Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

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Jamie Shawcross said:
Its not ETH's fault we got Weghorst in Jan. Imagine talking about getting top 4 and getting a burnley reject on loan to cover martial? What a sorry state of affairs. There is no way on earth Ten Hag wanted this. No chance. Its not Wouts fault either. People suddenly forgiven the owners? This is on them. Our lack of depth is criminal
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Exactly, yet it's two finals, fight for top four with slight upper hand still and qf in Europa League and at the same time his team has played the most games in Europe and many at world cup, injuries and so on. I'd say he is doing good still

Most players look tired, some have looked worryingly satisfied since Carabao Cup win and some are just not good enough either way. Read somewhere this week is the first time since WC we don't have a game mid week. Mental that and at same time having to play half of these players to get wins and goals.

What are people seriously expecting at this point? It's his first season. He had like 70% win ratio up until a month ago, people think that was gonna last? Not even Fergie had that. We still create chances, hit the post twice today and Fabianski was his usual good against us. We also created against Brighton but we ain't got no striker. Bruno has created most key passes in Europe but nobody is there to score them.

The real enemies are still the glazers!
 
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giggs-beckham said:
We were better under Ole. Not last season
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Yep. Early Ole was good, although not good enough. He probably fluked his way into a longer run as manager as a result of his initial success and the likes of Gaz Neville fanning the flames for a full time appointment.
 
Mr Anderson said:
De Gea is the one rooted to his line, it isn’t an instruction, he’s done this all his career. Awful distribution, slow off his line, not commanding the box.

That isn’t on Erik, De Gea is just petrified of coming off his line, always has.
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I don't disagree. I think he's poor at distribution and what you said.

However, I feel Ten Hag can be a bit more direct and just tell De Gea to sit higher up. When we're parked in the oppositions half the danger to De Gea is vastly reduced and should be told to push up and help us keep the pressure on.

But, obviously, De Gea is limited in his skills as a distributor and maybe Ten Hag thinks it's too much of an issue and too dangerous.
 
astracrazy said:
Yeah with a number 9 vs this year without....

Whats your point if its meant to be a negative one?
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Even without a proper number 9 it's still pretty awful. You expect better goal contributions from wingers, especially.

It's not being negative or controversial to state that we have a very obvious goal-scoring problem.
 
He’s shifting Bruno to the LW and Rashford to CF in order to fit Weghorst as #10. It’s a parody at this point. He must be doing for the memes.

If he fails to get top 4 and ends up getting sacked by the new owners, then he might have plenty of excuses but he’ll still have mostly himself to blame.
 
Irwin99 said:
Even without a proper number 9 it's still pretty awful. You expect better goal contributions from wingers, especially.

It's not being negative or controversial to state that we have a very obvious goal-scoring problem.
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Definitely agree.

19 shots, 4 on target, and only 8 of those shots were from outside the box.

Vs Brighton - 16 shots, 5 on target, 8 of those from inside the box

We are averaging around 15-16 shots a game but only 3-4 shots on target which is baffling.

Bruno would be leading on assists this season if we could finish our dinner, makes you wonder if we have any shooting practice at all.
 
If he keeps playing Weghorst as the #10 while shifting Bruno out wide, I just don't know what to say...
 
I give ETH the benefit of the doubt. First year with loads of adversity and yet he's got us in a position to make the CL and win a couple of cups. That, despite the CR7 drama, Martial's unavailability, Eriksen missing half the year, Casemiro missing about 20% of the season due to suspension, Maguire and DDG in decline etc. Not a bad first season. What is inexcusable is the inexplicable loss of form down the stretch when most are healthy again.
 
I can understand the frustration we are all feeling at the moment.

I think it's the emotion of what it would mean to miss out on top 4, Liverpool being in it especially after that 7-0 defeat.

The questions are coming from the performances, does he have the metal to get the most out of these players?

There have been too many questions of the performances recently, Seville, Brighton, Tottenham, Tonight.

When we are good, we are really good but when we see bad it just feels like you should just turn off the game as I don't see any fire from the team at half time nor when we go behind compared to before the Liverpool game.

The 4-1 Vs Betis was the last good game we've had since the league cup.

Something definitely doesn't seem right behind the scenes.
 
Irwin99 said:
Even without a proper number 9 it's still pretty awful. You expect better goal contributions from wingers, especially.

It's not being negative or controversial to state that we have a very obvious goal-scoring problem.
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I’d like to see them play with a striker defenders feel like they have to occasionally mark just for s***s and giggles.
 
Raoul said:
I give ETH the benefit of the doubt. First year with loads of adversity and yet he's got us in a position to make the CL and win a couple of cups. That, despite the CR7 drama, Martial's unavailability, Eriksen missing half the year, Casemiro missing about 20% of the season due to suspension, Maguire and DDG in decline etc. Not a bad first season. What is inexcusable is the inexplicable loss of form down the stretch when most are healthy again.
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I agree with all of this. Alot of people here ignore how bad last season was and how many problems he's had to deal with (you didn't even have to mention the Ronaldo drama). I think the issue is that the team has very little depth so he kept playing the same players and many are tired now. That's my theory anyway.
 
He needs to make serious changes for next week. For one, Shaw needs to go back to left back, or pick a formation that allows him to be up the pitch when we have the ball. It’s all well and good having him defend well and start the play, but we lack cutting edge without him. He needs to stop picking Weghorst, it’s embarrassing for him at this point. Rashford probably needs to go upfront for all the matches until the end of the season, with Bruno as close to him as possible. With Garnacho back(ish) we have options for the left side now with Sancho.
 
Tyrion said:
I agree with all of this. Alot of people here ignore how bad last season was and how many problems he's had to deal with (you didn't even have to mention the Ronaldo drama). I think the issue is that the team has very little depth so he kept playing the same players and many are tired now. That's my theory anyway.
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True. Lack of depth at at time when we had a rash of injuries and suspensions. The Casemiro suspension and Garnacho injury were killers that disrupted our Rashford led post WC run of form imo.
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
If he keeps playing Weghorst as the #10 while shifting Bruno out wide, I just don't know what to say...
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I'd say if players like Martial and Sancho were performing then he wouldn't have to do this. Surely once we sign a decent striker then Rashford will be back in his best position on the left and Bruno #10
 
Edwards6 said:
I'd say if players like Martial and Sancho were performing then he wouldn't have to do this. Surely once we sign a decent striker then Rashford will be back in his best position on the left and Bruno #10
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He doesn’t ever have to pick Weghorst at 10, or at all. Sancho isn’t great but he’s scored in the last two matches and Sabitzer always looks more likely than Weghorst. There is no excuse.
 
Raoul said:
True. Lack of depth at at time when we had a rash of injuries and suspensions. The Casemiro suspension and Garnacho injury were killers that disrupted our Rashford led post WC run of form imo.
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I was often surprised at how similar our Europa league team was to the PL team. I think we might have been better off getting knocked out of the Europa league earlier. Hopefully ETH gets better at managing that.
 
Dec9003 said:
He doesn’t ever have to pick Weghorst at 10, or at all. Sancho isn’t great but he’s scored in the last two matches and Sabitzer always looks more likely than Weghorst. There is no excuse.
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We've been in shite form without him as well, it's the 1st game he's started for a while so it's clearly not as simple as drop Weghorst and we win the game.
I'm not saying I want him in the team because obviously there's more talented players sat on the bench but they're not stepping up and playing well either
 
Edwards6 said:
We've been in shite form without him as well, it's the 1st game he's started for a while so it's clearly not as simple as drop Weghorst and we win the game.
I'm not saying I want him in the team because obviously there's more talented players sat on the bench but they're not stepping up and playing well either
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In the last six matches we’ve played, we’ve won one, the only match that Weghorst didn’t take part in. (Won semi final on pens which Weghorst did score on to be fair to him)
I agree that it’s not as simple as not picking Weghorst, but it’s obvious that the team has to adjust when he’s on the pitch (Bruno out wide etc) and he has no output, so what’s the point?
If we started Rashford, Sancho, Bruno and Antony in attack, we might have still lost, but I’m convinced we’d have had a much better chance.
 
giggs-beckham said:
Nagelsmann? Hey I don't know, it's not my job. Until we get a good structure above the manager it's kicking a can down the road in my opinion
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He couldn't handle Bayern. An established top team who already played the same brand of football as his and were winning title after title. If he came here last summer instead of ETH it would have been a disaster.

That being said I do think he's potentially a great manager. Took the Bayern job too early. Taking the United job would be managerial suicide for him at this stage though.

Your second point is spot on. Changing manager and expecting miracles isn't going to fix anything if there is no foundation to build upon. ETH is at least trying to build that foundation.

The key point is we're not regressing. Despite recent set backs, we have improved this season in terms of play and general attitude. There was never going to be a quick fix so ignoring any progress and looking for thar fix isn't going to get us anywhere.

The primary goal this season was making progress in style of play to build on in future seasons, and targeting at top 4 finish. Any cup win was an added bonus. We've done two of those things. Top 4 is still in our hands. We're still on target to do all 3 which is the best outcome anyone hoped for this time last year. Even if we do slip up on the top 4, that shouldn't detract from the long term goal.

In hindsight, probably would have been better for us to sack off the Europa league and give the players more rest and training time to focus on the league. Probably would have had top 4 secured by now if we did. Going into this season though, everyone expected a scramble for the top 4 so we poured time and resources into it as a backup plan. Especially after our start to the season. Hindsight is a bitch.
 
AFC NimbleThumb said:
That DdG calamity had feck all to do with rest. Luke Shaw playing volleyball in the 90+ didn’t either.

They better pray we win by 3 next week if this excuse is to fly.
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Who is they? I’d take any sort of win from here on.
 
Having slept on it, I'm still torn. I haven't totally given up on ETH but this aura he used to have in my eyes is defo gone. Before it really left like a dead certainty he was gonna take us places and be the best manager after SAF
 
MadMike said:
He’s shifting Bruno to the LW and Rashford to CF in order to fit Weghorst as #10. It’s a parody at this point. He must be doing for the memes.

If he fails to get top 4 and ends up getting sacked by the new owners, then he might have plenty of excuses but he’ll still have mostly himself to blame.
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He has this tendency to try and make himself look like a genius by making bold moves you couldn’t see 95% of managers even attempting, similar to Pep. The difference being when Pep does it, it usually does not backfire as spectacularly and he’s also not as stubborn about it. Weghorst at #10 is one of these things.
 
VeevaVee said:
Some of the stuff on here tonight is embarrassing. A month of not playing well after a horrible set of injuries/suspensions, half of which we still have, and you’re losing your minds.

Creating chances and controlling games may be an issue but finishing and fecks ups are the big problem at the moment, which isn’t ETHs fault. We’ll see how he addresses it.
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Players skewing shots in front of goal is of course not his fault. Playing Wout Weghorst is absolutely on him. Insisting on a new contract for our abysmal overpaid keeper is also strictly on him. Pounding the desk and forcing an overpay for Antony (who's probably at best a mid table player) is no doubt on him.

I like ETH, but like the managers that have come before him, he seems to have blind spots to obvious issues that shouldn't be blind spots. This summer is absolutely crucial for him. Because if we line up next season for another year of Antony sending 5 shots a game over the bar and De Gea shitting himself anytime the ball is passed to him then the manager will be under real fecking pressure.
 
kouroux said:
Having slept on it, I'm still torn. I haven't totally given up on ETH but this aura he used to have in my eyes is defo gone. Before it really left like a dead certainty he was gonna take us places and be the best manager after SAF
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1) Its his first season with the club

2) We still have players from old regimes who are not suited to his style or are having difficulty playing the way he wants to play.

3) Jones, Martial are still here as is Maguire. 2 permanent sick notes and a donkey.

4) The club is potentially getting sold.

5) We've been competing in 4 competitions this season.

Patience is needed. We're at least 3 - 4 years away from the level of consistency you're seeing with teams like City. We still have a lot of deadwood to get rid of and everything can't be done in 1 or 2 transfer windows.
 
Sarni said:
He has this tendency to try and make himself look like a genius by making bold moves you couldn’t see 95% of managers even attempting, similar to Pep. The difference being when Pep does it, it usually does not backfire as spectacularly and he’s also not as stubborn about it. Weghorst at #10 is one of these things.
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Thing is, the Weghorst 10 experiment was fine when we were short on attackers and midfielders and were playing Barca so needed him as extra legs in a one off situation. But since then we've basically been back to full fitness in our forward line (and midfield), its idiotic to persist with.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
Thing is, the Weghorst 10 experiment was fine when we were short on attackers and midfielders and were playing Barca so needed him as extra legs in a one off situation. But since then we've basically been back to full fitness in our forward line (and midfield), its idiotic to persist with.
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I also think it worked for a while because teams weren't sure if he was a threat, now that they know he's virtually harmless we are essentially playing with 10 men.
 
Sarni said:
He has this tendency to try and make himself look like a genius by making bold moves you couldn’t see 95% of managers even attempting, similar to Pep. The difference being when Pep does it, it usually does not backfire as spectacularly and he’s also not as stubborn about it. Weghorst at #10 is one of these things.
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Pep has all the resources you can imagine. ETH doesn’t. He is still in the process to rectify things with what he has. DDG gave us a mountain to climb considering how westham plays. It’s a tragic game really.
 
Waynne said:
1) Its his first season with the club

2) We still have players from old regimes who are not suited to his style or are having difficulty playing the way he wants to play.

3) Jones, Martial are still here as is Maguire. 2 permanent sick notes and a donkey.

4) The club is potentially getting sold.

5) We've been competing in 4 competitions this season.

Patience is needed. We're at least 3 - 4 years away from the level of consistency you're seeing with teams like City. We still have a lot of deadwood to get rid of and everything can't be done in 1 or 2 transfer windows.
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Patience is needed for sure, that's the thing I have the least of
 
kouroux said:
Having slept on it, I'm still torn. I haven't totally given up on ETH but this aura he used to have in my eyes is defo gone. Before it really left like a dead certainty he was gonna take us places and be the best manager after SAF
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Easy to have an aura and appear charming when you're winning. Nothing's really changed though, just that people were grossly overrating him when we were doing well, and being overly negative when things are not.
 
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