Flavour of the month? Wow, such a cool Caf cliche. Look at the link I posted with people talking about him joining a European heavyweight back in 2019. Don't dress up your footballing ignorance with ridiculous cliches. Admit you haven't a clue about him and learn from the insightful posters that will spend time educating you.
Would you take Ten Hag at United?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Yes but our incompetent board is reactive rather than proactive so he'll only be considered when he's a raging success at one of our rivals. He'll be the Spurs/Arsenal/Everton manager long before he'll ever get the chance to manage United.
TBF creativity was never part of their strong suit
I miss having a manager with that authority and conviction.
He’s so vogue right now. People will sit here and make snarky comments about how our board won’t consider him because he’s not well known enough etc. But concerns definitely exist over this guy just as they do for Conte and Zidane.
In the same way someone like Conte (who is wrongly perceived as negative, but that’s another thread) would inherit a side that doesn’t fit his system, as would ten Hag. Our players aren’t used to the 433. We haven’t played it under Ole in over 2 seasons. We also have one of, if not the, laziest attack in the league. That’s going to take some doing to start getting them to press.
There’s also the fact that historically Dutch managers have been pretty poor in the PL, as well as recent exports (De Boer; Bosz; Cocu) — all being a bit crap when given an opportunity.
I think the biggest plus for ten Hag is that he looks really good in the CL. That alone probably says he’s a level above those before him. A name we should consider? Most likely. But I don’t think he’s an absolute number 1 on the list at all.
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gut feeling, but I think he’s the type of manager who’d look really good if he ended up at City or Bayern. We don’t do well with this type of manager, generally speaking.
In the same way someone like Conte (who is wrongly perceived as negative, but that’s another thread) would inherit a side that doesn’t fit his system, as would ten Hag. Our players aren’t used to the 433. We haven’t played it under Ole in over 2 seasons. We also have one of, if not the, laziest attack in the league. That’s going to take some doing to start getting them to press.
There’s also the fact that historically Dutch managers have been pretty poor in the PL, as well as recent exports (De Boer; Bosz; Cocu) — all being a bit crap when given an opportunity.
I think the biggest plus for ten Hag is that he looks really good in the CL. That alone probably says he’s a level above those before him. A name we should consider? Most likely. But I don’t think he’s an absolute number 1 on the list at all.
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gut feeling, but I think he’s the type of manager who’d look really good if he ended up at City or Bayern. We don’t do well with this type of manager, generally speaking.
I think this is a cliche. Back before Ole became a permanent manager a certain Marco Rose who was managing Borussia Monchengladbach was considered as one of our targets.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/who-is-marco-rose-wiki-15616079
While the Glazers might not know who Ten Hag is, I'm fairly certain that Woodward, Fletcher and Mortough do.
Same as Marc Rose and Nagelsmann whatever happened to them.
Every option being mentioned carries some sort of risk. It's just a matter of what aspect of a new hire you want to take a risk on.
In Ten Hag's case, there's a lot to like. Very stylish attacking football, strong defensively, uses young players, detail and coaching orientated, got Ajax to the semi-finals of the CL and is at the point in his career where he's about to make the step up to a bigger club (as opposed to being past his best like some previous managers we hired).
The risk is whether he does make that step up or not. With him ticking so many other boxes and being the manager with the biggest upside if he does succeed, that's the risk I'd be happiest taking with a new hire, so he'd be my #1 choice.
In Ten Hag's case, there's a lot to like. Very stylish attacking football, strong defensively, uses young players, detail and coaching orientated, got Ajax to the semi-finals of the CL and is at the point in his career where he's about to make the step up to a bigger club (as opposed to being past his best like some previous managers we hired).
The risk is whether he does make that step up or not. With him ticking so many other boxes and being the manager with the biggest upside if he does succeed, that's the risk I'd be happiest taking with a new hire, so he'd be my #1 choice.
He looks down at his watch, it strikes the hour and his his smile turns to steel. The time for joy is over.
He's a good option, but I'd have him below Marco Rose and Nagelsmann. Though he's probably a lot more attainable than either of those.
Question is would you gamble on a long term option like Ten Hag or a shorter term option like Zidane or Conte...
Question is would you gamble on a long term option like Ten Hag or a shorter term option like Zidane or Conte...
I'll pick him up from the airport myself....
Anyone not named Ole is either: flavour of the month, a hipster manager, too negative (Conte), could only do it with Real (Zidane), unproven (Potter) etc etc. Every managerial appointment obviously carries risks. It's probably best to engage in an actual debate, rather than throw out a stupid baseless cliche. If all of these managers are the above, what exactly is Ole?
I’d love him at United but he just doesn’t seem to fit in to whatever the vision is at OT. Too much United way bollocks always talked about. Folk like Darren Fletcher who have lofty positions at the club (for no justifiable reason) and would be apposed to any such a move. It’s too far from the norm for us.
It would be a bold move but if we’ve given Ole so long whilst playing average football with no reward, the surely we can give this guy a good crack.
It would be a bold move but if we’ve given Ole so long whilst playing average football with no reward, the surely we can give this guy a good crack.
Of course i'd like to see him given a chance. But I'd say there's a big difference between formations and the style of play. Formations are basically used by coaches like him to create extra passing options (rondos) which helps implement his favoured way of playing the game which is to exert zonal and positional control via controlling possession in a vertical axis to progress play. So I wouldn't say we play similar because we use a similar formation. I'd instead say we play very different to Ten Hag's possession orientated approach which is similar to what we're seeing at City under Guardiola.
shut up u eggEric, do you need picking up in the morning, pal?
After seeing what Pep has done with City surely that argument holds no water.
Yep.
Ideal candidate for me.
I wouldn't say that, his great Ajax side was far more direct than any Pep side ever is and it had a big counter attacking element.
Not that I disagree — but Pep had the CV and the gravitas. He was telling Messi what to do, of course the City boys (who are in terms of media coverage etc. quite insignificant anyway) will fall in line. Will Ronaldo do the same to a geezer who currently tells Dusan Tadic and Sebastian Haller how to press? Will ten Hag continue with his principles when Gary Neville does a 40 minute long expose about a comment he made after a game on MNF?
(I’m just playing devils advocate here, I think ten Hag has a lot to like about him, I do think these are valid points to make though)
Well of course. What a question.
At this point he's a need. Give him what he wants. If he wants his friend Overmars to come with, make it happen. We need a guy like him to get us heading in the right direction. Tell him not to forget his midfielders too.
He'd be my dream appointment, but like someone here as already mentioned, probably too sexy and progressive for our board, they'd move heaven and earth to try and bring Zidane in, with Conte as backup.
But would he want to take the job if offered? I mean we don’t have the same structure here as they do in Ajax, right? Even if he does sign for us, wouldn’t the lack of support that he benefits from Ajax work against him?
Yes Please.
Just on the formation part, I don't think that would be the issue as he hasn't exclusively used 4-3-3. He's opted for a 4-2-3-1 before and has recently been using something akin to a 3-1-5-1. His style of football is such that the actual formation is fairly flexible.
As @Adnan indicated in his post above, the real question is how the style itself translates. Whatever the formation, how would we function playing that sort of City-esque possession game?
Ronaldo is a pro and he worked with the likes of Sarri and Pellegrini and I don't remember reading any issues about that. As I mentioned in another post, our squad are saints compared to the likes of Real or Chelsea.
I think part of the whole "You need to be a winner for players to respect you" narrative comes from the Moyes era. I think the reason our players lost all sensible respect for Moyes is because the guy was a tactically limited prick. Imagine being a nobody, coming in and firing the coaching staff that was responsible for all our success and replacing it with some mediocre yes men and replacing tactical nous with cross it till we score Fulham style. I'd be pretty pissed myself Ronaldo or therwise.
Plus I don't think Ten Hag is that dectrated from reality to ask a 36 year old to actively press. If anything, he'll simply adjust his tactics a bit.
Yes, my preferred choice when the inevitable Ole sacking happens.
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These were his most recent comments about his future.
Absolutely. Get him in before he goes to Barca.
Interesting. I honestly couldn't see him turning down the United job.
I said similar, not the same. Both coaches implement a strong positional game (Juego de Posicion) which results in a possession orientated approach. Ten Hag utilising the counter attack shows that he's flexible with his approach and intelligent because he realises his Ajax team likely doesn't have the players to play a imposing game against all and sundry which is a plus for Ten Hag imo. At a bigger club with vastly more resources I can see Ten Hag being potentially even more dominant.
Possibly, but I think Pep is an exceptional case. He’s one of the greatest coaches of all time. He went to Bayern where he didn’t really have any domestic competition, then he went to City who basically said you can have any player in the world to recreate your Tiki Taka style.
Could he recreate his Barca style of play if he came here? I think it would be much more difficult. I have the same questions about Ten Hag recreating his Ajax style here. Not that he’d have to make us a clone. I’m sure he is adaptable and flexible.
If we're not an extraordinary offer then few clubs are.
You would imagine both Barca and City have their eye on him though given his style of play makes him an obvious cultural fit for the former and a fairly natural successor to Pep.
Does rather sound like he's thinking about leaving.
And would ten Hag implement in time to not have the pressures of managing Manchester United (the club with the biggest magnifying glass on it, let’s be real) scrutinising his every move?
Aye, definitely. Given that Rose, Naglelsmann and Tuchel have all been snapped up; he's one of the only viable progressive, forward thinking manages that's still attainable. I doubt he'll still be at Ajax next season, so if we did want him, it would be best to start sounding him out soon.
I'm fairly certain if we approached him to take the reigns he would jump ship. Maybe not midseason, but definitely at the end of the season.
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