Ironically it’s something you’d expect a Spurs manager to say.
Such a small-time mentality.
Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24
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Among all the deluded ETH fanatics he’s on a different planet to all of them.
You cannot expect to win the midfield battle against ANY team in the PL with Bruno, Eriksen and Mainoo. That midfield is among the slowest and weakest ever fielded by us. No wonder we get cut right through, can't win the ball back and dominate.
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No, you're just hoping that sacking the manager will be a quick, simple solution to making these players perform again. It won't. He's not "the problem". The players just aren't good enough. Sacking Ten Hag at this point won't make a cnuthair of a difference to our season.
That doesn't mean he's "the right guy for the job", by the way. I have no idea whether he is, and frankly, at the moment, it's not looking good.
Only slightly better than Eddie Howe's "nobody will do us a favour and loan us a player this month"
Such a small-time mentality.
And that's the last we thing we need. No more messiahs who become cult leaders for our fanbase. I'd just hire and fire 3-4 managers in quick succession for the fun of it just to piss off/disenfranchise the majority of our fanbase, which will help move the club into the 21st century.
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There's really not much in it. Our name's are bigger but are they better? Look how bad Rashford is.
But it's no excuse for ETH. He's had enough money to sort this and there aren't that many injuries anymore.
Playing Eriksen in the first place, and then not subbing him at half time was a major blunder. Cost us 2 points.
He has more than enough players healthy and no excuse against a decimated, young Spurs team on the road. It's becoming clear that ETH is not the right manager due to a combination of:
1. Stubborn tactical decisions
2. Inability to build a mentally strong squad
3. Horrible squad building itself
He has more than enough players healthy and no excuse against a decimated, young Spurs team on the road. It's becoming clear that ETH is not the right manager due to a combination of:
1. Stubborn tactical decisions
2. Inability to build a mentally strong squad
3. Horrible squad building itself
If he was here half a season, with SJR taking over, I’d be hopeful that we could still see an upturn in our playing style.
Unfortunately, at this stage, I think ETH is stuck in a rut with no likelihood that he’s suddenly going to be able to impose a new style of play on the team.
Give him to the end of the season, as it’s gone anyway, and appoint a replacement then unless something magical happens in the meantime.
Unfortunately, at this stage, I think ETH is stuck in a rut with no likelihood that he’s suddenly going to be able to impose a new style of play on the team.
Give him to the end of the season, as it’s gone anyway, and appoint a replacement then unless something magical happens in the meantime.
Literally no point in going to get an Ajax coach if he was planning to abandon all principles. Terrible team he’s built. Tries to play a game of chance rather than control. His team makes too few passes. He regularly lines up with a midfield where two of his three midfielders (Fernandes and McTominay) have no fundamental midfield skills and are effectively strikers. He says we don’t have the players to pass and move despite him assembling this unit himself.
He has not shown that he can coach a side to consistently score goals at this level and I’ll say again what I said a few months ago, Solskjaer was better than this guy. And comfortably so in my opinion. He had us scoring goals at least, and going toe to toe with the best quite often - taking the game to them not just some braveheart effort either.
My position, although I have seen little to no encouragement at all, is that I will give Ten Hag until he has his squad available before I finally condemn him. But I am massively concerned. We are being caught and overtaken by too many teams and coaches in this league now. Too many are surpassing us, and instead of us trying to close the gap on one or two, we’re being left by 5 or 6. Coaches are coming in elsewhere and sorting their shit out in no time at all. This game of chance team he has created to almost certainly cater to Bruno and Rashford will not win big trophies. Any plan he thinks he has that involves Scott Mctominay playing in midfield for us will not win us trophies either.
He has not shown that he can coach a side to consistently score goals at this level and I’ll say again what I said a few months ago, Solskjaer was better than this guy. And comfortably so in my opinion. He had us scoring goals at least, and going toe to toe with the best quite often - taking the game to them not just some braveheart effort either.
My position, although I have seen little to no encouragement at all, is that I will give Ten Hag until he has his squad available before I finally condemn him. But I am massively concerned. We are being caught and overtaken by too many teams and coaches in this league now. Too many are surpassing us, and instead of us trying to close the gap on one or two, we’re being left by 5 or 6. Coaches are coming in elsewhere and sorting their shit out in no time at all. This game of chance team he has created to almost certainly cater to Bruno and Rashford will not win big trophies. Any plan he thinks he has that involves Scott Mctominay playing in midfield for us will not win us trophies either.
Wasn't the other option McT? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
These players are far better than what these wide open tactics are making them appear.
there is no way that Johnson, richarlison and Werner are a better front 3 than what we started.
As I’ve said our fans turned their nose up at potentially signing hojlberg and they had fecking skipp in there with him.
you put those 5 in Utd shirts and they would be called the shittest players we’ve ever had and used as an excuse to defend the manager
Sometimes you have to ignore current level of players and look at their more typical level because of the situation of the team. You mention Rashford, but his comparison to Spurs today is Werner. Rashford played better than Werner today and has always been a much better player. Garnacho is a much better player than Brennan Johnson, and played much better today. Hojlund vs Richarlison, again, Hojlund played better of the 2 today IMO, while in general there isn't a whole lot between the current level of the 2.
In midfield, they had fecking Oli Skipp who is beyond average out there. Bentancur is a good player sure, but Skipp is mediocre Hojbjorg is decent but average, and Bentancur is good. I'd take Bentancur over Eriksen but Mainoo and Bruno easily ahead of Hojbjorg and Skipp.
At the back, I'd take Van de Ven, Romero and Udogie over our CB's and LB today obviously. Dalot is a better right back than Porro for me though, and again, he put in a better performance IMO. The way I saw the game today is that they had probably a handful of players who individually played better than the counter parts in the United team while we had more players who did better on an individual level, but as a team they far outplayed us. Nothing screams coaching differences more than that (other than the never ending relegation level set pieces we see from United (at both ends) while Spurs are a well coached set piece side as well, like all good sides have to be).
Was saying this last season too. The best thing that can happen is to do that, and remove 'the manager' from 'support the club, and the manager'.
He is a mid-manager, there to coach the players and make tactics, not a mythical figure that must be worshipped.
We’re still in the Top 10. So, let’s give him a 3-year extension and 1 billion to spend.
They aren't going to be a messiah, but the manager is always the face of the project. City have a great project, but Pep is the face of it. The manager is ultimately the most important one as well, they shouldn't run the recruitment but they have to manage the people and implement the system of play. You can have everything right, but if your manager is not good enough then you won't be good enough as a team.
Ratcliffe needs to set the structure first and the new structure needs to make an appointment that can coach us properly. That is still the biggest decision even if they do perfectly with everything else.
Anonymise the role. Ban all public appearances, press conferences etc. Just take the fines.
The fanbase shouldn't know who the manager/head coach is at any given time.
I agree with all of this. It seems obvious to me
Frustrating how we basically have written off this season in Jan. Typical of the club Radcliff or not. I dread watching us play these days, and if people think ETH isn't responsible for this then I don't know what to tell you.
I messaged my mate before game started and said we’d bring Eriksen off after an hour and hopefully bring Casemiro on as his positional sense and aerial ability would be needed as we always look weak at defensive set pieces and having Eriksen and Fernandes in midfield left us massively weak, then on 57 minutes he took Eriksen off yet brought on McTominay who constantly hides and has zero positional sense.
It isn’t just how badly we’re coached that’s a problem as the in game management and decision making is just shocking and I was one of the people who bought into his run at Ajax and really wanted ETH at United, I was VERY wrong. ETH ended up with a lot of credit in the bank based on last season and that’s why I think Ratcliffe and his team will stick with ETH til the end of the season but I think their mind is already made up and they’ll be sounding out their own man to work in tandem with Ashworth and Mitchell.
It isn’t just how badly we’re coached that’s a problem as the in game management and decision making is just shocking and I was one of the people who bought into his run at Ajax and really wanted ETH at United, I was VERY wrong. ETH ended up with a lot of credit in the bank based on last season and that’s why I think Ratcliffe and his team will stick with ETH til the end of the season but I think their mind is already made up and they’ll be sounding out their own man to work in tandem with Ashworth and Mitchell.
That would be fine at every other club in Europe. Not at this club. The fanbase is a problem here.
Actually that could ever happen to us is that we land on a manager a bit too good to never let us sink to these depths, but not good enough to ever do anything of note. A manager who got us top 4, 10 seasons in a row without a single trophy to show for would have a statue outside of old Trafford. In many ways, it's good for us how bad our managerial choices have been.
What is the point of playing a lone DM yet still only having one man in the box on crosses? We’re constantly outnumbered in both boxes, it just doesn’t make sense.
Just get rid of this clown, a clueless manager that is way out of his depth.
Would love it. Albeit, I would expect most of the fanbase to stop watching United, cause what is the point of supporting a club if not to worship the manager?
When Casemiro is back and ETH doesn't pair him with Mainoo, I'm done.
Pathetic. He will never manage a top team after us.
Club needs reenergising over the break. Massive couple of months for the manager. He built his first season on very little rotation, sticking to more or less the same 13/14 players game in game out. He’s probably paid for that at the beginning of this season with the injuries. My time to judge him will be end of March/ April. How many times do you think he’s played his best 11 this season? 3 times maximum?
I'm pretty sure he knows this was nowhere near good enough, he's just being pragmatic. Because he knows the players are shite, but that they are trying, so throwing them under the bus won't do them or him any good.
So are there honestly United fans on here who think he should not get the sack even if he fails to qualify for Europe this season?
Actually, I noticed we did employ a high press in certain situations. ETH has tried to mitigate our lack of transition defending by committing only Hojlund and Bruno to a very weak press of the opposing CBs. Eriksen did not join, neither did the wingers. The only time we committed full to the press was when they were boxed into a corner, and that’s where we were able to turn the ball over.
The worst part of this is we almost never press in our own half like Liverpool, Brighton and others. We tend to stay compact and passive, waiting for an error by the opposition.
I can’t shake the feeling that ETH is a coward. He’s playing not to lose. He’s afraid to drop players. Some would call this practical, but it’s very hard to implement a style of play if the players are unsure of what to do because there are too many instructions and varied approaches to different circumstances.
Europa conference league?
I’m gonna say he doesn’t believe this and is just saying it because he doesn’t believe in publicly saying we’re crap. There’s no way he doesn’t see how bad it is, but he doesn’t know how to fix it. It won’t do anyone any favours to admit we’re crap to the press, all it’s going to do is create further division at the club.
I think he's been doing nothing but bleating mindless positivity to the press since the Sancho situation, because he sees that our squad can't take even the mildest public criticism. Don't really blame him for it.
You keep saying it and I’ll keep repeating it. Our players are not ‘Shite’.
could be better, yes.
title winning team, no
Be outscored over half a season by Luton shite, no
Be best 3-0 at home to Bournemouth shite, no
Have negative goal difference after half a season shite, no
Be out of champions league by Christmas shite, no
it’s such a cop out
We could debate it back and forwards. I think Rashford was awful in the second half. So to say he was better than Werner is a real stretch. Eriksen more talented than Hojbjorg but the latter can run. Our midfield three is incredibly one paced today.
But nobody hand on heart can say there's a sizeable gap between the two XI's. It's close.
But as I say, that is partly on ETH. For one his £80 million winger has flopped and is sitting on the bench.
Agree. Most of the team are seasoned internationals. They are capable of much more, he has no idea what to do and his signings have made us worse. He is lost and needs to go. Sick of excuses
No one who manages this club manages a top team after us. It's almost like there's a pattern there.
So many excuses. So talking absolute rubbish in press conferences is to protect the squad? Full of seasoned interationals who cant take a bit or criticism. Rubbish
None of their good players were even playing today
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