Erik ten Hag | 2024/25 | Sacked

[jadajos]

He's been taking PR lessons from "Washee", best answer to a defeat is to come out waffling and keep living in a fantasy land.

Respect to the lady interviewing him that she manages to stay awake the whole time.

“So Erik, how many times did you rewatch that Tottenham game by now?”
“I watched it back once to get a deeper understanding of what went wrong.”
“And what did you find?”
“Ehh, a bad performance. There were problems. And I have to address them. Eh and I have to find solutions.”
“And what are these solutions?”
“Ehhh, keep the belief!”
What an inspired interview! Really gives you a deep understanding of his footballing expertise. As a fan and non-pro you can only dream of gaining such insight into the game.

 

[CannibalSpectre]

I think he talks a good game period. One of the lines I think he hoodwinked the ownership with was the one about going to win elsewhere.

I hope they weren't 'hoodwinked' by him saying that, because if that's the case then we're screwed under their leadership. I think they decided to replace him but didn't have anyone else in serious consideration after Tuchel turned us down. Had things gone differently Ten Hag wouldnt be at the helm no matter what he said.

Ten Hag's bland form of communication and his lack of charisma (his interviews are sleep inducing, just look at the one posted above on this page) means he's incapable of talking a good game in my opinion. His FA cup triumph won him a good amount of support from a bug chunk of the fanbase and I think that also played into the decision to grant him an extension

 

[Gordon S]

Not sure you could pull the ”it is not his fault the players are shit” card either.
He has been part of the transfer discussions from the start. Almost 100% sure he has had a fairly strong voice in these discussions as well.
And in his time the club has bought, in no specific order:
Lisandro Martinez
Tyrell Malacia
Christian Eriksen
Casemiro
Rasmus Höjlund
Mason Mount
Antony Santos
Mathijs de Ligt
Noussair Mazraoui
Joshua Zirkzee
Manuel Ugarte
Andre Onana
Altay Bayindir
Leny Yoro

Thats 14 players in that he has signed off on.
More than half a squad. And we have been spending a ridiculous amount of cash on these as well.

 

[Amsterdam Devil]

He's been taking PR lessons from "Washee", best answer to a defeat is to come out waffling and keep living in a fantasy land.

Respect to the lady interviewing him that she manages to stay awake the whole time.

It is so boring listening to him. Just imagine the team talks.

 

[McGrathsipan]

We have to stick to the plan.
The club are in transition.
We have to be confident and stick to the plan.
We have to improve the process.
We want to win every game to get better.
We have to find solutions.
We have young players.
We have to stick to the plan and bounce back.

Every press conference. We have been in transition for 3 years now under ETH

We have to stick to the plan. There is no plan
The club are in transition. Permanently
We have to be confident and stick to the plan. See response to first point
We have to improve the process. What process? Is this the plan?
We want to win every game to get better. Obviously
We have to find solutions. I thought there was a plan and a process?
We have young players. So does the local u17s
We have to stick to the plan and bounce back What plan?


What's the damn plan Erik????

 

[pocco]

Mate, interested in your thoughts in regards to how things would have turned out for us in the transfer market/squad composition had Ralf been retained as a consultant as agreed originally? Same shitshow/slight improvement?

Honestly I thought it was the best plan I'd heard under the Glazers. I am confident that if they'd allowed him to do his thing and they acted on his advice, we'd have been a lot better off now and in the long run. I agreed with a lot he said about squad composition and identifying players etc. You could just tell he was a football guy, and we didn't have enough of those advising us. Plus, he'd proven in the past he was good at that job, albeit at a lower level.

I thought the idea of giving him 6 months to work with the squad, both managing and assessing, then moving into an advisory role, would have been brilliant. He'd have first hand knowledge of what is needed and who to keep. Instead we shit our pants because results weren't great under him. We didn't get to see him to the bit we actually wanted from him.

Add it to the list of things ETH fecked up when he said he didn't want to speak to him and didn't need his advice!

 

[Sarni]

Not sure you could pull the ”it is not his fault the players are shit” card either.
He has been part of the transfer discussions from the start. Almost 100% sure he has had a fairly strong voice in these discussions as well.
And in his time the club has bought, in no specific order:
Lisandro Martinez
Tyrell Malacia
Christian Eriksen
Casemiro
Rasmus Höjlund
Mason Mount
Antony Santos
Mathijs de Ligt
Noussair Mazraoui
Joshua Zirkzee
Manuel Ugarte
Andre Onana
Altay Bayindir
Leny Yoro

Thats 14 players in that he has signed off on.
More than half a squad. And we have been spending a ridiculous amount of cash on these as well.

The club has let him down. In alternate reality it's Arsenal and City fans discussing whether they can stop United, while FDJ is anchoring our midfield towards third league title in a row.

 

[Sarni]

Honestly I thought it was the best plan I'd heard under the Glazers. I am confident that if they'd allowed him to do his thing and they acted on his advice, we'd have been a lot better off now and in the long run. I agreed with a lot he said about squad composition and identifying players etc. You could just tell he was a football guy, and we didn't have enough of those advising us. Plus, he'd proven in the past he was good at that job, albeit at a lower level.

I thought the idea of giving him 6 months to work with the squad, both managing and assessing, then moving into an advisory role, would have been brilliant. He'd have first hand knowledge of what is needed and who to keep. Instead we shit our pants because results weren't great under him. We didn't get to see him to the bit we actually wanted from him.

Add it to the list of things ETH fecked up when he said he didn't want to speak to him and didn't need his advice!

There's no way ETH would have worked alongside Rangnick, he considers himself one of the best if not the best coaches in the world hence would not be taking advice from someone as incompetent and minor as Rangnick.

 

[pocco]

He came out with these types of statements before the cup final as well when it looked like he was gonna get the sack. I think it's just him doing his own PR since the media have completely turned on him, trying to paint himself in a good light for future clubs after he gets sacked here.

His agency were apparently in overdrive with the media last season, trying to spin the narrative and get them onside. Hopefully it's just that. If the club is pushing it then I think that's a good sign they're in for the long haul with him.

 

[doubleohseven]

No they wouldnt, they waited until top 4 was not mathemathic possible before sacking a manager.

Or after he'd won the cup....

 

[pocco]

There's no way ETH would have worked alongside Rangnick, he considers himself one of the best if not the best coaches in the world hence would not be taking advice from someone as incompetent and minor as Rangnick.

The club should have had the balls to tell him that's how it's going to be.

 

[stefan92]

The club should have had the balls to tell him that's how it's going to be.

You are absolutely right.

 

[pocco]

“So Erik, how many times did you rewatch that Tottenham game by now?”
“I watched it back once to get a deeper understanding of what went wrong.”
“And what did you find?”
“Ehh, a bad performance. There were problems. And I have to address them. Eh and I have to find solutions.”
“And what are these solutions?”
“Ehhh, keep the belief!”
What an inspired interview! Really gives you a deep understanding of his footballing expertise. As a fan and non-pro you can only dream of gaining such insight into the game.

feck me. I'm not watching that drivel but I'm tempted just for the comedy value now.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

I've a feeling he will scrape a point out of these two games and stay in the job over the international break. The three returning games are Brentford (H), Fenerbahce (A) and West Ham (A) though so he will be dead and buried then.

 

[romufc]

Ah, so he’s going out the Mourinho way…

Yep... he is going to talk about how he was first one to win trophy in 6 years and what not... see him talking about young players now as well. Excuse after excuse.

 

[LawmanMan]

Fact is, even if he is replaced the problems remain. And fans will go ballistic if someone other than a big name foreign coach is appointed. People would fume if an Alex Ferguson was appointed today.

 

[Harry Freak]

That comedy series ANNOYING ORANGE makes more sense now

 

[acid_fuji]

I allowed myself to give a little bit of time to think and I voted to sack. I really wanted him to be successful but the results, style of play, his tactical inadaptability (does not matter where it comes from) during matches and not owning the results while constantly talking about trophies he won’t got me to vote for sack. I don’t think it matters what kind of results he will achieve in the next 2 matches he still should sack on Monday. Unless miracle happens but I really don’t see it.

 

[Von Mistelroum]

No they wouldnt, they waited until top 4 was not mathemathic possible before sacking a manager.

So, last season then when we all when him gone? That's what I said.

 

[André Dominguez]

I wake up every morning hoping that there is a change and as much as I do not like to wish bad things on others, this change is inevitable and needed now before the wheels fall off and we are in relegation territory. My god how far we have fallen!

We all know changes in football are slow.
I wouldn't mind EtH to stay if there was at least some good football being played, but not even that is on the table.
And amazingly we renewed his contract after a season that apparently we regressed in terms of results and football quality.

 

[RDCR07]

feck me. I'm not watching that drivel but I'm tempted just for the comedy value now.

Yeah no thanks for me either. One more time he talks about the fecking trophies he has won I want to put my head through a wall.

 

[ColvaleGoa]

 

[leontas]

He's been taking PR lessons from "Washee", best answer to a defeat is to come out waffling and keep living in a fantasy land.

Respect to the lady interviewing him that she manages to stay awake the whole time.

The stuff he keeps talking about are always so high-level that I'm starting to think he's a snake oil salesman. He always says the same things - 'we need to stick to the plan', 'we need to keep the belief'. He's becoming a parody of himself at this point.

 

[croadyman]

I've got a bad feeling that he stays till the end of the season, no matter what. I don't think INEOS have any ideas of where they could go with this if they sack him now. It's something a few of us said to those who were asking for him to be allowed the start of the season, if he fails immediately then there'll be less options on the table then there were in the summer. It's just infuriating as you could see such a big issue coming a mile off with this approach, so how could these great football guys we now apparently have not see it? The only options now are the same as the summer, minus those that got a job elsewhere. Incompetency at it's finest.

Yeah I'm starting to fear that could happen too, was hoping it would be over by Brentford

 

[KiD MoYeS]

I'm pretty sure he doesn't have the charisma nor the man management to lift low confidence and will just persist with his tactics.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I'm a bit concerned about the lack of links to any new managers.

There's a lot of noise about Ten Hag's possible sacking, and this thread, which is focused on wanting him gone is a lot more active that the Next Manager thread.

Surely there needs to be a plan in place for his sacking (maybe that's what the talks with different managers was in the Summer? Building relationships for a contingency plan) and it can't just be "give it to Ruud and see what happens".

I am all for sacking Ten Hag - I have seen enough to know he ain't the guy. But I don't think just getting him out the door as soon as possible no matter what, is the answer.

Why though? What are we achieving by keeping him here till for the sake of it. Maybe Ruud or any other interim manager can salvage the season and make real progress? I have no issue with us taking a bit of time to map things out but it’s as though teams don’t give reigns to an interim for a bit.

 

[Steve 007]

Those who are trying to blame the squad and the club instead of coaching failure ask yourself the question? Do we really have a worse squad than the 11 teams above us or fc Twente?

 

[croadyman]

There will be no protests. We are better than that, we are not a sacking club and we stand by our manager.

I know here an overwhelming majority is in favor of sacking him but looking at our sub-reddits it's nowhere near as dominant. Many are blaming players for letting another manager down, many are blaming INEOS for not bringing him the players he needed and generally letting him down with signings/coaches, it's not all black and white. I'd not be surprised if matchgoing fans are 50/50 or even tilted pro-ETH.

It was basically 80/20 to him staying last year, remember. It's only 6 league games into new season and it's not even like we are much worse than we were last year - and that season 80% seemed completely happy with.

Jeez what happened to standards in this club, wins that FA Cup and oh we just forget about the 8th place finish and numerous beatings in last 2 seasons.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

I’m ashamed to admit it but there’s a small part of me that wants to get smashed by Porto tomorrow. If only because I fear if we scrape results the next two games we’ll be doing this song and dance of “he might get sacked or might stay on” all year as our season goes down the toilet and we are left cutting ties in Feb/March when it’s obvious every goal we had is unachievable.

Because I also 100% believe an interim can get this team really close to top 4 and playing better stuff. It wouldn’t be hard to improve.

 

[crossy1686]

The stuff he keeps talking about are always so high-level that I'm starting to think he's a snake oil salesman. He always says the same things - 'we need to stick to the plan', 'we need to keep the belief'. He's becoming a parody of himself at this point.

Because he genuinely believes the system is perfect if the players believe in it and try harder. All he sees are individual errors, he can’t get past it.

 

[Church o Choccy]

I've changed my vote to sack but I'm only narrowly over the borderline of that decision. I'm like 55-45 sack. For me, I think all the criticisms are valid and it's true he's had time and money to get us to a place where results aren't what they should be and that probably just about outweighs everything else now. But the tactical criticisms of him I think are way overblown. Unlike a lot of people, I can see the approach (or approaches over his time here) that he's tried to institute and he's often been let down by poor execution of what are actually quite difficult, intricate ideas. Ultimately part of the blame for that poor execution has to rest with him though so he's likely on borrowed time.

I expect a short term bounce from a replacement followed by a return to mediocrity. It's the United way, now.

 

[Red in STL]

We all know changes in football are slow.
I wouldn't mind EtH to stay if there was at least some good football being played, but not even that is on the table.
And amazingly we renewed his contract after a season that apparently we regressed in terms of results and football quality.

We didn't renew his contarct, we exercised the 1 one year option on his existing contract

 

[sunama]

I just read an article about how Aston Villa are preparing to play Bayern Munich, in the CL.
Where they are in the CL, with a fraction of the budget of that ETH had, ETH has been on one of the biggest spending spree ever seen in football, since he arrived and he finished in 8th place.
We all know that ETH isn't good enough - he is trying his best and I can't blame him.

However, the incompetency of INEOS was/is simply astounding - why they didn't fire him in the Summer has to rank alongside the decision to hire David Moyes when Fergie retired.
I think even the Glazers would've fired ETH. Moyes got the boot after 10 months, with a minimal transfer spend, when he was in 7th place.

I can only think that the collective higher-ups of INEOS were lobotomised before they joined the MUFC.
If you want to see an excellent example of incompetency, I give you INEOS.

 

[The Firestarter]

ffs

 

[Fallon d'Floor]

PL head to head record

Pep:
4 games
1 win
3 losses
-7 GD

Klopp:
4 games
1 win
2 draws
1 loss
-6 GD

Arteta:
4 games
1 win
3 losses
-2 GD

Emery:
4 games
3 wins
1 loss
+2 GD

Ange:
3 games
1 draw
2 losses
-5 GD

Howe:
4 games
1 win
1 draw
2 losses
-2 GD

Moyes:
4 games
2 wins
2 losses
+1 GD

Poch:
2 games
1 win
1 loss
0 GD

Iraola
2 games
1 draw
1 loss
-3 GD

De Zerbri:
3 games
1 win
2 losses
-1 GD

Frank:
4 games
2 wins
1 draw
1 loss
-2 GD

Slot:
1 game
1 loss
-3 GD

Hürzeler:
1 game
1 loss
-1 GD

Conte:
1 game
1 win
+2 GD

Potter:
2 games
1 draw
1 loss
-1 GD

Domestic cups h2H record

Howe:
2 games
1 win
1 loss
-1 GD

Emery:
1 game
1 win
+2 GD

Moyes:
1 game
1 win
+2 GD

De Zerbri:
1 game
1 draw
0 GD

Pep:
3 games
1 win
1 draw
1 loss
0 GD

Klopp:
1 game
1 win
+1 GD

European h2h record

Xavi:
2 games
1 win
1 draw
+1 GD

Tuchel:
2 games
2 losses
-2 GD

55 games
20 wins
10 draws
25 losses
-25 GD
36.36% win rate
45.45% loss rate

 

[sunama]

Jeez what happened to standards in this club, wins that FA Cup and oh we just forget about the 8th place finish and numerous beatings in last 2 seasons.

While I am scathing towards INEOS (who are incompetent buffoons), fans have to take their share of the blame. Many fans are now quite accepting of 8th place.
This leads me to believe that standards have dropped so low, that the days of us attempting to win every match and every league and gone. As long we have a good Cup run, all is good.

Regarding ETH: if he stays, I can see us winning a few games, drawing a few games and losing a few games - exactly as we did last season.

 

[stevoc]

So, after having gone through 5 Managers in the last 11 years (averaging 2 seasons per manager) and not challenging for the title in that time...
your idea is to sack even more managers and become the next Chelsea?

What's the alternative give failing managers an average of 4-5 seasons to not challenge for a title?

 

[spwd]

Because he genuinely believes the system is perfect if the players believe in it and try harder. All he sees are individual errors, he can’t get past it.

Don't forget the word pathetic in there.

 

[stevoc]

"Nothing is easy, but this is nothing for me to panic about," Ten Hag told Sky Sports on Monday.

"We can sort [the problems] out, this team can sort this out."

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

I wonder what his definition of success is. Does he think a midtable finish and nicking a domestic cup makes it a successful season?