Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

[Adnan]

It'd have to be a really good one to do it in one window unfortunately. A centre back, a left back, a defensive midfielder that will all go straight into the first team and another striker.

Two CBs and one midfielder who raise the physical and athletic level of the team without compromising on technical ability will complete the system as far us playing proactive attacking football with and without the ball imo. The other positions you mention are also required but those positions are more to do with strengthening the squad and maintaining a balance by having alterative options.

I honestly don't believe it's that difficult to sign the correct players for those positions, but we may have to be a little bit patient with new signings who may need time to adapt to the league. But I also see the benefit of signing players from within the league who fit the system we want to develop and complete. We've signed players before from within the league who imo weren't a correct fit for a proactive attacking system, but I think there's a number of very good players within the league who have attributes that fit the criteria I've mentioned above.

And to complete a system of play with the aim of implementing a proactive attacking approach the three things below have to come to fruition with and without the ball to play the game in the opponent's half.

1. Build play from the back effectively under pressure.

2. Press high as a collective with the back-line backing up the press from the front to maintain compactness.

3. Have the ability to handle transitions in rest defense where controlling fast transitions in 1v1 situations is a requirement in large spaces.

And if we signed the players at the back who are capable on the ball along with having the pace and power to handle fast transitions, then the 3 concepts above would be seen on the pitch imo. I'm not saying we would win the league next season, but we'd take a big step towards becoming a title winning team. For me there's a big opportunity for us in the coming window and I think we can really take a big step towards becoming a proactive attacking team by completing the system of play.

 

[dabronxolivera]

I am probably what you guys would call "anti" ETH but he really got it spot on today. Credit to the man and hope he can build from this massive win. The difference between this and our previous wins this season is this is the first time I would say we really outplay someone and deserve to win regardless of the final result

 

[Annihilate Now!]

 

[sglowrider]

Let me introduce to you our new manager, Erik Eleven Inzaghi.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Delighted for him. We didn’t sit back and let them walk all over us. We committed - some would say foolishly so - but that bravery is what won us the game. The young players also seem to be really relishing this time of chaotic attacking football with the likes of Garnacho, Amad and even Antony looking at their best as part of that.

He took some huge risks today and it paid off. Even Klopp said he respected the risks we took which are the kind of sacrifices you need to make to build something greater. Whether it comes together in the future or not is another matter. But well fecking done on giving us a knockout match for the ages.

 

[tenpoless]

Matheus is the new player, he's very good with his right foot and definitely doesn't like to spin around.

 

[miliebrowndivorceattorney]

How can someone watch a game like that as a fan and take notes.

I stopped after 65 minutes but was happy to confirm the numbers I see at many ETH United games and I got tired of some of the WUMery here about how many shots against we get. Those are not important stats. The first 20 minutes or so we are all over any opposition and I wanted to quantify that. Those are stats that are important. Are you entertained by ETH? I am. This game was no different. Fan-tas-tic game!

 

[M16Red]

Very good in forward areas in the first 30 mins.

But how anyone can watch our setup and not think that the manager’s tactics are suicidal is beyond me.

One pass beats our entire midfield.

Written at half time! Ooh Sammy you've seen nothing yet.

One things for sure, the players on that pitch didn't throw their cards in.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

Manchester United 2024 Form
2-0 W
2-2 D
4-2 W
4-3 W
3-0 W
2-1 W
2-1 W
1-2 L (Fulham Home)
1-0 W
1-3 L (Man City Away)
2-0 W
4-3 W

12 Games
9 wins 1 draw 2 losses - crisis.

 

[AjaxCunian]

Manchester United 2024 Form
2-0 W
2-2 D
4-2 W
4-3 W
3-0 W
2-1 W
2-1 W
1-2 L (Fulham Home)
1-0 W
1-3 L (Man City Away)
2-0 W
4-3 W

12 Games
9 wins 1 draw 2 losses - crisis.

Really? It feels like we lose every other game. Crazy to see it like this.

 

[VP89]

Really? It feels like we lose every other game. Crazy to see it like this.

No, just some posters here cry like we are.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Manchester United 2024 Form
2-0 W
2-2 D
4-2 W
4-3 W
3-0 W
2-1 W
2-1 W
1-2 L (Fulham Home)
1-0 W
1-3 L (Man City Away)
2-0 W
4-3 W

12 Games
9 wins 1 draw 2 losses - crisis.

If Ineos have already decided behind the scenes to get their own manager in this summer, but then Ten Hag continues this form until the end of the season, it’s going to be a bit awkward now.

Win the FA Cup and get CL football, it still would have been a poor season for 80% of it, but I think he’d deserve the 3rd season. Last year of his contract too, so if it didn’t work then they can just let it expire or replace him cheaply

 

[VP89]

If Ineos have already decided behind the scenes to get their own manager in this summer, but then Ten Hag continues this form until the end of the season, it’s going to be a bit awkward now.

Win the FA Cup and get CL football, it still would have been a poor season for 80% of it, but I think he’d deserve the 3rd season. Last year of his contract too, so if it didn’t work then they can just let it expire or replace him cheaply

Very unlikely INEOS have made a decision to sack him.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

No, just some posters here cry like we are.

Tbf the Fulham loss made an otherwise pretty fecking good run seems less impressive, we all expected to lose against City but to be done in at home in a flat game hurts, although on the flip side we could’ve won that game and lost against Villa instead and the criticisms of being unable to win away against top half would be used instead.

I don’t expect us to get CL now looking at the fixtures left + our GD, but if we can get something like 6 wins and 2 draws out of the remaining 10, that’s about as well as you could do under the circumstances, and let the final position falls where it may.

 

[VP89]

Tbf the Fulham loss made an otherwise pretty fecking good run seems less impressive, we all expected to lose against City but to be done in at home in a flat game hurts, although on the flip side we could’ve won that game and lost against Villa instead and the criticisms of being unable to win away against top half would be used instead.

I don’t expect us to get CL now looking at the fixtures left + our GD, but if we can get something like 6 wins and 2 draws out of the remaining 10, that’s about as well as you could do under the circumstances, and let the final position falls where it may.

Our fixtures relative to Spurs and Villa are actually better. We are also welcoming key players back. I think we might get Champions League football with the 2024 form.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Our fixtures relative to Spurs and Villa are actually better. We are also welcoming key players back. I think we might get Champions League football with the 2024 form.

We are 7 and 10 (game in hand) points behind effectively with our GD. Even with the ‘easier’ fixtures list, we still host Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle at home while playing Chelsea and Brighton away. I can’t see Villa and Spurs lost 3 more games than us, which would be an utter collapse on their pts average this season, that’s even assuming we can get our 19-20 pts.

 

[Herman Toothrot]

Fair play to Ten Hag for taking some ludacris gambles to win that game. In the end, it was probably the best FA Cup match since a replay at Villa Park in the late nineties.

And yet for that huge chunk of the game between the 30th and 80th minute it was the same exhausting United we'd seen all season, half in and out of springing a trap and blowing out of their arses.

As has been pointed out, we have won most of our games since the turn of the year, yet we rarely look convincing and wouldn't have felt hard done by if a few of those wins had gone the other way.

Let's hope yesterday can be a turning point for the players often fragile mentality and that Ten Hag doesn't overlook the 50 minutes in the middle of the game where his team had not a moment of control.

 

[VP89]

We are 7 and 10 (game in hand) points behind effectively with our GD. Even with the ‘easier’ fixtures list, we still host Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle at home while playing Chelsea and Brighton away. I can’t see Villa and Spurs lost 3 more games than us, which would be an utter collapse on their pts average this season, that’s even assuming we can get our 19-20 pts.

We are 6 points off Tottenham and 9 off Villa (with a game in hand).

Both of those teams have Liverpool, Arsenal and CITY left to play. Between them they have various banana skins of their own including Wolves / West Ham, Chelsea and Newcastle as well. Out run is the best out of the 3 teams.

It's very much on.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

That has to be the greatest game I've experienced as a United supporter. The 1999 UCL final was definitely up there due to how it ended and what was at stake. But this game against Liverpool was unbelievable as far as the drama element is concerned and it will live long in the memory bank.

Liverpool were better than us technically in possession and have a CB pairing that can close off the space in a higher line due to their physical and athletic gifts. That in-turn allows Klopp to throw more bodies forward in the opponent's half which is a clear advantage for a coach wanting to play the game in the opponent's half. And that is the big difference between the two teams right now and it's mainly down to Liverpool having better personnel than United and not our tactics being flawed like some of you seem to think.

The screenshot posted earlier where the gap between the midfield and last line is of course too big and there has to be compactness in that regard. But is that a tactical flaw or is it a personnel issue? It's a personnel issue for me and the back-line doesn't step forward to close off the space, which leaves a big space in the middle with people then saying that there's no midfield when in-fact that space has to be occupied by the players in the last line who have to backup the high press. Lindelof is extremely vulnerable in that situation and wants to back pedal rather than defend on the front foot and all it takes is one player to not commit in the back-line and a big hole with then appear in the middle. Ideally you commit the fullbacks forward and have the CBs control large spaces in the channel. But unfortunately we don't have a CB pairing that can defend on the front foot to close off the space to maintain compactness. It's not a big issue as far as i'm concerned because i'm expecting new CBs to rectify that problem.

We need to raise the level when it comes to eating up ground and winning duels without sacrificing the technical side of things in the first phase which has the potential for a big improvement. And when you have all the pieces together, then I expect to see a identity form on the pitch.

I said in my defence of the defence thread this is a clear choice now. It’s a crap situation to be in but it looks like Ten Hag is teaching the front line the pressing structure while allowing the back line to do what they do best which is lower block and block shots.

I think it’s a personnel issue. I know posters have been critical of those gaps but we don’t have the players available to play the highest line we will when we are fully developed as a side. So the solutions are either everyone drops back and you commit solely to counter attacks which everyone would moan about and I’m not convinced would actually have gained us more points or do what we are doing.

In the long term (if there is one for Ten Hag) I think this is better for our side.

Tbf the Fulham loss made an otherwise pretty fecking good run seems less impressive, we all expected to lose against City but to be done in at home in a flat game hurts, although on the flip side we could’ve won that game and lost against Villa instead and the criticisms of being unable to win away against top half would be used instead.

I don’t expect us to get CL now looking at the fixtures left + our GD, but if we can get something like 6 wins and 2 draws out of the remaining 10, that’s about as well as you could do under the circumstances, and let the final position falls where it may.

Fulham just beat Spurs 3-0 too so it’s not like this league or that side is a given.

Even if we miss out on CL football as long as we don’t collapse in these last few games I’m at the point where I’d stick with Ten Hag.

 

[RyRy11]

There’s clear systematic failings and the goals we conceded happened due to the systematic failings. But….. potential two FA Cup finals in a row and clearly the players still believe in him.

I don’t want him sacked and would give him next season but also I realise this is a form of madness.

Two deflections and a pinball Salah goal... People need to realise that other teams do get chances in games, especially teams that are challenging for titles. Teams still score against City, Arsenal and Pool, we aren't going to avoid giving up clear chances to top teams, no one does.

 

[MancunianAngels]

The players are still fighting for him.

They've not always done that for other managers.

 

[TomSkalle]

Manchester United 2024 Form
2-0 W
2-2 D
4-2 W
4-3 W
3-0 W
2-1 W
2-1 W
1-2 L (Fulham Home)
1-0 W
1-3 L (Man City Away)
2-0 W
4-3 W

12 Games
9 wins 1 draw 2 losses - crisis.

Talk about sugar coating it.

And out of all those games we have played horrible fotball in just about every game exept in periods yesterday.
Even against opponents that we should beat nine times out of ten. But im sure thats why you left out our opponents in this list wich include Wigan, Everton, Luton, Nottigham Forrest, Newport.
And we were actually lucky in some of those games as well.
But i guess nothing about that counts with your narrative.

After Pool got 2-1 they controlled the game for about 50 min, and we were kinda lucky to not conceede more goals.
We played like we usually do, running inbetween, couldnt catch the ball, midfield wide open, and lots of personal mistakes, bad passing, disorganized etc etc.

That said, ETH did show bravery yesterday, and that won us the game.
He didnt park the bus, went all in, and got rewarded for it.
Fantastic game that will give a huge needed confidence boost for rest of this season.

I want to believe ETH can change things around, but winning an odd game wont do it.
I still dont see how he can turn things around with this squad and this style of fotball.

Edit: typos

 

[stefan92]

Really? It feels like we lose every other game. Crazy to see it like this.

Which proves that a lot of the performances during this run were still shit, even if the result was good. But for now it's surely better this way than having a bunch of great performances while losing unluckily.

 

[AjaxCunian]

Which proves that a lot of the performances during this run were still shit, even if the result was good. But for now it's surely better this way than having a bunch of great performances while losing unluckily.

Agreed.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Very unlikely INEOS have made a decision to sack him.

I’d agree. But we don’t know. Berrada and Ashworth may have signed on thinking Manager X (who himself has verbally agreed) would be the manager they’d be working with next season

Hopefully it’s not the case because I like Ten Hag and I’d like to see what he can do working in an actual football structure here

 

[romufc]

I’d agree. But we don’t know. Berrada and Ashworth may have signed on thinking Manager X (who himself has verbally agreed) would be the manager they’d be working with next season

Hopefully it’s not the case because I like Ten Hag and I’d like to see what he can do working in an actual football structure here

Personally, I believe that this year for SJR is about shaping the board, getting the right people in, getting the right players in.

I hope they give Ten Hag next season, its then up to him to show us under a better structure, he can perform and is a good manager.

Lets not forget, 2 years ago fans were saying, why would Ten Hag come to United, so there is obviously something about him as a coach.

 

[VP89]

Talk about sugar coating it.

And out of all those games we have played horrible fotball in just about every game exept in periods yesterday.
Even against opponents that we should beat nine times out of ten. But im sure thats why you left out our opponents in this list wich include Wigan, Everton, Luton, Nottigham Forrest, Newport.
And we were actually lucky in some of those games as well.
But i guess nothing about that counts with your narrative.

After Pool got 2-1 they controlled the game for about 50 min, and we were kinda lucky to not conceede more goals.
We played like we usually do, running inbetween, couldnt catch the ball, midfield wide open, and lots of personal mistakes, bad passing, disorganized etc etc.

That said, ETH did show bravery yesterday, and that won us the game.
He didnt park the bus, went all in, and got rewarded for it.
Fantastic game and it will give a huge needed confidence boost for rest of this season.

I want to believe ETH can change things around, but winning an odd game wont do it.
I still dont see how he can turn things around with this squad and this style of fotball.

He's pasted results for 2024 without any fudging and you're accusing him of sugar coating?

We've also played Wolves, West Ham, Liverpool, Villa away and churned out wins with some key players injured.

 

[DJ_21]

Made some good decisions in his changes. We finished the game with Antony, Maguire, Fernandes and Dalot has a back 4

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

Reflecting on the chaos yesterday , I felt we did something similar with city in first half where they just couldn’t get the reading of us. In that game we ran out of steam but ETH can throw crazy stuff at top teams and totally throw them, it’s glorious.

 

[TomSkalle]

I’d agree. But we don’t know. Berrada and Ashworth may have signed on thinking Manager X (who himself has verbally agreed) would be the manager they’d be working with next season

Hopefully it’s not the case because I like Ten Hag and I’d like to see what he can do working in an actual football structure here

I think ETH will get one more year, not because he has been a great manager so far, but because i dont see INEO's making changes without beeing certain it will change for the better.
So i think he will have the time to change things around, if he is able.

 

[DJ_21]

Personally, I believe that this year for SJR is about shaping the board, getting the right people in, getting the right players in.

I hope they give Ten Hag next season, its then up to him to show us under a better structure, he can perform and is a good manager.

Lets not forget, 2 years ago fans were saying, why would Ten Hag come to United, so there is obviously something about him as a coach.

That’s the thing. We all know he is a good coach. He showed that at Ajax. For whatever reason he isn’t showing it much here… you can argue he’s had a lot of distractions with off field stuff and his squad have been injured a lot. But you don’t dominate Madrid at the Bernabeu with Ajax if you’re not a good coach. People always say he should still be showing a style with an halve injured squad that’s rubbish. Klopp and Guardiola can’t play there exact style when there missing certain players.

 

[TomSkalle]

He's pasted results for 2024 without any fudging and you're accusing him of sugar coating?

We've also played Wolves, West Ham, Liverpool, Villa away and churned out wins with some key players injured.

Well, ive seen all of those games and we have played some horrible football and been lucky in a few of them.
All im saying its not sustainable if we want to get better results than sixth in the league, even if ETH has had good results in 2024.
And yes, its sugarcoating.

 

[DJ_21]

I think ETH will get one more year, not because he has been a great manager so far, but because i dont see INEO's making changes without beeing certain it will change for the better.
So i think he will have the time to change things around, if he is able.

I agree. And the one thing that’s important and that’s in ETH favour is the fact the players are still fighting and playing for him. He’s given a lot of youngsters chances and they still all like him you can see that…. Once you lose the dressing room it’s basically game over.

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

I mean who didn’t smile when they saw this.

It’s really hard to not root for him, I’d love it if this was the moment things turned for him and the team.

 

[VP89]

Well, ive seen all of those games and we have played some horrible football and been lucky in a few of them.
All im saying its not sustainable if we want to get better results than sixth in the league, even if ETH has had good results in 2024.
And yes, its sugarcoating.

We've all seen those games. We were also unfortunate missing many key defenders all season and people want to play that down like it's not abnormal. We were unfortunate in the spurs away game, the arsenal away game but no one gave a shit about that then.

Luck comes and goes, and we weren't as open as you claim just because teams want to take pot shots. We deserve a lot of credit for the form in 2024, like it or lump it.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

I think ETH will get one more year, not because he has been a great manager so far, but because i dont see INEO's making changes without beeing certain it will change for the better.
So i think he will have the time to change things around, if he is able.

Well I think if United get either CL football or win the FA Cup, then he definitely deserves the benefit of the doubt. Get past Coventry and it's 3 cup finals in 2 seasons too

Then back him in the summer, help him in the summer and if we aren't in the title picture by the end of 2024, it can be reassessed

 

[romufc]

That’s the thing. We all know he is a good coach. He showed that at Ajax. For whatever reason he isn’t showing it much here… you can argue he’s had a lot of distractions with off field stuff and his squad have been injured a lot. But you don’t dominate Madrid at the Bernabeu with Ajax if you’re not a good coach. People always say he should still be showing a style with an halve injured squad that’s rubbish. Klopp and Guardiola can’t play there exact style when there missing certain players.

Yeah, I do get that. That is the reason I am willing to give him another season. I know this season our football has been poor, people talk about Klopp and Pep styles, Pep got his players in quick, Klopp got players suited him, whereas Ten Hag is being forced to go for loans.

It does not help build a style when you have different personnel in important positions every 6 months.

How many times has Ten Hag been able to field his best 11 for 5 games in a row? Compare that with Klopp, Pep and even Arteta. You can only get a clear style when you are able to play consistent players.

That with better recruitment, should then be enough for us to judge Ten Hag next season.

 

[Bobby_2024]

I think he deserves another year considering the number of injuries he had this season.

As people reporting, if the injuries are down to serious intense training sessions, let it be...no more place for softies.

He made few wrong transfer mistakes for sure, but with proper structure in place and buying the right players I believe he could turn over things.

 

[Sarni]

Yesterday actually somewhat reignited my belief in him. Not yet to a point where I’d be fully comfortable with him getting another season but closer. He just showed many qualities that he had been missing for months, like in-game management, ability to shift tactics to react to opposition’s shape, and come up with a good game plan against top opposition. As I said yesterday this was way more meaningful than the League Cup win, and if we go on to win the FA Cup it could actually be a springboard towards something better.

Now hopefully we can use it to our advantage and become better, not go back to being crap like we’ve done so many times throughout the years having just put in a great performance.

 

[TrebleChamp99]

Very impressed and happy with yesterdays result,
The players responded to the occasion and we had spells where we looked on top comfortably.

However it does not change my opinion much on the manager, but It definitely balanced the scales in the other direction for me.