Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

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Suv666 said:
Why do people keep forgetting its his first season here. The process takes time. If I told you when ETH was hired we’d be where we are you would be ecstatic. People need to keep their expectations in check.

Rangnick said we needed open heart surgery and everyone agreed but now they want ETH to perform with the same squad. Ridiculous.

Even Pep was in top four scrap in his first season and that City squad was streets ahead of us.

At least give ETH a season before brandishing the knives.
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Well first Pep wasn't in top 4 scrap in his first season. Keep seeing this as if people didn't watch such season. City were conformably 3rd in his first season..

Second, no one is forgetting anything, but I'm not supposed to drop to my knees and lose my mind over getting a top 4 and league cup. It's a good season but let's stop acting like it's a miracle.

Honestly I'm convinced these kind of posts are just saved and got copy pasted in response to any criticism a manager gets at United. I have seen this said for literally every single manager post Fergie.

He has done well here, but if we kept convincing ourselves with what you and others saying, burying our heads in the sand, we will never improve.
 
ForeverRed1 said:
maguire
Sancho
Awb
Bailey
Jones
Mctom
Fred
Martial
Elanga
Donny
Lindelof
B Williams

how much you reckon for them then?
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You do understand any of these players can just say "no thank you" if the clubs wants to sell them. They have valuable contracts. Its not as easy as "just sell them"
 
Bellends
Tom Cato said:
You do understand any of these players can just say "no thank you" if the clubs wants to sell them. They have valuable contracts. Its not as easy as "just sell them"
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Knackered race horses get taken round the back of the stables and……

They’re using valuable resources.

Just saying
 
DatIrishFella said:
Oh @thegregster 's meltdown is something else tonight :lol:

Get a grip of yourself!
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Well lets see Sunday evening. When Brighton stuff us with Danny Welbeck up front,Grob in CM and Dunk at the back what excuses will we have?

Does any of the posters who say Im overreacting have any hope we can win Sunday?
 
cyberman said:
The post that says this is a good season and doesn’t mention miracle at all?
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No, the post is acting like we should be glad we are getting such results as if it's something out of our realm :

I'm sorry but what the feck did you expect? Did your brain shut off for the past decade and forget what the reality of the club has been? You expect a title challenge asap? Win every single trophy with just 1 summer window? fecks sake
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Kag said:
The squad Ten Hag inherited was significantly worse than any squad any manager has picked up post-Ferguson.

I said when he was appointed that I didn’t think he stood a chance here. To his credit, he’s worked miracles with what he’s got. A few injuries to the few genuinely good players we have here and we’re fielding the same shite we were fielding under Rangnick.

We need at least six players this summer.
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I dont get where people get this logic that he has worked miracles, like we are challenging for the league or something.

He spent 250m, he has not just worked with the squad from last season.

He has done a very good job but miracle is a bit OTT with all those batterings we have taken this season.
 
el3mel said:
Well first Pep wasn't in top 4 scrap in his first season. Keep seeing this as if people didn't watch such season. City were conformably 3rd in his first season..

Second, no one is forgetting anything, but I'm not supposed to drop to my knees and lose my mind over getting a top 4 and league cup. It's a good season but let's stop acting like it's a miracle.

Honestly I'm convinced these kind of posts are just saved and got copy pasted in response to any criticism a manager gets at United. I have seen this said for literally every single manager post Fergie.

He has done well here, but if we kept convincing ourselves with what you and others saying, burying our heads in the sand, we will never improve.
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Underlying metrics of City were very good during Pep's first season but they only confirmed 3rd on the very last day of the season and finished only 2 and 3 points ahead of fourth and fifth placed teams respectively , so they were in scrap all right it's as if you dont know what you are talking about .
 
gajender said:
Underlying metrics of City were very good during Pep's first season but they only confirmed 3rd on the very last day of the season and finished only 2 and 3 points ahead of fourth and fifth placed teams respectively , so they were in scrap all right it's as if you dont know what you are talking about .
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I watched that season. They never once dropped out of top 4 during that campaign. Points tally doesn't mean much without the actual context. In 2016 Arsenal finished 2nd ahead of Tottenham even though Tottenham were the ones challenging Leicester for the league.

Try to watch the seasons instead of following them up on Wikipedia.
 
Hello all,

My first post here. Just wanted to contribute as everyone's feathers are very ruffled this morning.

On ETH. Aside from individual players weaknesses, the biggest failure this season as been the lack of an alternative system against quality teams away from home. Each week when fans select their ideal 11, it's alway the same 4231, with the same attributes. This has been absolutely murdered this season, with no signs of change. With the players available, SAF would be playing with a more solid midfield, as much as we'd complain. Away from home you might even see Fred, Mctom, and Case together. Last night, as much as people blamed the usual candidates, Erikson and Case were appalling, old, and weak.

Worrel Sterling. I also think the focus on Sancho is misguided. He is clearly not performing at a high enough standard, however he is way down the list of priorities. Utd fans love a fast winger who takes it to the byline and puts in a cross. Football has changed so much in the last ten years. Cutting back is what most players do because there is a higher value in possession, and the transition from a weak cross is very dangerous.

Whenever I see folk criticise Sancho and Antony for this I think of Worrel Sterling. He was a winger at Rovers who, every time he got the ball, put his head down and ran for the line. Gasheads loved him. One time he kept running and ran into the advertising boards and was stretchered off. Anyway, my point is, ETH is slowly trying to moder use the way utd play (inverted fullbacks, better possession, triangles, pressing, press resistance etc), and wingers that don't give the ball away every 2 minutes is a part of this.

I promise to be briefer in future!
 
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Thursday football and injuries have taken its toll on us, add into that the injuries which have cause problems in selecting the right squad for the game and I'm not surprised we are out of the Europa and have had some bad performances. I still don't think the Sevilla performance last night was as poor as the result at Newcastle. But it's in the top three along with the second half of the Liverpool drubbing.

Ten Hag says the right things to the media, but internally he will know that we don't have the right mix of the right characters to show that mentality in games of high pressure where we are carrying a squad of injuries and suspensions. As manager he knows that he will have to get more out of the players, but what they do on the pitch he can't control.

The answer is bolstering the squad with the right players in Summer, but with the ownership debacle rumbling on who knows what we will really have available to spend and/or how ambitious we will likely be.

It's not the best time to be Manchester United manager, but there is still many positives to be taken from the season. No one is suggesting ETH is not the right man for us but he will need support going into next season for him to maximise the potential of the club in the league and Europe.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, some silverware and a top 4 finish is not a bad season, but it becomes superfluous if we don't use the summer window to massively improve on what we have at the moment.
 
We can get trashed in every game until the end of this season and I still want ETH to continue.

We have changed lots of managers in the past decade and the common denominator of our poor performances is the players who are with us for 4/5 plus years.

Ragnick was correct that we need a total revamp of our squad and this will take at least 2/3 years.

ETH showed more than enough so far and we were very good most of the time when his signings were available.

It is also not that surprising to see such a spineless performance like yesterday where two of our leaders (Licha and Bruno) are out. It is just amazing how mentally weak some of our players can be. Among these players is Maguire and he can count himself lucky to still be a captain on paper.
 
el3mel said:
I watched that season. They never once dropped out of top 4 during that campaign. Points tally doesn't mean much without the actual context. In 2016 Arsenal finished 2nd ahead of Tottenham even though Tottenham were the ones challenging Leicester for the league.

Try to watch the seasons instead of following them up on Wikipedia.
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You are talking nonsense I watched the season all right they were never comfortably ahead of the Chasing pack infact even United who finished sixth were with in one point of them till late in the season

They confirmed champions league qualification on the very last day of the season how that's not a scrap is beyond me .
 
gajender said:
Underlying metrics of City were very good during Pep's first season but they only confirmed 3rd on the very last day of the season and finished only 2 and 3 points ahead of fourth and fifth placed teams respectively , so they were in scrap all right it's as if you dont know what you are talking about .
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OKay, if you are going to use Pep and City as the standard for the first season, I hope you have the same energy in the 2nd season?
 
romufc said:
OKay, if you are going to use Pep and City as the standard for the first season, I hope you have the same energy in the 2nd season?
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Show me where I have defended Ten Hag or even compared him with Pep , atleast read the compete discussion before barging in I only commented on posters point about Pep not being in scrap for Top 4 in first season I just corrected him while also acknowledging their underlying metrics were actually quite good .

I specifically bolded the part I wanted to highlight . I have long learned not to put any Manager or player on pedestal to reject any critique of them or defend them blindly .
 
gajender said:
You are talking nonsense I watched the season all right they were never comfortably ahead of the Chasing pack infact even United who finished sixth were with in one point of them till late in the season

They confirmed champions league qualification on the very last day of the season how that's not a scrap is beyond me .
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And yet they never dropped out of top 4 the entire campaign.
 
Performance in hostile Away games is the main thing we need to focus on during pre-season.
 
No manager or player is beyond criticism in my mind. I’ve seen better managers making huge mistakes or having their own weakness.

Barcelona, Liverpool, Newcastle, Fulham and Sevilla all were approached tactically in the same way. This is not about player quality but bad judgement on his part because he should know what his players can/can’t do. I’ve seen injuries and suspensions being blamed for this one, I’d rather not agree with that. This performance is akin to the games above and in only one was it effective because Barcelona were stunned and did not expect it. Our central midfielders are not combative/physical/mobile enough for a game built on man marking and individual duels. It’s the manager’s responsibility to steer the opposition away from this in his tactical preparation. He might have tried but it didn’t work yesterday.

In terms of quality and momentum we are not yet in a position by default where teams set up to not lose against us at home. The manager has responsibility to work with what is at hand. Most big clubs will fire their manager for far less. No manager has ever had his perfect set of players and it takes multiple windows to get the core of what he wants, ETH has to develop some pragmatism in the away games planning. We did not have to outplay Sevilla away, all we needed was to qualify.

At this level of fine margins it’s disrespectful to not show the opponent a degree of respect in their backyard. Even our players show this same level of disrespect like Sancho expects defenders to back off him when he has the ball and looks stunned when they apply pressure, Maguire thinking no one will ever close him down, Antony will rather want to teach his marker a football lesson than just capitalise on opportunities.

Till ETH addresses these we will be seeing such performances and they won’t all entirely be the fault of the players.
 
romufc said:
I dont get where people get this logic that he has worked miracles, like we are challenging for the league or something.

He spent 250m, he has not just worked with the squad from last season.

He has done a very good job but miracle is a bit OTT with all those batterings we have taken this season.
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We only need to look at Newcastle to see that.

They finished 12th in 2021 and were rock bottom after 13 games with 6 points when Howe took over.
The new owners have been only their a short time and have been able to sign players like Guimaraes on the cheap. Also Howe has been able to get great performances out of players like Burns,Schar,Botman,Longstaff etc. Bang average players who should be nowhere near the top 4. Give them another transfer window and we won't be anywhere near them next season.
 
thegregster said:
We only need to look at Newcastle to see that.

They finished 12th in 2021 and were rock bottom after 13 games with 6 points when Howe took over.
The new owners have been only their a short time and have been able to sign players like Guimaraes on the cheap. Also Howe has been able get great performances out of playere like Burns,Schar,Botman,Longstaff etc. Bang average players who should be nowhere near the top 4. Give them another transfer window and we won't be anywhere near them next season.
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I don’t know how you find the time to post when you appear to spend most of your life curled up in a ball predicting the worst case scenario.
 
UTG said:
Hello all,

My first post here. Just wanted to contribute as everyone's feathers are very ruffled this morning.

On ETH. Aside from individual players weaknesses, the biggest failure this season as been the lack of an alternative system against quality teams away from home. Each week when fans select their ideal 11, it's alway the same 4231, with the same attributes.

This has been absolutely murdered this season, with no signs of change. With the players available, SAF would be playing with a more solid midfield, as much as we'd complain.

Away from home you might even see Fred, Mctom, and Case together. Last night, as much as people blamed the usual candidates, Erikson and Case were appalling, old, and weak.
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I wish I can buy you coffee. One of the sober pointers of our problem.

I've said countless time the same thing. This 4231 is the main recipe of our collapse ever since

Modern game has evolved so much.

As I have said in the Casemiro thread, even if we buy Rodri today we will still get hammered.

My 100% belief is the manager will sort out the midfield structure in the summer.

If he doesn't then things will unravel very quickly.
 
Ten Hag, like his predecessors before him, will be every bit as hamstrung as they were under this current ownership.

He has done a brilliant job so far in a job that required open heart surgery when he came in, and the operation so far is only at fifty percent complete.
 
Yagami said:
Considering how bad we were last season, and how terrible our past two transfer windows have been, I'm happy with the progress being shown in our general play when we have something resembling a first team out.

The problem is we've only bought one good player in Martinez. Malacia is decent for a squad option, but we didn't need squad options. We needed quality going into our first eleven.

Casemiro and Eriksen weren't good deals. Weghorst and Sabitzer weren't good loans. Antony could potentially be decent but, for the money he cost, it wasn't a good deal as it limited our spending elsewhere.

The next transfer window is make or break in the summer. No more lightweight players. We need strong, press resistant players. Players who can shield the ball, who have the agility to turn away from their marker, players who can dribble so that we can make use of counter attacks and offer a new dimension in breaking down opposition defences. Until we sign players of that ilk, we're going nowhere regardless of who our manager is.
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You can't possibly be serious.
 
thegregster said:
We only need to look at Newcastle to see that.

They finished 12th in 2021 and were rock bottom after 13 games with 6 points when Howe took over.
The new owners have been only their a short time and have been able to sign players like Guimaraes on the cheap. Also Howe has been able to get great performances out of players like Burns,Schar,Botman,Longstaff etc. Bang average players who should be nowhere near the top 4. Give them another transfer window and we won't be anywhere near them next season.
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Exactly, which makes this narrative of "miracle" a joke imo. Arteta has gone from 5th to challenging for the title, Eddie Howe, Unai Emry, Gary Oneil, have all done jobs this season which could be comparable to EtH.

When 4/5 managers are doing something, its not a miracle. You name those players, can you imagine the outrage if EtH had any of those?

I keep hearing.. oh whats he meant to do with Maguire, McTominay... when other clubs manage with average players to put up fighting performances.
 
city-puma said:
Now, every media has published the news reports or opinion pieces that Manchester United was embarrassed and the season is going to fall apart (see skysports).
Tired to read the blames to the players and ETH. What happened had happened. Now, look forward to the next game. Enjoy the life, guys!
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I agree. Live. Love. Laugh.
 
romufc said:
Exactly, which makes this narrative of "miracle" a joke imo. Arteta has gone from 5th to challenging for the title, Eddie Howe, Unai Emry, Gary Oneil, have all done jobs this season which could be comparable to EtH.

When 4/5 managers are doing something, its not a miracle. You name those players, can you imagine the outrage if EtH had any of those?

I keep hearing.. oh whats he meant to do with Maguire, McTominay... when other clubs manage with average players to put up fighting performances.
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Firstly there are hardly any supporters who are saying EtH has performed miracles.
Secondly, it is easy to perform when there is no expectation or pressure. Its quite different when you are Man United and are expected to win semi finals, finals and trophies.
Would you take any of Howe, Emery, O’Neil as Man United managers? Emery already crashed and burned at a much lower pressure job at Arsenal.
Arteta has gone from 5th to challenging, after finishing 8th twice and changing the team composition (with significant investment) entirely to match his vision.

I am quite confident that EtH would have done a similar job as Howe if not better with much lower expectations and scrutiny.
In fact, there is high likelihood Maguire & McTominay will do much better at Newcastle than at United.
 
Escobar said:
You need to consider the team he took over and where we were last summer as a club and team. He took over a team where many said we have zero chance yet at one point we were close to City and played decent football. The sheer amount of games caught up now and with all these injuries, he needs to play the B side which we all knew is shit and lack character. On top he had to handle the Ronaldo situation and got a shitty 2m for the loan, so what do you expect we can get for that money in winter
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Our B side here is still pretty strong, Casemiro, Eriksen, Sabitzer is an experienced strong midfield, Sancho, Martial, Antony is a young talented attacking line up, Rashford from the bench as well. Not great but we should by all means be able to better than what we saw last night.

We´ve seen us play 100 times better this season so there is something there to build on i´m sure. It is just so hard to take these kind of games where we are never really competing. Regardless of injuries and players thrown out mid season, we should still be able to compete. We´ve managed to win games before with U23 players starting.
 
Fans overreacting I see to Erik not being able to win games with the same players who couldn't win games consistently for the last 5 years. His biggest problem is he’ll prob have to rely on them next season as well at this rate.
 
el3mel said:
And yet they never dropped out of top 4 the entire campaign.
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What a load of fecking nonsense. They fell out of the top 4 multiple times.

In fact, after 30 games, City had 58 points and also spent hundreds of millions of pounds.
 
Abhinav said:
Firstly there are hardly any supporters who are saying EtH has performed miracles.
Secondly, it is easy to perform when there is no expectation or pressure. Its quite different when you are Man United and are expected to win semi finals, finals and trophies.
Would you take any of Howe, Emery, O’Neil as Man United managers? Emery already crashed and burned at a much lower pressure job at Arsenal.
Arteta has gone from 5th to challenging, after finishing 8th twice and changing the team composition (with significant investment) entirely to match his vision.

I am quite confident that EtH would have done a similar job as Howe if not better with much lower expectations and scrutiny.
In fact, there is high likelihood Maguire & McTominay will do much better at Newcastle than at United.
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Clearly, you are replying to the wrong person because, if you followed the threat I reply to, is the poster claiming EtH has done a miracle.

Now, in respects to your post, I agree with it which is why I do not think EtH has performed miracles this season, he has doen exactly what a top coach should do.

I wouldn't swap EtH or any other manager but I am not deluded either.
 
Dannn411 said:
Good recovery after the disastrous start to the season but performances since League cup final as well as certain personnel adn game management decisions show that he is still incredibly naive and still has a lot to prove. Many hyped him up as the saviour in the summer but I still have not seen anything that makes me think he is a special manager. Big summer for him.
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said this from the Summer as I am not blown away by winning the league with Ajax and one cup run. I was more relieved we were getting rid of Ralph than him being the next Pep or dominant manager to take us to the top. He seems to be doing par for the course though. I was criticised a few months ago for never having given ETH praise in any of my posts but it was more that I felt he still needed to prove himself as I wasn't about to jump on the hype train. He has good ideas on how he wants us to play football so I am interested to see the evolution and how it plays out when we have better players
 
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