?
Its the same I think we really need 9 out of 12 pts minimum between the bayern loss and City game. And to win all other comp games too.It isn't just this season, its how it went after the Carabao cup win. You said you expected him to win the next few games, or at least most. What's your expectation now? Brentford, Sheffield United to come before City in the league. If we don't get 6 points before City, will you be worried?
We would have needed 12 point out of 12 from the Burnley, Palace, Sheffield and Brentford games, and that is not a tall order at all. These are all simple must win games.Its the same I think we really need 9 out of 12 pts minimum between the bayern loss and City game. And to win all other comp games too.
Its a tall order to be honest. But the thing with this manager is, I think he genuinely has pedigree and even the dutch fans warned us to be patient, that it would probably get ugly at moments before it really clicks. 7 games into the new season is just way too early for me.
Its never simple to win 4 on the bounce with games every 3 days when you're also still trying to find some chemistry among your own squad.We would have needed 12 point out of 12 from the Burnley, Palace, Sheffield and Brentford games, and that is not a tall order at all. These are all simple must win games.
9 points is already too few, losing at home to Palace after having already lost 3 of 6 games is just horrible.
Obviously it's way too early to call for the manager's head. But this, at the moment, is not good enough by far.
Ultimately, it boils down to points average. 12 points from those games would have brought us to 18 points, 9 games, 2 points per game, which would have meant our season was on track results-wise as it is a top 4 average.Its never simple to win 4 on the bounce with games every 3 days when you're also still trying to find some chemistry among your own squad.
If he comes out of this run having only the Palace game as a blip, it's a decent run for him.
There is always next year, hopefully ETH hasn't lost the dressing room. No Champion league and no Europa league, just Premier league, FA Cup and League Cup so ETH can get to get top 4. Best case scenario finish in the middle of the table. We are beginning to become like CP, Wolves, Everton, West Ham and etc. Let's see if Glazers want to be greedy and wait for the big offer. The shares probably continue dropping next week.
There is always next year, hopefully ETH hasn't lost the dressing room. No Champion league and no Europa league, just Premier league, FA Cup and League Cup so ETH can get to get top 4. Best case scenario finish in the middle of the table. We are beginning to become like CP, Wolves, Everton, West Ham and etc. Let's see if Glazers want to be greedy and wait for the big offer. The shares probably continue dropping next week.
For me it's a case of getting into a style of play that can be consistent. If we can muster this albeit belatedly then the results will come.Ultimately, it boils down to points average. 12 points from those games would have brought us to 18 points, 9 games, 2 points per game, which would have meant our season was on track results-wise as it is a top 4 average.
15 points from 9 games is a 6th-7th place average. And we haven't won those remaining 2 yet.
You are right that it makes little sense to get hung up on a single result, we might win the City game who knows, but the poor results have piled on recently and as a whole the situation is not good.
But what are the awful seasons caused by? Then only ever happen when a manager has had a ‘good’ season previously and he’s been allowed to bring in yet more of his own players. The Glazers didn’t sign Mount this summer but they gave Ten Hag and Murtough a shit load of money to spend on players that aren’t good enough it seems. Any other club would sack their manager and not find excuses to constantly defend the manager when he isn’t doing his job well enough.It is a collective issue. Manager can't hide behind glazers, same way players can't hide behind manager but ultimately we have an awful structure. We should win games and will finish 3rd 4th here and there but we also seem to have these awful seasons.
