Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

[kouroux]

No more so than Antony or Onana will go down as flops, but many have already made their minds up there.

Antony is a fairly safe assumption, Onana is more difficult to call

 

[Raoul]

Martinez - great
Casemiro - good when fit
Malacia - decent backup
Eriksen - great when fit
Antony - jury’s out
Onana - jury’s out
Hojlund - will be great
Amrabat - looks to be getting up to speed now
Mount - god knows what he saw here tbf

We overpaid for a few of those but the last time I checked that isn’t Ten Hags fault. I would also add that a lot of the time he’s had to take emergency loans like Reguilon, Sabitzer, Weghorst as well because the club is so badly run.

Many of the players signed have had long term injuries, and the ones that haven’t even arrived injured like Amrabat and Hojlund. Martinez, Casemiro, Malacia, Mount and Eriksen are all currently unavailable. How is he meant to get the remainder of what’s left playing with any sort of cohesion in that state?

Only thing I’d blame him for is picking Scott in midfield when it’s obviously costing us.

They're all terrible except Martinez, particularly when you factor in how much they cost. Casemiro is a short term player who although very good at times, is on the cusp of being over the hill. Antony has been poor, Onana has spare one or two moments, vacillated from terrible to mediocre. Hojlund, there' zero evidence he's any good so far. Mount, a decent player, but that's about all and certainly not anywhere close to as good as his price tag suggests.

 

[My only Eric]

I feel like in some not too distant future after he’s gone, even his most loyal fan will mock his one man midfield tactic.

 

[The Mitcher]

nonsense, LVG had us well trained with a clear style, they’re totally different.

We weren't actually. In his first season we went through many different systems, his 3 at the back failed at first, then he went to a diamond, then to a 4-3-3 that Mourinho destroyed. Then he tried sonething crazy the season after, promoting crap players like Blackett, McNair and Donald Love. Once again trying 3 at the back, then ended with a 4231 before getting sacked.

 

[The_Midfielder]

Is he still around?
Why , how are we so open?
Do we really need a midfielder to play as a CF
What about the 70M striker ?
What about the 100M winger ?

 

[2 man midfield]

The guy hasn't scored a single league goal yet and we're at December.

He’s 20. He’s also got 5 in the champions league.

It’s not happening for him in the league for some reason, but again - he’s 20. He wasn’t meant to be the main man, and ideally he wouldn’t be. The club wanted Kane as first choice by all accounts.

 

[Jev]

He’s 20. He’s also got 5 in the champions league.

It’s not happening for him in the league for some reason, but again - he’s 20. He wasn’t meant to be the main man, and ideally he wouldn’t be. The club wanted Kane as first choice by all accounts.

By the time we signed him, we knew we signed him as our main striker. That’s not Højlund’s fault but it was clearly a mistake.

 

[el3mel]

He’s 20. He’s also got 5 in the champions league.

It’s not happening for him in the league for some reason, but again - he’s 20. He wasn’t meant to be the main man, and ideally he wouldn’t be. The club wanted Kane as first choice by all accounts.

That's not really an excuse though. I can accept inconsistency at this age but not complete lack of goals in the league like this.

 

[VivaRonaldo85]

Knocked out of Europe and a comfortable defeat at anfield next week and I imagine that will be the end.

 

[2 man midfield]

nonsense, LVG had us well trained with a clear style, they’re totally different.

2016 was a long time ago so I can forgive the revisionism to an extent - but he definitely did not have us well trained. We didn’t even have a clear style beyond boring the fecking pants off everyone.

 

[2 man midfield]

That's not really an excuse though. I can accept inconsistency at this age but not complete lack of goals in the league like this.

It’s not an excuse, just a fact. We definitely need another striker, we all said in the summer that one wouldn’t be enough. The squad is very lopsided.

 

[Scorpy]

Can’t believe he’ll survive this too. This club is rotten.

 

[mintyred]

We weren't actually. In his first season we went through many different systems, his 3 at the back failed at first, then he went to a diamond, then to a 4-3-3 that Mourinho destroyed. Then he tried sonething crazy the season after, promoting crap players like Blackett, McNair and Donald Love. Once again trying 3 at the back, then ended with a 4231 before getting sacked.

Whilst we had used different formations we did have a clear style of play. Come on.

 

[The Mitcher]

He’s 20. He’s also got 5 in the champions league.

It’s not happening for him in the league for some reason, but again - he’s 20. He wasn’t meant to be the main man, and ideally he wouldn’t be. The club wanted Kane as first choice by all accounts.

5 in champions league games against inferior opposition we still lost to and a Bayern that somehow let us score 3 past them. In the competition where it matters most he has failed to score where more hated players like Bruno, McTominay, Martial and Maguire have scored more.

 

[2 man midfield]

By the time we signed him, we knew we signed him as our main striker. That’s not Højlund’s fault but it was clearly a mistake.

Which was mad, everyone could see we needed another striker. But we also needed another midfielder, and only managed to get Amrabat over the line due to some FFP loan feckery. Simply put, we didn’t have the cash nor the FFP allowance to sign both, because the club has been run as a dumpster fire for 10 years and we can’t sell anyone.

 

[The Mitcher]

Whilst we had used different formations we did have a clear style of play. Come on.

Our style of play was totally different in those formations. We were more direct up until the Leicester match, then slightly more possession based with that 4-3-3. Didn't know WHAT he was trying to with the 3 at the back that constantly put us under the cosh. The 4231 was possession for possession's sake and we failed to create chances.

 

[Suv666]

Mount signing alone was a sackable offence.
I’ve never seen such an obvious blunder.
He isn’t that good. But more importantly we didn’t have the space to accommodate him.
Every Utd fan saw it coming how delusional must you be to think it’s a good transfer.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Yes the absolute shit style of doing feck all with 70% possession of the ball. The biggest similarities are the inability to create and score.

As opposed to no style, no possession & alongside an inability to create & score a porous defence.

It’s become en vogue to shit on LvG but feck me he’s the last manager with a consistent philosophy. It was flawed but it was never this bad.

 

[2 man midfield]

5 in champions league games against inferior opposition we still lost to, or to a Bayern that somehow let us score 3 past them. In the competition where it matters most he has failed to score where more hated players like Bruno, McTominay, Martial and Maguire have scored more.

Right? Again, he’s 20. In an ideal world he’d be playing 20 games this season and watching on as Harry Kane shows him the ropes. We’re building for the future, and these things take time. What other striker should we have gone for, and how do you propose we sign them?

 

[The Mitcher]

Mount signing alone was a sackable offence.
I’ve never seen such an obvious blunder.
He isn’t that good. But more importantly we didn’t have the space to accommodate him.
Every Utd fan saw it coming how delusional must you be to think it’s a good transfer.

All United fans except his cult followers and Statman Dave.

 

[Zlatan 7]

I don't think last year we played quite the same way, and there were mitigating circumstances with the squad limiting him in terms of what we assumed he wanted to do. Fair enough, you give allowances. But we didn't abandon the midfield last season and just leave 1 player to handle all deep build up alone, for one. We did share that with Casemiro and Eriksen mostly, which made it easier for us to move through the lines.

It was nothing amazing, but it was much more functional than now, and with better players to enable taking the next steps tactically, we should've seen a big step up.

Instead we've repeatedly seen us completely out coached. I don't buy this shit about players losing the manager or not working hard. Players aren't that dumb, and professionals don't just give up (for the most part). They'll work hard, but you subconsciously lose belief when you find yourself repeatedly in bad positions and chasing back, covering too much ground to close down, surrounded by too many players, having to work too hard to actually pass the ball through the lines and not having easy to use options.... It's all coaching. They'll get frustrated and it makes them look worse than they are. Some things ok, yeah, some players lack some basic skills and some players make brain dead decisions. But those are reduced through good coaching and easier to spot. This is repeated patterns of tactical failure.

your last paragraph I can’t agree more with, it’s not a case of downing tools but it’s the natural feeling of losing some belief in what you’re doing. Realising you’re running around like headless chickens and your head dropping as a result no matter how had you’re trying. That’s why I said a few posts ago that I think someone with better man management skills that could galvanise the squad and set them up tactically better and we would see a different side to these players.

I’m gutted it’s gone this way with ten hag as even though I knew hardly anything about him before he came bar some Ajax champions league games I could see how other posters were raving about him, honestly though and you would probably know, I haven’t been all that happy since half way through last season, I gave him the pass last year as we had a crazy fixture schedule, but this year it’s got worse. I’ve no idea why he’s actively made it worse by changing it so drastically when it’s clear it’s not working and we’re open as feck but I keep hoping it’ll change. But ultimately I don’t think he has the skills to win over the dressing room, whether that’s his team/man management or his tactics.

 

[Oldyella]

That's not really an excuse though. I can accept inconsistency at this age but not complete lack of goals in the league like this.

In fairness, he should have at least one after today but for Dalot's brainless shot.

 

[iKeano]

Mount signing alone was a sackable offence.
I’ve never seen such an obvious blunder.
He isn’t that good. But more importantly we didn’t have the space to accommodate him.
Every Utd fan saw it coming how delusional must you be to think it’s a good transfer.

Exactly. Chelsea finished 12th last season & deemed him surplus to requirement. How anyone thought he would bolster our midfield is nuts.

 

[Jev]

Which was mad, everyone could see we needed another striker. But we also needed another midfielder, and only managed to get Amrabat over the line due to some FFP loan feckery. Simply put, we didn’t have the cash nor the FFP allowance to sign both, because the club has been run as a dumpster fire for 10 years and we can’t sell anyone.

True. But it’s very hard to argue that Højlund wasn’t the wrong player to buy given our circumstances. He’s a player you buy to bed him in while he learns from a better senior striker. Signing such a raw player as our main striker at a hugely inflated price was absolute madness. Surely 70 million pounds can still buy you a more finished striker.

 

[acnumber9]

Everyone raved about McTominay & Amrabat after mid week’s game. If they’d been left out today he’d have been criticised as well.

But his team selections shouldn’t be a popularity contest. He makes the same suicidal mistakes every time we play.

 

[honirelandboy]

Martinez - great
Casemiro - good when fit
Malacia - decent backup
Eriksen - great when fit
Antony - jury’s out
Onana - jury’s out
Hojlund - will be great
Amrabat - looks to be getting up to speed now
Mount - god knows what he saw here tbf

We overpaid for a few of those but the last time I checked that isn’t Ten Hags fault. I would also add that a lot of the time he’s had to take emergency loans like Reguilon, Sabitzer, Weghorst as well because the club is so badly run.

Many of the players signed have had long term injuries, and the ones that haven’t even arrived injured like Amrabat and Hojlund. Martinez, Casemiro, Malacia, Mount and Eriksen are all currently unavailable. How is he meant to get the remainder of what’s left playing with any sort of cohesion in that state?

Only thing I’d blame him for is picking Scott in midfield when it’s obviously costing us.

Signings have been really bad, worse than oles. Not one of them have improved the team and not one of them are automatic starters. Should of signing three world class players for 400 million who would be automatic starters and one of them should of been Rice.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

All United fans except his cult followers and Statman Dave.

"If Ten Hag wants to buy him, who are you to say that Mount is not what we need?"

 

[2 man midfield]

True. But it’s very hard to argue that Højlund wasn’t the wrong player to buy given our circumstances. He’s a player you buy to bed him in while he learns from a better senior striker. Signing such a raw player as our main striker at a hugely inflated price was absolute madness. Surely 70 million pounds can still buy you a more finished striker.

Like who though? Harry Kane was the only other striker on the market last summer and we tried our best to sign him, spurs weren’t having it. Other than him who was there?

I remember last January saying we should sign Taremi from Porto, someone with a great track record at a decent age who wouldn’t cost the earth. I’m assuming we scoured Europe for a while before opting for a 20 year old who’d scored 9 goals in serie A. If someone better was available, surely that’s who we’d have got.

 

[groovyalbert]

Signings have been really bad, worse than oles. Not one of them have improved the team and not one of them are automatic starters. Should of signing three world class players for 400 million who would be automatic starters and one of them should of been Rice.

Cademiro, Martinez and Eriksen all immediately improve the team when fit. The rest have been dogshite and Hojlund will be a good signing but not what we needed for now. We needed an immediate fix.

 

[el3mel]

It’s not an excuse, just a fact. We definitely need another striker, we all said in the summer that one wouldn’t be enough. The squad is very lopsided.

What I said is also a fact.

 

[ItDoesntEvenMata]

Like who though? Harry Kane was the only other striker on the market last summer and we tried our best to sign him, spurs weren’t having it. Other than him who was there?

I remember last January saying we should sign Taremi from Porto, someone with a great track record at a decent age who wouldn’t cost the earth. I’m assuming we scoured Europe for a while before opting for a 20 year old who’d scored 9 goals in serie A. If someone better was available, surely that’s who we’d have got.

There were several who'd have been a sounder bet - considering the amount we spent on Onana, when we could have kept Dave and arguably Mount (even though I was keen at the time). We could have gone and pushed for Osimhen at the Hojlund + Onana price.

 

[simonhch]

A 3-0 home defeat to fecking Bournemouth is an immediately sackable offence. Absolute disgrace.

 

[Sarni]

You lot are so ungrateful. He single handedly won us a historic major trophy last year and beat Chelsea during the week.

 

[Jev]

Like who though? Harry Kane was the only other striker on the market last summer and we tried our best to sign him, spurs weren’t having it. Other than him who was there?

I remember last January saying we should sign Taremi from Porto, someone with a great track record at a decent age who wouldn’t cost the earth. I’m assuming we scoured Europe for a while before opting for a 20 year old who’d scored 9 goals in serie A. If someone better was available, surely that’s who we’d have got.

Goncalo Ramos, for instance, was signed after we signed Højlund, for less money. I simply don’t buy the idea that 70 million couldn’t have gotten us a more finished article. If it was absolutely indisputable that Højlund was a diamond in the rough, it might have made sense. But this is a FC Copenhagen reject with one good season under his belt.

 

[Lay]

Imagine thinking the recruitment has been anything but shambolic.

 

[2 man midfield]

Signings have been really bad, worse than oles. Not one of them have improved the team and not one of them are automatic starters. Should of signing three world class players for 400 million who would be automatic starters and one of them should of been Rice.

I dunno, Ole had some shit ones too. His second window was it?

Van De Beek
Telles
Amad
Pellestri
Cavani

Every manager has their share of duds. Pep signed Bravo, but was allowed to feck him off after one season and get Ederson. He’s also signed about 8 full backs for 50m. But his hit rate has improved a lot as his time at city has gone on because it’s now his team and it just needs minor tweaks.

 

[Sanchez7]

Right? Again, he’s 20. In an ideal world he’d be playing 20 games this season and watching on as Harry Kane shows him the ropes. We’re building for the future, and these things take time. What other striker should we have gone for, and how do you propose we sign them?

On one hand we are supposedly building for the future with Hojlund signing while also signing Casemiro who was clearly a short term fix. Is it not the manager's responsibility to build a balanced team?

All these excuses for a man who has committed error after error. Not winning games is acceptable if there is progression and no one is expecting a title charge but we have been getting outplayed from the first game of the season v/s Wolves. Only exception being Palace in the cup and Chelsea (says more about them).

 

[TsuWave]

A 3-0 home defeat to fecking Bournemouth is an immediately sackable offence. Absolute disgrace.

Exactly, I don't even know what people are waffling about. What the feck is going on?

 

[2 man midfield]

There were several who'd have been a sounder bet - considering the amount we spent on Onana, when we could have kept Dave and arguably Mount (even though I was keen at the time). We could have gone and pushed for Osimhen at the Hojlund + Onana price.

Osimhen signed a new deal didn’t he? Napoli said there was no chance of him leaving last summer

 

[ItDoesntEvenMata]

I dunno, Ole had some shit ones too. His second window was it?

Van De Beek
Telles
Amad
Pellestri
Cavani

Every manager has their share of duds. Pep signed Bravo, but was allowed to feck him off after one season and get Ederson. He’s also signed about 8 full backs for 50m. But his hit rate has improved a lot as his time at city has gone on because it’s now his team and it just needs minor tweaks.

To be fair, Amad and Pellestri were last minute panic signings because we flopped on Sancho - and Amad looks like he's got a big future with us. Telles was far better than Reguilon or Malacia have appeared to be. Ole clearly didn't want Donny.

Cavani, not sure what the beef would be there. He scored 17 goals in his first season and was brilliant when he played. Completely done out by the return of Ronnie but he's been our second best striker, Zlatan aside, since Fergie retired for me