Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

[sugar_kane]

Ten Hag has been perfect in the way he has handled Ronaldo. We have complained about player power at this club for a number of years.

When you are employed by a club, regardless of stature, the manager is the one you have to listen to.

EtH set out his rules from day 1. It applies to every player, if you are 18 or 38, there will be no one set of rule for one and one for another.

Ronaldo and others got warned, EtH actually came out and said it wasn't just Ronaldo who left, so he cant criticise EtH there.

EtH has given Ronaldo plenty of chances to show why he should start, 0 PL goals when he has started shows why the manager prefers a different player up front.

This manager will not play you because of your name, you have to bring it to the pitch, Ronaldo hasn't, he also said he isnt motivated to = down tools.

So he can feck off.

Yeah he deserves a ton of praise for how he's dealt with the players from day one, you won't see this angle too often in the media though.

Ronaldo says he's 'the black sheep' but we've seen the team captain and guaranteed starter Maguire dropped without fuss, Luke Shaw was dropped and had to fight his way back into the team (and who acknowledged ETH was right in how we handled this) we've seen Garnacho refused game time due to attitude problems, but also allowed to fight his way back into the team. Ronaldo himself was allowed to push his way back into the team after rightly being punished with a one match ban (even if this was mainly driven by necessity). In public, Ten Hag has been nothing but respectful towards Ronaldo and didn't throw him under the bus after the Vallecano thing, going out of his way to push the blame onto the whole group who left early.

I was really pissed off at the time about the Ronaldo captaincy thing but in retrospect it was like he was several moves ahead of Ronaldo, squashing the whole 'disrespect' angle before it was even made public.

 

[romufc]

Yeah he deserves a ton of praise for how he's dealt with the players from day one, you won't see this angle too often in the media though.

Ronaldo says he's 'the black sheep' but we've seen the team captain and guaranteed starter Maguire dropped without fuss, Luke Shaw was dropped and had to fight his way back into the team (and who acknowledged ETH was right in how we handled this) we've seen Garnacho refused game time due to attitude problems, but also allowed to fight his way back into the team. Ronaldo himself was allowed to push his way back into the team after rightly being punished with a one match ban (even if this was mainly driven by necessity). In public, Ten Hag has been nothing but respectful towards Ronaldo and didn't throw him under the bus after the Vallecano thing, going out of his way to push the blame onto the whole group who left early.

I was really pissed off at the time about the Ronaldo captaincy thing but in retrospect it was like he was several moves ahead of Ronaldo, squashing the whole 'disrespect' angle before it was even made public.

Exactly.

You also say in public that Ten Hag has been nothing but respectful but don't you think he has been given enough chances to show why he should start too?

No pre season, started the 2nd PL game and we lost 4-0 to Brentford. After that game, we saw changes, Maguire, Bruno, Fred, Ronaldo dropped and we won the next 2 games against very good teams.

Ronaldo then plays Europa games and fails to deliver, a chance to show Ten Hag why he should play. PL games he has had chances to show his so called qualities and he has failed miserably this season.

You cannot criticise the manager when like you say, he has been very consistent, you are a football player, you get paid to deliver now, not what you have done in the past.

To me, from the interview, Ronaldo is deluded, he cannot take it that football is moving in a direction which his style does not suit. He wants managers to play the game to suit him, that cannot happen when you are not scoring goals.

 

[Sarni]

Like another poster said I think ETH actually gave him enough rope to hang himself with.

He made him captain and said to the press he is a leader and wants him to set the standard and lead by example (less than 2 weeks after Spurs).

He knew Ronaldo is finished IMO. He didn't perform so he dropped him again.

Mourinho did similar with Rooney in his final days, eventually he just dropped him all together.

This I don’t like though. It cost us points to make a point about Ronaldo that pretty much everyone should have been aware of. We should first and foremost play to win football games, not play some sort of messy political chess with one of our players. Overall, contrary to what many above my post said, I actually think his handling of Ronaldo’s situation is among the bad parts of his performance as a manager so far. He gave him way too much power and basically rewarded him for walking out against Spurs by playing him in three consecutive games after Chelsea, even giving him the armband. He should not have given in to the pressure that was coming from media and former players.

 

[MUFC OK]

With Ronaldo gone, as Pogba before him, my money is on ETH as the next media target in an attempt to slander the club. I see Alan Brazil and Souness have already started..

 

[Adam-Utd]

This I don’t like though. It cost us points to make a point about Ronaldo that pretty much everyone should have been aware of. We should first and foremost play to win football games, not play some sort of messy political chess with one of our players. Overall, contrary to what many above my post said, I actually think his handling of Ronaldo’s situation is among the bad parts of his performance as a manager so far. He gave him way too much power and basically rewarded him for walking out against Spurs by playing him in three consecutive games after Chelsea, even giving him the armband. He should not have given in to the pressure that was coming from media and former players.

Let's not forget we haven't really had a choice.

Sancho has been ill, Antony injured. It's play Ronaldo as striker and Rashford LW, or use Elanga and Pellestri.

Ronaldo has had enough time to show he can't step up, so no excuses left now.

 

[Baneofthegame]

With Ronaldo gone, as Pogba before him, my money is on ETH as the next media target in an attempt to slander the club. I see Alan Brazil and Souness have already started..

People started on ETH before this whole fiasco, before the Liverpool game people were saying he should be fired and Martinez would never make it in the premier league.

 

[El Zoido]

He played Ronaldo because the squad is thin, it’s a long season, and we need to use everyone we can. Our other main CF is made of glass, everyone else is more of a WF, even Rashford.

Regardless of whether you think Ronaldo is “finished” or not, he should have enough experience to do a job. ETH was considerate in the games he played him in and I think Ronaldo has let him down with his performances. ETH gave him every chance and he hasn’t once performed.

 

[Sarni]

Let's not forget we haven't really had a choice.

Sancho has been ill, Antony injured. It's play Ronaldo as striker and Rashford LW, or use Elanga and Pellestri.

Ronaldo has had enough time to show he can't step up, so no excuses left now.

We did have a choice though. You could always play an extra midfielder, which we should have done anyway considering we got completely overrun there by Villa, and had Rashford up front. Even Elanga would have been better out there as he would have given you some effort. Bottom line is Ronaldo disrespected the club more than once, even if your other option is playing an academy 17-year old it’s still better than giving him more games.

 

[Remember the geese]

This I don’t like though. It cost us points to make a point about Ronaldo that pretty much everyone should have been aware of. We should first and foremost play to win football games, not play some sort of messy political chess with one of our players. Overall, contrary to what many above my post said, I actually think his handling of Ronaldo’s situation is among the bad parts of his performance as a manager so far. He gave him way too much power and basically rewarded him for walking out against Spurs by playing him in three consecutive games after Chelsea, even giving him the armband. He should not have given in to the pressure that was coming from media and former players.

You're bang on the money here. I thought it was brilliant when ten Hag dropped him for the Chelsea game. I quite frankly didn't want Ronaldo to play for us ever again. Although we were short on forward players, using the likes of Garnacho, Elanga and Pellistri would have shown a lot more courage in his convictions than persisting with Ronaldo and making him captain. It disappointed me and was the first time I truly questioned ten Hag.

 

[Puskas_007]

With Ronaldo gone, as Pogba before him, my money is on ETH as the next media target in an attempt to slander the club. I see Alan Brazil and Souness have already started..

Aye, someone always has to be the lightning rod for criticism, for ETH it's about trying to last long enough to escape it, and that means winning a trophy, top 4 (this year) and pushing into the top 2-3 (next year) - no pressure...

Until we're really performing consistently at home and abroad, the narrative will be negative, fingers crossed we keep seeing improvement and the negativity starts to focus on one of the other big clubs that are struggling...

 

[Kag]

No manager post-Ferguson has been given a harder start to life at the club.

Only Van Gaal had a squad as poor. Only Mourinho had to handle the phasing out of an ageing legend, but one who had at least accepted that his time was up. None of them have had to pick up the pieces of a squad quite so broken.

If Ten Hag makes this work here then he’s worked miracles.

 

[sullydnl]

Feeling quite optimistic at the moment.

The Ronaldo thing was always going to come to a head at some point and now it has, so we can start moving on.

Meanwhile we see stories about the likes of Maguire, AWB and Fred leaving over the coming transfer windows and while I don't necessarily dislike all those players it isn't hard to see they're unsuited to ETH's brand of football so that turnover will probably improve us. Especially as last summer's transfers still look like decent/good signings at this point.

And we're still in contention for top four, still in the Europa league and the mood around the new manager is still broadly positive.

Things are alright. The Ronaldo stuff is noise, but the actual interview is less of a problem for ETH than actually having Ronaldo in the squad was.

 

[Adam-Utd]

We did have a choice though. You could always play an extra midfielder, which we should have done anyway considering we got completely overrun there by Villa, and had Rashford up front. Even Elanga would have been better out there as he would have given you some effort. Bottom line is Ronaldo disrespected the club more than once, even if your other option is playing an academy 17-year old it’s still better than giving him more games.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but unfortunately somebody like Ronaldo has to be given a bit of extra leeway.

The guy has been playing awful all season yet people talk like it's unthinkable that he's dropped. ETH has to be very careful of how he manages him otherwise it'll come back to bite him.

I think he's played it perfectly as now there is plenty of evidence to say "you started 6-7 games in a row and scored 1 goal"

 

[MUFC OK]

Anyone else notice the irony of Ronaldo saying modern players don't have the right mentality, whilst also slating ETH, yet the 3 players he singled out for praise were two big signings by the new manager and a player whom is the most improved under him?

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Would love Ten Hag to be a huge success here

I get the feeling all of this will make the defiant match-going reds get more behind him. He's getting a lot of unfair criticism. So far i would say his performance is par, but can definitely see what he's building.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Would love Ten Hag to be a huge success here

I get the feeling all of this will make the defiant match-going reds get more behind him. He's getting a lot of unfair criticism. So far i would say his performance is par, but can definitely see what he's building.

I'll certainly back him even more than I did before. The guy is being put in a ridiculous situation from his own fans, the media and opposition fans laughing.

I bet he knew the job would be difficult, but this sort of added BS is way beyond any normal manager job.

 

[MUFC OK]

Would love Ten Hag to be a huge success here

I get the feeling all of this will make the defiant match-going reds get more behind him. He's getting a lot of unfair criticism. So far i would say his performance is par, but can definitely see what he's building.

Definitely.

 

[mav_9me]

Feck Ronaldo. I hope the UTD fans stay behind Erik.

No need to hope. We absolutely are.

 

[Sarni]

I'm not disagreeing with you, but unfortunately somebody like Ronaldo has to be given a bit of extra leeway.

The guy has been playing awful all season yet people talk like it's unthinkable that he's dropped. ETH has to be very careful of how he manages him otherwise it'll come back to bite him.

I think he's played it perfectly as now there is plenty of evidence to say "you started 6-7 games in a row and scored 1 goal"

As I mentioned, the issue with that is that it cost us points. Perhaps we were still going to lose to Villa even without Ronaldo but having him out there gave us almost no chance.

The way I see it after what happened in the Summer and then against Tottenham the only way you could justify having Ronaldo in the team was if it made us much more likely to win games. In fact, it was the exact opposite, having him in the team was detrimental to its quality and we saw plenty of evidence of that. So essentially we sacrificed league games to make a point about Ronaldo that everyone kind of knew before that... I don't like it. Also, to me the message for having him back in the team so quickly after Spurs sent the wrong message to the rest of the team, it was basically 'do whatever you like but as long as you are a big name you'll be forgiven very quickly'. In fact, if it wasn't for the Piers Morgan interview Ronaldo would probably still be getting significant minutes in the second half of season... and part of me still fears that he will.

 

[Adam-Utd]

As I mentioned, the issue with that is that it cost us points. Perhaps we were still going to lose to Villa even without Ronaldo but having him out there gave us almost no chance.

The way I see it after what happened in the Summer and then against Tottenham the only way you could justify having Ronaldo in the team was if it made us much more likely to win games. In fact, it was the exact opposite, having him in the team was detrimental to its quality and we saw plenty of evidence of that. So essentially we sacrificed league games to make a point about Ronaldo that everyone kind of knew before that... I don't like it. Also, to me the message for having him back in the team so quickly after Spurs sent the wrong message to the rest of the team, it was basically 'do whatever you like but as long as you are a big name you'll be forgiven very quickly'. In fact, if it wasn't for the Piers Morgan interview Ronaldo would probably still be getting significant minutes in the second half of season... and part of me still fears that he will.

The problem is;

If we still lost to Villa with Ronaldo being kept on the bench, all the noise would be about him sitting there stropping. They'd say "why are we playing an experienced young kid over the GOAT Ronaldo".

It would create added pressure onto ETH that he simply doesn't need. This is exactly why him being at the club is just making things worse. You are damned if you play him, you're damned if you bench him.

At that point if Martial was fit then I have no doubts he wouldn't be starting - but he simply couldn't bench Ronaldo for youngsters that aren't exactly doing great themselves.

I think ETH has done what he can. He's given enough Rope to Ronaldo to show he's giving him chances, he has no reason to be angry.

 

[lex talionis]

Given the hand ETH has been dealt, he’s done brilliantly.

 

[bosskeano]

Ronaldo lost his power struggle with ETH and thought he was bigger than the club....he lost that bet and now is going to suffer the consequences for it. ETH did exactly what i think most of hoped for and that was take control the egos and take control the dressing room.

No chance he lets him return otherwise he will lose all respect from the players...now they HAVE to get a forward in during january

 

[Jeppers7]

As a huge Ronaldo fan, was at both debuts, his first debut is the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen. Knowing that I’d just witnessed potentially the next best player in the world playing for us. BUT ETH has handled this perfectly in my opinion. He’s come out of this like a boss and Ronaldo looks like hes a little bit delusional.

 

[Someone]

In a way Ronaldo made ETH much stronger now, and the manager has handled this with great professionalism. I'm really happy that we have him and he has my full support.

 

[Matt007a]

ETH has been smart to stay quiet this week. He doesn't need to respond or take the bait, Ronaldo has dug his own grave and ETH can leave him there without having to do anything. He's owning the decisions he has made and letting his point be proven, while Ronaldo is becoming more and more detached from reality and coming across a delusional egomaniac.

My only concern will be if we go into the latter stages of the season and injuries kick in. Those who support Ronaldo above the club itself will be out in force telling us what a mistake it was to let him leave and how ETH is to blame for it.

 

[DJ_21]

We’ve got the perfect manager! He’s answered all the people who was against appointing him by saying can he handle big players… he’s just shown he can. You can tell the players love working with him and believe in his methods aswell as they all want Ronaldo gone and aren’t defending him. We’ll be much better of for it. 100% need a striker in January though and we should get top 4.

 

[TheNewEra]

ETH has been smart to stay quiet this week. He doesn't need to respond or take the bait, Ronaldo has dug his own grave and ETH can leave him there without having to do anything. He's owning the decisions he has made and letting his point be proven, while Ronaldo is becoming more and more detached from reality and coming across a delusional egomaniac.

My only concern will be if we go into the latter stages of the season and injuries kick in. Those who support Ronaldo above the club itself will be out in force telling us what a mistake it was to let him leave and how ETH is to blame for it.

It's an easy interview once his contracts terminated.

"I don't speak about players of other clubs, he is no longer at the club. The club has released a statement."

 

[Scottynaldinho]

Just want him to tweet "checkmate" when Ronaldo's contract is terminated.

 

[Adisa]

The other thing is Ronaldo kind of admitted he was below par but then blammed Teh Hag for it.

 

[Stacks]

Ten Hag has been perfect in the way he has handled Ronaldo. We have complained about player power at this club for a number of years.

When you are employed by a club, regardless of stature, the manager is the one you have to listen to.

EtH set out his rules from day 1. It applies to every player, if you are 18 or 38, there will be no one set of rule for one and one for another.

Ronaldo and others got warned, EtH actually came out and said it wasn't just Ronaldo who left, so he cant criticise EtH there.

EtH has given Ronaldo plenty of chances to show why he should start, 0 PL goals when he has started shows why the manager prefers a different player up front.

This manager will not play you because of your name, you have to bring it to the pitch, Ronaldo hasn't, he also said he isnt motivated to = down tools.

So he can feck off.

I agree. Maybe bringing him on for 3 minutes I can see why he would take that as disrespect but otherwise we are better without him and he is nicely phasing him out

 

[kerano.]

Would be awesome with a ETH banner at OT next homegame.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

Like another poster said I think ETH actually gave him enough rope to hang himself with.

He made him captain and said to the press he is a leader and wants him to set the standard and lead by example (less than 2 weeks after Spurs).

He knew Ronaldo is finished IMO. He didn't perform so he dropped him again.

Mourinho did similar with Rooney in his final days, eventually he just dropped him all together.

There is zero chance Ten Hag did anything with Ronaldo without it being a genuine attempt to improve the team. Listen to the guy, he is singularly focused and absolutely obsessed with winning.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

This I don’t like though. It cost us points to make a point about Ronaldo that pretty much everyone should have been aware of. We should first and foremost play to win football games, not play some sort of messy political chess with one of our players. Overall, contrary to what many above my post said, I actually think his handling of Ronaldo’s situation is among the bad parts of his performance as a manager so far. He gave him way too much power and basically rewarded him for walking out against Spurs by playing him in three consecutive games after Chelsea, even giving him the armband. He should not have given in to the pressure that was coming from media and former players.

You can question his decision to give a single minute to Ronaldo: he has been shite for ETH, he has offered next to nothing and he obviously doesn't fit ETH's preferred system/tactics/setup at all.

For me, it would have made more sense to play anyone rather than Ronaldo. The argument that "we don't have anyone else" makes no sense, it's invalidated by Ronaldo's own useless performances. Elanga (or the tea lady) wouldn't have been worse.

So, yes - I see where you're coming from: If ETH has the backing of the higher-ups, why is it necessary for him to keep playing an unsuitable, under-performing player who also happens to be a thundercnut who doesn't respect his boss? Why not just drop him?

"Yeah, he's clearly shite and he isn't committed to me or my way of doing things at all...but I'll start him because..."

Yes, why exactly? Perhaps he really thinks that Ronaldo (despite being an obvious misfit and an obvious thundercnut) is legitimately a better alternative than...whoever may have replaced him. Again, though, that seems all the more odd based on what we now know: Ronaldo hasn't ever been on the same page as ETH.

We all (apart from his increasingly bizarre fan club) hope we've seen the last of Ronaldo in a United shirt, so that ETH can focus on his job - but this is still worth discussing, I think.

 

[Greck]

It was suggested ETH should have banished Ronaldo after the Spurs game but giving him more rope to go hang his United career turned out golden for him. By now Ronaldo would have done that interview and he would have garnered so much support from fans, media and players for being persecuted. It helps a lot that even his fanboys have nothing on the manager.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

As a huge Ronaldo fan, was at both debuts, his first debut is the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen. Knowing that I’d just witnessed potentially the next best player in the world playing for us. BUT ETH has handled this perfectly in my opinion. He’s come out of this like a boss and Ronaldo looks like hes a little bit delusional.

Yeah just a little bit.

 

[MiracleInMadrid]

After this whole Ronaldo saga, I’m rooting even more for ETH to make it.

 

[FerociousCorgis]

i mean at this point there has to be zero chance of ronaldo ever playing again for united. Bring up whatever top academy CF we have. Play bruno in false 9. Play literally anyone else. Hell put maguire up there just to really make a point. idc.

 

[Remember the geese]

i mean at this point there has to be zero chance of ronaldo ever playing again for united. Bring up whatever top academy CF we have. Play bruno in false 9. Play literally anyone else. Hell put maguire up there just to really make a point. idc.

We just need to sign a replacement basically. Need to act quickly in January though with games against City and Arsenal on the 14th and 22nd respectively.

 

[mu4c_20le]

 

[TheNewEra]

I really hope Piers is getting paid for this (beyond the interview)