Erik ten Hag | 2024/25 | Sacked

Erik ten Hag


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You're crashing out. Pogba was the only United player in a team of the season line-up comprised fully of City and Liverpool players. He had periods where newspapers columns called him the best player in the league, and he was integral to some of the few trophies we've won since Ferguson left. Pogba wasn't a success of a signing, largely due to the mess the club was in and partially due to him, but he wasn't a failure either - if so, certainly far, far from the worst ones or close to Antony.

Ironically enough, Ten Hag could do with a midfielder like this:


I personally thought he was class, not perfect obviously.
 
He’s going to have a difficult this time season, every time he drops points the vultures will be circling. People are desperate to be proved right and happily gloat when we lose. The media will have a field day.


it’s going to be a long season if we don’t find goals from somewhere. He’s also going to struggle to manage some of these personalities. You can already see he is going to try and rest/rotate players and some won’t like it.
 
I think ultimately the dramatic overreaction to the result shows that it was the wrong choice to keep him. A new manager would have been given a lot more slack, perhaps fairly so, but people now have the narrative set about tactics etc even though it’s completely different.
 
He’s going to have a difficult this time season, every time he drops points the vultures will be circling. People are desperate to be proved right and happily gloat when we lose. The media will have a field day.

Yes but that’s not because the media and fans are bad vultures and ETH is a poor victim under some unusual pressure. Third season in charge, hundreds of millions spend, numerous questionable former players signed and we lose more games than most of the fans can ever remember. If he was a manager for any major club with ambition “the vultures would be circling”, because he’s an easy target and opposition fans love the story of a bad manager overstaying his welcome. If this was happening at Pool or Arsenal we’d be actively cherishing the managerial troubles at the club, rifts among the fanbase and their hopelessness. It is what it is
 
He signed Bruno didn't he? Although Cavani is probably our best striker signing post Fergie
Bruno has improved under EtH.

Nah one made us a good football team the other hasn't. It's incredibly simply. Not even considering one having far more support.

Where was that resolution in the Europa League or this year's league cup or when we decided to throw it away against Championship side?

I don't follow you here.

EtH has won honours, and qualified for three finals. Ole in two and a half seasons reached one final, and was outplayed by Villarreal.

You're taking the post-2004 Wenger approach of pretty passing beating hard results.
 
You're crashing out. Pogba was the only United player in a team of the season line-up comprised fully of City and Liverpool players. He had periods where newspapers columns called him the best player in the league, and he was integral to some of the few trophies we've won since Ferguson left. Pogba wasn't a success of a signing, largely due to the mess the club was in and partially due to him, but he wasn't a failure either - if so, certainly far, far from the worst ones or close to Antony.

Ironically enough, Ten Hag could do with a midfielder like this:


Yeah, Pogba got progressively worse and more injured over time but he was mighty impressive early on. His debut at OT created a huge buzz.
 
I think ultimately the dramatic overreaction to the result shows that it was the wrong choice to keep him. A new manager would have been given a lot more slack, perhaps fairly so, but people now have the narrative set about tactics etc even though it’s completely different.
He still doesn't really seem to know how to set up a team that can score goals yet isn't incredibly porous which is not great for a manager in his third season supported by a huge transfer budget.

To add to that his in game management is really poor and characterised by weird substitutions made at the wrong time.

So yes I think we shouldn't have kept him on, particularly as it seems like the decision changed on the basis of him winning one game
 
Bruno has improved under EtH.



I don't follow you here.

EtH has won honours, and qualified for three finals. Ole in two and a half seasons reached one final, and was outplayed by Villarreal.

You're taking the post-2004 Wenger approach of pretty passing beating hard results.
Why lie?

And no Bruno hasn't improved under ETH.
 
Brighton came in with a high line and firm expectation to pin Rashford back running towards his own goal. It’s a high risk high reward proposition for them and they almost paid the risk with two goals coming from us beating the offside trap. The goals we conceded were inexcusable individual errors by Maguire and Mazraoui but if we weren’t completely unlucky or Brighton weren’t shooting rainbows out of their backsides or the referee was a little less of an imbecile, this would be a 2-1 away win.
Brighton hit the post and had a goal cleared off the line.
It could have easily been a 3-2 loss.
 
Yes but that’s not because the media and fans are bad vultures and ETH is a poor victim under some unusual pressure. Third season in charge, hundreds of millions spend, numerous questionable former players signed and we lose more games than most of the fans can ever remember. If he was a manager for any major club with ambition “the vultures would be circling”, because he’s an easy target and opposition fans love the story of a bad manager overstaying his welcome. If this was happening at Pool or Arsenal we’d be actively cherishing the managerial troubles at the club, rifts among the fanbase and their hopelessness. It is what it is
He’s lost a game in which we actually didn’t play badly at all. We showed some decent glimpses of football. Who’s going to wave a magic wand and make man United competitive again after 11 years? No one. It’s going to take time. Give him atleast the season unless of course it does turn into an absolute shit show.



I’m the biggest ETH in advocate and even I admit that this season has to be different.


Top 4 and a trophy would be a good season this season but don’t expect miracles.
 
I’ve been Ten Hag in but even I know this season is make or break for him, we can’t be inconsistent like we’ve been over the last 2 seasons in the league. It’s pretty much his squad now. The spine of the squad he’s signed, especially if we get Ugarte in. He’s signed the keeper, 3 centre halves, both midfielders and promoted Bruno as captain and signed 2 centre forwards. There are zero excuses for him now.
Early season promise given the performance against City and Fulham where we looked solid, I can’t help but have a sour taste in my mouth how poorly we defended the set piece for Brightons winner on Saturday. A result on Saturday, even a point, gives him a bit of breathing space going into the Liverpool game, I think pressures on now to get a result.
 
But De Ligt is in. He's here, ready to play but Maguire is still being picked.

He has a forward in Zirkzee but he's benched.

Wouldn't surprise me one bit if Ugarte arrives and is benched.

I've had sympathy for ETH at times but if Maguire starts against Liverpool, if we play two false 9's again, if Rashford starts, what can you say?
I agree, fully. I understand getting De Ligt up to speed, but he's a had pre-season, done at least half a dozen training sessions and should now be first choice.

Zirkzee is different, he's barely played all summer, plus he's more 'new' than De Ligt so I can see not expecting him to play 90. I'm also not sure the team know how to play with that kind of striker (alone) given we've never had one. I like him but he's very different as an option.
 
Brighton hit the post and had a goal cleared off the line.
It could have easily been a 3-2 loss.

Dalot's clearance wasn't even off the goalline but yes, both sides had chances. Ten Hag also fecked up the subs by bringing on McTominay for Bruno instead of Casemiro.
 
I was firmly ETH at the end of last season but we need to see more this season before drawing any conclusions. It's not been an impressive start but there are small signs and when we have all our players available and have a string of games after the international break, we'll have a much better picture of where we are.
 
It's fascinating we are a pressing side but only if this is high up the pitch, because if the opposition is around our box they get plenty of time to pass it around and get a cross in. Bizarre defending really.
 
He messed up the subs big time but also no denying that we look better than last season.

I feel even if the early part of the season has some patchy performances as the new players settle in, we should get much better from October onwards when the games start coming thick and fast
 
Teams aren't scared of us, can ETH develop us to the level were teams are scared to play us before they even take unto the pitch I doubt that.
 
Once De Ligt and Ugarte are in, I think that it's finally do or die time for ETH. The football better get good, and fast.

I've maintained on here for a whole season now that (particularly last season) no manager could play reliably good football with the actual XI players that ETH had to field each week. Modern football with Evans and Maguire in your back 2? Nope. Retention-based control with Casemiro and Bruno in midfield? Nope. Balance without a LB for an entire season? Unlikely. An actual fit CF to play CF? Nah. There were many games where the majority of the XI were players with known issues that were here before ETH arrived, and shouldn't be starting. Because a combination of an enormous clear out (no idea what the number is now, but last season ETH had shipped off 23 players that had strated for us. 23!) and outrageous injuries meant ETH still didn't have an XI that had an coherence to it to choose.

Now he does. Maguire's combination of lack of pace and composure should no longer be a problem. Lack of legs should be solved with Ugarte and Mount. CBs able to play through the lines? He has two of them. Reliance on an undisciplined, past-it Casemiro who can't play fro more than 65 mins? Sorted. Options when Rashford plays poorly? Yep.

And in theory he'll even a CF or two in the squad! Madness.

But this is it. A team broadly of Onana/De Ligt/Martinez/Mazza/Dalot/Ugarte/Mainoo/Bruno/Rash/Garnacho/Hojland is absolutely built to play this fabled ETH football. So. It has to happen, and immediately.

In this case, "fabled" means imaginary. So, no, this team you propose won't play that either.
 
The half time sub seemed panicky and unnecessary as we were the better team by then. And then he took off the wrong player and it meant that our positional discipline in the press went out the window and Brighton then dominated for a good while after the half. He was going to make another wrong sub before Amad score surely, and that would have made it even worse for the team to maintain any sort of attacking cohesion.

On the positive the game plan and team play has had an improvement so far, but EtH's in-game and squad management is still massively questionable.
 
Biggest concern for me. If the only way we can control games is play Bruno/Mount together ahead of Mainoo/Casemiro then we are fecked.
My (stupid) hope is that with Ugarte who is much more mobile than Casemiro, we'd be able to control games without 2 attacking midfielders in front of the double pivot.
 
It’s because the players get knackered. Please value the ball Hag I beg you. Save yourself.
 
So Ten Hag is failing because of the squad Solskjaer built?
Well, it didn't help.

But he's had enough time and spent enough money to get us passing the ball better than this, which is Ten Hag's responsibility. The lack of progress and improvement is worrying, but almost more importantly is I don't even think he's interested in building a side which can keep possession of a football.
 
Shocking. This is what happens when every game is on a knife edge because we have no control and can't score goals.
It's not going to get better either because this is how Ten Hag wants to play. He's not a top four PL manager.
 
Bad manager, has no long term vision of what his team should be and seemed to have run out of ideas. Similarly, INEOS recruitment has no clear plan in terms of the recruitment
 

Yes but it’s easy to explain and has nothing to do with the skill or in game management - Sir Alex and the rest were just lucky, Erik is very unlucky. The longer we stick with him, the higher the chances of turning the tides - just like in casino, you don’t leave the roulette if you see it landed on red 10 times in row, you keep betting on black because surely it has to eventually work.
 
It's "very early to conclude" whether or not ETH has tactically set up his team well by his third season in *checks notes* his third season???

How much time is needed before conclusions can be drawn? Or does the timer conveniently reset each season?

Many think he's had more than enough time but also feel he deserved a chance under proper structure
 
It’s because the players get knackered. Please value the ball Hag I beg you. Save yourself.

I get so frustrated he doesn't value possession whatsoever, especially when the look at the stuff played by many other teams in league
 
I think that's very fair. I generally feel the same. I'm rooting for him to take us on but he got the extra crack at it by the skin of his teeth and this one step forward followed by two steps back can only go on for so long. He needs results and a decent period of them.

Yes exactly. It is a results business and as you say, he is still in the job by the skin of his teeth.
I can not imagine that will continue if he isn't able to start winning consistently.
But it is always important to remember that it is the players who need to take responsibility as well. He can only do so much.
 
Well, it didn't help.

But he's had enough time and spent enough money to get us passing the ball better than this, which is Ten Hag's responsibility. The lack of progress and improvement is worrying, but almost more importantly is I don't even think he's interested in building a side which can keep possession of a football.

Yeah it's so annoying
 
Well, it didn't help.

But he's had enough time and spent enough money to get us passing the ball better than this, which is Ten Hag's responsibility. The lack of progress and improvement is worrying, but almost more importantly is I don't even think he's interested in building a side which can keep possession of a football.
Exactly. He seems dead set on counterattacking his way to a serial Premier League title winning dynasty That is just not going to happen, ever. It offers far too little control to be sustainable over longer periods of time. Not to mention how much energy it wastes and the amount of injuries it provokes.

Instead of just looking at the type of possession football that gives the best teams control, he wants to force something that just isn't viable. And it's perfectly exemplified by the types of players we value the most by giving them way too much playing time and luxury contracts: Bruno and Rashford. They are just not suited to controlling possession in the slightest. It will never work with either of them as focal points in the team, just as it won't work with a manager that doesn't value possession.
 
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If he doesn't fix our goalscoring problem within like 2 months then we will know for sure keeping him wasn't the right call.

Can't go anywhere in football scoring as few goals as we do.

We've scored 57 and 58 goals in his two seasons. If it's even remotely trending that way again this can't continue as those are mid table club numbers.
 
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