Is ten Hag still *the one* (for you) or another placeholder?

A placeholder for who?

If he is the "one" or not, maybe it's better to move away from a system where all eggs go into one manager basket hoping they're the next Fergie and accept a more realistic manager trend where you'll be lucky if most managers stay for 3-4 years and hope they win a few trophies along that way.
 
AltiUn said:
I thought he the one, then he let us get beat 7-0 by Liverpool. Should’ve been sacked on the spot. I said it at the time but there’s no coming back from that.
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AltiUn said:
Jesus Christ it all you want, it’s the worst result in our history. Won’t matter either way, he’ll be gone by Christmas by the way things are going anyway.
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So...how is he supposed to prevent 2.91xG conceded turning into 7 goals?
 
Blind support and loyalty to ETH no. Belief in what he is doing? Yes.

If the man is a football genius , and he’ll have to be to make us challengers then we should realise that there are things he will do that many won’t understand. Eg signing Mount, some might think wtf was that. But you can see why it makes sense, a cm who can keep and pass the ball simply, works hard but can also create and score.

However. After over 12 months. 3 midfielders, a CB, a GK signed. If in two months we’re not playing the way he wants us to play for the majority of the matches then I think we can start to ask why not ? Can’t keep blaming a not good enough squad, or those above like the directors or glazers etc when the spine of the first 11 is pretty much his, coaching also comes into it.

The problem with Sancho and whatever else comes with players that he wanted to sell is down to the board.

Still the one, I think he has more players for him than against him so will overcome the player power battle. Then it’s all down to him to do the best he can.
 
The signings of Antony and Mount have soured my belief in ETH. I still think he’ll turn the club around though.
 
Moston Red said:
The signings of Antony and Mount have soured my belief in ETH. I still think he’ll turn the club around though.
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Antony forn85m , yes. Too soon to doubt mount.

Also, I would blame the board for paying stupid money to sanction Antony's deal. We should and could have signed him much before and that too for half the price we paid. It was poor planning.
 
I doubt we can get anyone better but it is clear a lot of the rest of the club is a total mess.

Said it the other day but under the glazers we won't beat city no matter who is in charge.
 
deservedly beating barca over 2 legs is a bigger achievement than any of the previous post-fergie managers. deserves some patience just for that.
 
If he had unlimited resources like other managers have had, along with upper management who know what they are doing, then i have no doubt he would be doing a whole load better.

He had to play Magurie and a 35 year old, recently relegated Johnny Evans against Arsenal. What hope does he have til the parasites have left?
 
I’d like to see some of the players supporting him or at least talking favourably about him in interviews, I don’t know if he has that togetherness with the squad that you really need, at least not visibly? his interviews seem a bit odd? But the Dutch translation doesn’t help, Also I’m still not really sure if he can help us dominate games like we should be; and make them more comfortable with the score line.
I’m more concerned that we still haven’t managed to clear out the dross, and he’s still playing with this weird Frankenstein team made up of weird ideas that previous managers had.. admittedly mostly because some of his signings got injured almost immediately this year.. it’s a really odd thing to try and get your head round, but I think we probably look closer to consistently hitting top four under him, which is a nice change I suppose
 
Am sure Ten Hag is adjusting to the shock of managing our club.

He left an almost perfectly ran football club in Ajax to this mess we have at our club

I really hope this time the solution isn't to sack another manager

It is obvious that we need ownership change.

Against one of our rivals, we end up with a makeshift left back and a defensive pairing no one could have imagined including a defender we all know the manager doesn't want.

I feel he needs to be pragmatic and sacrifice some of his footballing principles.

It cannot always be the manager
 
Revan said:
Do they really exist? Managers are supposed to spend a few hours per day training, then analyzing opponents, watching videos of opponents to find weaknesses in their team, watching videos of previous games to find what mistakes the team did and how it can improve, making the tactics and so on. It is a very demanding job, the likes of Pep were spending 12 hours per day 'working'.

After that time, it is hard to then go and watch videos of players from other teams. So, I do not think any EPL manager will have such a good knowledge of players outside of EPL and probably big European teams (or teams they face in UCL). Which is why it is idiotic to trust the manager in transfers.
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mav_9me said:
And that's down to basically the owners and their way of working with finances.

And I don't think that type of manager exists anymore
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I'm not sure they exist. Probably not.

I'd expect there are managers with better judgment of talent than Ten Hag, though, but we would need our scouting department to actually be able to present a good list of targets first.
 
There's no 'the one'. I don't have blind loyalty for any United manager post SAF. I want him to do well but he has a few flaws that I would like addressed.

Do I think he will bring big success to the club? No. I think he will be another top 4 manager with the eventual drop out of the UCL and sacking.
 
I think he's probably a good coach who certainly should have a lot less power over transfers. I fully expect him to fail, mostly because of our awful recruitment structure that places most of the responsibility on the manager.

And I expect the next manager to fail for the same reason.
 
We’re still not a club built to allow the manager to succeed. It’s still a mess from the top down and I doubt the protracted club sale has really helped much in that regard. There’s just too much negativity around the club beyond simple results on the pitch, and it’ll be the same again for the next manager who comes in. He’s about as good a manager as we can get right now, I don’t see any other coming in and making us challenge all of a sudden.
 
I've witnessed nothing from him coaching-wise to suggest that he's going to get us back to a CL or Prem victory and his overall transfer strategy has been horrific. While Rangnick was terrible for us, you can't deny all of his transfer recommendations were solid - we just failed to act on them and there was no way the owners were going to put an actual football man as DoF. However, most of these issues stem from upper management and I'm fairly certain that no manager can truly be successful under our owners - there's already been 10 years of evidence to suggest this.
 
He is absolutely the man and needs to be backed 100%. What he did last season with so many of the 'bluffers' still at the club was excellent. I am happy to give him this season and next at least, by then we should have a good idea where its all going. Anyone saying 'give him to Christmas' needs their head checked frankly. The club needs to be very careful here or we could easily go down the same road as Everton over the next few years with the shambolic owners and crazy transfer dealings.

My biggest concern is another club poaching him away. If the club don't back him properly particularly in dealing with the likes of Sancho and other players who just wont leave stinking out the place he would have to be considering his future after this season.
 
Liverpool result, Seville debacle, drop-off after League Cup, terrible away form, questionable transfers, going into two seasons with poor fitness.

There is too much there to retain belief in what he is doing. It’s just hope at this stage.
 
He needs time and patience. He has made big strides and maybe last season we overachieved at times which has heightened expectation. He hasn’t even had chance to play his first choice 11 yet.
 
AltiUn said:
Jesus Christ it all you want, it’s the worst result in our history. Won’t matter either way, he’ll be gone by Christmas by the way things are going anyway.
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Sure thing pal. Thank you for that nonsense.
 
Fortitude said:
Someone like Pep “literally “ throws players away that don’t work out and just orders more in - there seems to be no taint to his reputation for his numerous terrible buys
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At least at City this isn't really true. The only flops are Mendy, Danilo, Bravo, Angelino, Nolito, and Phillips.
 
Fortitude said:
It's bizarre that our manager finished the season on a positive note
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How did we finish last season on a positive note ? We were crap for the last 3 months, got thrashed 7-0 by our main rivals, barely scrapped top 4 and lost the cup final. It went downhill be the end.
 
I think he is better than all the other managers we have during post Fergie era. So yes, he is still the one.
 
Are the ones who think he's the one, not concerned at how the team fell off a cliff after the Carabao Cup and have had a lot of capitulations and a terrible away record?
 
Anyway he's not the one who is going to lead United to the top, especially with his transfers and away record. Top 4 and domestic cups are his peak.

I expect him to leave within 2 years max depending on when Qatar take charge of United.

He's easily the most overrated coach in the current PL and the ones overrating him are United fans.

Decent coach but not an elite level and doesn't seem to have the potential to be one.
 
I've seen folks mention signings as a stick to beat EtH with, which I find a bit odd.

Firstly, I actually think bar overspending on Antony, they've been decent to very good. The jury is still out on Mount (whose purchase I believe surprised us all).

Secondly, while the manager should have an input on signings, the pool from which he selects from should definitely be the area of the DOF who should define the principles behind our way of play, and scouts who should scout based on those principles. The absence of this is no fault of the manager.

We've tried the following:
  • Hardworking manager, adept at working on tight budgets, recommended by SAF himself
  • World leading, inventive manager with a unique style but over the hill
  • Ultra-results driven managerial wizard with a formidable trophy hall to boot
  • A club legend who has a deep connection with the club and fans
  • A DOF as an interim manager
  • A modern, progressive rising star of a manager who has proven his credentials at a smaller league, and in the Champions League as well against the big boys.

The first 5 have tried and failed, so for those saying sack, where exactly do you reckon we can go from here?
 
wolvored said:
Look to Arteta. Took 3rd season to fully morph into a top team, with 8th and 5th finishes and he had Obameyang and Ozil to deal with.

We should back TH into the 3rd season regardless of what happens this season. He has finally got one striker that is still a hope rather than a certainty, although I have a good feeling he will be good. He finally has a DM that hasnt played yet. There are another 34 Premier games and even if we did finish 6/7th, (I think we will still finish top 5). I would still give him the 3rd year, otherwise we will be in the same boat again with a new manager who will want a big upheaval again, rinse and repeat .
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More than that. He started in December 2019, so it was about 2 1/2 seasons before they started to click. They finished 8th the season he started and then 8th again in his first full season. Gooners were screaming for his head until their good start to last season.

Lay said:
Are the ones who think he's the one, not concerned at how the team fell off a cliff after the Carabao Cup and have had a lot of capitulations and a terrible away record?
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A paper thin squad with no striker and 60+ fixtures in a condensed schedule will do that.

It's not that people think he's "the one". He's doing a very good job under the circumstances. If your argument is that he should be sacked because he hasn't been a messianic figure who miraculously turned things around in 3 months with minimal transfer spending, then it's on you to point out which available manager is going to do that. I don't think there's anyone on earth who can do that, personally. I can see the thinking behind the transfers and the tactics, and despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth I think the transfer window was actually pretty good. We've done the transfer strategy of spending huge on a hyped up player who'll cover up for 3 holes in the lineup a few times before, it doesn't work.
 
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He's not in the same bracket as Pep or Klopp - a tier below - and my expectations have gone down from "winning the big thing" to "being extremely competitive"
 
He is the one. I wouldn't swap him for any manager (ok, maybe i would be tempted with Klopp and Pep:)) so that says how much i rate him.

But i am against lowering demands regarding him. He must show this season why we hired him. For me; no excuses for him this season.
 
I really like him, want him to stay and believe he could get us challenging again one day but I’m certain he won’t be here in two years.
 
There is no "The One" outside of Pep in the current game. As fans and a club I feel we buy too much into the cult of personality around managers and players, hoping for another Fergie which is an impossible standard. Managers are mythologized before managing a game, well outside of Moyes, and star name players are called the next Cantona, catalyst style player after a couple of decent games.

Ten Hag has a lot to prove, but it way too early to begin exit talk.
 
Bobski said:
There is no "The One" outside of Pep in the current game. As fans and a club I feel we buy too much into the cult of personality around managers and players, hoping for another Fergie which is an impossible standard. Managers are mythologized before managing a game, well outside of Moyes, and star name players are called the next Cantona, catalyst style player after a couple of decent games.

Ten Hag has a lot to prove, but it way too early to begin exit talk.
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I’d argue that Ancelotti is also pretty high up on the “one” list. Agree with all the rest.
 
TheLord said:
He's not in the same bracket as Pep or Klopp - a tier below - and my expectations have gone down from "winning the big thing" to "being extremely competitive"
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No he is not in the same bracket as Pep certainly and Klopp possibly. But he is still very early in his experience in the PL. And I go along with your expectations.
But I have to say that the pressure to succeed with Manchester United is probably above City and Liverpool. Primarily because he will always be compared with the greatest of all time Sir Alex Ferguson.
 
I'm not convinced. Think the only way he succeeds is if Pep clears off and Klopp can't spend any more money on his team. And that's hoping that another great manager doesn't come along to replace either.

I've felt for a while that he'll steady us, perhaps build some sort of standards and improve certain areas of our play, but it will be anther manager that adds the spark to bring it all to life and get us challenging. I also think somebody else will eventually get us playing some exciting football.

I don't really see how anybody can claim he is "the one" based off what we've seen. I suspect many that do are the ones that claimed he was as good as Pep, would bring sexy football with possession and an effective press etc, but aren't willing to admit to the issues.
 
I don't look for a "the one" out of a manager. The moment they start underperforming they need to be questioned and or replaced. Managers do the same with players, by the way.

In regards to Ten Hag, I like him, but I'm just "whelmed". Great home record, contrasted by awful away record. Not great against Top 6. Some heavy, heavy record breaking defeats. Questionable choices in the transfer market, but also gave me Martinez. Ultimately, team still looks disjointed and with no style. Won carabao. Eh. Just "whelmed" like I said, I'm not holding a pitchfork at the ready, but if he was to lose the job I wouldn't necessarily lose sleep over it.
 
Ten Hag’s the one most definitely. A rocky start to the season isn’t going to change that.
I think we’re paying the price of going deep in pretty much every competition in the most unique European season ever personally. We didn’t exactly have the luxury to rotate every week last season either as the squad wasn’t deep enough
 
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