Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

[NLunited]

Sorry what?

I'm not saying the performance wasn't different or better than the palace game.

I'm obviously referring to Ten Hag claiming the players finally listened to his instructions which is obviously nonsense.

How would you know? It is actually more probable that against Palace, the players didn‘t follow instructions correctly. Casemiro and Evans were caught 1v1 without anyone covering for them.

Palace let us have the ball and picked us off after we lost it. We were a shambles defending those situations because player’s weren’t following instructions.

 

[NLunited]

This "5 year plan" thing is such nonsense that only we can come up with. Clubs do have long term plans, yes, but nobody plans to be irrelevant for 5 years before it gets better. So we pull off this perfect plan after 5 years and then what, challenge for the league and dominate football forever?

Nah, an exact timeline is irrelevant. We need to change the way we do things no matter how long it takes. Do that and eventually we should get it right. Could be 2-5 years.

How long it takes depends on many things. Which signings we are able to get in, how the manager settles in and how the club overall improves (or not).

We have to make sure we do it right.

 

[Revan]

The standard for any United manager is - they deserve at least 3 seasons and are fine so long as they meet certain minimum requirements (which are now, pathetically, win a cup or qualify for Europa most of the time)

The standards at any top club are - they get a season and if they haven't improved the football and results, then they're fecked off sharpish. And if they improve the team in the first season, they still have to improve again in the second.

They don't even get that.

 

[tomaldinho1]

It truly doesn't make sense. If you look at the kind of team ETH has been trying to create, it's going to immediately clash with any recruitment head or DoF that has a basic understanding of the Prem. Are we all forgetting about when he pushed to have key transfer decisions and refused to work with Rangnick or when he committed to the idea of playing with two #8's last summer and pushed to sign Mount?

For whatever misguided reason, he's clearly very confident in what type of team he thinks will achieve success and I don't see how he's just going to sit there and accept Ashworth or Wilcox telling him that De Jong lacks the defensive awareness and physicality for a Premier League midfielder. It just seems like a huge conflict waiting to happen. Giving him another season under the new structure is pointless when he's clearly devoted to his transfer philosophy.

I feel like this is somewhat inaccurate, the issue is - as we know - there's no real recruitment plan whatsoever. A manager comes in, gets promised a load of stuff, doesn't get it and reverts to players they know. The idea of 2 8's is really an 8 and a 10, given Bruno is our captain and was made captain by ETH, which is exactly how the best teams play these days. The issue is you need a specialist player to allow that to work and our recruitment team thought the natural progression from getting FdJ was somehow Casemiro. I don't agree at all with your assessment of De Jong for what it's worth, but the point is his style of play is what is important to ETH and so you should try and find a number of players in that mould.

Realistically Ineos will go one of two ways with us, they will commit to going super high possession (unlikely as very expensive and relatively unsuccessful I'd argue) or down the high press, more direct route (very likely in my opinion, they will lick their lips looking at Pool's net spend, they are close to Ragnick, they will no doubt love the RBL model and it lines up more with Brailsford's background in being a more physical/less technical type of player in most positions). In either case, we're going to need a DM and ideally one who is elite on the ball, we should have a list of 4-5 guys like FdJ ready to go for this summer.

 

[Rightnr]

I’m not even convinced that EtH was better last year rather than it luckily coinciding with a rare purple patch from Rashford.

What was better was his stubbornness levels. They've gone through the roof this year and we saw that if we played the exact same compact style as last year against Arsenal and a few other big games, we could have done so much better.

Probably not as well as last year but definitely at least get out of the CL groups and get top 4.

 

[tjb]

I genuinely don't know. The consensus always seemed to be a new manager given the resources available to them at United. Needed 3-4 years to turn us into title winners. That was the opinion of most fans when we hired Jose, Ole to an extent and certainly when we hired Erik 2 years ago. But now we seem further away than ever, and people not least Ten Hag himself are talking about needing a few years just to get back in the top 4.

Because that notion was always rubbish. Things change quickly in football, with transfers, growth of players and managers. Napoli didn't do a 3 to 5 year plan to win Serie A. Neither did Leverkusen this season. Good teams with the type of resources we have can have really quick turnarounds. Chelsea from 02/03 to 04/05 became the best team in the world in just two seasons of having Roman Abramovich. We aren't Man City pre-Abu Dhabi who needed to change the entire club and even they didn't need 5 years.

Speaking of clubs changing eras, Real Madrid just showed us what our transition should have looked like. They managed to still stay competitive while improving incrementally. Only at United do people want to tear everything apart and start again after every manager. The difference here is that if Madrid had a manager that had them finishing 4th and conceding 20 shots a game, they would have sacked him mid-season. United keep him for the whole season, whilst having everyone and their dog blame the players with everything coming out of the club targeting the players with mentions of mass sales. One club is looking to consistently be successful, the other one does things to "honor traditions" - the United way.

 

[stevoc]

How would you know? It is actually more probable that against Palace, the players didn‘t follow instructions correctly. Casemiro and Evans were caught 1v1 without anyone covering for them.

Palace let us have the ball and picked us off after we lost it. We were a shambles defending those situations because player’s weren’t following instructions.

You've completely lost me now mate. We seem to be talking about different things.

I haven't watched that post match press conference. From the original post I was replying to it sounded like Ten Hag said the players followed his instructions implying they haven't been doing that up untilt he Arsenal game. Maybe that wasn't the case.

 

[JPRouve]

Because that notion was always rubbish. Things change quickly in football, with transfers, growth of players and managers. Napoli didn't do a 3 to 5 year plan to win Serie A. Neither did Leverkusen this season. Good teams with the type of resources we have can have really quick turnarounds. Chelsea from 02/03 to 04/05 became the best team in the world in just two seasons of having Roman Abramovich. We aren't Man City pre-Abu Dhabi who needed to change the entire club and even they didn't need 5 years.

Speaking of clubs changing eras, Real Madrid just showed us what our transition should have looked like. They managed to still stay competitive while improving incrementally. Only at United do people want to tear everything apart and start again after every manager. The difference here is that if Madrid had a manager that had them finishing 4th and conceding 20 shots a game, they would have sacked him mid-season. United keep him for the whole season, whilst having everyone and their dog blame the players with everything coming out of the club targeting the players with mentions of mass sales. One club is looking to consistently be successful, the other one does things to "honor traditions" - the United way.

Or in the middle of a manager tenure. Everyone and everything needs to be changed outside of the manager and his decisions.

 

[stevoc]

Because that notion was always rubbish. Things change quickly in football, with transfers, growth of players and managers. Napoli didn't do a 3 to 5 year plan to win Serie A. Neither did Leverkusen this season. Good teams with the type of resources we have can have really quick turnarounds. Chelsea from 02/03 to 04/05 became the best team in the world in just two seasons of having Roman Abramovich. We aren't Man City pre-Abu Dhabi who needed to change the entire club and even they didn't need 5 years.

Speaking of clubs changing eras, Real Madrid just showed us what our transition should have looked like. They managed to still stay competitive while improving incrementally. Only at United do people want to tear everything apart and start again after every manager. The difference here is that if Madrid had a manager that had them finishing 4th and conceding 20 shots a game, they would have sacked him mid-season. United keep him for the whole season, whilst having everyone and their dog blame the players with everything coming out of the club targeting the players with mentions of mass sales. One club is looking to consistently be successful, the other one does things to "honor traditions" - the United way.

Yeah I don't think I've ever encountered another fanbase where large sections of it at any given time seem to think an entire new squad is needed with every new manager.

And yes I posted recently about Real having high standards. They are ruthless and that ruthlessness among other factors has kept them where they are, if a manager is failing they don't wait around for 6-18 months to see if they can turn it around. I think United could have benefitted form more of that attitude post SAF.

 

[DavelinaJolie]

It is a incredible demonstration of the Ajax sheen. I thought Donny would have taught a few how little value that still had, for 2 years much of the fanbase convinced themselves he was this misused game-changer when it was pretty obvious after about 3 games that he was very average.

Donny was a weird one, bought a player to fill a role we didn't really have. A lot of people seemed to convince themselves that he was this multi-purpose player (because: Ajax) who could play different midfield roles and it was crazy that Ole couldn't find a spot for him in the team. Even bringing in ETH there was this belief he could get the best out of him. It's kind of bizarre that even Erik couldn't see a role for him in his team yet seemed to think Antony could adapt to the league.

I can kind of understand, given the situation over the last couple of years, why people may believe ETH could come good with a more fortuitous season and the right signings. I kind of understand his reasoning about wanting to stick with the system because he wants players to get it, but there came a point a long time ago where I felt he needed to be more sensible and adapt to the situation the team was in, and he just didn't. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong*, but I've lost faith and that's why I think time for a new face with new ideas.

*I'm mindful that just because I think he should go, that it doesn't mean I should now revise history and act like everything he did was awful (e.g. Sancho). And I still want to try and understand his viewpoint, even if I disagree.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Because that notion was always rubbish. Things change quickly in football, with transfers, growth of players and managers. Napoli didn't do a 3 to 5 year plan to win Serie A. Neither did Leverkusen this season. Good teams with the type of resources we have can have really quick turnarounds. Chelsea from 02/03 to 04/05 became the best team in the world in just two seasons of having Roman Abramovich. We aren't Man City pre-Abu Dhabi who needed to change the entire club and even they didn't need 5 years.

Speaking of clubs changing eras, Real Madrid just showed us what our transition should have looked like. They managed to still stay competitive while improving incrementally. Only at United do people want to tear everything apart and start again after every manager. The difference here is that if Madrid had a manager that had them finishing 4th and conceding 20 shots a game, they would have sacked him mid-season. United keep him for the whole season, whilst having everyone and their dog blame the players with everything coming out of the club targeting the players with mentions of mass sales. One club is looking to consistently be successful, the other one does things to "honor traditions" - the United way.

Madrid literally sacked Benitez after a few months of shite. And then people are shocked when they are in the UCL final every year. Highest standards in the world and they don’t just clap their hands after every embarrassing defeat to “show support” of a bunch of dogshit spoiled players.

But United fans will also defend Rashford for years of laziness while we sit at home and watch Vini and co living and dying with every tackle in a UCL semi final doing whatever it takes. The stupid fecking romanticism our fanbase is obsessed with has to end at some point.

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

But what about all the injuries we had

 

[Cerberus]

I feel like this is somewhat inaccurate, the issue is - as we know - there's no real recruitment plan whatsoever. A manager comes in, gets promised a load of stuff, doesn't get it and reverts to players they know. The idea of 2 8's is really an 8 and a 10, given Bruno is our captain and was made captain by ETH, which is exactly how the best teams play these days. The issue is you need a specialist player to allow that to work and our recruitment team thought the natural progression from getting FdJ was somehow Casemiro. I don't agree at all with your assessment of De Jong for what it's worth, but the point is his style of play is what is important to ETH and so you should try and find a number of players in that mould.

Realistically Ineos will go one of two ways with us, they will commit to going super high possession (unlikely as very expensive and relatively unsuccessful I'd argue) or down the high press, more direct route (very likely in my opinion, they will lick their lips looking at Pool's net spend, they are close to Ragnick, they will no doubt love the RBL model and it lines up more with Brailsford's background in being a more physical/less technical type of player in most positions). In either case, we're going to need a DM and ideally one who is elite on the ball, we should have a list of 4-5 guys like FdJ ready to go for this summer.

The reason I pointed out the 2 8's system is that it was completely illogical to pursue that plan last summer when our only DM was Casemiro who's not someone you can rely on to be a single pivot at his age, so the fact that Ten Hag focused on that shows he has a glaring lack of understanding of the team's core weaknesses. He genuinely believed the money spent on Mount was a good idea instead of focusing that cash on trying to go all in for players that could make critical changes to the team like Kane, KMJ, or a midfielder that can actually progress the ball from deep. De Jong is not good enough defensively, he does not have the positional discipline to hold down the midfield considering his tendency to roam. I'm sure he'd be good at a team that's already defensively solid such as City, but adding him to our midfield is not going to help stop us leaking goals. Also, he's a bit overrated on this forum. There's a reason Barca want to sell him - his wages far outstrip his talent.

This all just brings me back to my original point. Ten Hag has a very strong view of what kind of team he wants to recruit. It's not just going for players he knows, he walked in and expected transfer control and didn't want to work with an acclaimed sporting director in Rangnick. So you have a manager who's very stubborn and expects a lot of hands-on power in the team he's trying to build and now you're going to strip him of a serious amount of power and control -- it's just not going to end well. Giving him another season with Ineos in charge is only going to lead with a lot of behind-the-scenes drama which I think is the primary reason they won't keep him charge despite all his bad results.

 

[JPRouve]

The reason I pointed out the 2 8's system is that it was completely illogical to pursue that plan last summer when our only DM was Casemiro who's not someone you can rely on to be a single pivot at his age, so the fact that Ten Hag focused on that shows he has a glaring lack of understanding of the team's core weaknesses. He genuinely believed the money spent on Mount was a good idea instead of focusing that cash on trying to go all in for players that could make critical changes to the team like Kane, KMJ, or a midfielder that can actually progress the ball from deep. De Jong is not good enough defensively, he does not have the positional discipline to hold down the midfield considering his tendency to roam. I'm sure he'd be good at a team that's already defensively solid such as City, but adding him to our midfield is not going to help stop us leaking goals. Also, he's a bit overrated on this forum. There's a reason Barca want to sell him - his wages far outstrip his talent.

This all just brings me back to my original point. Ten Hag has a very strong view of what kind of team he wants to recruit. It's not just going for players he knows, he walked in and expected transfer control and didn't want to work with an acclaimed sporting director in Rangnick. So you have a manager who's very stubborn and expects a lot of hands-on power in the team he's trying to build and now you're going to strip him of a serious amount of power and control -- it's just not going to end well. Giving him another season with Ineos in charge is only going to lead with a lot of behind-the-scenes drama which I think is the primary reason they won't keep him charge despite all his bad results.

You can absolutely trust Casemiro to be a single DM, we are not talking about a geriatric player. The issue is that teams that play with a single DM don't setup the way we do because it doesn't matter how young or in shape he is a single player can't cover the entire width of the pitch and also massive vertical gaps. Our system is senseless regardless of personnel.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

From now on, we are not supposed to give every new manager 3-5 years plan. We are supposed to have a functional football structure now. Their main job is to make sure seamless transition between managers. Also, to change manager immediately if they see that the manager is not suitable. Basically, this is how well run club works. See RM, BM and etc. We never heard RM and BM give their manager 3 years. 1st year if you can't perform or don't see improvement, you are out of the door straight.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

You can absolutely trust Casemiro to be a single DM, we are not talking about a geriatric player. The issue is that teams that play with a single DM don't setup the way we do because it doesn't matter how young or in shape he is a single player can't cover the entire width of the pitch and also massive vertical gaps. Our system is senseless regardless of personnel.

I mean you really can't trust Casemiro in a single DM system these days, he's a step or two slower than he was just last season already. But I agree anyways re: the system being idiotic. Just saying that not targeting a DM when our only player for that position was Casemiro himself with not a single backup was fecking stupid.

 

[tjb]

Madrid literally sacked Benitez after a few months of shite. And then people are shocked when they are in the UCL final every year. Highest standards in the world and they don’t just clap their hands after every embarrassing defeat to “show support” of a bunch of dogshit spoiled players.

But United fans will also defend Rashford for years of laziness while we sit at home and watch Vini and co living and dying with every tackle in a UCL semi final doing whatever it takes. The stupid fecking romanticism our fanbase is obsessed with has to end at some point.

Honestly, that's one of the things that annoys me as well. Good on Rashford for taking a jump in 2021, but we treat youth like we treat managers. We overrate them, don't put pressure on them, main supportive regardless of poor quality performances and always let them go past their sell by date. We're then hit with the realization after three seasons that they aren't as good as we thought they'd be. We also then try to hide the reality that they never truly performed consistently, using few individually good performances to justify a bucket load of average or terrible ones. When Bruno came in, we didn't need 6 months to see how influential he was. Pep may have had a poor season by his standards, but in regard to play, the style he would use was obvious from pre-season 2016. Like for Vinicius Jr., it might take some time for performances to lead to end product/results, but you should always be able to see consistent quality.

Yet for United, our fans and the club pin all our hopes on these players and managers. Dreaming of rather than actually seeing quality. In 2022, we spent our entire pre-season bigging up Ten Haag to the press. When we then had our bad start, instead of looking at him, putting pressure on him for performances, we instead blamed Richard Arnold, Murtough, Maguire, Sancho and Ronaldo. We were making excuses for a new coach who should have had to prove himself to us. We allowed him to say that this job was impossible when talking to the media. Allowing him to feel like he was our saviour. Fast forward over two years of similar treatment, its no wander he's become this arrogant and delusional. He knows that with our fanbase, he can come out and say that Bruno doesn't train properly, and our entire fanbase/media will turn on him without proof on his word. He also knows that if Bruno comes out to defend himself, people will turn on him again, stating that he's downing tools and disrespecting the manager. Our fans forget that we no longer have Sir Alex. The ten years since his departure should have been proof enough that managers can actually be disruptive figures in the club, and at United, the poor structures have led to them being unchecked.

.

 

[JPRouve]

I mean you really can't trust Casemiro in a single DM system these days, he's a step or two slower than he was just last season already. But I agree anyways re: the system being idiotic. Just saying that not targeting a DM when our only player for that position was Casemiro himself with not a single backup was fecking stupid.

You absolutely can, speed isn't a factor in that role and you are not talking about someone that is actually slow. Our issue with him is that one he has been used as box to box since around midseason 22-23 and we expect our duo of CM to cover the entire width, around 45m vertically and to make runs into the box. No one can do that and all our midfielders have struggled especially defensively.

The issue for Casemiro with us isn't athletic, it's that he is constantly in positional situations that he doesn't master and the one role that he hasn't been given is the one that made his success, as a single DM with the game generally in front of him.

 

[Marwood]

You can absolutely trust Casemiro to be a single DM, we are not talking about a geriatric player. The issue is that teams that play with a single DM don't setup the way we do because it doesn't matter how young or in shape he is a single player can't cover the entire width of the pitch and also massive vertical gaps. Our system is senseless regardless of personnel.

I'm struggling to think of CM who greater resembles a geriatric.

Whatever the set up, players need their legs to be at a certain level.

 

[Irwin99]

There is this idea that at some point we needed to hit rock bottom in order to finally rebuild properly and in a way that could make us competitive at the top again. Missing out entirely on Europe would allow us to significantly trim the squad rather than hoarding players because of the number of games that Europa League or Conference league would bring.

It’s strange but I remember arguments on here about ETH being too pragmatic. This season he’s been stubbornly avoiding pragmatism supposedly in pursuits of longer term benefits. Our fanbase demands a certain level of results to retain your job but what if we need to go through this kind of pain in order to make strides forward?

I’m not sure any manager has ever come back from such a low (at least not in modern times) but I am fascinated by what we’d try to do next season if we didn’t sack ETH. Just as an experiment I almost want to see it play out.

Yeah i can't deny i'm somewhat curious about the idea myself, especially if the alternative is Southgate or someone like that, but then as other people have said, I needed to see a clearer idea of what he's actually building towards and a better idea of the players we need in order to make this system work. It's very obvious you need physically strong, very fit, hardworking and fast players to implement it and cover the ground but that doesn't fit the profile of over half the squad here-Varane, Casemiro, Eriksen, Rashford, Lindelof, Shaw, Maguire, Martial, Antony. And then you have players who are closer to the right profile but just aren't good enough- McTominay, AwB, for example. And who are these players coming in that are going to make it work? The squad and the idea for going forward looks messy. I'm not saying it's impossible but it's hard to keep any faith with how this season has gone.

 

[DSG]

Blows my mind that 126 people want ETH to stay.

You know, people were clamoring for Ole to be sacked — and he rightly was — yet there is a very devoted small group that insist that ETH is a good manager and point at everything else that’s wrong with the club as a reason to keep him. I think it’s the savior complex. I guess they believe that we need one person to save the club from doom.

Ironic that a club legend, Ole, was thrown out of the club and ridiculed as a PE teacher, and yet the same folks who did that are banging the drum of ETH and defending what is without a doubt, the worst football we’ve seen post SAF.

 

[Leftback99]

Why is it luck?

Why isn't it?

 

[glazed]

This is not a venture capital backed start up trying to hoover up market share by driving losses over 5 years to try and become a Unicorn. This is the equivalent of an Apple saying let’s stop manufacturing iPhones till we get the best possible phone ever conceived to be ready to go into production.

No it's about do we play type A football and continue to regress to irrelevance (which we already have) or do we start playing type B football knowing we will lose a shit ton of games while we get there, but when we do we will have a shot at success. Obviously the answer is type B. The question is how do you mitigate the losing a shit ton of games. The answer is NOT, repeat NOT, to employ a type A coach. You need someone who knows how to do that transition as quickly and efficiently as possible, but far far more importantly you need the entire club doing it with you. And that latter is what ETH has not had.

 

[rajds89]

But what about all the injuries we had

Ah but what’s our injury difference compared to theirs?

 

[Robbie Boy]

Ironic that a club legend, Ole, was thrown out of the club and ridiculed as a PE teacher, and yet the same folks who did that are banging the drum of ETH and defending what is without a doubt, the worst football we’ve seen post SAF.

The folks that banged the Ole drum are absolutely ETH out. In fact, they were the first cohort to be critical, even when he was doing decent enough last season. Then the ETH fans will likely be critical of the next man. It's a never ending loop of manager worshipping. The Jose cultists were also different from the Ole and ETH versions.

 

[RedC]

But what about all the injuries we had

What's the point in comparing 2 teams at completely different points of progress? Arsenal scored 55 goals in Arteta's second season, and 60 the season after.

 

[peridigm]

Blows my mind that 126 people want ETH to stay.

You know, people were clamoring for Ole to be sacked — and he rightly was — yet there is a very devoted small group that insist that ETH is a good manager and point at everything else that’s wrong with the club as a reason to keep him. I think it’s the savior complex. I guess they believe that we need one person to save the club from doom.

Ironic that a club legend, Ole, was thrown out of the club and ridiculed as a PE teacher, and yet the same folks who did that are banging the drum of ETH and defending what is without a doubt, the worst football we’ve seen post SAF.

I was against sacking Ole early on. I felt it was just going to be a continuation of our recent cycle. New manager, new players, an okay first season followed by a poor 2nd or 3rd season, sack and repeat. I was ready for Ole to be sacked around the time he was sacked. I've been ETH out since around November. The standards have continued to drop with him as manager and the football is wack.
The Ineos era should be a clean slate.

 

[tomaldinho1]

The reason I pointed out the 2 8's system is that it was completely illogical to pursue that plan last summer when our only DM was Casemiro who's not someone you can rely on to be a single pivot at his age, so the fact that Ten Hag focused on that shows he has a glaring lack of understanding of the team's core weaknesses. He genuinely believed the money spent on Mount was a good idea instead of focusing that cash on trying to go all in for players that could make critical changes to the team like Kane, KMJ, or a midfielder that can actually progress the ball from deep. De Jong is not good enough defensively, he does not have the positional discipline to hold down the midfield considering his tendency to roam. I'm sure he'd be good at a team that's already defensively solid such as City, but adding him to our midfield is not going to help stop us leaking goals. Also, he's a bit overrated on this forum. There's a reason Barca want to sell him - his wages far outstrip his talent.

This all just brings me back to my original point. Ten Hag has a very strong view of what kind of team he wants to recruit. It's not just going for players he knows, he walked in and expected transfer control and didn't want to work with an acclaimed sporting director in Rangnick. So you have a manager who's very stubborn and expects a lot of hands-on power in the team he's trying to build and now you're going to strip him of a serious amount of power and control -- it's just not going to end well. Giving him another season with Ineos in charge is only going to lead with a lot of behind-the-scenes drama which I think is the primary reason they won't keep him charge despite all his bad results.

You seem to be falling into the trap that all DMs need to be the same? There’s a world of difference between most, it’s just what skillset you need.

Whats FdJ elite at? Bringing the ball out himself, playing on the turn, dictating possession once the phase of play has advanced. You don’t have to be big or strong to be a good DM, you just need to know the role and it’s not like he’s slow or weak anyway.

Re your original point, all managers have that? That’s not unique to ETH. And as much as I like Ragnick why would you penalise a manager because they got more transfer control and didn’t want to lose it? Ragnick doesn’t do chilled take it or leave it advice, he either runs your recruitment or he doesn’t and most managers want as much control as possible.Also given they believe in different styles of play why would ETH willingly want a DoF who will want different players to him?

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

This thread is just an echo chamber of pretending that impatience is some form of standards. It’s not it’s just delusion. We aren’t Real Madrid either in terms of our squad, resources, league or even our ethos and I don’t understand why you’d want to replicate that. I don’t want to support a club that boos our best player for a poor game, again that’s not standards, it’s pathetic entitlement.

Before I’m jumped on this isn’t be defending Ten Hag and all he does, just answering some of the ridiculousness of the discourse in here.

 

[hobbers]

Blows my mind that 126 people want ETH to stay.

About 40% are newbies with few posts and few likes. Also a lot of 0 post accounts.

Public votes so much better

 

[TrebleChamp99]

Ten hag out!

 

[DSG]

The folks that banged the Ole drum are absolutely ETH out. In fact, they were the first cohort to be critical, even when he was doing decent enough last season. Then the ETH fans will likely be critical of the next man. It's a never ending loop of manager worshipping. The Jose cultists were also different from the Ole and ETH versions.

I don’t necessarily think that is true. Of course, many that wanted Ole out want ETH out, those prioritizing results. I think we tend to simplify these things because it is easy.

Many of those that criticized Ole early on didn’t like him because they believe counter attacking football is inferior to other forms. I have no issues with counterattacking football, I think it can be the most breathtaking. Watch Real Madrid…

It seems to me that some of those defending ETH are obsessed with Ajax/Dutch total football, possession based and / or high press football and believe we need an idealist, like Pep, to return us to the top of the league. I’ve never bought into that line of thinking. Real Madrid are the ultimate pragmatists, and look, they are in another CL final. Their strategy is simple: buy the best young players, get a great coach/manager, and everything else falls into place.

 

[NicolaSacco]

No worries, I can't find the story I read but apparently at least in theory UEFA can fine sides for fielding weakened sides. How often it's actually happened though I've no idea. BUt I imagine they'd take a dim view on United or another big side playing virtual Youth teams in their competitions. I can remember Liverpool under Rodgers got a telling off for making a load of changes in one game.

Utd would get about 80 times as much column inches if they did it, that’s for sure.

 

[DSG]

About 40% are newbies with few posts and few likes. Also a lot of 0 post accounts.

Public votes so much better

Burner accounts? But why?

 

[erikcred]

Burner accounts? But why?

I mean, if the team you manage gets knocked out of the CL and doesn't even make it to EL, you suddenly have a lot of free time on your hands.

 

[Leftback99]

I just hope if he does end up staying and dragging the club out of the mud some of you (most) don't celebrate with him.

If he does then great but you or anyone else hasn't got has got any grounds to say "i told you so" if it does happen other than sheer blind faith.

 

[Revan]

I'm back with another source bit random but..

McKenna is leaving Ipswitch thought is he's going Brighton so De Zerbi anyone?

I dont want to tell you my source as it would be too obvious to the people he knows but let's just say it's come from playing staff at Ipswitch.

McKenna at United, make it happen.

Makes not much sense, but let’s actually try something crazy for once. Crazy good, not crazy bad.

 

[NicolaSacco]

I'm back with another source bit random but..

McKenna is leaving Ipswitch thought is he's going Brighton so De Zerbi anyone?

I dont want to tell you my source as it would be too obvious to the people he knows but let's just say it's come from playing staff at Ipswitch.

I sincerely hope your source is wrong.

There have been a couple of rumours, specifically about Brighton, in the last couple of months, but they were more based on if we don’t get promoted. Feck.

 

[Oldyella]

I'm back with another source bit random but..

McKenna is leaving Ipswitch thought is he's going Brighton so De Zerbi anyone?

I dont want to tell you my source as it would be too obvious to the people he knows but let's just say it's come from playing staff at Ipswitch.

Honestly, would rather we went for McKenna than De Zerbi.

 

[Godfather]

This thread is just an echo chamber of pretending that impatience is some form of standards. It’s not it’s just delusion. We aren’t Real Madrid either in terms of our squad, resources, league or even our ethos and I don’t understand why you’d want to replicate that. I don’t want to support a club that boos our best player for a poor game, again that’s not standards, it’s pathetic entitlement.

Before I’m jumped on this isn’t be defending Ten Hag and all he does, just answering some of the ridiculousness of the discourse in here.

Name checks out