Erik ten Hag | 2024/25

Erik ten Hag

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Some overreactions in here. He may not be the man to take us forward but we didn't look that bad today. Poor substitutions cost him again.
 
GDaly95 said:
I think we're better than we were last season, but I doubt we'll be better by enough of a distance to get top 4.

I'm really worried by the squad we will be left with when Ten Hag leaves. I don't look at this squad and even remotely get the impression that a different manager could come in and get a tune out of them.
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I actually think the squad is pretty sollid at this point. Casemiro and Rashford are the only real outliers that I think need to be replaced in today's XI.

But our approach to matches is just consistently unsustainable. We try to blitzkreig teams in this 424 structure, but in order to do it effectively Mount has to play, which then renders an attack that already will struggle for goals even less effective (especially with a piss poor version of Rashford). And then by the final 25 minutes or so our midfielders and starting forwards are dead tired, so the press is far more exploitable and the game turns into a basketball match where either team can win. I can't remember the last time we needed to push for a goal late in the game and went about doing so like a top team would (circulating possession around the box, probing and overwhelming a team). Our "late game push" is chucking on McTominay and going super direct to our forwards constantly hoping they can conjure something up while leaving us exposed in midfield to counters.
 
I have no idea how both Casemiro and Mainoo lasted the 90. We saw this script before against Fulham. I know our options are limited but Mount shouldn't have gone off. In a game that was largely played through pressing and counter-pressing just handing the initiative to Brighton cost us. I also have no idea why Bruno went off. Against a high line opponent you should have your best long range passers on the field. McT brought nothing.

It's frustrating because I thought we were set up really well in the beginning. But when EtH refuses to learn from previous matches it is hard to have faith in him.
 
Can he not tell the front line not to be offside? It is very simple and he seems to not have worked on this with the team.
 
Castia said:
We look better than last season. Unlucky today that.

I wont even moan about the subs he brought off Rashford and Bruno so fair fecks to him
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Saying we looked better than last season is as low a bar as you can set

Majority of our passes were between Onana and Martinez

Taking off Bruno based on performance was valid, but then the team lost all kind of shape. We had 0 attacks after and somehow defensively looked lost... again
 
The midfield is so important to his system, especially with the amount of running they do.

The Brighton manager took both of his midfielders off. Granted, Gilmour came off around the 90th minute, I still believe this was a reason as to why they finished stronger.

Us, on the other hand, had poor Mainoo and Casemiro on for the whole game, who both looked leggy around the 70th minute.

Definitely feel he should have bought Eriksen and Collyer on. We needed that much needed energy to keep the momentum we had once we got the equaliser.
 
Pyro19 said:
People mentioning how brilliant we were today. I felt we were 2nd best in most department and were comfortably closed down

Is everyone on a pisstake?
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There are some who believe we have improved. In which areas is a complete mystery given that our attack is still dysfunctional, our wingers haven't suddenly improved from what was a pretty good year for Garnacho last season, and there's nothing different about Onana's antics this year. The only improvement I see is the availability of Martinez, but we're probably clutching at straws if we're crediting ETH with one player being fit enough to play again.
 
His team selection and daft subs cost us today, Amad shouldnt be starting ahead of Garnacho and Zirkzee as he isnt ready or good enough to be a regular starter for us and Maguire should not be starting ahead of De Ligt.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I mean the Zirkzee offsides was objectively unlucky, because he slid going for the ball on a super wet pitch and it carried him basically into the goal where he couldn't avoid the ball.

But the point is we shouldn't be pointing to a single event as a reason for being unlucky when the opposition also hit the bar and had another shot cleared off the line as well.
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Well yeah objectively it is but it was offside. Brighton had the best of it from an attacking point of view and deservedly beat us. Bear in mind they are a mid table team and this looks just like last season with some new signings
 
Pickle85 said:
Some overreactions in here. He may not be the man to take us forward but we didn't look that bad today. Poor substitutions cost him again.
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Best to look at this game as a one-off. Everything else is according to plan. And Brighton have spent a lot too, only reasonable for us to expect a loss today.
 
Lentwood said:
INEOS won't stand for it for long, he will be gone by Christmas...my question is, what do we do with RvN and the rest of the high-profile hires we have just made in our coaching staff when the new fella comes in?
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RVN will take over as interim, do well and become the manager like Ole did. This is what's happening this season, can;t be more obvious
 
Pyro19 said:
People mentioning how brilliant we were today. I felt we were 2nd best in most department and were comfortably closed down

Is everyone on a pisstake?
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Thought we were good defensively in the first half apart from that shocking Maguire effort for their goal. But we hardly created anything of note apart from the Amad chance (which was really just Dalot brilliance).
 
Our midfield once again cost us after the 85th minute. Mainoo can't run also. Getting frustrated with him. Disappointed
 
Castia said:
We look better than last season. Unlucky today that.

I wont even moan about the subs he brought off Rashford and Bruno so fair fecks to him
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In the last 7 games, they've beaten us 5 times mate !!
Last week vs Fulham, we'd have lost again , had they been more clinical.

Question for you.... Does Pep buy Ederson only to bench him, because Joe hart is having a blinder? Absolutely NOT !!
Eth buys De ligt, because he's a better fit for the system he wants to play, but keeps faith in Maguire !! I just don't see the logic !!
 
Offside said:
I have genuinely never seen a manager so creative in finding ways to lose:
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Yes agreed. It can’t be a coincidence that we capitulate so frequently often during some good provenances. He’s had a fortune to spend and that remains a real part of our teams makeup.
 
Fine margin BS need to stop. Top teams killed off their opponent by winning 2 or 3 nil or more. Just admit we are bad. Slow football. Passing around Onana and defend. Slow predictable attack. So easy to defend against.
 
the fact that a combo of Milner and Gilmour outshone Mainoo Casimero is a damning indictement of ETH tactics. Gilmour played as a sole pivot and looked so comfortable. Whatever ETH is trying with his midfield setup just doesnt work, playing 4 midfielders leaves us toothless upfront and playing 3 leaves us wide open. Its clearly not the players themselves thats the issue.
 
He still hasn't found a style or set up that looks in any way stable. It's beyond a joke at this stage.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
The midfield is so important to his system, especially with the amount of running they do.

The Brighton manager took both of his midfielders off. Granted, Gilmour came off around the 90th minute, I still believe this was a reason as to why they finished stronger.

Us, on the other hand, had poor Mainoo and Casemiro on for the whole game, who both looked leggy around the 70th minute.

Definitely feel he should have bought Eriksen and Collyer on. We needed that much needed energy to keep the momentum we had once we got the equaliser.
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Yeah. Casemiro can't do a full game and I'm starting to be a bit unsure of Kobbie as an 8. He is very technical but im not sure whether he has the athleticism to play that role in these tactics. We need to get Ugarte in but even then if we do then both him and De Ligt need to make a big impact on our control of games or else Ten Hag is likely not going to succeed here.
 
Guy is being absolutely backed here with transfers and a third season which he probably got just because of the FA Cup win (finishing 8th and bottom of the CL group would be enough to condemn any Utd manager).

I hope INEOS aren’t going to feck around like the Glazers did and watch the entire season implode before sacking a manager. In your third season, you should be making some headway in terms of play style and how comfortable the team looks and still not looking it’s your third game and you’re second guessing what the squad can do.

ETH has got until October for me. If nothings improved, pull the trigger and get a new guy in.
 
Seeing some progress, but in posession it seems every attacking player is not on the same page. Some work to do on the training pitch.
 
RedRocket9908 said:
His team selection and daft subs cost us today, Amad shouldnt be starting ahead of Garnacho and Zirkzee as he isnt ready or good enough to be a regular starter for us and Maguire should not be starting ahead of De Ligt.
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Amad literally is the only reason we scored pal, and created some really good stuff as well. Rashford meanwhile has shown absolutely nothing in 2 games now, if anything his spot is the one Garnacho should take.
 
Raoul said:
There are some who believe we have improved. In which areas is a complete mystery given that our attack is still dysfunctional, our wingers haven't suddenly improved from what was a pretty good year for Garnacho last season, and there's nothing different about Onana's antics this year. The only improvement I see is the availability of Martinez, but we're probably clutching at straws if we're crediting ETH with one player being fit enough to play again.
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That's basically it, and Mazraoui on the left insteaed of Lindelof/Evans/some other makeshift cb. So we did look a bit more stable at the back, which gives us a platform to play possession football, at least in the first half. Not seeing any other improvements though, for attack we are still very much reliant on individual brilliance.
 
Raoul said:
That works both ways. Welbeck also hit the bar and they also had a near goal that was cleared off the line. We were average at best today and with a result to prove it.
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Results don't prove performances, that's the definition of confirmation bias. We weren't amazing, but we deserved a draw at minimum, I'd say we were good value for the win.

We didn't win because of some terrible luck, and lots of poor decision making to ruin several glorious opportunities, Amad being the biggest culprit.
 
Pickle85 said:
Some overreactions in here. He may not be the man to take us forward but we didn't look that bad today. Poor substitutions cost him again.
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The team lost 14 games in the league last season, two games in and already an away match to a poor Brighton team resulting a loss.

I think overreactions should be the norm under such circumstances.

United are performing like a top 8 team and because of the inconsistency of last season the games against Fulham and Brighton are being highlighted as a benchmark for progression?
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I don't think people are reacting to how we looked today. I think people are reacting to watching the same movie for what feels like the 20th time in a year.
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If it carries on like this its going to be another season of getting repetitively rolled by any team with a small amount of tactical acumen and quality, interspersed with beating some bottom 6 teams by a single goal margin which will have the emperors new clothes brigade pointing excitedly to the form chart
 
Starting to just expect this which is just depressing. Maguire, Rashford then Antony and MCT coming on it’s just same old.
 
Lentwood said:
INEOS won't stand for it for long, he will be gone by Christmas...my question is, what do we do with RvN and the rest of the high-profile hires we have just made in our coaching staff when the new fella comes in?
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They bought him another two ex-Ajay players and another Dutch player. I don't believe he is going anywhere.
 
Offside said:
I have genuinely never seen a manager so creative in finding ways to lose:

2-0 up against Sevilla with 10 mins to go and draw 2-2. Lose the tie 3-0.

Score a late goal to win 2-1 against Arsenal which is ruled out and they go up the other end and score.

2-1 up against Galatasray with 15 to go and lose 3-2. Never recall a team doing that at Old Trafford.

2-0 up against Copenhagen on 43 mins and go in at half time 2-2. 3-2 up with 7 mins left and lose 4-3.

2-0 up against Galatasaray in a must win. 3-1 up. Draw 3-3.

2-0 up against Wolves. 3-1 up against Wolves. 96th minute Wolves make it 3-3.

3-2 up against Chelsea in the fecking 98th minute and lose 4-3. What the actual feck.

Last minute 96th winner against Brentford to win 1-0 yet they still equalise in the 99th minute.

3-0 up against Coventry and a toenail away from losing 4-3. Against Coventry. What the actual feck.

Last minute equalise against Fulham at OT. Going to win it in classic United fashion? No. Fulham go up and make it 2-1.

And now today. Most hilarious freak offside you’ll ever see to go 2-1 up. Completely capitulate and once again they score in ETH time.
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Every team now just feels that we will crumble when it comes to the crunch times late in games and most of the time we do.

Brighton sensed it today in those last 7 or 8 minutes that we would just back right off and hide in our box , such a small time mentality from such a big club.

They took advantage and dominated those final minutes and getting the reward,.
 
People saying we are better than last season. By which metric??????

Should have got rid of this fraud in the summer.
 
3KDré said:
This is what happens when our fickle fanbase forgets a whole season because of one FA cup win.

Never seen such an average manager get backed to the hilt, based on what? A carabao cup. Nice.
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Historically the worst season ever for the club and he gets rewarded by fluking a cup final. The writing was one the wall.
 
Unfortunately we’ll have to suffer some more for a bit with this utter clown in charge but he’s gone by the winter. But I get ineos keeping him on. They had to see it for themselves and there was all this outside noise from ex United and half of the fanbase who insisted to keep him on “under new structure”. These people are the ones who continue to drive the standards of this club into the mud.
 
Raoul said:
There are some who believe we have improved. In which areas is a complete mystery given that our attack is still dysfunctional, our wingers haven't suddenly improved from what was a pretty good year for Garnacho last season, and there's nothing different about Onana's antics this year. The only improvement I see is the availability of Martinez, but we're probably clutching at straws if we're crediting ETH with one player being fit enough to play again.
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We have improved. Our press is a bit more organised and we are a bit more solid in the middle.

That doesn't mean it is enough though. Our fullback still doesnt back the press. We still are clueless in attack. Our press is much less effective without Mount.

It comes back to this for me ultimately. In his first season he tried to play the same way we are now. It didn't work and he changed it (Liverpool game) and we got success with it. Then, in his second season, we tried to play his football again and we played the worst football I have ever seen us play - apart from the FA Cup final where he...changed away from his play style.

And now we are seeing a squad full of his players, his 3rd year. There is no excuses - this is his football. It's just not a good brand of football. His ideas don't work.

For what its worth I thought we played OK today. Much better than usual.
 
It is chaos, especially in the second half of games, it's just not fun watching it, maybe from a neutral perspective it is but as a fan you want to see your team control and dominate games. The first half of both games so far were actually pretty decent at times but the game devolves in the second half into two totally open team trying to steal a win with massive risk-taking. We don't have the forwards to be clinical enough.

There has been some improvements i've seen in the opening two games such as in pressing and getting the team stronger in the centre of midfield but it's going to be the same problem of not scoring enough goals and either losing or winning by a single goal (which ever way the luck blows)
 
We have a number of games coming up that we could easily struggle in. He really can't afford a bad start.
 
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