And win trophies. Funny you forgot that.
Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24
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We did the very same to Ron Atkinson who had won the FA Cup. Brought in Fergie and the rest is history.
Must admit, I had a wobble yesterday, my heart is telling me to give ETH another season, my head is telling me he's not good enough on the whole. Only problem is I don't know who we can replace him with? Tuchel isn't even giving me a semi.
As Ole was a nice boss who won nothing and the players gave up on him. These players despite the horrendous injuries and place in the league seem to still be behind him and have been rewarded with their consecutive trophy and 3rd final.
I'm not sure there's a better option out there. I'd risk one more season under a new structure. Rather than rinse and repeat. That said I don't think Jim is particularly fond of him at the moment.
I can't comment on Atkinson as I was too young, but for LVG, did he also win us another trophy the year before? Sacking him was the correct call. We played horrendous football far below what Ten Hag has delivered, and he was clearly well past his best. I like Poch; he's a good manager, but you can't deny he just doesn't have the winning habit—ETH does! I think it would be absolutely madness to sack him now. Give him a better squad, manage the injuries (or shift the injury prone players) and I have no doubts he will deliver better performances than this season.
You can look it up in the bbc article, United have had the most individual injuries, but I think what we really need is how long key players are absent and the concentration breakdown in the area of the pitch.
I think Newcastle and United will basically be up there among the top.
How have people forgotten all the games from this season already
We have been utterly dreadful to watch.Maybe it is. But on face value, everything ETH has said makes sense to me, and performances did improve when he said they would. I've also seen in many other spheres how the layering up of coaching leads to excellence. There does look to be progression there and I'd like to see how it develops rather than go back to square 1 again.
He was playing a midfield one with a chasm of half the pitch as soon as our first press was beaten. We were conceding the exact same cutback in every game. We were conceding over 20+ shots on our goal every game. This was all tactical misgivings to the point of negligence — I am not having that this was all some master plan where the players have gleaned high level galaxy brain intelligence from his absolutely demented set up on the football pitch.
That is just not correct. Made up stuff from you. And also, moaning and telling how it is are two different things.
I've read them all and looked at all the various tables. And while our injuries this season have been bad, really bad. I don't get the sense that we've had it much worse if at all than other teams.
I’m all for McKenna but sacking TenHag to hire a championship manager sounds like madness.
I think he deserves a third season. Build a team that can control the ball and works hard.
I think he deserves a third season. Build a team that can control the ball and works hard.
I've never been more bored watching football than under LVG. I've forgotten nothing. This season has been a mess, but it's also been a perfect storm of terrible events. Overall, it's clear though, that the actual football is a million times better to watch than under LVG. The circumstances are nothing alike.How have people forgotten all the games from this season already
For me he has bought himself a little more time.
If the decision has been made already then fair enough but if they took yesterday into account then I think he will stay.
Tactical masterclass
If the decision has been made already then fair enough but if they took yesterday into account then I think he will stay.
Tactical masterclass
Hasn't he done that this season and failed miserably?
It just misses the point though, our squad is nowhere near good enough to account for the number of injuries we have had.
Right, a season in a very competitive league where he essentially had on average the majority of his defence injured for most games. We had no left back for 80% of the season. We had zero consistency at CB, being forced to use something mad like 25 different combinations. At one point Dalot was our only fit fullback for about 4 weeks.
Over the course of a season he dealt with a defensive crisis that most managers are unlucky to deal with for a period of 2-3 weeks before it settles.
How do you build consistency into your season on that sort of foundation? When it happens in a short period of 2-3 weeks when there is maybe 5 or 6 matches you look back and say you’re lucky to pick up 8-12 points given the circumstances and hope to catch up when your players are back fit but it literally happened for 8 months straight. It was relentless. We are talking top level football where there are no easy matches.
Momentum and confidence are huge in football, if you’re having injury after injury and rarely have a team or squad strong enough to stroll to victories and preserve energy and rest players at will it becomes a relentless game of catch up. It was just a threadbare battle every single match and it’s disingenuous to suggest that should be ignored and we should have been in the top four regardless because we’re Manchester United.
On top of that, the sheer volume of bullshit refereeing decisions easily cost us 10+ points and that’s being conservative. It just added to the pressure and drag.
I get being reluctant to sack a cup winner, but this notion of 'a bit more time' is a hard sell for me. If you don't sack him now, you'll have to do it midseason, which is complicated and will leave the new guy, whoever is available during the season, with no preparation. Or you keep him for another year, which might end up terrible again.
LVG missed out on 4th only by GD. We had a horrendous injury crisis that year too.
That’s fair, I just think that veers into blind faith.
I am very strongly subscribed to the viewpoint that there are very few players we can sign this summer to make the tactics we spent the vast majority of the season playing with, actually work, especially without removing some of the components currently in the squad (who paradoxically seem key to his thought process!)
Honestly i hated Lvg, he nearly made me fall out of love with football it was so bad. But he had brilliant days too - for example away at anfield. He knew how to dominate and control the big games but stubbornly refused to take the shackles off for lesser games and we’d have 1 shot in a match.
Ten Hag this season hasn’t quite been as bad to watch but has been equally as bad in his own way with stubbornness also being his major downfall. These Dutch managers seem to have trouble with their egos
This forum is a media source. I appreciate it works differently to others, but it is still a form of media source. One which discusses other media sources frequently.
Furthermore, his support of Overmars is him supporting a friend's rehabilitation. That isn't quite evidence of him being 'morally bankrupt', no matter how much you want him out, or to sully our achievements.
Absolutely correct. McKenna is a massive risk and I'd caution any opinion which advises 'yeah, but Pep was raw, too' when we consider he had Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Henry, Pique to begin work with.
Furthermore, EtH just won a deserved trophy in a season wrecked with injuries and off-field personnel nonsense. Yesterday, the players played for and celebrated for him.
One more season is my hot take.
Still sacked after winning the cup
plus he was given another chance after winning the cup and had us down in the relegation spots
Agreed 100% An fa cup win a people forgot a horrendous league csmpaign
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Something else to bear in mind this season, he based his entire transfer policy and tactical outlook on the idea that Casemiro was still a "destroyer" that could provide defensive cover from midfield on his own. We were going into this season with Erik thinking a Casemiro-Bruno-Mount midfield was the way to go and our entire season went tits up after one game when it was obvious that wasn't going to work against Wolves.
If we are being kind, that's naive, but he has been naive time and time again. I really am ambivalent either way as to whether we keep or not. I'm not convinced any of the replacement manages will be any matter, but any other season we would all be willing Erik to go.
If we are being kind, that's naive, but he has been naive time and time again. I really am ambivalent either way as to whether we keep or not. I'm not convinced any of the replacement manages will be any matter, but any other season we would all be willing Erik to go.
League cup is not a major trophy. Even if you consider this as one, it was still under Ten Hag.
C'mon man! We finished 5th in LVG's last season, only missing out on 4th on GD. We finished 8th this season, that too with a negative GD.
Whether you believe ETH should stay or not is a different discussion, but this claiming that this season wasn't a total car wreck is completely incorrect.
To be fair we had Shaw and/or Reguilon available for all but 5 games between August and Mid February.
We also had 2 or more of Maguire, Lindelof, Evans, Varane and Kambwala. Fit and available for all but about 5 games.
He finished 5th in a period the league was horrendous while playing the most horrific brand of football known to man.
The results were better, the football was painful though
Ten Hag should not be in charge of recruitment. That’s a club failing not Ten Hag.
It’s not just protecting his friend though, he talks about him being good at his job.
Further he supported Promes at Ajax after he stabbed someone.
he wanted greenwood to play this season
he’s a shitty judge of character at best
and I’m not using that to knock this season. The poor results speak for themselves
Mine is a pretty unusual take I think but I don't think yesterday should sway the decision one way or another. Things that the senior management should be looking at:-
What is the football philosophy we are aiming for
- Style of play / academy and transfer plans
Then we need a manager that best fits the above, If the philosophy matches ETHs experiences then imo we should stick with him and if we are looking for a very different philosophy then we should sack him and hire someone else. Wants the philosophy has been mapped out, we need to give either manager (ETH or the new one) a clean slate to execute that philosophy.
PS I know I have said philosophy a lot and it's a very w@nky word - apologies!
What is the football philosophy we are aiming for
- Style of play / academy and transfer plans
Then we need a manager that best fits the above, If the philosophy matches ETHs experiences then imo we should stick with him and if we are looking for a very different philosophy then we should sack him and hire someone else. Wants the philosophy has been mapped out, we need to give either manager (ETH or the new one) a clean slate to execute that philosophy.
PS I know I have said philosophy a lot and it's a very w@nky word - apologies!
Bit funny how he won with a Rangnick style system
If the League Cup isn't a major trophy (which it is) then neither is the FA Cup.
But truth is both have virtually the same format, both are contested by the exact same teams and both are major trophies.
Literally nobody has said this. LVG was horrific though, are people actually forgetting just how bad the football was to watch.
I don’t think it’s one or the other
They were, in fact, both bad. Conceding 60 goals is not my idea of a good time, particularly when we can also barely score at the other end.
We've had no left back all season and have hardly ever played a center back pairing that we can rely on all season too. I think there are one or two sides in similar boats but our squad building has been poor, where the 3rd or 4th choice players are completely reverse profiles to the first choice.
That being said I can only think of Chelsea and Newcastle comparable on this front and we had a better season than both.
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