It was still a squad with four bona-fide world class players, that's a nice base to spend 500m quid on.
Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24
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It was still a squad with four bona-fide world class players, that's a nice base to spend 500m quid on.
Apologies, I meant right back.
Because its fan channels who ask questions now alongside journalists, makes a world of difference.
On paper, I actually think that both teams were close. The issue being that we messed up mightily when it comes to choosing the proper manager and the players to build on what we had. If you swap managers City are not as dominant in the following half decade. To me you are both kind of correct, Pep had favorable circumstances especially financially but he also adapted brilliantly to the player he had, at the exception of defenders from them he wasted a massive amount of money until he was forced to improvise.
Now regarding Pocco's point ETH will have to do something similar, the club has spent a lot, he has a good but not perfect team and he will have to also rely on his own creativity, he may have to retrofit some players in the way Pep did with Zinchenko, Stones, David Silva or De Bruyne. It's that ability that is likely to put United back at the top alongside the likes of Real Madrid or City.
Basically there is enough room for both of your points.
No, the squad was significantly lighter than either of those squads, as already outlined by the squad list above.
Ten Hag did not inherit Pogba, Matic, Cavani, Lingard, Mata and Greenwood.
Say what you will about all of them, but that’s a lot of players off the books that still need(ed) to be replaced.
Say what you will about all of them, but that’s a lot of players off the books that still need(ed) to be replaced.
City finished 4th the season before he took over, on 66 points. Which was joint points total with us in 5th place.
Most top teams are on for a quadruple at Christmas. I don't know how you can say their manager lost the dressing room based on the announcement of Pep, but if you have inside knowledge then fair enough. I'm quite surprised by the reaction to my initial posts, Jose was expected to win titles here, yet people are trying to downplay everything about our squad (which is now ETHs squad) and our chances. I made the my initial posts on the basis that there were still standards and expectations amongst supporters, but it seems like we're happy to indefinitely blow money with no return.
Out of interest, at what stage do you expect a title challenge? Is there a monetary value we need to have spent? An amount of players signed? Given we finished third last season and Arsenal put up a challenge, then I for sure expect that from us.
People were slating Arteta in the 21/22 season, then he goes and challenges the following year playing great football. We have a manager that people think is top class, he's inherited some good players and has been backed well financially. I honestly don't see what the problem is.
I'm a massive fan of Ten Hag. He's carried us in the right direction, won us a cup, got us to another final, quarters of europa, and 3rd place in the league, all with basically no centre forward and a lorryload of deadwood. Look at our league GD compared to those around us... he's literally carried us over that line. This man is cut from the same cloth as Sir Alex, and we need to back him, and the club hierarchy (don't think the Glazers are leaving) need to fecking back him as well... because they're going to be the only ones holding him back from leading us to great things. He's the real deal.
You expect this or what happens? We fire ETH?
Pep does well when he had the best squad and can bit the best players. In that sense he fitted in well at the City franchise. He inherited a title winning squad that was consistently top 3 quality and on absolute cheat mode with unlimited funds buying players then immediately buying again if it doesn't work out e.g. Bravo/Nolito. Or breaking Premiership spending record in one season. Not to mention the (alleged) dodgy payments to agents/players/ex managers which makes player recruitment and retention easier also.
Whereas Erik inherited a crumbling mess after a decade of mismanagement. Over paid players, bad attitudes and low quality players which needed to be moved on. A mid table finish the season before he arrived and top 4 was only an occasional achievement for United since 2013. He's already retrofitted Shaw into a CB backup and rekindled his LB form. He has won a cup and finished top 4 with out a striker. Erik was given Weghorst. Pep was given Aguero.
At a time the league champions had Simpson, Huth and Morgan as undisputed starters.
Because Pep was announced around Christmas time and City player performances dropped off a cliff immediately.
And no one has ever considered Leicester a squad so great that nothing compared to it.
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No. But I still think the squad Pep was handed in ‘16 was by far the best in the PL.
And I don't think that it was the case. You could argue that it was the best team but I wouldn't say that it was by far and to be honest I don't think that it was the case at all. On paper Tottenham and Chelsea had comparable teams and I would give the edge to Chelsea.
Not happy with the level at training yet.
Excuses have already started 
By the end of his 2nd summer window City had purchased 7 new starting players for Pep, for a team that had 4 or 5 world class players already. I'm not arguing that Guardiola isn't an excellent manager but it's fair to say he's been given more of the items on his shopping lists than pretty much any manager in history, and the team was adapted to his tactics more than the other way around.
what a nightmare it must be having people constantly taking pictures of you
damn can't they just let him buy some wine in peace
It has already been acknowledged so it's more than fair but it's not the only reason which is part of the point made in the part you quoted.
Post SAF, he is the most supported manager by our fans from my perspective. Moyes, Giggs, LVG, Jose, Ole, RR (in no particular order) Carrick have all left the fanbase divided, and in hindsight, rightfully so. The likes of LVG and Jose were polarizing figures, Ole was adored by many but also criticsed by many who separated the player from the manager. I've actually not come across a single United fan in real life that thinks ETH isn't good enough and should be replaced by X manager. I'm not saying that there aren't people out there that aren't his biggest fan, and they have every right to be that, its just what I've gathered when chatting to fellow United fans.
In my opinion ETH is fully committed to the club and there is a reason why the majority support him. He's won a title, like Jose and LVG did, but he's also changing the mentality of the club. No one apart from Antony (only joking) is bigger than the team. It's so refreshing to see us managed by a guy who is brutally honest in his handling of players whilst not arrogant or obsessed with himself.
In my opinion ETH is fully committed to the club and there is a reason why the majority support him. He's won a title, like Jose and LVG did, but he's also changing the mentality of the club. No one apart from Antony (only joking) is bigger than the team. It's so refreshing to see us managed by a guy who is brutally honest in his handling of players whilst not arrogant or obsessed with himself.
Excuses have already started
Where?
He is so up for this gig, love how confident and active he looks. Glad to have him as our manager.
Definitely. Every other manager the fanbase was already hugely divided (And rightly so) fairly early into their tenure. ETH is the first one that (Again quite rightly) has gone through his first season and the fanbase remains largely behind him, because he is the first manager that has earned it.
This is really obviously Guardiola making a subtle dig at United. He does this all the time praising our players when he obviously thinks they're shite.
best thing to happen to us since fergie. Not afraid to make big decisions no matter who you are. That is what should have us all believing he’s the right man to take us back to the top. Klopp and guardiola was already big name managers before they joined their teams in England. I can’t say the same for ETH but I do think he has potential to overtake those 2 managers with the correct backing.
thats what all managers do when asked in pressers, it's just standard press training
say something nice, and there won't be a story about it
That’s one way to stop strikers cold, that smile of hers.
And this is why Onana is using 24, 1 was taken
You talked about the logistics. Can you tell us about the different teams and when will you go? How does that all work?
“We’ve been planning this over months, so we’ve known already for a long time how it has to look. One team will stay behind here, I will stay here as well, but also we bring a coach and a technical director, Darren Fletcher in. We bring some more in, also an analyst, some kit men stay behind to help the team, the Under-21s. Travis is the one who is in charge in the team. I will help him and support him. Of course, Under-21s is always a part of the first squad, it’s always under my supervision. I don’t want to have a red line in our club. That means we want to have the principles and the rules, it has to go down to the bottom, how we want to play. We want to educate, to teach players in the United way, so it’s easier to flow into the first-team squad. This is why this trip is very useful for us. So there will also be a team which will fly out tomorrow afternoon and prepare that game against Real Madrid. Of course I go [to Houston], but after this game has finished, I’ll fly over.”
This will be ETH's legacy. Hopefully, this will be codified into every future United's remit. I suspect that under Woodward he always wanted to control everything. So he would divide & conquer the various departments within United.
“We’ve been planning this over months, so we’ve known already for a long time how it has to look. One team will stay behind here, I will stay here as well, but also we bring a coach and a technical director, Darren Fletcher in. We bring some more in, also an analyst, some kit men stay behind to help the team, the Under-21s. Travis is the one who is in charge in the team. I will help him and support him. Of course, Under-21s is always a part of the first squad, it’s always under my supervision. I don’t want to have a red line in our club. That means we want to have the principles and the rules, it has to go down to the bottom, how we want to play. We want to educate, to teach players in the United way, so it’s easier to flow into the first-team squad. This is why this trip is very useful for us. So there will also be a team which will fly out tomorrow afternoon and prepare that game against Real Madrid. Of course I go [to Houston], but after this game has finished, I’ll fly over.”
This will be ETH's legacy. Hopefully, this will be codified into every future United's remit. I suspect that under Woodward he always wanted to control everything. So he would divide & conquer the various departments within United.
Can she play in a midfield 2?
Maybe she can be Erik's number 2 on the sideline
Next new player announcement should be the player trying on the kits to "pretty woman" like the scene in the film of the same name!
You mean for the women team Right!?
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