No excuses for anyone here but EtH will have been planning this summer window all season. He’ll be working with all the relevant people at the club to do a better job of the recruitment this time.One thing I find really odd is that people are blaming the fact that we've essentially only signed players hand-picked by Ten Hag just on Ten Hag himself. I know that sentence is going to seem strange on first viewing but let me explain.
The essential feeling I get looking at our transfer window and squad composition is that, once again, the club failed to actually prepare for the arrival of it's new manager. Basically the board and high-level football strategy team (insofar as it exists at Manchester United) seemed to think the job was just done when Ten Hag signed the contract, gave themselves a collective pat on the back, and then put their feet up.
Then, of course, the summer transfer window rolled around and we figured that after our worst season in years the squad could probably do with upgrading. It then seemed very much as though, rather than having a carefully prepared list of options and overarching directive for the summer ahead, the higher-ups basically said "Erm, Erik, do you have anyone in mind?" Essentially, the manager seemed to additionally take on the role of chief and in fact sole scout of Manchester United. This should set of the sirens and the spinning red buttons for anyone looking for issues with how a football club is run.
One qualm I've seen people have with Ten Hag is that he "only goes for the players he knows from his time in Holland" but my counter to that would be what the feck else do you expect him to do when he's made solely responsible for identifying targets? If you put your manager in charge of recruitment, the scope of that recruitment will obviously be limited to the players that said manager is familiar with and this is exactly why it's a bad idea.
If we have any ambition to seriously compete in the long-run, these recruitment decisions simply cannot be placed in the hands of the manager.
Good post and I think it's exactly what happened. It's the same reason I won't criticize his transfer business because it was just messed up by the club in every way.One thing I find really odd is that people are blaming the fact that we've essentially only signed players hand-picked by Ten Hag just on Ten Hag himself. I know that sentence is going to seem strange on first viewing but let me explain.
The essential feeling I get looking at our transfer window and squad composition is that, once again, the club failed to actually prepare for the arrival of it's new manager. Basically the board and high-level football strategy team (insofar as it exists at Manchester United) seemed to think the job was just done when Ten Hag signed the contract, gave themselves a collective pat on the back, and then put their feet up.
Then, of course, the summer transfer window rolled around and we figured that after our worst season in years the squad could probably do with upgrading. It then seemed very much as though, rather than having a carefully prepared list of options and overarching directive for the summer ahead, the higher-ups basically said "Erm, Erik, do you have anyone in mind?" Essentially, the manager seemed to additionally take on the role of chief and in fact sole scout of Manchester United. This should set of the sirens and the spinning red buttons for anyone looking for issues with how a football club is run.
One qualm I've seen people have with Ten Hag is that he "only goes for the players he knows from his time in Holland" but my counter to that would be what the feck else do you expect him to do when he's made solely responsible for identifying targets? If you put your manager in charge of recruitment, the scope of that recruitment will obviously be limited to the players that said manager is familiar with and this is exactly why it's a bad idea.
If we have any ambition to seriously compete in the long-run, these recruitment decisions simply cannot be placed in the hands of the manager.
Not sure I entirely agree with this but I would hope the rest of your post is correct.No excuses for anyone here but EtH will have been planning this summer window all season. He’ll be working with all the relevant people at the club to do a better job of the recruitment this time.
We don’t have “best in class” people in the key roles and that needs looking at asap but after a season of planning and scouting there’s room for optimism. Best laid plans will end up on the fire if we don’t get Top 4 because even up-and-coming talent will tell us to get fecked.
I was thinking the same when I read how long it's been since a full week break. Tired legs and tired minds will need a rest, players will be better with a few days away from each other. Hopefully they should come back into training a little refreshed and ready to take on Wolves at home.
When you're overworked it becomes a slog, relationships are strained.
Yeah, I think it's fairly clear looking back at the window that this is what happened, even if I was trying to delude myself into believing otherwise at the time.Good post and I think it's exactly what happened. It's the same reason I won't criticize his transfer business because it was just messed up by the club in every way.
Yes, I exaggerated a little but I don’t think there’s much doubt that every single transfer target will consider our lack of CL as a negative to be weighed against other factors and other opportunities they may have. Having less money to spend only makes deals harder to do because we can’t offset the negative by paying more dosh. If the plans don’t end up in the fire they’ll require serious revision.Not sure I entirely agree with this but I would hope the rest of your post is correct.
I think we'll probably be able to attract players even if we slip out of the top four. Not necessarily of the same calibre, granted, but we've not particularly struggled with it in the past.
The bigger concern with not getting top four is seemingly FFP. I'm not entirely sure myself but from what has been reported, failing to qualify for the Champions League will impact how much we can spend this summer.
One thing I find really odd is that people are blaming the fact that we've essentially only signed players hand-picked by Ten Hag just on Ten Hag himself. I know that sentence is going to seem strange on first viewing but let me explain.
The essential feeling I get looking at our transfer window and squad composition is that, once again, the club failed to actually prepare for the arrival of it's new manager. Basically the board and high-level football strategy team (insofar as it exists at Manchester United) seemed to think the job was just done when Ten Hag signed the contract, gave themselves a collective pat on the back, and then put their feet up.
Then, of course, the summer transfer window rolled around and we figured that after our worst season in years the squad could probably do with upgrading. It then seemed very much as though, rather than having a carefully prepared list of options and overarching directive for the summer ahead, the higher-ups basically said "Erm, Erik, do you have anyone in mind?" Essentially, the manager seemed to additionally take on the role of chief and in fact sole scout of Manchester United. This should set of the sirens and the spinning red buttons for anyone looking for issues with how a football club is run.
One qualm I've seen people have with Ten Hag is that he "only goes for the players he knows from his time in Holland" but my counter to that would be what the feck else do you expect him to do when he's made solely responsible for identifying targets? If you put your manager in charge of recruitment, the scope of that recruitment will obviously be limited to the players that said manager is familiar with and this is exactly why it's a bad idea.
If we have any ambition to seriously compete in the long-run, these recruitment decisions simply cannot be placed in the hands of the manager.
Great point. I'd add a goalkeeper confident with the ball at his feet as a pressing need this summer; I really do not believe we can persist with De Gea any longer and I think what happens with him from here will be another big tell for the sporting direction of the club.This summer is make or break for the sport direction structure because they need to be the ones building a coherent squad, not the manager. Especially when our needs aren't really linked to a particular style but simply high level requirements.
We need a starting caliber striker, he doesn't have to be a bonafide superstar but just a starting caliber striker for a team that aspire to be in the CL. We need a central midfielder that is a high level technician and passer, we need a dribbler someone that can beat his opponent 1v1.
It has always been about the quality of players, people put far to much stock in the difference a manager makes.Not that I agree but its hard to argue against his critics who say Ole would do no worse with this team.
Ole's undoing was adding Ronaldo, it made him abandon the path he was building with the team and also made him weak. The increase in expectations was also too much. Without Ronaldo under Ole we would be exactly in the same place.
The main difference between between our teams under Ole and EtH is Casemiro. If EtH had to play Mcfred as often as Ole did it would be exactly the same.
Obviously when you add more nuance and context to the debate there are more differences but big picture its hard to say there's been a difference.
Before I'm called an Ole sympathiser, check my post history I was Ole out very early on.
It's obviously a mix of the twoI think this is the era of the manager and fans massively overrate what a manager can do with a player on an individual basis.
It's all about recruitment. Always has been always will be.
Newcastle have barely put a foot wrong with recruitment since Howe came in. Trippier, Bruno G, Isak and Pope were bargains. Botman and Burn solid and a good fit for their physical side. All were easily gettable for us if we had a plan.It's obviously a mix of the two
If you take Newcastle and Brighton for example they both seem to be good at recruiting players and that extends to appointing managers that fit with their squad. But you can't tell me de zerbi and howe aren't getting more from their squad than some others would, particularly given quite a few of their players are journeymen or limited. De zerbi has obviously improved on the potter regime and that shows rhe impact a manager can have.
Even when those teams aren't playing well you can still discern what they are trying to achieve. What worries me about us at the moment is that I don't have a clue what we are trying to achieve or what our style is supposed to be
It's obviously a mix of the two
If you take Newcastle and Brighton for example they both seem to be good at recruiting players and that extends to appointing managers that fit with their squad. But you can't tell me de zerbi and howe aren't getting more from their squad than some others would, particularly given quite a few of their players are journeymen or limited. De zerbi has obviously improved on the potter regime and that shows rhe impact a manager can have.
Even when those teams aren't playing well you can still discern what they are trying to achieve. What worries me about us at the moment is that I don't have a clue what we are trying to achieve or what our style is supposed to be
It's still a no brainer to bench Wout. He brings litteraly nothing and even less so when he plays as a 10
If Newcastle and Brighton played the 15-20 extra games this season that we have, they would be struggling a hell of a lot more than we are. It makes a big difference being able to rest, recover, train your system and match prep properly every single week, compared to our schedule which is basically rest, 1-2 days train, travel and then play the game.It's obviously a mix of the two
If you take Newcastle and Brighton for example they both seem to be good at recruiting players and that extends to appointing managers that fit with their squad. But you can't tell me de zerbi and howe aren't getting more from their squad than some others would, particularly given quite a few of their players are journeymen or limited. De zerbi has obviously improved on the potter regime and that shows rhe impact a manager can have.
Even when those teams aren't playing well you can still discern what they are trying to achieve. What worries me about us at the moment is that I don't have a clue what we are trying to achieve or what our style is supposed to be
If this post was my wife I'd take it to bed and give it ten minutes of disappointment.One thing I find really odd is that people are blaming the fact that we've essentially only signed players hand-picked by Ten Hag just on Ten Hag himself. I know that sentence is going to seem strange on first viewing but let me explain.
The essential feeling I get looking at our transfer window and squad composition is that, once again, the club failed to actually prepare for the arrival of it's new manager. Basically the board and high-level football strategy team (insofar as it exists at Manchester United) seemed to think the job was just done when Ten Hag signed the contract, gave themselves a collective pat on the back, and then put their feet up.
Then, of course, the summer transfer window rolled around and we figured that after our worst season in years the squad could probably do with upgrading. It then seemed very much as though, rather than having a carefully prepared list of options and overarching directive for the summer ahead, the higher-ups basically said "Erm, Erik, do you have anyone in mind?" Essentially, the manager seemed to additionally take on the role of chief and in fact sole scout of Manchester United. This should set off the sirens and the spinning red buttons for anyone looking for issues with how a football club is run.
One qualm I've seen people have with Ten Hag is that he "only goes for the players he knows from his time in Holland" but my counter to that would be what the feck else do you expect him to do when he's made solely responsible for identifying targets? If you put your manager in charge of recruitment, the scope of that recruitment will obviously be limited to the players that said manager is familiar with and this is exactly why it's a bad idea.
If we have any ambition to seriously compete in the long-run, these recruitment decisions simply cannot be placed in the hands of the manager.
Yeah, like you say it's difficult to train as a team when you're playing every four days more or less. Factor in recovery days and travel and what have time have you really got left in between?If Newcastle and Brighton played the 15-20 extra games this season that we have, they would be struggling a hell of a lot more than we are. It makes a big difference being able to rest, recover, train your system and match prep properly every single week, compared to our schedule which is basically rest, 1-2 days train, travel and then play the game.
We shouldn't be comparing ourselves to them anyway, and while individual games between us are tight, that is the reason they have been tight or why they look more cohesive in the league especially lately.
Mitoma and caicedo were there already, and there has been a clear step change in Brightons ability to score goals since de zerbi came in but there is no doubt recruitment issues can cause issues it's hard for any manager to solve.De Zerbi has maybe improved things. Or maybe Mitoma and Caicedo have been the big difference? I think its hard to say.
Howe is doing a good job but it wasn't long ago he was considered overrated and a guy who could only cope with a smaller home town club type of thing.
Opinions on managers are all very fleeting, very short term, very arbitrary.
Now of course a genuinely bad manager can do major damage.
But once these better managers have a group of players in place, I don't think there's much between them. There's only so much any manager can do with the players he has. Are we sure there's a significant gap between say ETH and Howe? If so how are we sure?
To me the big difference is the best managers have the best recruitment. Even the top guys, when they get it wrong with recruitment, they immediately drop levels on terms of results.
Mitoma and caicedo were there already, and there has been a clear step change in Brightons ability to score goals since de zerbi came in but there is no doubt recruitment issues can cause issues it's hard for any manager to solve.
At the same time it's frustrating to see Erik make repeated errors in team selection and tactics that have compounded our long term issues in recent months
He'd be an idiot to say that. We were good in spite of WoutTrue, but ETH would probably tell you that we've had our most successful run this year when WW was playing, mainly due to Rashford's form where most of the service went to Marcus on the left, not to the #9.
It has always been about the quality of players, people put far to much stock in the difference a manager makes.
I said before the start of last season that Solskjaer made a big mistake bringing in Ronaldo when we were desperate for a DM. Ultimately the imbalanced squad cost him his job.
We have a better manager now but the squad is the limiting factor and we look just the same with mainly the same dross on the pitch.
I got called a Ten Hag hater for seeing this coming.
If this post was my wife I'd take it to bed and give it ten minutes of disappointment.
9 minutes now.Print it and pin it on your wife.
This. People compare us to Brighton and Newcastle when they have played very little in comparison to us. If we had no europe we would be comfortably in 3rd spot with 70 odd points.If Newcastle and Brighton played the 15-20 extra games this season that we have, they would be struggling a hell of a lot more than we are. It makes a big difference being able to rest, recover, train your system and match prep properly every single week, compared to our schedule which is basically rest, 1-2 days train, travel and then play the game.
We shouldn't be comparing ourselves to them anyway, and while individual games between us are tight, that is the reason they have been tight or why they look more cohesive in the league especially lately.
It would be madness to not give them time off. Key is winning the next game, there will be no excuses.
I agree with most of this except him being absolved of poor finishing. That’s a crock of shit. He absolutely does bear responsibility for poor finishing. He knows it. There can be an emphasis in training on finishing. At the end of the day, if we are not scoring goals, he bears some of the responsibility. He needs to instill better patterns of plat, engineer more quality chances, then the individual mistakes won’t matter as much.
Spot onOne thing I find really odd is that people are blaming the fact that we've essentially only signed players hand-picked by Ten Hag just on Ten Hag himself. I know that sentence is going to seem strange on first viewing but let me explain.
The essential feeling I get looking at our transfer window and squad composition is that, once again, the club failed to actually prepare for the arrival of it's new manager. Basically the board and high-level football strategy team (insofar as it exists at Manchester United) seemed to think the job was just done when Ten Hag signed the contract, gave themselves a collective pat on the back, and then put their feet up.
Then, of course, the summer transfer window rolled around and we figured that after our worst season in years the squad could probably do with upgrading. It then seemed very much as though, rather than having a carefully prepared list of options and overarching directive for the summer ahead, the higher-ups basically said "Erm, Erik, do you have anyone in mind?" Essentially, the manager seemed to additionally take on the role of chief and in fact sole scout of Manchester United. This should set off the sirens and the spinning red lights for anyone looking for issues with how a football club is run.
One qualm I've seen people have with Ten Hag is that he "only goes for the players he knows from his time in Holland" but my counter to that would be what the feck else do you expect him to do when he's made solely responsible for identifying targets? If you put your manager in charge of recruitment, the scope of that recruitment will obviously be limited to the players that said manager is familiar with and this is exactly why it's a bad idea.
If we have any ambition to seriously compete in the long-run, these recruitment decisions simply cannot be placed in the hands of the manager.
Watching this Everton game and Brighton are so open on the counter. Not sure what our plan was against them. We neither sat back nor pressed from the front . Brighton basically passed through us for 90 minutes
