Erik Ten Hag appreciation thread

Did a good job of setting United on the right track after the first couple of horror games in 2022. Then after the Carling cup win, just kept on getting drubbed.

Dubious tactics coupled with United players being at their usual my way out highway style. Brought some absolute duds like Antony.

Tried his best at the biggest Disney club in football. Hopefully gets a chance to prove himself again.
 
Respect to ETH. Stayed dignified amidst the abuse. Rise above hate.
 
Gave me so many good memories. Think some of his signings look really good as well and I don’t think any will be a massive issue financially.
 
I consider him to be a ridiculously bad coach (on this level). But I have to admit he made a good clear out, and can't argue against two trophies, even if I think those were incredibly lucky.
 
Weird. Players onside, simple system that worked, fans onside, pundits, media onside, trophy in the bag. And then it all turns to shit. Hard to comprehend how it all turned. Death by a thousand cuts, I guess. Still feel he could have turned it round on several occasions. Didn't. Had to go.
 
DSG said:
If you watched the video clip, you’d see that much of his tactics were not smart for a couple of reasons, both because he was trying things that didn’t fit a big picture as well as picking a starting 11 whose attributes detracted from the tactics he was trying to install.
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I know the video. And I know all the videos of that channel before.
DSG said:
This idea that the players let him down is just bullshit.
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It is. Have no idea though why you state that, I haven't said it for sure.
 
Borys said:
I consider him to be a ridiculously bad coach (on this level). But I have to admit he made a good clear out, and can't argue against two trophies, even if I think those were incredibly lucky.
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Surely a cup win always requires a bit of luck? He got us to three cup finals in two years and won two of them. I'd say that goes beyond luck and shows some aptitude for it, that doesn't just happen all the time. In fact it almost never happens unless you're a dominant team, which we weren't
 
He did ok with 3 finals but just couldn’t find consistency in the League
Wishing him luck for the future.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
1. Won two trophies after 6 years trophy drought
2. Beating City in FA was amazing moment
3. Got rid most of deadwood
4. Fully promoted Mainoo and Garnacho
5. Left more or less good squad (especially regarding age) to next manager
6. He never disrespected club in any way.
7. Seemed as a nice guy.

Thank you, Erik.
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EXACTLY, just a pity he couldn’t get a great tune consistently out of them.
 
Man United hadn't won a trophy for six years before he became manager so he certainly deserves a thanks for wining two trophies in two seasons. One of the few Ten Hag Man United matches I attended was the night Barcelona was knocked out of Europe, a great night as Old Trafford was rocking and was probably the happiest I've been walked out of Old Trafford after a game since the days of Ferguson.
 
Obviously his time here is a disappointment. But not counting the charity shield under Moyes, we’ve won only 5 trophies since SAF - LVG (1), Mourinho (2) and ETH (2) so I am appreciative of that.
 
Borys said:
I consider him to be a ridiculously bad coach (on this level). But I have to admit he made a good clear out, and can't argue against two trophies, even if I think those were incredibly lucky.
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What was lucky about last year’s FA cup win? We beat two of the best teams in English football to lift the trophy and without team we’re never going to breeze past them.

Jose’s Europa league success can be called lucky because we mostly played average teams. Or even ETH’s league cup win as the only decent team we played was Newcastle.
 
First few months made me think we found a worthy successor to Fergie. So thing must be really, really good back then.
 
Malons said:
There wasn't any abuse. He was bad at his job. In public life if you're bad at your job you get criticism. Whether you're a football manager, gameshow host, politician, F1 driver or musician. I hate this "haterz" culture where so many desperately see opportunity in creating a victim out of thin air to 'bravely' step in and act virtuous.

You thought the football was shite too, like the rest of us.
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There was plenty of abuse. You couldn't scroll a page without seeming him labelled a cnut, attacks on his personal appearance, and people declaring they now 'hate' him.
 
tenpoless said:
First few months made me think we found a worthy successor to Fergie. So thing must be really, really good back then.
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Fergie would not have lasted in this era. He would have been sacked before he had his success. Plenty of fans were calling for him to be sacked.
 
I think he cared and did his best which wasn't good enough in the end. I have no doubt though he cut the lack of discipline and poor mentality out of the squad, and in that sense we are in a better place going forward.

I honestly think his biggest failure over all was getting lost with how he wanted us to play (with above influence or not). I have mentioned this a few times before. It wasn't like Klopp or Pep making small changes looking for improvement, this was complete changes in playing style. Each season was like starting again and that's a problem.
 
greater wall said:
Fergie would not have lasted in this era. He would have been sacked before he had his success. Plenty of fans were calling for him to be sacked.
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Fans were calling him to be sacked during his era ffs (2006?). 100% we would have been sacked before his success.
 
astracrazy said:
I think he cared and did his best which wasn't good enough in the end. I have no doubt though he cut the lack of discipline and poor mentality out of the squad, and in that sense we are in a better place going forward.

I honestly think his biggest failure over all was getting lost with how he wanted us to play (with above influence or not). I have mentioned this a few times before. It wasn't like Klopp or Pep making small changes looking for improvement, this was complete changes in playing style. Each season was like starting again and that's a problem.
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to be honest, I really don't get why he tried that "basketball style football" in his second season. Every fan expected him to bring Barca/Ajax style of possession pass-and-move football but in reality he wasn't interested in doing that. I recall I smelled something wrong seeing we chasing Mount that summer.

he should have used that 1st season 2-0 tottenham game as the blueprint but he didn't for some reason.
 
Classy message. Thanks for the positive memories Erik.
 
Great message by him. A decent man who carried the can for so much ineptitude in our club. Sacked at the wrong time and hopefully he does well in future.
 
I backed him for ages, and even thought he still might turn it around when given another chance this season, but he played me for a mug, so I just don't feel any soppy sentiment for him at all now, he was rubbish, he over stayed his welcome, and I'm glad he's gone.
 
I have great deal of respect for Erik ten Hag, the man. He personally acquits himself well and he gave everything he had for United. Yes, he came up short, but apart from failing to meet expectations he never disgraced the club.

But I am concerned about this claim, which if true must have been sanctioned by ten Hag, a claim which has been reported by a number of outlets. If this is true this is disgraceful, and I am one who is on record here flogging Ronaldo for his behavior when he returned to Old Trafford.

Ronaldo was initially instructed to train separately from the first team, but when he attempted to enter the dressing room to collect his trainers, staff informed him he wasn't permitted inside. The standoff was only resolved when Ronaldo asked an academy player to retrieve his trainers. [RobDawson]​

 
C'est Moi Cantona said:
I backed him for ages, and even thought he still might turn it around when given another chance this season, but he played me for a mug, so I just don't feel any soppy empathy for him at all now, he was rubbish, he over stayed his welcome, and I'm glad he's gone.
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That's an interesting way of looking at it.

I backed him for ages too (probably for way too long tbh), but I harbor no ill feelings towards him. I don't doubt he gave everything he had to succeed here, but in the end he just wasn't good enough. Which is fair enough.
 
That's a great message from him. Hope he learns from this experience and continues to have a successful managerial career.
 
Class message and wish Erik ten Hag the best of luck at the next club he manages. He was better than the players put out, our club is such a tragicomedy and the pressure is like at -no- other club in the world. The comparisons with Madrid and Bayern simply don't wash - they have generally friendly surroundings and don't seem to be ice skating up a hill all the time the way we have to. Obvious examples being that our state media hates us because of Fergusons richly deserved embargo on them, and wanted Ten Hag to fail, every analyst spent hours trying to destroy everything he did, the players were endlessly memed by an armada of anger-filled trolls from both our fanbase and every other, and the referees seemed to take actual joy out of making criminal decisions against us every week all - but Erik tried to remain dignified where lesser men would have lashed out in all directions.

Wanted it to work but it's obviously the right decision to make, both his signings and his setup failed for us and essentially that goes on Ten Hag. With a bit more luck he might have had more time to gel this side of his who -are- playing a little better but it was nowhere near the levels expected here and it was just time to try something new. Good luck Erik.
 
lex talionis said:
I have great deal of respect for Erik ten Hag, the man. He personally acquits himself well and he gave everything he had for United. Yes, he came up short, but apart from failing to meet expectations he never disgraced the club.

But I am concerned about this claim, which if true must have been sanctioned by ten Hag, a claim which has been reported by a number of outlets. If this is true this is disgraceful, and I am one who is on record here flogging Ronaldo for his behavior when he returned to Old Trafford.

Ronaldo was initially instructed to train separately from the first team, but when he attempted to enter the dressing room to collect his trainers, staff informed him he wasn't permitted inside. The standoff was only resolved when Ronaldo asked an academy player to retrieve his trainers. [RobDawson]​

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And the academy player is Rob Dawson?
 
did he mention the two trophies he won?
 
ETH in a way did the same to Ajax as he did to United. After a long period of drought in prices he brought back silverware to both clubs. More importantly, he made both United and Ajax fans feel proud to be fans of those clubs. Ajax maybe a little more than United fans but you must like your milk really sour if you didn't feel top of the world after that FA cup win.

Remember him that way.

Thank you Erik.
 
It’s a pity he was just relieved of his duties after the City win. It just turned to shit this season for him but it did kill the what might have been if he was left to at the end of last season.
 
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