Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

[Mr Pigeon]

I can pick ten different reasons why he should go, but if Ten Hag doesn't get sacked then I hope he bans the journalists, that have been hammering this story relentlessly, from press conferences. Not out of spite but just because they'll do nothing but ask the same "do you think you'll be sacked soon?" question every time. Give the seat to a journalist that might actually ask something interesting.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Do they? The poll results have dramatically changed in 1 day. Its now closer to 50/50 after being at 73% sack him before the final

Emotion? I would find it hard to believe anyone could realistically change their stance after how the season has played out, unless they were on the fence to begin with. He's gone up in my estimations but I wouldn't trust giving him another season.

 

[Drainy]

The more I think about it the angrier I get about the criticism that as the bigger club we should win with dominating possession based football against Pep's City.

If that's the standard of football understanding that the insanely ETH out crowd have...

 

[Sarni]

The more I think about it the angrier I get about the criticism that as the bigger club we should win with dominating possession based football against Pep's City.

If that's the standard of football understanding that the insanely ETH out crowd have...

Has anyone actually claimed that? Like is there a single person/columnist that said the only acceptable level is dominating possession against City?

 

[Robbie Boy]

Has anyone actually claimed that? Like is there a single person/columnist that said the only acceptable level is dominating possession against City?

Well, there's a few melts on here claiming "OMG he resorted to Ole ball".

 

[the_cliff]

If we sack ETH for Frank or Poch.

Tuchel is understandable but Frank, Poch and Southgate. I'd worry about this INEOS lot if they do that.

 

[Drainy]

Has anyone actually claimed that? Like is there a single person/columnist that said the only acceptable level is dominating possession against City?

Ogden according to two ETH out posters who co-signed it

 

[TsuWave]

Has anyone actually claimed that? Like is there a single person/columnist that said the only acceptable level is dominating possession against City?

That's without even mentioning that it doesn't have to be a binary choice between "dominating possession" or "27% possession"

 

[golden_blunder]

Emotion? I would find it hard to believe anyone could realistically change their stance after how the season has played out, unless they were on the fence to begin with. He's gone up in my estimations but I wouldn't trust giving him another season.

Oh yeah emotion definitely has come into it. Many were angry at how the media was treating him. Surely we’d all be used to that by now. Hell remember papers picturing the national team manager as a turnip or calling Southgate pizza face because he missed a peno. The media have always been pricks so no point spitting our dummies out now.
I’d like INEOS to take a data driven decision and I’ll back whatever they come up with

 

[Sarni]

Emotion? I would find it hard to believe anyone could realistically change their stance after how the season has played out, unless they were on the fence to begin with. He's gone up in my estimations but I wouldn't trust giving him another season.

Same and this is where most of the people who have been vocal about wanting him gone seem to be. His stock has definitely gone up for me as well as he has shown he is capable of setting up the team for a big games which I wasn’t sure he had in his locker, and also he was able to beat Pep’s City which is no small feat (our previous win against them in the league was incredibly lucky and resulted from a clear referee error so it didn’t hold same weight).

 

[LawCharltonBest]

If behind the scenes INEOS had already decided ETH would be sacked when the season was finished, I think they’ve kind of fecked it

After Palace 4-0 they’d have had very little argument. Doing it after probably our most significant victory in the last decade would leave a very sour taste in the mouth

 

[saivet]

I doubt the backlash would be that big. If they go and appoint Frank, Southgate (they wont't), or Potter (they won't) then sure but the backing for ETH isn't that strong.

 

[Sarni]

Ogden according to two ETH out posters who co-signed it

He didn’t really say we should be dominating possession, did he?

 

[Tarrou]

The more I think about it the angrier I get about the criticism that as the bigger club we should win with dominating possession based football against Pep's City.

If that's the standard of football understanding that the insanely ETH out crowd have...

nobody expects us to dominate possession against city mate, and if they do they are clueless

I was hoping we'd play those tactics yesterday

but I'm not judging his overall performance on his ability to park the bus on the odd occasion (which is sometimes needed), I'm judging it on how he gets the team setup over the course of the season (which is often needed)

I expect us, for the most part, to dominate possession and games against weaker sides because that is the level I expect from United. He failed at that.

 

[Drainy]

That's without even mentioning that it doesn't have to be a binary choice between "dominating possession" or "27% possession"

We should aspire to be like the best team in the world other than City who didn't even beat them over two legs and got 35% percent possession

It's a choice to try and dominate the game out of possession, which we did in the first half until the Doku sub

 

[Sarni]

I doubt the backlash would be that big. If they go and appoint Frank, Southgate (they wont't), or Potter (they won't) then sure but the backing for ETH isn't that strong.

It seems to be strong. Looking through reddits, twitter, vast majority seem to be firmly behind him with many still living the romance of Fergie getting time and turning us into a force. I would expect most United fans to still be supportive of ETH.

 

[Drainy]

He was speaking sense after the Cup Final yesterday too. And he's not just a journalist, he's a huge Man Utd fan. He said everything yesterday to ESPN that he's just said there, but also pointed out that for all those saying he should stay after winning the FA Cup, "is this really the style of football and approach that you think is good enough for Man Utd?". United won the game with 27% possession, they played the second half with all their players in their own half, desperately defending in backs to wall stuff. Is that repeatable? Is that the sort of thing you want to see United doing? United should be dominating games, or at least trying too. Playing on the front foot. Fact is that United have had their worst league campaign in something like 34 years, and yes you can point to injuries, but the tactical decisions, and the way the team has been set up is almost independent of injuries. There was just a sense of chaos, of no-one knowing what they were supposed to be doing, and United suffered a record number of defeats. Now they've won the FA Cup, but they've done it by essentially playing park the bus football and hardly getting out of their own half. It's a nice victory for the club today, but it's not a brand of football or a basis on which you can build a winning team moving forwards. So I don't think there's any sense from people in the know, that anyone feels Ten Hag is the man to carry the club forwards.

Those are his words paraphrased. And I have to agree with all of it.

For the people who missed the summary of Ogden crying about us winning

 

[Robbie Boy]

Oh yeah emotion definitely has come into it. Many were angry at how the media was treating him. Surely we’d all be used to that by now. Hell remember papers picturing the national team manager as a turnip or calling Southgate pizza face because he missed a peno. The media have always been pricks so no point spitting our dummies out now.
I’d like INEOS to take a data driven decision and I’ll back whatever they come up with

I feel kind of sorry for him, I have to be honest. The way this week has played out has been horrendous, and to go and win yesterday really was fantastic. Yet, he couldn't even enjoy the win as the twats on BBC launched straight into questions about his future. His tenure overall - without context - sounds relatively decent: 2 Cups, 3 finals, 3rd place and 8th place. I could take an 8th place finish, taking the rest into consideration, if we had of been massively unlucky and should have finished somewhere between 3rd to 6th, based on data. But, we were absolutely woeful.

It annoys me that he persisted with something that clearly wasn't working. That kind of stubbornness is a massive red flag. All in all though, I respect the bloke and yesterday was a fantastic day. He should go, and he likely will, but some of the posts on here since yesterday have been really bitter towards him.

 

[Tarrou]

I doubt the backlash would be that big. If they go and appoint Frank, Southgate (they wont't), or Potter (they won't) then sure but the backing for ETH isn't that strong.

yeah it will fizzle out in about 5 minutes

 

[Zumbi]

I understand very well what you want to compare, but it's false equivalence. They are not comparable at all. Ron had been at the club for 5 years, Eric 2. Ron was sacked because we were near relegation after 3rd of the season gone, Eric has never been in relegation zone.

It wasn’t me making that original comparison - it was another poster. I replied because you didn’t seem to understand why that comparison might be made. Just because the specifics aren’t exactly the same (surely it’s a given in football that circumstances are never ever exactly the same) does not mean there aren’t very pertinent similarities that are worth discussing. That’s not a false equivalence, it’s simply a point of discussion.

It’s just a fact that there’s a fundamental similarity that is absolutely key to what is being discussed right now with Ten Hag. That is, the value of domestic cup wins versus league performances when progress under a particular manager is being reviewed. You can dismiss it all you like, but it’s very evident from those pages and elsewhere in the media that it’s currently one of the key points of discussion regarding Ten Hag’s future, and that’s why the Atkinson comparison has been made quite a few times.

 

[Dannn411]

Utter nonsense. Show them the various batterings and the several times we've been outplayed by relegation fodder and lower league teams and let's hear their backlash then.

 

[golden_blunder]

I feel kind of sorry for him, I have to be honest. The way this week has played out has been horrendous, and to go and win yesterday really was fantastic. Yet, he couldn't even enjoy the win as the twats on BBC launched straight into questions about his future. His tenure overall - without context - sounds relatively decent: 2 Cups, 3 finals, 3rd place and 8th place. I could take an 8th place finish, taking the rest into consideration, if we had of been massively unlucky and should have finished somewhere 3rd to 6th, based on data. But, we were absolutely woeful.

It annoys me that he persisted with something that clearly wasn't working. That kind of stubbornness is a massive red flag. All in all though, I respect the bloke and yesterday was a fantastic day. He should go, and he likely will, but some of the posts on here since yesterday have been really bitter towards him.

That’s how I feel too. Saying it was injuries only covers you so far. Take self responsibility for some of the decisions taken with what you have available.

 

[Precaution]

I doubt the backlash would be that big. If they go and appoint Frank, Southgate (they wont't), or Potter (they won't) then sure but the backing for ETH isn't that strong.

The only backlash will be from Sportbible and related tripe football fan sprouted nonsense where they say "all the fans are saying the same thing" when it's probably Bob from Darlington on X

 

[Zoo]

If Ogden’s a United fan he does a very job of hiding it

 

[TsuWave]

Doing it after probably our most significant victory in the last decade would leave a very sour taste in the mouth

Mourinho won an European trophy here, no?

 

[V.O.]

That's without even mentioning that it doesn't have to be a binary choice between "dominating possession" or "27% possession"

Real fecking Madrid were reduced to parking the bus and hoping for the best against this City side, and still needed pens to beat them. We restricted them to half chances and long shots. We scored a beauty of a goal. We deserved to win. Even Newcastle and Chelsea fans who were praying for us to lose thought we deserved to win.

I completely understand wanting Ten Hag gone, and he's shat the bed over the course of the season, but trying to take yesterday off him is just silly.

 

[Dannn411]

If behind the scenes INEOS had already decided ETH would be sacked when the season was finished, I think they’ve kind of fecked it

After Palace 4-0 they’d have had very little argument. Doing it after probably our most significant victory in the last decade would leave a very sour taste in the mouth

We've won an FA Cup in the last decade. We've won a Europa League in the last decade.

 

[Tarrou]

For the people who missed the summary of Ogden crying about us winning

I agree with pretty much everything he wrote

 

[Cloud7]

Yesterday was good but it doesn't override what I watched a season of and he should still go

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Mourinho won an European trophy here, no?

Absolutely did. And that’s an argument. Considering the opposition and how much the victory meant this one might be bigger. I’d understand either argument

 

[Drainy]

I agree with pretty much everything he wrote

We should be dominating possession against city?

 

[chris123]

If Nurse is saying this, you get the sense that ownership are at least aware of this way of thinking as well.

 

[Sarni]

Mourinho won an European trophy here, no?

This win was more significant for me because we beat both Liverpool and City on our way to glory. The EL run that year was quite easy.

 

[crossy1686]

If behind the scenes INEOS had already decided ETH would be sacked when the season was finished, I think they’ve kind of fecked it

After Palace 4-0 they’d have had very little argument. Doing it after probably our most significant victory in the last decade would leave a very sour taste in the mouth

Let’s face it, yesterday was an amazing result but it was a perfect storm. City had to be off it, we had to get the luck, we had to be set up right, and we had to score more than 1 to win. All those things happened thankfully but make no mistake about it, if City would have been on form yesterday they would have been out of sight by 60 minutes.

I knew as soon as Haalands shot rifled off the underside of the crossbar and Alvarez missed an open net 1-1 with Onana that we were going to win the game.

The result yesterday doesn’t change anything for him unfortunately. Too little, too late. He’s just not the man to take us forward into the next couple of seasons.

 

[Footyislife]

This is all ABU media creating chaos. Let's just wait and see what INEOS does. Don't think he deserves to be fired and there isn't a great replacement available.

As long as he gives up his veto on transfers, and becomes a regular manager keep him.

 

[saivet]

It seems to be strong. Looking through reddits, twitter, vast majority seem to be firmly behind him with many still living the romance of Fergie getting time and turning us into a force. I would expect most United fans to still be supportive of ETH.

But I don't think the backlash would be so big that fans would be angry for any sustained period of time. He's not a legend that fans will still be angry at after the Euros.

 

[Tarrou]

We should be dominating possession against city?

he didn't write that you've just inferred it from a paraphrased quote

 

[Blood Mage]

If behind the scenes INEOS had already decided ETH would be sacked when the season was finished, I think they’ve kind of fecked it

After Palace 4-0 they’d have had very little argument. Doing it after probably our most significant victory in the last decade would leave a very sour taste in the mouth

There is truth in this to be fair, timing and optics are important in football whether people like it or not and there were plenty of good opportunities to sack Ten Hag this season which weren't taken. He should have gone after the Palace thrashing.

 

[GazTheLegend]

?? United finished 2nd with Ole the season we lost that final. He was fired for a horrible first third of the season after, Europa league had nothing to do with it.

The point being that a lot of fans were like "he's never won anything as a manager why is he our manager" and blah blah blah. Well having a trophy of any sort looks good on your resume.

 

[stevoc]

He was speaking sense after the Cup Final yesterday too. And he's not just a journalist, he's a huge Man Utd fan. He said everything yesterday to ESPN that he's just said there, but also pointed out that for all those saying he should stay after winning the FA Cup, "is this really the style of football and approach that you think is good enough for Man Utd?". United won the game with 27% possession, they played the second half with all their players in their own half, desperately defending in backs to wall stuff. Is that repeatable? Is that the sort of thing you want to see United doing? United should be dominating games, or at least trying too. Playing on the front foot. Fact is that United have had their worst league campaign in something like 34 years, and yes you can point to injuries, but the tactical decisions, and the way the team has been set up is almost independent of injuries. There was just a sense of chaos, of no-one knowing what they were supposed to be doing, and United suffered a record number of defeats. Now they've won the FA Cup, but they've done it by essentially playing park the bus football and hardly getting out of their own half. It's a nice victory for the club today, but it's not a brand of football or a basis on which you can build a winning team moving forwards. So I don't think there's any sense from people in the know, that anyone feels Ten Hag is the man to carry the club forwards.

Those are his words paraphrased. And I have to agree with all of it.

It's ok in a one off game, even Fergie did it sometimes. But I imagine the goal 2 years ago when we hired Erik was for us to be able to go toe to toe with a team like City after 2-3 years, or at least be on the road to getting to that level. We look further away from that than we have done at any point post SAF. He's tried to implement a new style of play this season but it's failed horribly, even with everyone fit it wouldnt have worked the way Ten Hag seemed to think it would.