Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

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How much of a risk is it to give him one more season? I’d personally say it’s a risk worth taking keeping him because

1) The current potential replacements are incredibly underwhelming and nobody would lose sleep missing out on them

2) Even if ETH ends up failing next season, hopefully INEOS has created a structure were recruitment is less tied to the manager, meaning we can easily change managers without any talk of a rebuild or starting over.
 
Great performance yesterday, which completely vindicates keeping him in charge for that game and means he can leave with his head held a bit higher.

That said, the game yesterday felt like a one off. We thrived because we were able to sit deep and play on the counter - we can’t normally do that. We still fail to control games and keep the ball, we still concede too many chances and dont Create enough ant the other end. Beyond the match day tactics (and substitutions), the media handling has been poor and the transfers woeful (ETH shares the blame with the board on that one). I was on the fence about keeping him or not because it didn’t feel like there were any good replacements available, but now there is Poch, Tuchel, RDZ and McKenna all potentially available, which Changes that calculation.

I don’t like that we seem to have become a club that changes manager every year or two - I want stability, but ETH just hasn’t shown enough to justify another season for me. If we keep him only to have another shit transfer window and league performance, and sack him by Christmas, it just means the new manager has less chance of turning things around.
 
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VP89 said:
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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Mate that just isn't true. You know that.
 
I’d be more inclined to say, yeah go ahead and sack him if the names being banded around as his replacement made sense to me.
 
golden_blunder said:
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
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Personally think this narrative is overblown. He's had very few options all season because of injuries. He's given the young players huge opportunities and rewarded them when they continue to perform. I think for some playing Antony = being stubborn. Fair enough the tactical setup has been a mess at times, but how do you build any consistency with the team (particularly the defence) changing every week. Arsenal have had a great season and arguably the biggest reason for that is their consistent CB partnership. If Varane and Martinez had played all season, this would have gone very differently.
 
Adisa said:
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.
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It does on paper but if we are convinced he's a great coach in the making that we can't miss out on then we should go for it and ignore outside noise. Thankfully I don't think INEOS will be influenced by fan opinion.
 
His English has noticeably improved lately he seems much more fluid. I heard an interview recently from shortly after Van Gaal was sacked where he claimed that his grasp of the language was one of his biggest problems as it made it hard to explain the fine details/nuances to the players.
 
Ubik said:
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.
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Lets ignore the fact we haven't had a defence all season.
 
Neil_Buchanan said:
His English has noticeably improved lately he seems much more fluid. I heard an interview recently from shortly after Van Gaal was sacked where he claimed that his grasp of the language was one of his biggest problems as it made it hard to explain the fine details/nuances to the players.
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I think it’s possible things are really just starting to click. Only one way to find out I guess.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Personally think this narrative is overblown. He's had very few options all season because of injuries. He's given the young players huge opportunities and rewarded them when they continue to perform. I think for some playing Antony = being stubborn. Fair enough the tactical setup has been a mess at times, but how do you build any consistency with the team (particularly the defence) changing every week. Arsenal have had a great season and arguably the biggest reason for that is their consistent CB partnership. If Varane and Martinez had played all season, this would have gone very differently.
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If he could have made one change this year it would be to play with a double pivot to protect that injury prone defense, that would have made a huge difference to the league season. Thats on him regardless of injuries
 
Oh my god I can’t believe I’m wavering in this now. Part of me wants to keep him again. I must stop reading this thread.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Lets ignore the fact we haven't had a defence all season.
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People can't have this both ways. If the defence was such a frailty, the manager shouldn't have been sending us out there with a giant hole in midfield.
 
Rista said:
Well, Pep did it yesterday and said he got the tactics wrong and it was all on him.
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Pep manages a well run football club that won titles before he joined and has a strong culture. We have a broken one - this is nearly the same team that gave up during the Ole / Ragnick joint season. It’s easy to admit one mistake when you’re at the top. ETH is under the enormous pressure and crucial.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Literally nobody has said this. LVG was horrific though, are people actually forgetting just how bad the football was to watch.
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He was horrific, but he still got better results than ETH.

My biggest gripe with ETH is what he mentioned yesterday in the presser, and has done multiple times before. He needs all his first teamers available to be able to play the way he wants. If even 2-3 are missing, his style collapses and he doesn't have ( or hasn't shown so far) the tactical nuance to be able to consistently get results. That for me is the biggest red flag, as we are essentially accepting we won't be able to deal with adverse circumstances if/when the next injury crisis hits. Of course, it could be next season there are no major injuries and he leads us to a glorious campaign, but does that prove he can overcome this weakness? For me, a manager at a top club should be getting results irrespective of the adverse circumstances. Sure, you can not win the league but you can't be dropping down to 8th either.

I try not to get involved in this ETH discussion too much because it's almost becoming like those silly Messi v Ronaldo or Ineos v Qatar debates where people just pick a side and defend it to the hilt. If he stays, like with all managers, I will fully support him and cheer for him at OT, hoping he gets us the league. But if it was up to me, I would be looking for a change.
 
A very bullish interview from someone that finished bottom of a Champions League group and led us to our worst ever season in Premier League history.

“If I’m not wanted, I’ll go somewhere else and win trophies” is vintage Mourinho. Where else would you go other than back to Ajax , Erik?

No other club in England will touch him after what they’ve seen this season. Every manager he’s come up against has had their way with us.

PSG wouldn’t want him. Real Madrid wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole and Barca have hired Flick.

Oh and Bayern would sooner turn to a relegated Vincent Kompany, so there’s that too.

A good send off for a manager who came within a gnat’s chuff of being dumped out at the semi-final against high flying and all conquering Coventry City.
 
Manchester United have become the antithesis of the stability and resulting success under Sir Alex Ferguson. The managerial music chairs more often than not goes on at clubs that can`t have sustained or any real success, all the open talk of sacking Ten Hag falls into that category.

Despite all the delight of fans at the new ownership, I find what they did to Ten Hag absolutely despicable. Leaking to and playing with the media about sacking the Manchester United Manager. Right before the FA Cup Final. I think if they actually do that, fans shouldn`t expect the culture shift that we need for United to become successful again.
 
2 new narratives introduced today

- refs fault or we could have had 15-20 extra points
- his English is holding him back from getting his points across

Might as well go for a third one lads? Any good ones?
 
golden_blunder said:
If he could have made one change this year it would be to play with a double pivot to protect that injury prone defense, that would have made a huge difference to the league season. Thats on him regardless of injuries
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Yeah, maybe it wouldn't have changed that much, though, to be honest. The injuries have meant we have fielded average players and sides far too often this season, that would always have caught us out. The squad needs significant improvement regardless and I still back ETH to coach them better than some of the other names bandied about.
 
golden_blunder said:
2 new narratives introduced today

- refs fault or we could have had 15-20 extra points
- his English is holding him back from getting his points across

Might as well go for a third one lads? Any good ones?
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Sometimes the glare from his head stops players seeing the tactics board properly.
 
golden_blunder said:
2 new narratives introduced today

- refs fault or we could have had 15-20 extra points
- his English is holding him back from getting his points across

Might as well go for a third one lads? Any good ones?
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The refereeing decisions against us have been objectively horrendous. Who knows how many points that's cost us.
 
hellhunter said:
Is there a chance that he's just a solid cup manager? Ajax dominating the league probably doesn't mean that much, but his biggest achievement was the CL run as well
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He finished 3rd last year, so I think he's more than just a cup manager.

This is the worst period he's ever had in management, and its still back to back silverware. That speaks for something. At the very least he's no fraud like some idiots here like to claim.
 
You can argue until your blue in the face with multiple lists of reasons to keep him and excuses.

The fact is they want their own man that they have vetted and interviewed. You can go apeshit and shit yourself with frustration but it doesn't matter they have people at INEOS Blanc and Brailsford that do not have a fans sentiment and will look at this very harshly and very coldly.

They are not united fans nor should they be. He will be sacked and we'll just have to deal with it.


I do think he'll sack himself anyway next season. Expect the injuries to continue and the excuses. Then we are in a real mess.
 
locomojito said:
as a figure of speech. He reached 3 finals in 2 seasons and won 2 of them. How many has Arteta won in the past few years? And yet he gets the confidence. UTD is one of the hardest if not hardest clubs to manage but he came and did what he promised, win trophies. Now everyone is chanting for him to leave, and then what? Another reset, another project, another process that would need a few years. You will never get your Ferguson if you keep your coaches after 2 season. I can't believe for all the people asking for him to leave after reaching 3 finals in 2 years with this team... seriously
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Arteta challenged foe the league twice!!
 
stevoc said:
Thats your opinion and I respect it. Personally I think the football on offer has been worse this season, at least under LVG we could defend. This season we've been crap at defending and attacking.
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Quite easy to defend when you play a back 5.
 
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