It’s all about the tactical fouls
Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager / awaiting clarity from the club over his position
- Thread starter sewey89
- Start date
Sounds like Martial is close to a return
suicide? Arsenal were on top for large periods. We hit them on the break. We did not dominate these games
That’s the point though surely
toe to toe usually means something different
And how did it end for dominant Arsenal and Liverpool giving the likes of Rashford space.
If you're a manager and you watched that ,you'll play a mid block or low block to deny us that space. That's were we become a dominant side in possession.
No need to double down when everyone bar you gets the point.
Toe to toe means that you go at someone/something directly without precaution. Trex's point was very apt and toe to toe was the correct term.
You're wrong.
We started the season with Fred as a #6 and McT as a #8, but it failed horribly since those positions don't suit either Fred or McTominay.
Fred is way too unreliable as a #6, because he can be pressed off the ball easily + he's not physically imposing there either, whilst McTominay at #8 has to play with his back to goal a lot of times, which doesn't work for him at all and he can't play to his strengths like he can as a #6.
After our first 2 games, ETH put McTominay back into the team as a #6 vs Liverpool and he's been excellent there in the last 4 games.
However, de Jong would've been brought for the #8 role, where Eriksen is our primary choice now. (Fred's been playing as the #8 ever since Ole put McFred together). De Jong would be great as a #8 for us, with either McTominay or Casemiro behind him, but for now, Eriksen is playing great as well. Although I can also see us pursue Bellingham next summer. Confident that we're signing an #8 on top of Eriksen in 2023.
Scott is the 8 and Eriksen the 6, I thought. It‘s all a bit flexible. One goes forward, the other covers.
He played very deep vs Brentford, but after that ten Hag's changed it up. In our last 4 games, McTominay made significantly more interceptions, tackles, etc.
But we won't be able to do that with DDG in goal. That's why ten Hag abandoned his philosophy after Brentford and started playing to the squad's strengths. As soon as we get a new, technical goalkeeper, though, we will start dominating smaller teams. Even Martínez is not as effective as he could be right now, because De Gea is massively hindering our build-up play.
I see what you mean.
Eriksen goes into that position only in possession to progress the ball better than Scott when coming out. But not in defensive phases.
They won't press De Gea, in football a team must give up space somewhere to remain compact, if you press that high up, you're giving up space in behind.
De Gea would have all the time of day to play easy passes to players to the defenders around him.
Beside we've had more possession in every game besides the two big ones.
Which striker could you see in January
We would have to choose between striker and FDJ in January, no way we make two signings
I would have hoped we put this FDJ nonsense to bed.
Only Erik truly knows the answer to that
Doubt very much FDJ is leaving in January. Busquets is set to leave next summer, this is De Jong's chance to prove he should take over. If he hasn't convinced Xavi by next summer he can do the role, he might go then. No way he's going before then though.
It's not necessarily about pressing De Gea, but his distribution being really poor.
You're overstating it...
No, I'm not. City would be crippled with De Gea instead of Ederson, and the Brazilian isn't a world class shot stopper. Same way Arsenal were fecked with Leno in goal. Replacing De Gea will improve us massively.
Maguire is here to stay. Varane can't be relied upon fitness wise and Maguire would jump back in. Sell AWB, Donny and Release Ronaldo.
Bring 1 full back ,1 midfielder and a striker. Anything else would be a bonus. Remember we won't spend this much next year. It would be far less.
Think he was ranked 90th in long range passing accuracy across Europe's top 5 leagues last season.
How difficult is it to play a short pass to Martinez if the opposition block is on the half way line?
I know De Gea isn't ideal but we're stuck with him for now, don't forget he was our goalie under Van gaal when we dominated the ball as well.
He can definitely make do for the time being, but needs an upgrade eventually.
As for LVG, its an interesting point this, if you think back to the LVG era, it was before pressing really landed on these shores (he left as Klopp arrived and before Pep). Teams would all simply let us pass the ball back and forth among our defenders all day long and try and only engage us when we reached the final third.
Now though you get even mid-table teams like Brighton, Brentford and Southampton pressing high, plus of course nearly all the big teams. So the landscape has changed dramatically. Hence the fact that De Gea could play quite happily then, because the only ball he was asked to play was the completely unchallenged short ball to a centre back. The idea of a team like Brentford leaving two strikers inside our penalty area when we took a goal kick was completely unheard of.
He has literally broken Liverpool!!!
Yes this is what we face going forward. Teams are going to be terrified of his passing and will flood the midfield.
I imagine he'll end up running Eriksen next to Casemiro for some redundancy, though Case is no ball distributor by any stretch. But in terms of dealing with the press that will be the challenge for us in the near term, where the team will need to keep improving in their passing/coordination to stay ahead of it.
Damn this bald, blunt Dutchman for making me believe again! 
I guess it just feels like we're steadily moving in the right direction now. I was more or less optimistic about every previous manager so this is all pretty on brand for me. But something does feel different this time...
I guess it just feels like we're steadily moving in the right direction now. I was more or less optimistic about every previous manager so this is all pretty on brand for me. But something does feel different this time...I think this is the first manager since SAF, the United hierarchy actually started to believe in. I am saying this because every time Ten Hag speaks it feels like he is in full control of everything that is happening in the club. For those saying united dont control games; counter attacking is neither Ten Hag's nor Man utd identity but he had to be pragmatic to get results. The possession, building from the back Ajax type football will take some time and few new players
Absolutely. There’s no chance he would of taken the job if he didn’t get full control.
I think Van Gaal and Mourinho were also similar when they had just arrived.
I really like his man/team management. I Meehan, really like it! You have to earn it now.
Reality check. Dreadful performance, terrible result for our Europa league hopes.
This squad just revert to type too easily. Hel need to really pull the weeds here.
Every set of subs tonight made the team worse. Lindelöf to RB was a real poor choice.
We will easily qualify from this group.
Terrible substitutions today. I missed he beginning of the second half. Was there a reason for Dalot and Eriksen substitutions?
Start Ronaldo & Maguire, drop Eriksen = loss
Simple as that. I have no hope foe EFL so hope he takes this as a lesson
Simple as that. I have no hope foe EFL so hope he takes this as a lesson