Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

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I'm pretty impressed. He started the old hats, gave them a clean slate, and being given the rope they promptly hung themselves.

Player power is real, I remember Rooney's legs being done under Mourinho, but he couldn't drop him right away, he needed some bad results to demonstrate need, or let Rooney prove him wrong. When he was benched it wasn't disruptive, it was clear to the team, the club and the supporters he was done.

Likewise ETH has avoided disruption from Maguire, and Shaw to a lesser extend, as ostensibe England starters and established starters.
 
Beans said:
I'm pretty impressed. He started the old hats, gave them a clean slate, and being given the rope they promptly hung themselves.

Player power is real, I remember Rooney's legs being done under Mourinho, but he couldn't drop him right away, he needed some bad results to demonstrate need, or let Rooney prove him wrong. When he was benched it wasn't disruptive, it was clear to the team, the club and the supporters he was done.

Likewise ETH has avoided disruption from Maguire, and Shaw to a lesser extend, as ostensibe England starters and established starters.
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This is basically what I'm saying here:
FrankWhite said:
Ten Hag was lucky and opportunistic. I suspect he had always planned on phasing out Shaw and Mcguire but with the losses, he was able to do it immediately without any backlash, under the guise of "stopping the bleed". So far it's turned out great for us and long may it continue.

It'll be interesting to see how long it takes to bring in Antony and Casemiro.

We've made some fantastic signings but as I said before, our best signing is still Ten Hag.
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Luckily for us, they've hung themselves very quickly with the two terrible results. I imagine it wouldn't have been as easy lukewarm results.
 
red woppit

With the premiership being a very tough and physical league, he may have to adjust his philosophy a little, and perhaps have a 'cup' squad, and a 'league' squad. It will be interesting to see the outcome on Thursday.

So am I.
We could see something like
Dubravska
AWB Lindlof Maguire Shaw
Iqbal Fred or Mac (depends on who starts v Arsenal)
Bruno
Antony Ronaldo Garnacho
 
In Rainbows said:
The requirements to me is the same as when LVG arrived (so the last 8 years). More than results, I want to see United look to be a side that has incredible chemistry, more so than end of season results in the short term of a manager's tenure. That means the team has patterns of play when building out from the back, when on the counter attack, and when facing a low block. That also means that the team has a well drilled coordinated press. Basically a side that resembles Klopp and Pep's sides, even if not the exact same (Ten Hag's style).

The reason I believe that to be more important is because I believe it's easier to build a title winning side from that foundation, compared to a side that even if they have results (Ole's 2nd place, Mou's 2nd place + trophies, and LVG's trophy) that the fanbase accepts, it never materializes into a genuine challenge for the biggest trophies (PL and CL). When Klopp didn't get top 4 at first, I thought they were closer to a title than United because I knew they were playing as a team that can play above their weight. With the right players, with their ability to play above their weight, they would challenge. And they did.

So more than a trophy, or a top 4 finish, I want United to resemble former Ten Hag sides. We got him for that reason. If it's a side that relies on individual talent, we'll probably get a top 4 finish and we can get the smaller trophies (FA Cup, Carabao, EL), but that's never been what it's about. None of our managers have gotten United to play like that.

That's for my expectations of year 1. On the surface it feels lenient, but I think it's the opposite.

Ten Hag has this team winning games so we're no longer in freefall. It's a big improvement compared to where we were in the first 2 matches, and through Ralf's tenure. With a few more results, and with Antony, Casemiro, and Martial able to play, I hope that our performance goes up a notch. Because what I saw in preseason was definitely what I wanted out of a manager.

I trust in Ten Hag to enact his ideal instructions.
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I don’t see how playing worse but relying on individual brilliance will yield better results.
 
dutchred said:
red woppit

With the premiership being a very tough and physical league, he may have to adjust his philosophy a little, and perhaps have a 'cup' squad, and a 'league' squad. It will be interesting to see the outcome on Thursday.

So am I.
We could see something like
Dubravska
AWB Lindlof Maguire Shaw
Iqbal Fred or Mac (depends on who starts v Arsenal)
Bruno
Antony Ronaldo Garnacho
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Donny for Bruno probably.
 


My takeaway from this is Ten Hag is only second to the Glazers in terms of authority.
 
Telsim said:


My takeaway from this is Ten Hag is only second to the Glazers in terms of authority.
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It was more likely that the disgruntlement among the fanbase, which was brought to the fore again, the protest that followed, plus a substantial potential buyer declaring his interest, and the two humiliating defeats that kickstarted our season and brought back the ghosts of last year were the stimuli that forced their hands into their pockets.

After all, they were more than happy to allow the Ronaldo circus linger indefinitely simply because they didn't want to lose Ronaldo's commercial value. They just dumped this whole thing on ETH and told him to deal with it. Some things will never change. And the main reason ETH seems to be in a position of strength right now is because he's winning matches without the recently acquired difference makers . Should things go south, the circus around United will recommence, and the Glazers will just let it play out.

And inflated market or not, the Glazers aren't the only ones who invested heavily this summer. In fact, it was a record-breaking transfer summer, with over 2 billion pounds spent by the 20 PL clubs. The previous record was the1.86 billion pounds in 2017-18 that were spent in both transfer windows combined. So, it was not just that ETH wanted transfers. Seeing how our competitors are getting on with their business and understanding that we have a lot of ground to cover, they kind of had to invest.
 
Telsim said:


My takeaway from this is Ten Hag is only second to the Glazers in terms of authority.
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There was a clear increased uptick in transfer activity after the Brentford game.

We went back in for Anthony who was deemed too expensive earlier.

Antony would not have happened. Casemiro might have, as a FdJ alternative.

It was painfully clear we needed to get more signings in after the Brentford game.

Without that result, all we would have gotten, besides the already completed signings, is Dubravka.
 
FrankWhite said:
This is basically what I'm saying here:


Luckily for us, they've hung themselves very quickly with the two terrible results. I imagine it wouldn't have been as easy lukewarm results.
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I agree, I think you could say in a way he was lucky. It had to happen, might as well get the pain over quick.
 
what you have to consider is, that we spent nothing in january to save it for the new manager. nevertheless a good statement and hopefully the money was spent well - it looks as though after the few games concerning eriksen, martinez, malacia and casemiro. what i find funny is that there was rumours at the start of the window that united cant spend more than 50 mio or something like that and everyone was jumping on that ship. now we have spent over 200 - would be nice if that jounos would get some stick for their fabricated shit
 
Telsim said:
My takeaway from this is Ten Hag is only second to the Glazers in terms of authority.
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Agreed and it is probably a timing thing to some extent, where the owners elected for whatever reason to compete harder and back the manager and by chance they hired the right manager so things are aligning for them.

Problem is they will end up screwing up this opportunity at some point. But we will see how it goes. For myself I am enjoying the feeling of being on the right track. And I have no desire to spoil that feeling I have now by waiting for the other shoe to drop.

If and when Murtough tries to seize more control they need to keep him in check. That will probably happen at some point prior to January when they are heavy into planning for that next stage of roster moves.
 
Beans said:
I'm pretty impressed. He started the old hats, gave them a clean slate, and being given the rope they promptly hung themselves.

Player power is real, I remember Rooney's legs being done under Mourinho, but he couldn't drop him right away, he needed some bad results to demonstrate need, or let Rooney prove him wrong. When he was benched it wasn't disruptive, it was clear to the team, the club and the supporters he was done.

Likewise ETH has avoided disruption from Maguire, and Shaw to a lesser extend, as ostensibe England starters and established starters.
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Yeah this has been my reading of the situation. He's a shrewd man.
 
Olecurls99 said:
Yeah this has been my reading of the situation. He's a shrewd man.
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In a way I feel like we're lucky the first two games were so bad. It could have taken a dozen games to transition in Varane and Malacia if we got a few results, it would have likely meant more than 6 points dropped in the long run.
 
He should drop Bruno & play Mcterminator Casemiro and Eriksen for Arsenal game.
Bruno is not very good in match like these.

I'd drop Rashford as well but we don't have better option. Just pray that he turns up.
 
dutchred said:
I think it will be one of Fred or Mac with Eriksen as 10 and Bruno on the right. I think something like
Casemiro Fred/Mac
Eriksen
Bruno Ronaldo Sancho

The reason I say Fred is that he and Casemiro play well together for Brazil
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Fred plays well for Brazil as international football is far slower than the premier league. Teams have worked him out a long time ago and there is a reason he is heavily pressed the minute the ball looks like it is going anywhere near him, he usually gives away possession. His ball retention is very poor in a fast paced game.

McTominay is well liked by managers (not so much by a lot of fans) as he follows instructions and plays the system far better than Fred. Granted he isn't the elite player we want, but I'm not surprised he is picked out of the two of them.

My only only hope is we never return to the famous McFred, and that has been consigned to history.
 
Telsim said:


My takeaway from this is Ten Hag is only second to the Glazers in terms of authority.
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Maybe, but the article also mentioned that the scouting department fully supported the pursuit of Rabiot, and the signings of Casemiro & Antony

Rabiot:-
Ten Hag and senior scouts became comfortable with the move, which was thought to be low-cost, and United agreed a fee of around £15million with Juventus.
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Casemiro:-
The scouting department mapped out how he would fit into Ten Hag’s team and gave full support.
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Antony:-
Overall, however, United identified Antony as a potential signing before Ten Hag arrived and the recruitment department subsequently gave full backing.
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Malacia & Martinez are clearly Ten Hag signings as he knows them very well, as is Antony too, but for Antony, the club's scouts considered him a potential target before Ten Hag's arrival.

Eriksen on free transfer is a no-brainer once there was an opportunity to bring him in, but I guess Ten Hag was influential in his recruitment.

Overall, I can see that the 5 signings the club made in this window are Ten Hag choices with some of them being fully supported by the recruitment team and they are all indeed an improvement on existing players with the potential of all 5 being first choice players (3 are already first choice).
 
fallengt said:
He should drop Bruno & play Mcterminator Casemiro and Eriksen for Arsenal game.
Bruno is not very good in match like these.

I'd drop Rashford as well but we don't have better option. Just pray that he turns up.
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I thought he did pretty well against Liverpool… I expect a similar game tomorrow. We’ll try and press them up the pitch and we’ll be looking for the runs from rashford.. with us being at home I think Ten Hag will send them out to go all guns blazing from the 1st minute.
 
DJ_21 said:
I thought he did pretty well against Liverpool… I expect a similar game tomorrow. We’ll try and press them up the pitch and we’ll be looking for the runs from rashford.. with us being at home I think Ten Hag will send them out to go all guns blazing from the 1st minute.
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But they looked tired in the last game and I expect they’ll tire even quicker tomorrow. He seems quite slow at making subs always to the point fans on here are screaming we need to make changes..we look shot etc..and still no subs as we get stuck in our own half. Think it’s going to be around the 15 game mark before these lads can’t put together as strong a second half performance. Arsenal on the other hand field a team of kids who don’t seem to be suffering at all in comparison.
 
fallengt said:
He should drop Bruno & play Mcterminator Casemiro and Eriksen for Arsenal game.
Bruno is not very good in match like these.

I'd drop Rashford as well but we don't have better option. Just pray that he turns up.
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It depends on how the game goes. If Arsenal leaves space behind, Bruno and Rashford can be deadly to exploit it. Essentially, this type of game is theirs.
 
Big improvements but I worry about this current crop of players stamina levels. To a) have high work rate beyond 60mins and b) maintain high work rate throughout the season.

Hopefully the new signings will have been picked as specimens who can deliver high work rate or at least are already conditioned for it instead of Uniteds previous seasons group of layabouts.
 
ETH is slowly changing this team into his preferred 11 and I'm liking the progress so far.

If this season goes well he will have embedded 5 signings into his starting 11. Martinez, Malacia, Casemiro, Eriksen and Antony.
 
FootyGirl88 said:
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Its really hard for some posters to see this. They'd rather players coming from diverse league that don't even fit Ten Hag's style I guess.
There's a reason why we were waiting on Frenkie and when it stalled we also went after Eriksen. Look at that, a stupidly expensive young midfielder and older midfielder on a free transfer (who had been in a situation that could stop his footballing career). To me that is clear, it means that Ten Hag would rather sign correct players regardless of their fees, nationality, etc, they HAVE to fit the profile he's looking for so it's not about big names or your average talented Football Manager players. In fact it would surprise me if we don't go back for Frenkie in the next transfer window. This is what we should have been doing in the last 10 years, signing players based on their compatibility with the team and the manager.
 
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tenpoless said:
Its really hard for some posters to see this. They'd rather players coming from diverse league that don't even fit Ten Hag's style I guess.
There's a reason why we were waiting on Frenkie and when it stalled we also went after Eriksen. Look at that, a stupidly expensive young midfielder and older midfielder on a free transfer (who had been in a situation that could stop his footballing career). To me that is clear, it means that Ten Hag would rather sign correct players regardless of their fees, nationality, etc, they HAVE to fit the profile he's looking for so it's not about big names or your average talented Football Manager players. In fact it would surprise me if we don't go back for Frenkie in the next transfer window. This is what we should have been doing in the last 10 years, signing players based on their compatibility with the team and the manager.
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It absolutely is. But I guess the hope for many was, the decision to execute that would end up at the manager AGAIN after all. You are right with everything you say, but we knew that since the signings of Mourinho. And we doubled down on the issue more than once since then only to end up, seemingly unprepared for the new manager to call the shots. Lets hope the overspending we did because (not exclusively I guess) of that will not harm the evolution a year from now because at the moment, we only did do the first step, something we did more than once already. The tricky part is to do the 2nd and 3rd step in the same (right) direction.
 
I am enjoying his subs, his style, his signings, him benching poor performers irrespective of reputation or transfer fee etc. Bodes well.
 
Bit about Casemiro almost suggests he'll start

Is he ready to be unleashed on Arsenal? "I think so," says Ten Hag. "He is used to playing big games."
 
tenpoless said:
Its really hard for some posters to see this. They'd rather players coming from diverse league that don't even fit Ten Hag's style I guess.
There's a reason why we were waiting on Frenkie and when it stalled we also went after Eriksen. Look at that, a stupidly expensive young midfielder and older midfielder on a free transfer (who had been in a situation that could stop his footballing career). To me that is clear, it means that Ten Hag would rather sign correct players regardless of their fees, nationality, etc, they HAVE to fit the profile he's looking for so it's not about big names or your average talented Football Manager players. In fact it would surprise me if we don't go back for Frenkie in the next transfer window. This is what we should have been doing in the last 10 years, signing players based on their compatibility with the team and the manager.
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So, the complete opposite to Chelsea and Arsenal :devil:
(and of course, us during the Woodward era).
 
OmarUnited4ever said:
Maybe, but the article also mentioned that the scouting department fully supported the pursuit of Rabiot, and the signings of Casemiro & Antony
Overall, however, United identified Antony as a potential signing before Ten Hag arrived and the recruitment department subsequently gave full backing.
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Sorry, but I think all this "let's praise United scouts" is huge BS. Of course they will say "scouting department fully supported..." . Same scouting department that had 804 RB's on radar and choose 805th? If they identifyed Antony before Erik arived, then why did they not get him imediately when Erik joined? Ajax was open to sell him for €60m at the begining of the transfer window, but it was too much? Because we have amazing wingers and we won C, B, A team of Liverpool in preseason? They panicked after first two games, started to run around like headless chickens, flew around the Europe, trying to sign any player, and got Antony at the end of TW for reduced price of €100m.
Don't believe everything you read, journos will write what they are told by club people. And club people will not tell journos to write how shite they are at their job, will they?
 
No Idea For Nickname said:
Sorry, but I think all this "let's praise United scouts" is huge BS. Of course they will say "scouting department fully supported..." . Same scouting department that had 804 RB's on radar and choose 805th? If they identifyed Antony before Erik arived, then why did they not get him imediately when Erik joined? Ajax was open to sell him for €60m at the begining of the transfer window, but it was too much? Because we have amazing wingers and we won C, B, A team of Liverpool in preseason? They panicked after first two games, started to run around like headless chickens, flew around the Europe, trying to sign any player, and got Antony at the end of TW for reduced price of €100m.
Don't believe everything you read, journos will write what they are told by club people. And club people will not tell journos to write how shite they are at their job, will they?
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The article is actually critical of the club, it mentioned there was a panic after the Brentford result:

Those familiar with the mood at Carrington after the 4-0 defeat to Brentford reported a spike in activity,
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Chief executive Richard Arnold became more visible and subsequent actions populated the belief that Joel Glazer was suddenly persuaded to allocate more of the club’s money to transfers.
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The article is also critical of the recruitment department and the club's hierarchy, on the attempt to sign Arnautovic:

The episode was an example of the risk associated with following a manager on his recommendations unchecked.
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Other quotes from the article which are critical of the recruitment department and the football structure at the club

Still, it is clear the recruitment department has run parallel to the manager’s instincts this summer rather than guide proactively. It is a system built by Murtough but one that, on the evidence of current operating, remains in need of refinement. The best models present various options in targeted positions to managers and are then able to strike decisively.
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Evidently, there are issues to fix given the reliance on Ten Hag this window and disappointing returns from signings pushed by the recruitment department.
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On not signing Brighton's Caicedo earlier
Informed sources say United’s discretion was merited due to huge complications over payments to various agents but others point out how Brighton, a smaller club, managed to solve the issue.
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As you can see, the article criticizes the club's football structure and questions a lot of the decisions it made.

If you are able to read it, it is the furthest thing from a puff piece that makes the club look good
 
Man Utd 3:1 Arsenal
Think the players he's brought from Ajax and the Dutch leagues have the right attitude. Most important thing for me was the mentality change, and he's done it so far. Was a bit concerned after first few games.
 
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