Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

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First half very good: should have been 4-2 easily. Pressing wasn‘t structured yet but worked. Mistakes and missed chances on both sides.

Second half: could not keep hold of the bal cause midfield and attack all youngsters (except for DvdB). Pressing continued to disrupt Pool. IckyBalls promising, Bailly rocking it and challenging for a starting spot. New tactics might suit him.

I have a feeling there are going to be some great games against the top teams next year.
 
Team pressing will need some work which is obvious. The other thing we need to do more is to have more purposeful off-ball movements to open up more passing lanes and even to get lucky with second balls. I have seen (which was an issue for many years anyway) that our players would get pressed then they passed the ball to someone else who gets pressed, but the first player would not move into some space created by the pressing players so that he can receive the return ball. That means we would just concede the ball in the middle of the pitch, with now everyone seeming to be out of position due to unorganized pressing in the first place. We were still as static as we have been in all these years in that sense.

Hopefully, we will see more improvement in that, along with organized pressing. It seems like our FBs will stay inside more similar to how city's play, not like how Pool uses their FB to overlap from outside.
 
He seems to have some thought behind who we target in the transfer market. Which is some improvement on Ole who was blowing £50m on the likes of Wan Bissaka
 
Thought this was a good example of what we'll see a lot this season



Good play, and you can see the clear structure and plan for how to progress the ball up the pitch. So already ETH is having an impact.

Equally, everything is a little bit tentative, players are having to think about what to do instead of it being automatic and there's a couple of two-touch moments where it might be one-touch in the future.

Obviously this was the first game of pre-season, so everyone will be a little rusty come what may, but I bet its the kind of thing we see throughout the early part of the season. A clear style developing, but maybe without the incision that we'll eventually have.
 
largelyworried said:
Thought this was a good example of what we'll see a lot this season



Good play, and you can see the clear structure and plan for how to progress the ball up the pitch. So already ETH is having an impact.

Equally, everything is a little bit tentative, players are having to think about what to do instead of it being automatic and there's a couple of two-touch moments where it might be one-touch in the future.

Obviously this was the first game of pre-season, so everyone will be a little rusty come what may, but I bet its the kind of thing we see throughout the early part of the season. A clear style developing, but maybe without the incision that we'll eventually have.
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Really good play!

Would this be last year, the players would be shitting themselves and kick the ball out of the field.

You can really see results of the one touch training already wich is really positive :drool:
 
largelyworried said:
Good play, and you can see the clear structure and plan for how to progress the ball up the pitch. So already ETH is having an impact.

Equally, everything is a little bit tentative, players are having to think about what to do instead of it being automatic and there's a couple of two-touch moments where it might be one-touch in the future.

Obviously this was the first game of pre-season, so everyone will be a little rusty come what may, but I bet its the kind of thing we see throughout the early part of the season. A clear style developing, but maybe without the incision that we'll eventually have.
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Doesn't matter that its preseason imo, ETH is so detail orientated that he wouldn't waste priceless match experience with a poorly coached team.

Crazy though isn't it, 3 weeks on the training pitch has seen more progress than the last 5 years. Precisely why the arguments of "well we have tried coaches at the top of their game and it never worked" were so frustrating... no, no we didn't.
 
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Newtonius said:
Doesn't matter that its preseason imo, ETH is so detail orientated that he wouldn't waste priceless match experience with a poorly coached team.

Crazy though isn't it, 3 weeks on the training pitch has seen more progress than the last 5 years. Precisely why the arguments of "well we have tried coaches at the top of their game and it never worked" were so frustrating... no, no we didn't.
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We looked as good in Van Gaal's first preseason and ended up losing our first Premier League game against a team that had just been promoted.

Maybe wait until we've won an actual game before you start drinking the Kool-Aid. Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.
 
largelyworried said:
Thought this was a good example of what we'll see a lot this season



Good play, and you can see the clear structure and plan for how to progress the ball up the pitch. So already ETH is having an impact.

Equally, everything is a little bit tentative, players are having to think about what to do instead of it being automatic and there's a couple of two-touch moments where it might be one-touch in the future.

Obviously this was the first game of pre-season, so everyone will be a little rusty come what may, but I bet its the kind of thing we see throughout the early part of the season. A clear style developing, but maybe without the incision that we'll eventually have.
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What makes me happy is that we're a lot quicker on the transitions compared to the LvG style zombie football.

I think we're still in for a bit of backwards and sideways passing esp against low blocks - Guardiola himself needed some time to coach that out of the system. But overall, I think given the training videos we see (emphasis on inside passes in the rondos) and the decision making in this game, I'm optimistic.
 
nainaisson said:
We looked as good in Van Gaal's first preseason and ended up losing our first Premier League game against a team that had just been promoted.

Maybe wait until we've won an actual game before you start drinking the Kool-Aid. Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.
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Be just more of the same at that point then wouldn't it can hardly be any worse :p
 
nainaisson said:
We looked as good in Van Gaal's first preseason and ended up losing our first Premier League game against a team that had just been promoted.

Maybe wait until we've won an actual game before you start drinking the Kool-Aid. Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.
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Jesus. He didnt say we're gonna win the league and are the best team ever, did he? He just said progress is evident, that's not drinking Kool-Aid.

Some of you seem not to have any joy in life.
 
What impressed me the most about yesterday was that we tried to play front foot attacking football.

Usually in recent years, whenever we have won against Pool/City its usually been on the counter, with the other team dominating possession. But yesterday, we tried to keep the ball, played quick, and pressed high. It was nice to see the rotations and third man runs/passes. The invertion of fullbacks and midfielders dropping in and out were interesting to see.

Lets keep it going now. Hopefully Eriksen, FDJ and Martinez join the squad in pre season.
 
AlexUTD said:
Really good play!

Would this be last year, the players would be shitting themselves and kick the ball out of the field.

You can really see results of the one touch training already wich is really positive :drool:
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If that has been last season, that entire clip would be taken up by the centre backs passing the ball back and sideways amongst themselves before aimlessly giving it away
 
Is it just me that the center backs now know exactly what to do when they were pressed and not just passing the ball to each other and eventually give it to DeGea to boot it out?
Feels like they are better equipped to get out of the press and actually pass the ball forward
 
reelworld said:
Is it just me that the center backs now know exactly what to do when they were pressed and not just passing the ball to each other and eventually give it to DeGea to boot it out?
Feels like they are better equipped to get out of the press and actually pass the ball forward
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Yeah, noticed Varane making few forward passes, didnt try to find a fullback or make a sideway pass like CBs have been doing the whole of last season and before.
 
largelyworried said:
Thought this was a good example of what we'll see a lot this season



Good play, and you can see the clear structure and plan for how to progress the ball up the pitch. So already ETH is having an impact.

Equally, everything is a little bit tentative, players are having to think about what to do instead of it being automatic and there's a couple of two-touch moments where it might be one-touch in the future.

Obviously this was the first game of pre-season, so everyone will be a little rusty come what may, but I bet its the kind of thing we see throughout the early part of the season. A clear style developing, but maybe without the incision that we'll eventually have.
Click to expand...


These players clearly have capability to have made it to this level, but this kind of slick quick precise passing is almost a muscle memory reflex. It will take a while especially for players who didn't grow up in academies that preach this, much like the Spanish academies.

It should make or break these players though. If you can't pass like this you need to be sold.

Also the key part is getting this right in the final third. The ball getting there quickly needs to open up more space with the final ball then being the killer. The best example of this was the Pellistri goal. Made from quick movement and clever passing rather than a mistake.
 
Some very promising signs yesterday. Now, some of you lot are going to froth at the mouth at this one: seeing actual patterns in our play, and clear evidence of good coaching was so, so refreshing.
 
UnitedFire said:
These players clearly have capability to have made it to this level, but this kind of slick quick precise passing is almost a muscle memory reflex. It will take a while especially for players who didn't grow up in academies that preach this, much like the Spanish academies.

It should make or break these players though. If you can't pass like this you need to be sold.

Also the key part is getting this right in the final third. The ball getting there quickly needs to open up more space with the final ball then being the killer. The best example of this was the Pellistri goal. Made from quick movement and clever passing rather than a mistake.
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Some of the quick counter attacking moves we saw yesterday were already in the locker: the big difference was the aggressive pressing and people showing for the ball instead of hiding.

As Klopp said, a turnover is the best playmaker.
This is what was missing in the LvG era, quick transition play.

Ten Hag will have us control games with possession, but play forward quickly when possible.
 
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NLunited said:
Some of the quick counter attacking moves we saw yesterday were already in the locker: the big difference was the aggressive pressing and people showing for the ball instead of hiding.

As Klopp said, a turnover is the best playmaker.
This is what was missing in the LvG era, quick transition play.

Ten Hag will have us control games with possession, but play forward quickly when possible.
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I know some don't rate Mark Goldbridge, but he did make reference to Fred and McTominay staying 10 yards apart and pressing together. It's a risk in terms of leaving gaps behind, but the benefit is interceptions leading to goals.

Our biggest problem has been creating opportunities at speed. Against lower teams when they push you'll have a tiny window of opportunity to counter before they park the bus again and that opportunity might not come again. Getting this right is critical.

But sometimes that quick interchange can also give you the half a yard for a shot, which again we desperately need. It's not hard to see why de Jong is a priority. It's precisely for this reason.
 
EtH said:
This man will take us back to the very top.
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Not with the owners we have and while Pep and Klopp are still around. He'll easily make us the third best team in the league soon enough though.
 
largelyworried said:
Thought this was a good example of what we'll see a lot this season



Good play, and you can see the clear structure and plan for how to progress the ball up the pitch. So already ETH is having an impact.

Equally, everything is a little bit tentative, players are having to think about what to do instead of it being automatic and there's a couple of two-touch moments where it might be one-touch in the future.

Obviously this was the first game of pre-season, so everyone will be a little rusty come what may, but I bet its the kind of thing we see throughout the early part of the season. A clear style developing, but maybe without the incision that we'll eventually have.
Click to expand...


you could see the structure though in the build up as they opened up the middle of the pitch by keeping our CM's high knowing that Liverpool always press the CB's with their wingers leaving the RB open.

i thought Fred checked a bit too early before Lindelof got his head up and somewhat telegraphed the bounce which allowed their RB to close down Shaw quickly but he did a great job with the one touch pass and move quickly to receive it back. The switch was perfect given how Liverpool rotates their CB's to cover for the RB going high to press.

that was a very good pattern of play and something you work on in training which clearly ETH had done with the lads going into this match
 
largelyworried said:
Thought this was a good example of what we'll see a lot this season



Good play, and you can see the clear structure and plan for how to progress the ball up the pitch. So already ETH is having an impact.

Equally, everything is a little bit tentative, players are having to think about what to do instead of it being automatic and there's a couple of two-touch moments where it might be one-touch in the future.

Obviously this was the first game of pre-season, so everyone will be a little rusty come what may, but I bet its the kind of thing we see throughout the early part of the season. A clear style developing, but maybe without the incision that we'll eventually have.
Click to expand...

Even Sancho's goal, the build up and position of the cross was a carbon copy of that training clip where Sancho assisted Rashford.

Patterns where even if players move around, they know what space needs to be filled in, where to move off of it and where the pass/cross should be played.
 
bosnian_red said:
Even Sancho's goal, the build up and position of the cross was a carbon copy of that training clip where Sancho assisted Rashford.

Patterns where even if players move around, they know what space needs to be filled in, where to move off of it and where the pass/cross should be played.
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Only training too for 2 weeks (international players 1 week), which makes it more pleasing - already seeing them take on board these methods and style of play... Even little things like the goal kick routine.

Makes you realise even more what a waste these past 5/6 years have been, coaching/training wise. Showed no patterns of play, a set style of play or pressing as a team - all what you could see signs of yesterday.
 
If EtH can get Martial play consistently like he was a few years ago, give EtH a contract for life. We have a miracle worker in hand.
 
He’s literally like an upgrade on LVG. Dutch, more direct football, detail oriented, charismatic. This gonna be good.

I love LVG and some of the results and controlling performances he got us, but the football was very boring towards the end.
The flood of young players in the first XI was ott as well. They weren’t all good enough really, but kind of worked inside his system.
 
Highfather_24 said:
What impressed me the most about yesterday was that we tried to play front foot attacking football.

Usually in recent years, whenever we have won against Pool/City its usually been on the counter, with the other team dominating possession. But yesterday, we tried to keep the ball, played quick, and pressed high. It was nice to see the rotations and third man runs/passes. The invertion of fullbacks and midfielders dropping in and out were interesting to see.

Lets keep it going now. Hopefully Eriksen, FDJ and Martinez join the squad in pre season.
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Yes, and those three signings will be such a bonus as well. The play looked so much better and it's good that we seem to be doing exactly what the coach wants. However, he is blessed that Pog and Lingz are gone as they were big issues in attitude. Rash hasn't got his pals anymore and Tyrell sums up coming in and playing how the manager wants.
 
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