Erik ten Hag | Currently unemployed

[Hansi Fick]

Fair enough.

If Bayern had to pick a manager tomorrow, I'd definitively want Ten Hag over Pochettino.

Doesn't mean that other clubs with other situations couldn't suggest a different pick (Ten Hag would arguably be an easier fit at Bayern than at other clubs, not least because he already worked for us and the philosophy is kind of in place, while at United the situation is very different and there's arguments to be made that Poch could be a better fit), and neither does it mean that I'd tear my hair out with Pochettino, but yeah.

 

[bucky]

Obviously didn't see the match - assuming no United supporters did...but purely on the stats it seems to be a freak smash and grab from Benfica?

Doesn't look like they created much.

 

[Hansi Fick]

Doesn't look like they created much.

Benfica are a bit like Atletico to be fair. Unpleasant opponent, adept at gamesmanship.

 

[11101]

I'm not sure what people expect of him? 3 leagues in a row after the club had been clear second fiddle to PSV. Their team isn't great on paper, the last 16 is about what's expected of them, maybe a bit above expectations.

 

[matt23]

Tuchel please

 

[Sviken]

Maybe you should revisit the 2016/17 season when Spurs finished second with 86 points while scoring the most goals in the league (86) and conceding the least (26). They had three players score more than 20 goals that season (Son, Kane and Delle Ali) and played high octane attacking football that was not even matched by the eventual champions Chelsea

Are you trying to say they every played as beautiful or dominant as Ten Hag Ajax? That's simply not true. Yes, Poch had a very good season that year, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Let's not forget that Chelsea's Conte won that year. For all the praise you seem to be giving him, he won nothing that year.

Don’t care much about the up and coming factor. It’s very difficult to assess the quality of managers in backyard leagues. Appointing ETH is risky business. It’s like buying “talents” like DVB. ETH as assistant manager in United would’ve been perfect.

Up and coming is important because you need managers who are at the top of their game, not past it. For example, maybe if we took Mourinho after Inter or even after Real Madrid, he might have established a successor dynasty of Fergie. Instead we took him after the Chelsea meltdown where there were obvious signs of his decline and suffered as a result. It's a similar case with Poch - we should have gone for him after he got sacked by Tottenham, now we're going for him after his less than succcessful stint at PSG were he appears to be cracking himself. Not gonna work.

The step from Ajax to United is huge, and he should definitely get experience from one of the best leagues before he joins one of the big clubs. Experience from PL or the best leagues is an competitive advantage we can’t disregard when we talk about our next manager.

Okay, I find this argument to be a bit of a nonsense and I don't know why it keeps getting repeated. Which top manager has ever needed "experience" in order to be in charge of a big club? Did Zidane need an experience to be successful at Madrid? Did Simeone need experience to be successful at Atletico? Did Pep need experience before being put in charge of Barca? Or Flick at Bayern? Top managers are top managers, they do not "experience", they need "IT" Ole didn't fail because he didn't have experience at a top club, nor did Moyes, Mourinho and LVG succeed because of their experience. They were simply not good enough.

This "experience" thing you talk about - by the time Ten Hag gets it, he'll already be snapped by a top club, become unavailable to us and then once again we're going to be be searching for "experience" and miserably failing with every supposedly "experienced manager" while the so called hipster choices make us look dumb. How long before we realize this simple fact that United is not special? This club isn't above the others for managers to prove themselves at City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barca, etc before they are graced by the opportunity of working as a United manager.

I also want to say that literally every single manager is a risk, even Pep and Klopp. Pochettino is a huge risk himself - there is zero guarantee that he will succeed or even get us top 4 on a regular basis. Ten Hag is a risk, as well, but he is a risk with very high reward potential. People like yourself were the same ones that argued Pep and Klopp were a risk.

 

[Solius]

We're going to struggle to hire anyone if them losing a game makes them unqualified.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

I think everyone is so obsessed with their own checklist or personal favorite appointee (for whatever reason) that they'll find fault with any/every other candidate.

There'll be no perfect candidate because posters would either say i) they're not PL proven, ii) they're not big club proven, iii) they're over the hill, iv) he's not a proven winner like Conte, v) they're bottlers/never won a title or vi) even if they did win a title, it will be dismissed because it was a "tin pot" cup or league, vii) he's too defensive or conversely "has no plan B"...Hell, we could be offered Pep tomorrow and some would say tiki-taka is boring or he can only win with money...

All the above are opinions of course (some more informed than others) and they're all valid. Hell, I'm no football expert so I post a ton of drivel in here - and that's on a good day.

Ten Hag is my favored candidate for a few "personal" reasons. I am excited that for once, we'd be appointing a "hipster" manager (as the Caf politely calls them) who will be a breathe of fresh air. He has a vision and clear way of playing - plays attacking football, and seemingly takes his game to the opponents. He's done well in Europe and has worked with rebuilding sides. He seems fairly "strict" and able to discipline/manage a squad and I am just excited to see what he could do with a little more quality in his squad and with a good structure in place (debatable at United but hopefully it changes). The timing also seems perfect with the vacancy and his time at Ajax seemingly coming to an end.

Of course, this "vision and attacking philosophy/pressing high up" are all attributes i like in football. This doesn't mean that those are the qualities everyone favors and he'll still be a risk in this league and at a club this size.

I think either Pochettino or Ten Hag would be good candidates, but there's a strong chance that either would fail just because we're such a badly run club. We could be "unmanageable", but whoever gets the job, it will have the other camp saying "should have went for him". Can't win that way.

 

[JPRouve]

I don’t think his argument is weak (that managers generally don’t bottle games, it’s mostly a collective thing among players). I think you misconstrue the problematic. The ability to keep cool, organized, aggressive and balanced isn’t like some key a player or manager can collect and eternally carry around to keep the team from bottling. Messi has won everything but a WC, yet has been his team’s key man in several majestic bottles. United had some spectacular unravellings even under Ferguson. Tuchel watched PSG collapse several times, only to win the CL against odds last year, and Pep is the worlds most successful manager of the last fifteen years, regardless of his tendency to ‘overthink’ or ‘underthink’ decisive CL games for a decade now.

Bottlings are generally things brought together by circumstances and collective human reactions that seem almost impossible to safeguard against. If sometimes the lightning strikes twice in the same place, people dig up all manners of explanations to account for it, disregarding the simple fact that, just as lightning strikes pretty much by chance, if it strikes twice in the same place, it will generally be by chance too.

(Disclaimer: before anyone butts in with a point about lightning conductors, I think statistics will back up that football managers are not better lightning conductors than anyone else.)

The argument is weak, there is no debate to be had. Pochettino is the one that has never won anything without this group of player, not the other way around. Tuchel went to a CL final where PSG actually played well against Bayern, so again you can't even use Tuchel as a point of reference. You can't talk about a lack of objectivity when you bring up Pochettino and talk about his players having an history of bottling.

And I agree with your general idea, it just doesn't work for Pochettino, because he is the one with an history of bottling not his players.

 

[Powderfinger]

The performance against Benfica was poor but its silly to hold one match or one tie too much against any manager.

With ETH, the big questions that really need to be asked are about his skills and competencies beyond tactics (man management, ability to identify and improve players, soft factors like ability to create a culture within the club and dressing room, substitutions and in game decision making, etc). I won't pretend to know the answers but having a sophisticated tactical approach that integrates lots of cutting edge concepts is great but is not itself sufficient for success these days because increasingly more and more managers play some version of the same ideas, not just those at peer clubs but also those at midtable clubs. There are lots of smart younger managers out there, everybody has a massive video library breaking down other sides, everybody can see the same pressing and counter-pressing strategies and positional play alignments in and out of possession, etc. Its not like there is some arcane set of tactical secrets that only a few managers know about.

 

[C3Pique]

Guardiola has never won the CL with City. Does that make him a bottler, or not good enough for us? Knockout football is predictably unpredictable and a bad measure of a manager. SAF only won it twice in 26 years ffs.

 

[JPRouve]

The performance against Benfica was poor but its silly to hold one match or one tie too much against any manager.

With ETH, the big questions that really need to be asked are about his skills and competencies beyond tactics (man management, ability to identify and improve players, etc). I won't pretend to know the answers but having a sophisticated tactical approach that integrates lots of cutting edge concepts is great but is not itself sufficient for success these days because increasingly more and more managers play some version of the same ideas, not just those at peer clubs but also those at midtable clubs. There are lots of smart younger managers out there, everybody has video, everybody can see the same pressing and counter-pressing strategies and positional play alignments in and out of possession, etc. Its not like there is some arcane set of tactical secrets that only a few managers know about.

I didn't watch the game but you are the first person to say that. Almost every comments suggested that the performance was good and that Ajax largely dominated.

 

[Amadaeus]

This type of rationale only make sense if you don't consider the squads and the budgets.
I think ETH would prefer Verrati to Alvarez, or Wijnaldum to Klaassen.
ETH would start half of PSG's bench if he had them at Ajax.

I watched the entirety of the first game. PSG didn't "dominate" RM.

You must be joking. Psg completely decimated real Madrid in the first leg. Even if you overlook stats that shows that, just watching the game will highlight that. Unless your definition of dominate is something different than it intended meaning.

ETH doesnt need those players to beat benefica or walk their league.

 

[Jacko21]

It's a shame Ajax went out last night, because it doesn't take much for narratives to form where United are concerned. If it is to be Ten Hag, some will try and dismiss him before he has even stepped foot in Manchester.

 

[macheda14]

I didn't watch the game but you are the first person to say that. Almost every comments suggested that the performance was good and that Ajax largely dominated.

Ajax fans on Reddit were saying the first half should have been enough, but the second half they just started becoming more and more devoid of ideas.

ALSO his biggest criticism by them all is his inability to make good subs and change a game. He leaves it very late 81 and 96 were the two times he made subs. This could however be due to him not really trusting his bench?

 

[tenpoless]

Who are we to judge him based on one or two bad matches? when our previous managers were serving shit performances and subpar results over the course of 6-7 years that it's now embedded into the club's DNA, if there was any to begin with.

 

[JPRouve]

Ajax fans on Reddit were saying the first half should have been enough, but the second half they just started becoming more and more devoid of ideas.

ALSO his biggest criticism by them all is his inability to make good subs and change a game. He leaves it very late 81 and 96 were the two times he made subs. This could however be due to him not really trusting his bench?

Which doesn't equate to a poor performance. And the reality is that teams rarely have new ideas, they win on their strength, they rarely change the formula in the middle of a game and find success. It happens but it's not common.

 

[macheda14]

Which doesn't equate to a poor performance. And the reality is that teams rarely have new ideas, they win on their strength, they rarely change the formula in the middle of a game and find success. It happens but it's not common.

I mean they only had two shots on target. They dominated possession but provided no real chances. Yesterday was a poor performance by us, we started very well, were unlucky to go into the break 1-0 down and then slowly as the game went on just fell flatter and flatter. Or Under LVG we would 'dominate' games but barely even test the opposition keeper.

You don't need to change the formula just observe an issue and bring on the right sub to fix it. Subs are quite an important part of being a manager.

 

[Dave Smith]

I didn't watch the game but you are the first person to say that. Almost every comments suggested that the performance was good and that Ajax largely dominated.

No of course not, Pep is a top, top manager. However, he does have one flaw which is that he has a particular style of play that he won't divert from, even if it isn't working. That is why he hasn't won a CL since Barca even though he has been managing City and Bayern at the peak of their powers.

What this argument essentially comes down to, is a pick your poison type of situation in that:

A) Do you want a manager who is ideological in their approach but has a excellent Plan A that creates consistency in the league.

Or

B) Do you want a manager who is tactically flexible but will probably go through patches with indifferent form every now and then.

There is no 'perfect' answer here, rather it is what you prefer and what type of squad you have. For me, Utd are best with B as they have a talented but disjointed squad, therefore I think what is needed is a pragmatic manager more in the ilk of Tuchel as that type of manager can get results more quickly with what is to hand. However, if you prefer having a clear systems coach who has particular patterns of play he wants to see, that isn't nessarily that bad, but it will mean a massive overhaul to the squad and it may require more time until it is fully functioning it will require a squad overhaul.

 

[lsd]

I'm not sure what people expect of him? 3 leagues in a row after the club had been clear second fiddle to PSV. Their team isn't great on paper, the last 16 is about what's expected of them, maybe a bit above expectations.

They have twice the budget of PSV please don't try and say they are the league's underdogs fighting above their weight

 

[DiMaria]

Ajax fans on Reddit were saying the first half should have been enough, but the second half they just started becoming more and more devoid of ideas.

ALSO his biggest criticism by them all is his inability to make good subs and change a game. He leaves it very late 81 and 96 were the two times he made subs. This could however be due to him not really trusting his bench?

One of the things I didn’t like about Ole. But in all fairness I watched both legs and Ajax were the better team, they just don’t have the better players. They dominated and had more chances away in Lisbon, and although in the second game there weren’t many clear cut chances, and Benfica defended well as the match went on, but Ajax were still better overall but at this stage if you don’t take your chances or have players that finish half chances then you can’t really get far. And last night for instance Nunez showed why he’s close to a big money move to newcastle, and on the other hand Haler showed why he moved from the premier league to the Dutch league. I personally believe that at a club with more funds and access to better players ETH should eventually be able to prove his worth and compete for the biggest of trophies. If Tuchel is not a realistic target then I can’t think of anyone else who’s better for our project.

 

[Powderfinger]

I didn't watch the game but you are the first person to say that. Almost every comments suggested that the performance was good and that Ajax largely dominated.

Maybe poor is overly harsh but they didn't create much while at home against one of the weaker teams they could draw. I certainly expected more from them in this tie, especially given how well they played in the group stage against Sporting.

Anyway, my broader point was that a performance - poor or not - in one match shouldn't matter much in evaluating a prospective manager.

 

[Cheimoon]

went out of the round of 16 against bemfica. not too hyped to have him as the next manager. poch does not seem to be a good option either. bringing in klopp will solve all the problems though

That's a great suggestion really. What do you think it will take to make Klopp come to United?

I think it's called "being Dutch". I'm afraid they might take offense if you call their national football identity a mental block.

I'll fight you!
Though I will probably bottle the ko punch

No you won't. Well, maybe out of tradition because he's German, but which Dutch person would disagree? I mean, we all know unnecessary losses are a known hallmark of Dutch football style, especially against Italian and Portuguese teams. Angstgegners, in proper Dutch.

 

[JPRouve]

No of course not, Pep is a top, top manager. However, he does have one flaw which is that he has a particular style of play that he won't divert from, even if it isn't working. That is why he hasn't won a CL since Barca even though he has been managing City and Bayern at the peak of their powers.

What this argument essentially comes down to, is a pick your poison type of situation in that:

A) Do you want a manager who is ideological in their approach but has a excellent Plan A that creates consistency in the league.

Or

B) Do you want a manager who is tactically flexible but will probably go through patches with indifferent form every now and then.

There is no 'perfect' answer here, rather it is what you prefer and what type of squad you have. For me, Utd are best with B as they have a talented but disjointed squad, therefore I think what is needed is a pragmatic manager more in the ilk of Tuchel as that type of manager can get results more quickly with what is to hand. However, if you prefer having a clear systems coach who has particular patterns of play he wants to see, that isn't nessarily that bad, but it will mean a massive overhaul to the squad and it may require more time until it is fully functioning it will require a squad overhaul.

If anything Pep downfall in the CL is that he tried to change things up not that he will insist on using his tried and tested approach. And the point wasn't about what I prefer or not, I just don't get some of the arguments given, they go against facts and recent history.

 

[JPRouve]

Maybe poor is overly harsh but they didn't create much while at home against one of the weaker teams they could draw. I certainly expected more from them in this tie, especially given how well they played in the group stage against Sporting.

Anyway, my broader point was that a performance - poor or not - in one match shouldn't matter much in evaluating a prospective manager.

Ignoring that particular game since I didn't watch it, I find your point perplexing. Ajax punch above their weight, on paper they are supposed to be one of the weakest teams in the CL which means three things, on paper they could lose against most CL contestants, they are not supposed to be heavy favorites and they need to be at their best in all games. The fact that they are perceived as a team that should easily beat Benfica is a testament to how well they have done.

And people seem to constantly ignore this reality, the top 5-6 leagues in Europe are closer than people seem to think, with some annual exceptions their top teams aren't that far from each others, matchups and form are very important.

 

[Stobzilla]

Historically speaking, probably even last 10 years or so, if I am a Benfica fan then I am expecting to beat Ajax. I think it is a testament to ten Hag that he has brought Ajax so far forward since he has been there that this result is considered a disappointment.

My thought would be that without him, Ajax will regress back to finishing 3rd in the groups and bothering the Europa League again

He seems to find another level in players which is exactly what we need.

 

[Polar]

Up and coming is important because you need managers who are at the top of their game, not past it. For example, maybe if we took Mourinho after Inter or even after Real Madrid, he might have established a successor dynasty of Fergie. Instead we took him after the Chelsea meltdown where there were obvious signs of his decline and suffered as a result. It's a similar case with Poch - we should have gone for him after he got sacked by Tottenham, now we're going for him after his less than succcessful stint at PSG were he appears to be cracking himself. Not gonna work.

You have a funny interpretation of reality regarding the life span of good managers and that managers doesn’t develop after certain years in the game. Many of the most successful managers are the most experienced ones, and they’ve also experienced ups and downs. Not necessarily because their managerial skills vary, but because results also depends on other factors. Can you believe that! PSG for instance was a horrendous mistake from advancing in CL on behalf of RM. They were the better team in both matches.

I also disagree Ajax play more entertaining than Tottenham in their best years under Poch. Ajax is off course a descent club, but in my view seriously overhyped on this forum. 0-1 home against Benfica hopefully gets the Ajax and ETH discussion down on earth. It was for sure not a proof of entertaining football. Time to stick your finger in the ground!

 

[JPRouve]

You have a funny interpretation of reality regarding the life span of good managers and that managers doesn’t develop after certain years in the game. Many of the most successful managers are the most experienced ones, and they’ve also experienced ups and downs. Not necessarily because their managerial skills vary, but because results also depends on other factors. Can you believe that! PSG for instance was a horrendous mistake from advancing in CL on behalf of RM. They were the better team in both matches.

I also disagree Ajax play more entertaining than Tottenham in their best years under Poch. Ajax is off course a descent club, but in my view seriously overhyped on this forum. 0-1 home against Benfica hopefully gets the Ajax and ETH discussion down on earth. It was for sure not a proof of entertaining football. Time to stick your finger in the ground!

Managers tend to win early. It's not that common for a manager to not have his best years during the first half of his career.

 

[Polar]

Managers tend to win early. It's not that common for a manager to not have his best years during the first half of his career.

Agree.. My point was that it’s ridiculous to say Poch is over the top at the age of 50. I also think he proved himself as a world class manager in Tottenham. By that I’m also saying the road towards becoming a world class manager isn’t only through titles. Silver with Tottenham is probably a better performance than achieving gold with City.

Chelsea appointed a world class manager who failed in PSG (suppose he also was a world class manager before he joined Chelsea). When PSG fails under Poch, he is suddenly not world class anymore and even ETH is a much better candidate.

 

[JPRouve]

Agree.. My point was that it’s ridiculous to say Poch is over the top at the age of 50. I also think he proved himself as a world class manager in Tottenham. By that I’m also saying the road towards becoming a world class manager isn’t only through titles. Silver with Tottenham is probably a better performance than achieving gold with City.

Chelsea appointed a world class manager who failed in PSG (suppose he also was a world class manager before he joined Chelsea). When PSG fails under Poch, he is suddenly not world class anymore and even ETH is a much better candidate.

It's not about his age but his 13 years as a manager. And he didn't prove to be a world class manager at Tottenham, he showed promises but never confirmed it.

And Tottenham are not a poor team nor a small club. I mentioned it somewhere but Pochettino spent more money than Simeone at Atletico while starting from a better position.

 

[KirkDuyt]

That's a great suggestion really. What do you think it will take to make Klopp come to United?


No you won't. Well, maybe out of tradition because he's German, but which Dutch person would disagree? I mean, we all know unnecessary losses are a known hallmark of Dutch football style, especially against Italian and Portuguese teams. Angstgegners, in proper Dutch.

Ha, you missed my white text.

 

[AltiUn]

Agree.. My point was that it’s ridiculous to say Poch is over the top at the age of 50. I also think he proved himself as a world class manager in Tottenham. By that I’m also saying the road towards becoming a world class manager isn’t only through titles. Silver with Tottenham is probably a better performance than achieving gold with City.

Chelsea appointed a world class manager who failed in PSG (suppose he also was a world class manager before he joined Chelsea). When PSG fails under Poch, he is suddenly not world class anymore and even ETH is a much better candidate.

Winning the league or indeed any trophy would've potentially proven Pochettino a world class manager at Spurs, problem was he didn't win any trophies which to me is a big question mark about his ceiling and what he can offer to United. He's a good manager and would likely be our best manager since Sir Alex, just not sure I'm convinced he's the right man for the job, personally.

 

[Redlyn]

That's a great suggestion really. What do you think it will take to make Klopp come to United?

He will never, not for any amount of money. At least not directly switching. It's about respect.

 

[Polar]

It's not about his age but his 13 years as a manager. And he didn't prove to be a world class manager at Tottenham, he showed promises but never confirmed it.

Top 3 in PL three years in a row with Tottenham is pretty amazing. Lads it’s Tottenham!

 

[United in sin]

Are you trying to say they every played as beautiful or dominant as Ten Hag Ajax? That's simply not true. Yes, Poch had a very good season that year, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Let's not forget that Chelsea's Conte won that year. For all the praise you seem to be giving him, he won nothing that year.


Up and coming is important because you need managers who are at the top of their game, not past it. For example, maybe if we took Mourinho after Inter or even after Real Madrid, he might have established a successor dynasty of Fergie. Instead we took him after the Chelsea meltdown where there were obvious signs of his decline and suffered as a result. It's a similar case with Poch - we should have gone for him after he got sacked by Tottenham, now we're going for him after his less than succcessful stint at PSG were he appears to be cracking himself. Not gonna work.


Okay, I find this argument to be a bit of a nonsense and I don't know why it keeps getting repeated. Which top manager has ever needed "experience" in order to be in charge of a big club? Did Zidane need an experience to be successful at Madrid? Did Simeone need experience to be successful at Atletico? Did Pep need experience before being put in charge of Barca? Or Flick at Bayern? Top managers are top managers, they do not "experience", they need "IT" Ole didn't fail because he didn't have experience at a top club, nor did Moyes, Mourinho and LVG succeed because of their experience. They were simply not good enough.

This "experience" thing you talk about - by the time Ten Hag gets it, he'll already be snapped by a top club, become unavailable to us and then once again we're going to be be searching for "experience" and miserably failing with every supposedly "experienced manager" while the so called hipster choices make us look dumb. How long before we realize this simple fact that United is not special? This club isn't above the others for managers to prove themselves at City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barca, etc before they are graced by the opportunity of working as a United manager.

I also want to say that literally every single manager is a risk, even Pep and Klopp. Pochettino is a huge risk himself - there is zero guarantee that he will succeed or even get us top 4 on a regular basis. Ten Hag is a risk, as well, but he is a risk with very high reward potential. People like yourself were the same ones that argued Pep and Klopp were a risk

Yes they played beautiful and dominant football that 2016/17 season and it was the third straight season in the top three playing exciting football. That season was simply the pinnacle of that era for Spurs.

Outscoring everyone else in the league and having the best goal difference is literally being dominating. Spurs did play beautiful football. It's true to me, not to you, it's not objective is it? How long did it take Klopp to win anything of note with Liverpool? He won the league title in 2020 after being there 5 years but he got the backing he needed for instance.

The PL is very competitive, something Ten Hag hasn't experienced. Do you think he'd have went further and won something at Spurs if he coached them? Do you think he'd have handled the internal adversity of working with Levy better than Pochettino did?

We'll never know, but Poch not winning under those constraints is not what we should be focusing on, his feat in itself to catapult Spurs in the manner he did is worthy of praise. His accomplishments at Southampton, making them one of the most exciting clubs to watch in the league in his few years there is something worthy of praise as well. His influence on English football is something worthy of praise and not something to be glossed over or go unacknowledged.

Poch is a risk indeed, but for me he's less of a risk than a manager who's never managed in a top league. Crystal Palace found that out with Frank De Boer even though he had a previous dominant spell at Ajax, winning four league titles in a row. Dortmund found that out with Peter Bosz when he made the step up from Ajax after taking them to the EL final with that exciting young team united beat in 2017 (he was replaced at Ajax by Ten Hag of course). Winning the Dutch league doesn't mean shit, with all due respect. Am I impressed by Ajax's brand of football under Ten Hag? Very much so! I still think Poch is the better candidate

 

[Caesar2290]

If you love football, allow yourself an hour and watch the yesterday's game.

Ajax played on the front foot the whole game. First 35 minutes they had numerous chances.

They asked the right questions, there was always at least 2 players in the 16 yard box waiting for the right cross, or for the ball to fall nicely.

They play with purpose, they are comfortable with the ball. It's everything we're not.
And everything we should aspire to.

Just watch the game. I'd be thrilled if we played like that.

That's enough for me. Get him here asap.

That's one of the things his critics fail to understand. It's not about trophies or being Pl proven or whatever. ETH is about beautifull football and trying to play like a top team no trying to counter them and hope for a result.

I'm tired of reactive football. This has plagued us since that 2007/08 campaign. I want to enjoy football again.

I want to feel like Sir Alex is at the wheel again when opponents come to OT, and are forced to camp in their 18 yard box. I miss those days. It's one of the things ETH brings, alongside

I didn't watch the game but you are the first person to say that. Almost every comments suggested that the performance was good and that Ajax largely dominated.

Do yourself a favor and watch the game. I made the mistake of watching both our and their matches at the same time. To say I was fumming because how both Athletico and Benfica were playing is an understatement. Ajax at times tried to overcomplicate things though. It looked like they were trying to pass the ball into the goal. That and Verthogen had an amazing game. The man was a rock at the back.

One of the things I didn’t like about ole, but in all fairness I watched both legs. Ajax were the better team, they just don’t have the better players. They dominated and had more chances in Lisbon too, and although in the second game there weren’t many clear cut chances, and Benfica defended well as the match went on, but Ajax were still better overall but at this stage if you don’t take your chances or have players that finish half chances then you can’t really get far. And last night for instance Nunez showed why he’s close to a big money move to newcastle, and on the other hand Haler showed why he moved from the premier league to Dutch league. I personally believe that at a club with more funds and access to better players ETH should eventually be able to prove his worth and compete for the biggest of trophies.

Haller was anonymous last night, but let's pretend Nunez set the world alight. The man had 1 chance and scored from a GK error and that's it. He has predatory instincts, but let's not forget that Haller scored at both ends in Lisbon and is(was?) the UCL top scorer alongside Lewandowski. 11 in 8 in the CL is nothing to sneeze at.

Saying that one was better than the other on the night is not quiet right. They were both anonymous.

 

[Caesar2290]

Top 3 in PL three years in a row with Tottenham is pretty amazing. Lads it’s Tottenham!

Totenham finished 4th and 5th in the seasons prior to Poch. They sacked Sherwood for finishing 5th, so this narrative that Poch upped their expectations is a revisionism. Spurs were already challenging for Top4.

Poch's success fell on when both United and Liverpool had their transitions post SAF and pre-Klopp. He still did a good job though, but not as good as a lot of people will tell you considering the team he had at his disposal.

 

[Polar]

The ETH vs Poch discussion is probably irrelevant if Tuchel is available

 

[United in sin]

Managers tend to win early. It's not that common for a manager to not have his best years during the first half of his career.

Ten Hag has been coaching teams since 2002. Pochetinno retired from playing football in 2006/07. During that time ETH was assistant manager at FC Twente and even assisted Steve McClaren there. ETH had 192 games of top flight football management under his belt by 2009 when Pochettino got his first top flight job at Espanyol, just months after his very first job in management briefly coaching a women's team in 08

@Caesar2290 you never acknowledged this when you mentioned a false '6 year difference' in coaching experience between the two. You seem to have thought only 2015 and onwards matters when it comes to Ten Hag's experience.

 

[JPRouve]

Top 3 in PL three years in a row with Tottenham is pretty amazing. Lads it’s Tottenham!

It doesn't make you world class, particularly when it is in the context of several traditional top 4 clubs rebuilding. And outside of banter, it's important to remember that Tottenham are a traditional top 5-6 PL club, the way people talk about them you would think that they are a bottom half club and not a club that was competing for the last CL spot during the Redknapp years.