Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

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His one big mistake was not rotating. How arrogant or foolish can you be to think it doesn't apply to you when the greats like Guardiola and Sir Alex rotated heavily in favour of the PL and CL.
 
I can't be bothered to read all the previous replies. So many people just fickle as feck or just waiting to lay into ETH the moment he doesn't do well.

It's obvious he has had a nightmare today. And I am not a fan of him saying they wanted to win more. And we clearly have a problem in away games, big part of that falls on him.

But from there to just piling on ETH the moment we lose....sigh.
 
Disappointed in how rigid he is with his dependence on a target man in his side no matter how crap they are, it's a bit mourinho'ish, you see other coaches happy to be flexible with different types of strikes or go down the false 9 route and I expected better from a mananager who was previously at a club that has philosophy of total football
 
It's true that he isn't really outperforming prior seasons on balance. Major difference maker this year has been the signing of casemiro (a signing a laughed at). We have improved defensively but look less threatening going forward in many games, especially versus decent teams.
 
A goal difference of 4 is abysmal at this stage of the season.
 
Go support City or something.
Why, because I want United to aspire to being more than the Sevilla of England? I've been supporting for 30 years and it's a low point when fans think a bloody league cup is satisfactory.
 
We are 3pts better off than under Rangnick and we've been whacked 6 and 7 at the home of our two biggest rivals.

ETH is a good coach but he's not immune to criticism. He's starting to get big calls wrong an awful lot and none more so than Weghorst experiment.

I still have faith he will get it right and turn us into a quality team but he's starting to get on my nerves a bit I can't lie. Those subs today too were stupidity. Varane and Martinez were playing well. What was the point?
 
We are only 3 PTS better off than this time last season under the Ole implosion and caretaker Rangnick experiment.

It's not as absurd as it first appears.

Yeah, unless you take into account style of play, pressing difference, chances created, squad harmony etc.

The squad that is brutally thin has been playing games every 3 days since Christmas and injuries/suspensions have only served to highlight that.
 
Had a complete mare today, and we've looked poor at best since winning the LC.

However, I've seen enough this season to conclude he's the right man for the job. Perhaps deserves some criticism for the lack of rotation as accumulated fatigue is clearly contributing to our recent form (at least to some extent), but conversely you can see why he's been reluctant to rotate given how dire a number of our squad players are.

My chief concern is that a number of our players may start turning against him. I think many have a tendency to eschew any responsibility during periods of bad form, and will pass blame on to ETH and start leaking shite about low morale in the dressing room due to doubting his tactics or the usual guff like that. I can see this being used as an excuse to 'down tools'.

Hopefully the summer arrivals that exude professionalism e.g. Martinez, Casemiro and Eriksen mitigate this. We have a significant number of frauds playing for us. If you've played under several different managers and fall short of expectations in aptitude and quality under each then that's on them.

ETH citing a lack of desire on several occasions lately is a huge red flag as this may mean some players have began their heel turns already. No matter how the rest of the season goes, I'd clear out a good 6-8 players before questioning whether ETH is the man for us. Sadly, if the Glazers don't sell, then a number of the shitty deadwood will remain due to lack of budget to recruit upgrades.

In ETH I trust, in Manchester United's squad I see the venomous snakes in the grass rearing their heads again.
 
Two quotes are making me worried.
One; he is open in keeping Wout.
Two; he said after the game how team didn't had enough desire. That is something which he is saying often lately. What the hell is going on? How they can lack desire when they had 2 weeks to prepare mentally for this game? Same was after Pool game. Biggest game in England. How you can lack desire in that game?
I think he's probably just dangling a carrot for Wout. It doesn't necessarily mean he is 50/50 about keeping him, it might just be designed to motivate him. Pretty tough to come out and say "Yeah the lads got no chance."
 
You literally just said it's one of two trophies that matter. So everything else was pointless this season and ten Hag would have to do something unthinkable to be successful in your mind. How convenient.
Like not get absolutely dominated by Newcastle. Yeah I have high expectations
 
We are 3pts better off than under Rangnick and we've been whacked 6 and 7 at the home of our two biggest rivals.

ETH is a good coach but he's not immune to criticism. He's starting to get big calls wrong an awful lot and none more so than Weghorst experiment.

I still have faith he will get it right and turn us into a quality team but he's starting to get on my nerves a bit I can't lie. Those subs today too were stupidity. Varane and Martinez were playing well. What was the point?


Those were poor subs. nothing more.

Coaches should be be able tomake mistakes. Can't be flawless all the time. And seeing what he has to work with, with injuries, suspensions and poor backups.

He's doing fine work. But he got itnwron today. This is the business end of the season and Weghorst ain't it.
 
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Yeah, unless you take into account style of play, pressing difference, chances created, squad harmony etc.

The squad that is brutally thin has been playing games every 3 days since Christmas and injuries/suspensions have only served to highlight that.

Yeah definitely factors to be considered but ultimately it's a results business. We aren't getting many more PTS per game than under a caretaker season which is our worst in PL history.

Also what style of play is that? All we do is give the ball away. Hahaha
 
It's not football manager, how much we paid has nothing to do with him

That’s not true. Pretty sure he would have been consulted as discussions went on. He even said when we got him that’s the price for the top players. A manager tells a club he wants a player…doesn’t mean he wants him the same if the price goes up to infinity…there will be ongoing conversations and the manager would have said yea at the final price!
 
A couple of posters currently dying to say something along the lines of “Chelsea being decisive, while we dither”.

They know they’ll get hounded out of town so are scared to say it.

Come on lads, let it all out. You know who you are!
 
Yeah, because giving Fred the job of covering Guimaraes instead of McT would obviously have been the safe choice and would have made all the difference. Antony had been tearing up their right flank all game long and has no problem playing the full 90 (that's why he almost never gets subbed), and whoever heard of going to a back three just because we're down and there's ten minutes left. Or of bringing on fresh legs if you do.

We just played a really poor game, not for the first time lately and which we've done pretty much all season away against top half sides. But people will go on about starting lineups and subs as if all this was an entirely avoidable calamity but for the inexplicable inability of the manager to understand the game of football.

Fred/McT is a close call but can't remember the last game with a good performance where Mctominay started.
Agree about Antony- that's why it was a strange decision to sub him off.
Fresh legs is good. Taking off the 2 CBs who had sort of held things together while the front players collapsed is weird.
 
Remember the days when we benched Ronaldo to play a dynamic front three with Rashford as a 9 that got at teams with pace and power coupled with pressing from the front?
How the feck is Weghorst worth so much that he’s binned it? Was our midfield getting overran that we need a false 9 who runs around midfield a lot?
 
Why can't we pile onto ten Hag when he has a bad game? It's happened for the last 10 years to a number of managers. He shouldn't get any special treatment.

Do well, get praised. Do badly, get criticised. It's the way of the world.

If ten Hag has anything about him, he will rise past the criticism where other managers couldn't.
 
Yeah definitely factors to be considered but ultimately it's a results business. We aren't getting many more PTS per game than under a caretaker season which is our worst in PL history.

Also what style of play is that? All we do is give the ball away. Hahaha

Your disingenuous ignorance here is baffling.

We haven’t played the same since we lost both of our starting midfielders, both signed by ETH (how many years did Ole spend ignoring CM?).

Prior to burnout due to the fixture rate & thin squad our defence was far more secure and productive, our midfield was controlling games and making chances for our forwards, and our forwards were pressing from the front putting teams under a lot of pressure.

With the lack of depth we have you simply can’t discount the burnout factor.
 
A lot of people shitting the bed after a bit of a dip in form...
 
That's a fair point but it goes to my original point about a coach having very little influence without good players, whoever that coach is. Again my anger is directed at knobheads who slated our previous managers for less than that shambles today.
I am with you for all you said above. As much respect as I have to Ole and as much appreciation as I feel on his efforts to get us out of absolute lowest point, I would like everyone forget the past at the moment and get behind the team to support them at this difficult period.
 
Your disingenuous ignorance here is baffling.

We haven’t played the same since we lost both of our starting midfielders, both signed by ETH (how many years did Ole spend ignoring CM?).

Prior to burnout due to the fixture rate & thin squad our defence was far more secure and productive, our midfield was controlling games and making chances for our forwards, and our forwards were pressing from the front putting teams under a lot of pressure.

With the lack of depth we have you simply can’t discount the burnout factor.

I'm not advocating for him to be sacked ffs but I think we need to calm down with the hype a bit.

We are a million miles off City still. We have a GD of +4 in April. That's woeful.
 
His one big mistake was not rotating. How arrogant or foolish can you be to think it doesn't apply to you when the greats like Guardiola and Sir Alex rotated heavily in favour of the PL and CL.

He seems to value instilling routines within his first choice XI along with a winning mentality. I understand it for the most part, but it's unacceptable especially in some of these cup ties against trash opposition or where we were up a fair few goals.
 
I love ETH and believe he is absolutely the right man for the job. I’d have no problems with giving him a guaranteed 5 year role as manager.

However, like any manager he has made some strange decisions this season.

Today taking off Varane and Martinez to then play a back 3 with Lindelof as the only CB was very strange. Even though we were chasing the game the one player you want at the back is Martinez who is the best play making CB. Those changes just didn’t make sense.
 
His one big mistake was not rotating. How arrogant or foolish can you be to think it doesn't apply to you when the greats like Guardiola and Sir Alex rotated heavily in favour of the PL and CL.

That’s a fair point until you see the state of us when we have to rely on our players who aren’t in the starting 11. The gap between our best players and the ones on the bench is unbelievable.
 
I'm not advocating for him to be sacked ffs but I think we need to calm down with the hype a bit.

We are a million miles off City still. We have a GD of +4 in April. That's woeful.

6-3 vs City and 7-0 vs Liverpool will kill a GD

You’re right, we’re miles off them, but it’s what ETH has done to the team, barring the last month, that had us thinking we had a shot at 2-3 trophies and possibly 2nd.

Considering he did that without an actual striker is ridiculous and, whilst he managed with Eriksen’s injury, the combination with Casemiro’s 7 games suspended has killed our momentum.

What manager could make an effective team without a striker and McT, Fred & Sabitzer as our only options?

I completely get he shouldn’t be beyond criticism, but he’s performed miracles so far with the tiniest of squads.
 
6-3 vs City and 7-0 vs Liverpool will kill a GD

You’re right, we’re miles off them, but it’s what ETH has done to the team, barring the last month, that had us thinking we had a shot at 2-3 trophies and possibly 2nd.

Considering he did that without an actual striker is ridiculous and, whilst he managed with Eriksen’s injury, the combination with Casemiro’s 7 games suspended has killed our momentum.

What manager could make an effective team without a striker and McT, Fred & Sabitzer as our only options?

I completely get he shouldn’t be beyond criticism, but he’s performed miracles so far with the tiniest of squads.

I have faith in him still but he's starting to get to me with this Weghorst thing. He's been an utter disaster. We have started to play much much worse since his arrival contrary to what he says about him.
 
Why can't we pile onto ten Hag when he has a bad game? It's happened for the last 10 years to a number of managers. He shouldn't get any special treatment.

Do well, get praised. Do badly, get criticised. It's the way of the world.

If ten Hag has anything about him, he will rise past the criticism where other managers couldn't.

Cuz it's knee jerk. The moment we lose, it's sack ETH sell Rashford.

He absolutely deserves criticism for our performance today and our record away.

But lose one game and calling for his job?
 
Remember the days when we benched Ronaldo to play a dynamic front three with Rashford as a 9 that got at teams with pace and power coupled with pressing from the front?
How the feck is Weghorst worth so much that he’s binned it? Was our midfield getting overran that we need a false 9 who runs around midfield a lot?

Good point! If Ronaldo had been happy to have been a squad player, he'd be a much better asset to have in the squad than Weghorst. But unfortunately Ron became too much of a malign influence in the camp.
 
In all seriousness, why did he take off both centre backs and bring on Lindelof? Strangest subs I’ve seen for quite a while.
 
Cuz it's knee jerk. The moment we lose, it's sack ETH sell Rashford.

He absolutely deserves criticism for our performance today and our record away.

But lose one game and calling for his job?

Knee jerk has been the way since Moyes took over. It's not really anything new.

And he hasn't lost one game. He has lost several, including some record defeats on his CV no other manager has. Not even the so called shite past managers.

It's worth a conversation.
 
People in this thread are so defensive of their opinions, it’s ridiculous :lol:

He’s done well. Now he’s not doing so well, and needs to do better and show that he can turn it around. The Pool loss was worrying in isolation, but that he can’t get a proper response out of the team afterwards is more worrying.

Hopefully he’ll steady the ship, and get us safely into top 4. Anything else would be a car crash.
 
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