Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

Status
Not open for further replies.
But but...we keep being told that this is not the right way. That the manager is supposed to work with the players he has been given and not those who he wants.
Total rubbish. If the manager is accountable for delivering football success, it has to follow that he should decide on the players that make up his squad.
There's supposed to be an ocean wide gap between marginalising a manager's contributions in recruitment and putting it entirely on him, that is of course provided there is a solid DoF. Pretty useful for continuity when each new manager doesn't restart the process of assessing deadwood. Lack of continuity is part why we're now in a vicious cycle of bad players getting clean slates every 3 years. We actually had the right idea when we hired Rangnick to assess the team. We didn't even have to keep him. It's like we flushed all the useful information because he hurt their feelings about the team they put together.
 
Last edited:
If you are already worried now after just one game, with a worse, and a squad with low mentality from than last year, and writing out so many problems after one game.........I don't think anyone can convince ya to come back down from where you are at.

Just my thoughts from watching the game. I wanted some good discussion from people that know him and his tactics well (not many on here I suspect), and an explanation as to the reasons why he set us out like this, what he would have been hoping for. I'm not gunning for the guy already, I desperately want him to succeed. But when me, a footballing nobody, can see such blatant issues, I hope(d) he could too, and I hoped he'd have recognised/been told of these issues before he even got started. That's all.

Don't agree with most of that but good post nonetheless. I'll also annoy the bedwetters who cry at any discussion so that's a bonus.

I say I disagree only because I think the players reverted to their standard play rather than it being tactical incompetence from ETH. It's going to take him plenty of time to iron out what is ingrained with these players.

The false 9 was necessity but yeah clearly didn't work and probably should have been changed sooner.

Hopefully you are right and most of that was not by design. It felt like we hamstrung ourselves from the first whistle. I saw people guessing we'd go false 9 before the game and I thought "no way". But here we are. I would never in a million years have expected either Eriksen or Bruno to carry out that role well. Both are proven at being good with play ahead of them.
 
The simple answer is , it was just one match. Credit to Potter as well. They aren't actually your typical long ball team but they did it on Sunday. It was full long diagonal balls. Even ETH said he didn't expect that. I will say this again - it's going to get worse before it gets better. Brentford and Liverpool is going to be shocking displays .

I for one didn't underestimate them. I vouched for Potter as a viable replacement for Ole and completely respect them and him. The only nitpicking thing I would say is, for a manager that plays pressing football (ETH), you would expect he comes against long balls a lot and has an answer.

To be fair he referenced winning second balls himself, so he does know. Players definitely let him down in that regard but Caicedo was an absolute machine mopping everything up all over the pitch.

I think the key to this is the contract ETH has signed, which is obviously confidential so we can only guess at it. But I bet if we see a similar team to Sunday vs Brentford (older more experienced players) we can conclude he has the clause. The clause they've all had since Moyes: get us into the CL or else.... So to give himself the best chance of scraping top-4 he will not risk anything, not even dropping Ronaldo from the squad, which should have happened vs Brighton.

But if Man United are serious about a proper re-build including trying out promising younger players e.g. Garner, Savage and Garnacho, I really hope ETH has been given an assurance that even a top-10 finish will not end his time at the club and I hope that is in black and white on his contract. But sadly, I fear not because the people at the top want CL next season (and every season) & they don't care about the longer term and the fact a season out of Europe might help reset things completely.

If the club expect top 4 this season then we have no hope, because they clearly rate this lot better than they are, and therefore thought ETH was their golden goose that would just sort it all out. There's no hiding for them anymore, it is time they upheld their end of the bargain.

I don't understand some of your worries. The problem didn't come from lack of coaching. It came from mental fortitude.

1. False 9 only occurred due to the Martial injury and a lack of genuine striker options. The choice of going with Fred as the 6 and McTominay as the 8 was not a case of him trying to look like a genius, and it did not come from underestimating the PL. He wants to play a possession based playstyle and he needs the 6 to get the balls from the CBs, and make himself available in vulnerable positions. McTominay does not have that ability. McTominay might be less susceptible to getting dispossessed only because he would likely not carry out the proper instructions of what he wants from his 6 because McTominay knows his limitations and is far less willing to show for the ball or try any difficult (for him) passes. ETH chose Fred because Fred has more technical quality than McTominay. What ETH did not know is just how panicky Fred is under pressure, which is something he largely did not witness as much in preseason.

The match was indeed an eye opener for ETH in multiple ways. He now knows the floor McTominay and Fred are capable of because they largely did not show that in preseason. We as fans have seen this for years so we know all about the qualities they have, nor do we have the confidence a manager has in their ability to mask the awfulness of McFred.

2. I think this is a wait and see. Is his 8 always supposed to be that far up? Or was it just McTominay being more reserved than what ETH wants? We saw a lot of verticality and quick passes during preseason to challenge this. Did the players not trust in themselves to do that? Because as in my opening remark, it was quite clear that many of the players were nervous and did not apply what we had seen in preseason.

3. Definitely a mistake

4. Isn't this just more evidence that the players reverted back to their original ways. That doesn't come from ETH. So I'm not worried about the manager. The comparison to Moyes is a bit out there because of this. Despite the performance, I would not place the blame on ETH's instructions. It just felt like more of an eye opener on the mentality of the players, and their inability to carry out his instructions in actual pressure situations.

5. We'll see, but hopefully this is just ETH letting Shaw hang himself in order to justify Malacia's increased playing time.

1) Like I said, going false 9 denied us an outlet. It was alien to a team that is already learning a completely new way of playing. I just felt it was a step too far and allowed Brighton to play with less to think about in terms of what we were offering. I'd have put Rashford or anybody with pace through the middle at the very least, to keep them wary of that threat and push their defence back.

With regards to Fred at 6, it was suicidal, whichever way you look at it. We have known this for a long time, how often does he get ambushed in that very position, collecting the ball off defence? Either play a youngster there that won't shit the bed (if we have one) or don't play that way until we have that player. He's played with 2 pivots, go with that option, instead of leaving Fred isolated like that.

2 &3) Agreed.

4 & 5) Hopefully that's the case. Though it does show that Moyes was probably unfairly criticised for when our players ran out of ideas and started lumping balls in the box Vs Fulham.

I would say slightly knee jerky after one game but I can't help but admit similar thoughts have been running through my mind after Sunday.

Just gonna touch on the Eriksen as a false 9 ploy, he didn't play as a false 9 he basically played as another number 8 alongside bruno and mctom and got in the way and didn't offer us the false 9 focal point. He should of been playing inbetween the lines offering a passing option but he was basically was just another midfielder. That lack of focal point killed us all game.

It is so frustrating when things we know as fans don't work e.g. Fred as a no 6 or De gea's rubbish distribution hampering our build up and then get to watch it all again under a new manager. And you are left wondering did you actually watch any videos of us last season to see where the big issue where or are we gonna have to watch a new manager make the same mistakes as previous managers?

Yeah I agree with all of that. I know it's kneejerk of me to point this out after one game of trying it out, but in the end I thought it might bring a bit of discussion into his tactics and what he actually wants, because I don't think anybody has really offered insight into that, despite many claiming to know a lot about him.
 
At every level of the hierarchy the blame gets pushed downwards,

That is because at almost every level of management in our club there seems to be nobody who can manage 'upwards'.

Anyone in a manager role, in any organisation, needs to be able to not only manage downwards but also to manage 'upwards', i.e to control senior expectations, to insert ideas in minds of seniors, to provide and anticipate senior reactions, etc. Its hard to imagine, given the cross wires/ cross purposes which seem to exist at OT, that this skill is inherent at the club?
 
Anything and everything associated with United has sunk into profound negativity. It’s madness. This thread is an example. We are NOT going to be transformed after 1 window and 1 game into a new season.
 
Thanks for the response. Next time, before having a pop at someone about the comment, feel free to read the whole message?

"I think rather than underestimating Brighton, he put too much faith in the players that have been rubbish after moments in pre season."
You reckon he should’ve played a starting midfield of Iqbal then since he’s the only player who’s come out with any sort of personal credit? Who would you have played in midfield out of the current squad then?
 
There's supposed to be an ocean wide gap between marginalising a manager's contributions in recruitment and putting it entirely on him, that is of course provided there is a solid DoF. Pretty useful for continuity when each new manager doesn't restart the process of assessing deadwood. Lack of continuity is part why we're now in a vicious cycle of bad players getting clean slates every 3 years. We actually had the right idea when we hired Rangnick to assess the team. We didn't even have to keep him. It's like we flushed all the useful information because he hurt their feelings about the team they put together.

I thought I had read that the primary reason RR contract was not progressed with, him getting the Austrian job aside was that ETH did not want him or his role?
 
I thought I had read that the primary reason RR contract was not progressed with, him getting the Austrian job aside was that ETH did not want him or his role?
That was made up fanfic after the fact. It was never even reported as a rumour. It also doesn't make sense for ETH to have decided Ralf's fate. He didn't hire Ralf and Ralf wouldn't have even reported to him. The chain of command for that scenario to play makes no sense. It's not even good fanfic.
 
Exactly.

Its incredible how much back covering is going on. First we read that the Rangnick and Ten Hag appointments are totally on Murtough. Then we read that all the crazy transfers were totally on Ten Hag. As if Ten Hag had a subscription to Juventus TV and while he was Ajax coach he was watching Rabiot week in week out. :rolleyes:

At every level of the hierarchy the blame gets pushed downwards, as people try to hide behind poor decisions and lack of strategy. Richard Arnold puts it all on John Murtough. Now its not Murtough's fault its all Ten Hag and the club is backing the manager.

People need to wise up.

Ten Hag's not perfect but if we got 99 problems he aint one.
It’s really quite depressing. I think what we’ve learned since the Glazers took control of Man United is very clear. First, Sir Alex Ferguson is the greatest manager that ever lived. Why? His brilliance was not just the accomplishments on the field, it was also how he managed to somehow overcome the sheer ineptitude of the Glazers. It’s actually worse than that, I would call it The Curse of the Glazers. Somehow delivering titles while those gits began the dismantling of the club was truly an achievement.

Secondly, and we now have a decade of pretty compelling evidence of this, even though we are the biggest club in Britain and probably top 3 in the world, we’ll most likely never win another league title as long as the Glazers are in control of this club. It’s not that they are cheap, they’ve actually spent a lot of money. It’s that they are 2nd generation rich kids, who’ve never had to build a company or manage people and have no idea what leadership really is.

Finally, the PL is just getting more competitive, both financially and on the pitch, and the Glazer Curse is now 10 years in. This means they’ve had loads of time to lose good people in the organization through mistreatment, sackings, retirement and resignations. And because they are idiot douchebags, those they hire to replace this turnover of staff are of substandard quality. Or they don’t replace them and the club is left deficient.

Even when a quality manager like Ten Hag comes in, the organization is so decimated of talent, both on and off the pitch, that changing the direction is like scaling Mount Everest in flip flops.

I’m not looking forward to watching this play out. I hope that someone would just ride up and slap £5billion down and politely tell the Glazers to feck off.
 
Anything and everything associated with United has sunk into profound negativity. It’s madness. This thread is an example. We are NOT going to be transformed after 1 window and 1 game into a new season.
Exctly and it will be the same for the next 6/7 premier games, where we probably lose as many as we win. Its a big learning curve as more than half these players have had an easy ride over the last 3 years.
 
No no no. You don't make EtH the fall guy for this. If this goes tits up, Murtough's head has to roll and we have to get someone more established in. Likewise if we manage a decent season, credit to Murtough, should buy him a lot more time from fans.

It feels like the club can't win with this. Our fans will always find a way to create the scenario where the managerial penis, is lodged firmly up their arse. Enjoy it.
 
The Fred in the deeper position isn’t going to fly. Ten Hag isn’t getting any real stick from me - I’ll save that for the other eejits employed at or owning the club - but it’s been obvious for a long time now that Fred’s best work is done in the opposition half.

Get him players.
 
People moaning about him already :lol:

Not judging at all (unless a complete disaster) until the end of season two.

He needs to be allowed to fail at some things. He can't possibly get everything right all of the time.
 
Don’t want to have a moan about him or anything. But anyone else a tad concerned he doesn’t have the pull for his ex players. Timber and De Jong. I feel Pep, Klopp, Jose are able to get ex players with ease.
 
Don’t want to have a moan about him or anything. But anyone else a tad concerned he doesn’t have the pull for his ex players. Timber and De Jong. I feel Pep, Klopp, Jose are able to get ex players with ease.

That's a valid concern and now will need to completely rethink how we are going to progress the ball from defence to midfield
 
My favuorite United sqad:


DdG
AvB/DD - Lindeløv - Bailly - 12
Scott - Fred
Sancho - Bruno - Rashford
Ronaldo

ev.

DdG
AvB/DD - Lindøv - Bailly - 12
Scott
Bruno - Fred/Eriksen
Sancho Rashford
Ronaldo
 
Personally I think that ETH is the best appointment we could’ve possibly make, and I will support him even if we finished 10th (Klopp finished 8th in his first season after inheriting a similar mess.)

I can’t even really blame the Glazers for not wanting to splash another billion for getting no reward for their previous billion.
My issue with the Glazers is that they have no clue in Football and therefore their decision making regarding club structure has been atrocious.
Obviously have issued with them for not spending enough pre 2013, but that’s another story.
Can’t blame them for not wanting to set another Billion potentially on fire, that’s just awful business.

We haven’t had a single managerial appointment since 2013 where people started doubting the manager after a single match, heck a lot of people were still supporting Moyes during the final days and Van Gaal during some of the horrible periods.

I suppose people are just frustrated with the last 8 years.

I came to a conclusion that if ETH doesn’t work out, the only man who could save the club would be Roy Keane. Sign him to a 10 year contract and let him do whatever he wants, that is all.
Laugh all you want but your favorite flavor of the week manager from Brighton or whenever wouldn’t cut it, only Roy Keane could make United great again.

ROY KEANE MUGA 2024
 
Agreed, Fred was very poor in terms of connecting the forwards.

Dalot is another one, who kept on ignoring Sancho on the wing and never passing to him.

McTominay, dont even get me started, I dont know why he thinks its a good idea to dribble through the centre of a team when there are options, he done that twice, one he got a red card.

Our pressing issue was visible, the second goal came from their corner flag... Dalot, Erikesen were very poor in that phase of play, then Fred was sleeping at the back post.
Fred is very good in starting the transition to offensive. Brighton game, he was simply bullied by the long balls and their press (surrounded by three opponents for instance).
Our first goal conceded started from the unintentional coming together of McT and Erikesen. McT took the responsibility to carry the ball rather than hesitating. It’s a good choice in similar situations. However, the mistake was actually their collision of spaces first and foremost. The cause is more about they are still adapting to the system (positional play), therefore, made that mistake. They supposed to occupy different zones and it is a really bad mistake.
Brighton is well drilled. They basically switched their systems several times freely and smoothly. That’s what Potter is great at. From 10 mins, they started to impose their game after recognizing what we were trying to do and targeted Our left side (Fred/Shaw/Martinez). We couldn’t handle it and were completely outplayed. Our system will be greatly improved after more training, drills, and matches. Just be patient.
But no matter what, we should not have lost the game.
 
Bit a of knee-jerk reaction but I think that he showed some signs of tactical naivety on his first real game in charge.

He got outclassed by a mile by Potter, who seemed to have done his homework on our tactics, and we have seen it from the start.

Some basic tactical mistakes we did vs Brighton:

- We got outrun with a high pressing game by Brighton(no surprise really), but we failed to adapt. They had an extra men pressing and we dropped Fred to help the defence, making the distance between him and McT/Bruno very big hindering our buildup on second third of the pitch unproductive. We should have reacted closing that gap sooner than second half(when Ericsen dropped deeper).

- Our ball playing CBs were not running with the ball enough, and they were seemingly instructed to pass it Fred/McT who would run the plays. This was wrong and caused us problems both in defence and attack. ETH seemingly trusted Fred on 'FDJ role', but no surprises that he failed to deliver ( as he is not even remotely a similar player). ETH should have let them build up more bypassing midfield, and reacted when this Fred experiment was not working.

- We should have altered our attacking game and put more pressure to Brighton when trailing earlier. We basically lost 15-20 minutes on the second half without creating anything and we did not react as a team pursuing a goal ( no higher line, not enough doubling up on the wing, no overloading the box from the wings/ midfield etc. ). ETH should have put more urgency in our play way earlier.

I hope this would be a learning experience for our new coach, and in a weird way its good that it happened this early in the season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dargonk
Bit a of knee-jerk reaction but I think that he showed some signs of tactical naivety on his first real game in charge.

He got outclassed by a mile by Potter, who seemed to have done his homework on our tactics, and we have seen it from the start.

Some basic tactical mistakes we did vs Brighton:

- We got outrun with a high pressing game by Brighton(no surprise really), but we failed to adapt. They had an extra men pressing and we dropped Fred to help the defence, making the distance between him and McT/Bruno very big hindering our buildup on second third of the pitch unproductive. We should have reacted closing that gap sooner than second half(when Ericsen dropped deeper).

- Our ball playing CBs were not running with the ball enough, and they were seemingly instructed to pass it Fred/McT who would run the plays. This was wrong and caused us problems both in defence and attack. ETH seemingly trusted Fred on 'FDJ role', but no surprises that he failed to deliver ( as he is not even remotely a similar player). ETH should have let them build up more bypassing midfield, and reacted when this Fred experiment was not working.

- We should have altered our attacking game and put more pressure to Brighton when trailing earlier. We basically lost 15-20 minutes on the second half without creating anything and we did not react as a team pursuing a goal ( no higher line, not enough doubling up on the wing, no overloading the box from the wings/ midfield etc. ). ETH should have put more urgency in our play way earlier.

I hope this would be a learning experience for our new coach, and in a weird way its good that it happened this early in the season.

Hopefully he sees your critique and suggestions! :angel:
 
Anything and everything associated with United has sunk into profound negativity. It’s madness. This thread is an example. We are NOT going to be transformed after 1 window and 1 game into a new season.

Excellent point.

Anyone who has undergone any major structure re-organisation in a company will know that its not something that sees changes happen within a few months. United is no exception.

Then why are people so unrealistic then?

Too many people are overly invested in Manchester United in making themselves feel good. So what you are seeing signs of desperation or despair followed by anger and toxicity.

Posters need to taper their expectations and understand that its a long process to undo something that has been in the making even when Fergie was there. A dysfunctional organisation.
 

That's all well and good to show that we are 'backing' the manager but a serious club has something to offer from its own side. Firstly for ETHs targets we haven't got his main man which is a huge failure. Secondly we are one of the world's biggest football clubs which should have a huge network of knowledge and insight to offer rather than lay all the responsibility on the managers. They should have 5 strong options for each position.

Then again it's Murtough and Fletcher. No real proven competence among the pair of them. We've learned nothing it seems from the Woodward days.
 
Bit a of knee-jerk reaction but I think that he showed some signs of tactical naivety on his first real game in charge.

He got outclassed by a mile by Potter, who seemed to have done his homework on our tactics, and we have seen it from the start.

Some basic tactical mistakes we did vs Brighton:

- We got outrun with a high pressing game by Brighton(no surprise really), but we failed to adapt. They had an extra men pressing and we dropped Fred to help the defence, making the distance between him and McT/Bruno very big hindering our buildup on second third of the pitch unproductive. We should have reacted closing that gap sooner than second half(when Ericsen dropped deeper).

- Our ball playing CBs were not running with the ball enough, and they were seemingly instructed to pass it Fred/McT who would run the plays. This was wrong and caused us problems both in defence and attack. ETH seemingly trusted Fred on 'FDJ role', but no surprises that he failed to deliver ( as he is not even remotely a similar player). ETH should have let them build up more bypassing midfield, and reacted when this Fred experiment was not working.

- We should have altered our attacking game and put more pressure to Brighton when trailing earlier. We basically lost 15-20 minutes on the second half without creating anything and we did not react as a team pursuing a goal ( no higher line, not enough doubling up on the wing, no overloading the box from the wings/ midfield etc. ). ETH should have put more urgency in our play way earlier.

I hope this would be a learning experience for our new coach, and in a weird way its good that it happened this early in the season.
Aside from our to useless Cms the biggest problem for me was their long balls. They often just lumped it to their forwards and if the ball didn't stick their midfielders inevitably won the second balls. It was amazing how often this happened and yet our players just seemed incapable of snuffing it out. I haven't seen long balls retain possesion that easily for a team since the mid 00s.

If brentford pay attention they'll do the exact same thing.
 
No no no. You don't make EtH the fall guy for this. If this goes tits up, Murtough's head has to roll and we have to get someone more established in. Likewise if we manage a decent season, credit to Murtough, should buy him a lot more time from fans.

Theres nothing wrong with that tweet its obviously ETH's targets, we know he was demanding this level of control in his interview as well.

That doesn't mean it isn't also Murtough's fault for not acting like a DOF either. It would have been completely different with someone like Ralf or Paratici, theres a reason modern clubs don't just hand managers full control anymore. Its expensive and you spend far longer than necessary on players that may not even come (Moyes with Fabregas Bale, LVG with Neymar, Lewandowski, Higuain, and now ETH with FDJ etc).

A DoF and the recruitment team's whole remit is ultimately supposed to be to draw up a list of players based on favourable ability and contract situation, the "manager" doesn't even need to be informed its assumed the DoF and their team has enough football knowledge to understand what players would go with what style of football, particularly the manager they have just hired.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Dargonk
Theres nothing wrong with that tweet its obviously ETH's targets, we know he was demanding this level of control in his interview as well.
That doesn't mean it isn't also Murtough's fault for not acting like a DOF either. It would have been completely different with someone like Ralf or Paratici, theres a reason modern clubs don't just hand managers full control anymore. Its expensive and you spend far longer than necessary on players that may not even come (Moyes with Fabregas Bale, LVG with Neymar, Lewandowski, Higuain, and now ETH with FDJ etc).
A DoF and the recruitment team's whole remit is ultimately supposed to be to draw up a list of players based on favourable ability and contract situation, the "manager" doesn't even need to be informed its assumed the DoF and their team has enough football knowledge to understand what players would go with what style of football, particularly the manager they have just hired.

But you have read what @Adnan had said many times, we have the perfect storm in that we sacked both the heads of recruitment a few months ago and are in the process of replacing them. Then Murrtough has to show that he is in full support of his manager.

Thats part of the reason why we are more dependent on ETH's ideas.

I am pretty sure that next summer's recruitment will be vastly different in that they will not be so Ajax/dutch centric.
 
Theres nothing wrong with that tweet its obviously ETH's targets, we know he was demanding this level of control in his interview as well.

That doesn't mean it isn't also Murtough's fault for not acting like a DOF either. It would have been completely different with someone like Ralf or Paratici, theres a reason modern clubs don't just hand managers full control anymore. Its expensive and you spend far longer than necessary on players that may not even come (Moyes with Fabregas Bale, LVG with Neymar, Lewandowski, Higuain, and now ETH with FDJ etc).

A DoF and the recruitment team's whole remit is ultimately supposed to be to draw up a list of players based on favourable ability and contract situation, the "manager" doesn't even need to be informed its assumed the DoF and their team has enough football knowledge to understand what players would go with what style of football, particularly the manager they have just hired.
This is how it works in well run clubs, thing is United isn't a well run club, Sacking Ralf was the biggest mistake united did in past 10 years.
 
But you have read what @Adnan had said many times, we have the perfect storm in that we sacked both the heads of recruitment a few months ago and are in the process of replacing them. Then Murrtough has to show that he is in full support of his manager.

Thats part of the reason why we are more dependent on ETH's ideas.

I am pretty sure that next summer's recruitment will be vastly different in that they will not be so Ajax/dutch centric.
Ive said the same regarding next summer. Basically and whether its right is another matter, but you have a novice dof with a novice premier league manager, both having to start in the same summer window. TH has stuck with what he knows and Murtough has towed the line. Bit like tail wagging the dog. Hopefully with this experience and collusion over the next 10 months they will be ready for the next summers window.
 
Ive said the same regarding next summer. Basically and whether its right is another matter, but you have a novice dof with a novice premier league manager, both having to start in the same summer window. TH has stuck with what he knows and Murtough has towed the line. Bit like tail wagging the dog. Hopefully with this experience and collusion over the next 10 months they will be ready for the next summers window.

Everyone's on a learning curve. Even an experienced DOF or manager has a learning curve vis a vis being at a new club and in ETH's case, a new league.
 
Bit a of knee-jerk reaction but I think that he showed some signs of tactical naivety on his first real game in charge.

He got outclassed by a mile by Potter, who seemed to have done his homework on our tactics, and we have seen it from the start.

Some basic tactical mistakes we did vs Brighton:

- We got outrun with a high pressing game by Brighton(no surprise really), but we failed to adapt. They had an extra men pressing and we dropped Fred to help the defence, making the distance between him and McT/Bruno very big hindering our buildup on second third of the pitch unproductive. We should have reacted closing that gap sooner than second half(when Ericsen dropped deeper).

- Our ball playing CBs were not running with the ball enough, and they were seemingly instructed to pass it Fred/McT who would run the plays. This was wrong and caused us problems both in defence and attack. ETH seemingly trusted Fred on 'FDJ role', but no surprises that he failed to deliver ( as he is not even remotely a similar player). ETH should have let them build up more bypassing midfield, and reacted when this Fred experiment was not working.

- We should have altered our attacking game and put more pressure to Brighton when trailing earlier. We basically lost 15-20 minutes on the second half without creating anything and we did not react as a team pursuing a goal ( no higher line, not enough doubling up on the wing, no overloading the box from the wings/ midfield etc. ). ETH should have put more urgency in our play way earlier.

I hope this would be a learning experience for our new coach, and in a weird way its good that it happened this early in the season.

What are you, a professional coach with your FIFA certifications who analyzed the game in detail after the match? Or are you just talking shit like the majority in this thread?
 
Last edited:
You reckon he should’ve played a starting midfield of Iqbal then since he’s the only player who’s come out with any sort of personal credit? Who would you have played in midfield out of the current squad then?

I am not the manager am I? I dont see these players in training everyday.
 


Arguably coupled with the Brighton loss, would explain why there’s been quite a bit of, for lack of a better term, movement this past week
 


Arguably coupled with the Brighton loss, would explain why there’s been quite a bit of, for lack of a better term, movement this past week

He really should have seen this coming though, and if he was given assurances when he took the job that haven't been met, he needs to go public about it. He's got nothing to lose, if the season is a disaster the club will throw him under the bus to protect themselves anyway.
 
When the window shuts the board and ETH needs to sit down and discuss targets.

If it shuts and the squad has not improved then the board need to realise Top 6 is the most realistic target, and if that's the case lets blood the youth! and tell the media to feck off every time they ask about the manager's job.
 
There is an article in Athletic on how the false 9 experiment failed . Basically two things.

Full backs weren't good enough to identify the run of our forwards.
Our midfield McFred wasn't good enough to utilize the space vacated by our front line .

Any surprises?
 
He really should have seen this coming though, and if he was given assurances when he took the job that haven't been met, he needs to go public about it. He's got nothing to lose, if the season is a disaster the club will throw him under the bus to protect themselves anyway.
Yeah sure needs to go full on Jose alienate the owners and the players. It’ll go great for him nothing to lose aside from his job and reputation, won’t ever get a big club again!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.