Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

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doubt the owners want to spend the money right now to sack him and bring someone else in. Nothing prob going to happen until the sale goes thru, if it ever does.
 
I’d be inclined to go with Rúben Amorim based on the very fact Zizou has said he doesn’t want to manage in the PL if I remember correctly.

That being said if Zizou did come in, he’d instantly get respect from the players & would be my #1 choice by far.
Yeah there's no chance Zidane would join.
 
6 months at best.

With Ralf it was 20 mins.
ETH got 6 to 8 months.

The absolute state of the place, but we're back to the new manager placebo again. So all is good until these bunch of gowls decide they don't want to put in a shift anymore. And rinse and repeat.

Massive clearout required, it's not just an ability thing, it's a mentality thing. 90% of this squad aren't good enough ability wise. But they're also not mentally strong enough to deal with the pressure and expectation that comes with playing for Utd.

People just need to accept that unless this squad is gutted and a proper development plan put in place that's going to take a few years to rebuild, then we're just going to continue to go around in circles.

The club had to get rid of more players this summer, regardless of whatever you think about the new signings that came in. Players like Maguire and McTominay have been here for 5 or more seasons, have had numerous managers, and have no place in a title winning team. I understand the club didn't want to be rinsed by insulting offers but they simply had to go.

I mean, in a way, as horrible as it sounds, if you're a player who has been here for 5 seasons, seen numerous manager changes, you're going to think to yourself 'if i can get this manager gone, i can revive my career here or get away with it a bit longer'. Luke Shaw practically admitted that he knew he'd "outlast" Jose at United in what I thought was a truly disgraceful comment but that's the nature of the culture here.

Exactly my thought. Till the rot at the club is not cleared and club set in right direction, no manager will succeed. The player power need to be curbed.
 
Seems like it's the end for him. Fulham and Copenhagen away, Luton at home before the international break... I guess those are 3 fixtures that we really should be getting max points from so no excuses there. But the run late November to the new year is a rough one for us. Can see them wanting to replace him during a break. So it's either now if we lose 2 of the next 3, or it'll happen in the new year.

Either way... I hope we don't hire a full time guy. Or any big contract. That should be left for Ratcliffe's people to decide, if they are coming in. Otherwise it's just recklessly throwing away money.
 
But it could well be that the job is too big for him. I wanted here, like so many others, but he looks absolutely overwhelmed, and because of how he alienated portions of the squad, he's created rifts where the squaddies aren't playing for him, which gives him little to nowhere to turn to i.e. a sinking ship that he more than likely doesn't have the means to get to the proverbial port anymore.

Separate from anything else, he is being outcoached by every team we face. That is the biggest alarm bell of all; the football he is playing, and then his in-game management have been appalling. I don't know what you refer to by courage, but in the cerebral back and forths between he and other managers, he is being dragged from pillar to post. Slow to recognise danger, very slow to address tactical amendments, and even when he does, his substitutions have been horrendous. We can look at everything else, but the bottom line at the moment is his ideas are not translating to English football, and without hero bailouts (Rashford's super streak), we look lost.

Because he hasn't implemented a workable and transferable system, the players always look like strangers who have just met one another. Always, even on good days, our football is disjointed and has sporadically successful moments, rather than fluid halves of football.

There is nothing to actually back with ten Hag:

personnel - dire. He doesn't even trust his own purchases by now;

implementation of any kind of system - absent, we play the worst football in the league sans only Everton and Luton now;

squad management and motivation - he created a rift that has caused him to lose the squad, those he favours are all out of confidence;

preparedness - most of us have been alarmed since preseason at just how unprepared we are for the challenges we face. He either underestimates the league or just doesn't get it;

There's nowhere to turn and state he's even mediocre; it's been a capitulation. An awful formation idea (Casemiro-Mount-Bruno) put us on the backfoot from the outset, and everything has conpounded since then.

With the best will in the world, I don't know how he turns this around. People calling him pragmatic, but he doesn't seem to have any idea how to be pragmatic, because the first thing a pragmatist would do is secure his base (midfield), which is what all great coaches fix before anything else.

It's looking increasingly like he cannot set up an underdog team in this league. At Ajax, they were overwhelmingly better players than the rest of the league, but we don't have that, not even close and it looks like he cannot adapt or cope under the circumstances he's mostly created for himself.

There's a lot here to pick from. I'll start with the point about alienating part of the squad. That is squarely on the club. A manager at United needs to be backed 100% and every player needs to know that. It is on the club that they did not shift the players the club briefed the media about a few times over summer - they were said to be available and a wishlist of fees was even reported. That invites toxicity and lo and behold, it turned toxic.

Rashford hero-ball. Well, up until the League Cup final last season the team was starting to look good and it wasn't just about Rashford.

About not picking his own players. I suspect Casemiro was a club decision and a club suggestion and Erik could say yes or no. I doubt Erik asked for him to get a mega 4 year deal and I doubt Erik negotiated his transfer fee. With Eriksen I suspect he was the manager's suggestion and I questioned it at the time due to his age, his wages and him playing in Bruno's position. But as the season wore on him and Casemiro transformed our way of playing, though they were short-term solutions to problems we've had for a decade.

He's played pretty much all of the players he's bought. Antony has obviously got a situation affecting him outside of football and that's why he was away too for a fair bit. He's nowhere near worth what we paid but he's also got some attributes that worked for us last season though he is an incredibly frustrating player to watch. Malacia is injured, as is Martinez, the latter of whom is absolutely fundamental to our playing out from the back. Onana plays, he protects Hojlund so as not to run his only striker into the ground who arrived injured. So I'm not sure what you mean when you say he doesn't trust his own players. Maybe it's Mount? He was obviously injured too, and then sat on the bench for two matches before getting a start last night.

He's obviously got a major issue in figuring out the midfield.

With regards to coaching and being out-coached. I think last season is still catching up with the team as is our non-sporting-related pre-season. Erik should have spoken to the club and demanded a sporting-related pre-season as it was imperative to get his methods across in a season where we are only ever training for specific matches as there is no extra time available. This is also a problem of expectations. If you get a new manager who is meant to completly overhaul the way the team plays he cannot at the same time be expected to guarantee results. However he probably defied expectations last season where we made more progress in terms of results than in terms of performances (I'd have much preferred the latter, for long-term gain). This is where I'll criticise him also, as he's continually spoken about standards in trying to overhaul the anti-meritocracy culture at the club, and say things like "United has to win every game". He'd have been much better served by talking about performances and tactical execution, and stressing that when that starts to function properly the results will follow but that it may take time and some players will have to prove they can manage this.

My issue with his lack of courage has to do with reverting back to the team's original underdog football, or closer to it, to accommodate players who have likely shown that they aren't cut out for his tactical style. As well as not selecting the younger players who gave him the only good performance of the season and who are still young enough to be developed and moulded for the style he wants to pursue and have the hunger we see sorely lacking in the wasters clogging our team. One more issue I have with his lack of courage and that's him not being bullish with the media, but instead elaborating on and on about certain things he's asked when a simple "go feck yourself" in coded language would suffice. It's not like he's got friends out there, they have smelled blood all season and are gleefully piling on.

I hope he continues to select Garnacho and Mejbri, I would love to see him use Pellistri (and Amad when fit), Garnacho will actually put in dangerous balls for Hojlund. I would very much like to see a midfield of Mainoo, Mejbri and Mount. I would like to think that he has told the club which players need to be shifted in January and that he simply must have a centre back who can play a high line.

Generally I want him to reclaim his own dignity. This club can ruin anyone. I hope it doesn't ruin him. With a partial sale in process there is absolutely no point in changing manager right now. So he'll need to be given authority and he'll need to believe in it himself. Probably helpful to trust the instinct that a lot of these players are cnuts.
 
https://x.com/UtdDistrict/status/1720056894847365595?s=20

#mufc have insisted every permanent signing was on their scouting radar separately from Ten Hag’s desire to recruit them. [@MelissaReddy_]

Turns out the signings weren’t all his decision after all?

I dont know what the truth is, but if it was the case that the club actually was heavily involved in identifying players (who knows, maybe the club made the decision to get players ETH had worked with), it makes an awful lot of people attacking ETH for the signings look quite thick.
 
Just forget about Zidane. Is this Ruben Amorim any good? First time I've heard of him tbh.

That's why I always laugh when all these fans claim that there's "no other managers out there who are any good" which is just absolute rubbish. There are talented managers out there, just like there are talented strikers who are not named Kane or Haaland. That's why there are people who are paid to make these big decisions when it comes to scouting new talent, whether that's players or managers. On a planet of 7 billion+ people, I'm sure that there are more than 4 or 5 possible people who could do a better joke than Erik is doing.

I'll be disappointed if he does have to go, but his ideas don't seem to be working. If anything, he seems to be getting his wires more and more crossed. The plan doesn't seem as clear anymore and the performances are shocking. The results don't lie and it's been a dismal season.
 
https://x.com/UtdDistrict/status/1720056894847365595?s=20

#mufc have insisted every permanent signing was on their scouting radar separately from Ten Hag’s desire to recruit them. [@MelissaReddy_]

Turns out the signings weren’t all his decision after all?
Well moreso that we weren't signing players the scouting department had never heard of. Reports were that the scouts didn't particularly rate Antony, yet we spent big money on him. I think it's been pretty evident that ETH has been the major driving force in our transfer activity.

One signing in particular that was definitely earmarked as more of a club signing was Casemiro. Given the change in profile from FDJ, it's pretty obvious the strategy isn't all that lined up.
 


So, the Glazers are about to sell 25% to Sir Jim and Ineos with them taking control over the sporting side of the business. The people in charge today, Arnold, Murtough, etc, who probably will be replaced by Sir Jim and Ineos, are the ones making that huge decision on ten Hag.

Yeah right :lol:
 
That's why I always laugh when all these fans claim that there's "no other managers out there who are any good" which is just absolute rubbish. There are talented managers out there, just like there are talented strikers who are not named Kane or Haaland. That's why there are people who are paid to make these big decisions when it comes to scouting new talent, whether that's players or managers. On a planet of 7 billion+ people, I'm sure that there are more than 4 or 5 possible people who could do a better joke than Erik is doing.

I'll be disappointed if he does have to go, but his ideas don't seem to be working. If anything, he seems to be getting his wires more and more crossed. The plan doesn't seem as clear anymore and the performances are shocking. The results don't lie and it's been a dismal season.
So is that guy any good? If yes would he like to come here now?
 
Who’s defending him? His Ajax team played similar to peps.

Ajax were a team that dominated possession domestically prior to him even coming in. That was something he inherited, and he brought quick transitional play. Look at the stats in their CL run where he won plaudits and they often had less possession against the other teams.

Regardless of all that, I can see with my own eyes that his football is nothing like Peps. I think he's tried to steal a couple of aspects since he's been here and poorly implemented them and given up. But I remember posters claiming he was a mix of Klopp and Pep when we brought him in. Looks a laughable comparison to make. It's one thing doing it in Eredivisie, but doing it in the PL is a different matter. And ETH has chopped and changed his system so much now that its safe to say he's not having success in implementing his ideas. I've not heard a single pundit, poster, journo, supporter be and to define exactly what his style of play is. In fact that's the one thing everyone agrees on, they don't even know what he's trying to do. That says it all.
 
I dont know what the truth is, but if it was the case that the club actually was heavily involved in identifying players (who knows, maybe the club made the decision to get players ETH had worked with), it makes an awful lot of people attacking ETH for the signings look quite thick.
Being on the club's radar doesn't equate to being heavily involved in transfers. One positive in Martinez and a negative with Antony. I've got no doubt the scouts would have had reports on both of these players, who are relatively young, playing in the CL for a big team like Ajax and some caps for big international countries. If we're being honest, if ETH is not in charge, I think it's unlikely we sign Martinez and we're definitely not signing Antony for the fee we paid.

It's been pretty heavily reported that ETH wanted major influence in transfers and so he should be criticised for that even if we can all agree that the club should be taking on the bulk of that responsibility.
 
Has anybody ever come back from this point? huge speculation over their future to the point alternate names are now coming out in the news? surely just a matter of time this

The club get a lot wrong, infact its a circus but ETH was given a lot of money and those players are obviously his choice he’s worked with most of them. That’s his downfall the signings, which he didn’t have to make at Ajax btw are piss poor.
 
Has anybody ever come back from this point? huge speculation over their future to the point alternate names are now coming out in the news? surely just a matter of time this
Arteta. I wasn't following but remember reading an article about 5 candidates to replace him back then I think. Funnily enough ETH was one of those :D
 
If there's any truth in this you have to question why he's openly going to war with a squad he doesn't rate but then has to play. Mitten said today that the comments of "Eriksen came on because we needed more football" went down like a lead balloon with the players. He's obviously pushing buttons at this point.

He's severely lacking in self awareness. Some of us have been saying it for some time. Whether you agree on Sancho, he handled it horribly. De Gea and Maguire also very poorly handled. It was only ever going one way and I've said many times he'll lose the players. Not only that but his bull shit excuses like "the players didn't follow the rules" etc every time we play bad or lose. He's so far to his own arse that he can't realise he's part of the problem.

Not only that but his English is terrible and he's a complete personality vacuum. It's really no surprise that the players are struggling.
 
Has anybody ever come back from this point? huge speculation over their future to the point alternate names are now coming out in the news? surely just a matter of time this

The club get a lot wrong, infact its a circus but ETH was given a lot of money and those players are obviously his choice he’s worked with most of them. That’s his downfall the signings, which he didn’t have to make at Ajax btw are piss poor.
I don't recall the results or performances being quite as bad but there were big question marks on Arteta after his first full season if I remember correctly.
 
He won’t be gone until INEOS take control. I think it will then be deemed mutual when they take his veto for signings that he insisted on away from him.
Supposedly has clauses in his contract over control over certain things.
 
If he's going I'd rather someone with PL experience.

But what's anyone supposed to do with this squad and set up anyway? I could see alot of managers turning us down.
 
He won’t be gone until INEOS take control. I think it will then be deemed mutual when they take his veto for signings that he insisted on away from him.
INOS taking control could be months away though, as much as it should be their decision, the way things are going, the decision will need to be made much sooner.
 
While this is all well and good, if it's not Ineos' people driving this search, why the feck aren't they thinking about the club structure? If ETH is on thin ice, why the feck has Murtough not already fallen through it? It would be farcical of us to sack him, Murtough appoint someone else for the Ineos team to come in and have their view after. The sooner the get control of the footballing operations the better. Even if we lose to Luton, I don't want Murtough and co to be making any significant decisions.
Totally agree. Though I think Murtough Arnold and co are already done. They are just about seeing out this season.
 
INOS taking control could be months away though, as much as it should be their decision, the way things are going, the decision will need to be made much sooner.
Who in their right mind is going to come in knowing the person that appointed them will likely be sacked in weeks/months and the new crew may not want them? Nobody in a current job that’s for sure.
 
Ideally a new CEO, a proper DoF and a new manager come in at the same time.

Just a new manager continues the cycle of enabling player power. The players know the Glazers are passive dumbfecks who dole out money like there’s no tomorrow but wont spend it on a management structure that will change things.
 
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