Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[DickDastardly]

Wijnaldum and Ox were definitely not duds. Both were pretty solid business for Liverpool.

This ratio of good/flops transfers is far better than anything we have done for the past 10 years. Any manager signs some flops, Guardiola did and Ferguson too, but they got most of their business right, so does Klopp. United are getting most business wrong and very few are hits and this hasn't changed one bit under Ten Hag.

But seriously now, how many players has Erik even bought?

Last year it was Martinez who he wanted, and Malacia. One's good one's a flop.

He wanted Frenkie, got Casemiro instead. Was he Erik's wish?

Eriksen came in for free.

Antony came in as a shit stopping panic buy.

This year it's Onana for DDG who he didn't want, jury's out although it's a good signing.
Hojlund and Amrabat. Also not enough time to see if they're worth it or not.

And Mason Mount. Fine, maybe a miss, but still, early season to see if this works or not.

And we're only 7 games in. And half of them are/were injured.

Let's not forget the Ronaldo shit show, the Greenwood case, the Antony incident still ongoing and the Sancho outburst which may effect his friend Rashford.

That's a lot of shit to take on at the same time.

I say let's see how this works out in the end, but I'd definitely give him this and next season without a shadow of a doubt.

 

[Bwuk]

I like Ten Hag.

But, I think the writing is on the wall. I think he’s lost the dressing room personally.

He’s had a very difficult time here, and had to deal with a lot of issues much bigger than any of our previous managers have.

I think the only real chance we’ve got of turning this is around is a reset, and play the youth. Too many egos not delivering.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Are you including the months during close season?

Ok, we’ve been shit since March. That better? I’m hoping it changes as much as the next person but it’s been painful to watch for months

 

[el3mel]

But seriously now, how many players has Erik even bought?

Last year it was Martinez who he wanted, and Malacia. One's good one's a flop.

He wanted Frenkie, got Casemiro instead. Was he Erik's wish?

Eriksen came in for free.

Antony came in as a shit stopping panic buy.

This year it's Onana for DDG who he didn't want, jury's out although it's a good signing.
Hojlund and Amrabat. Also not enough time to see if they're worth it or not.

And Mason Mount. Fine, maybe a miss, but still, early season to see if this works or not.

And we're only 7 games in. And half of them are/were injured.

Let's not forget the Ronaldo shit show, the Greenwood case, the Antony incident still ongoing and the Sancho outburst which may effect his friend Rashford.

That's a lot of shit to take on at the same time.

I say let's see how this works out in the end, but I'd definitely give him this and next season without a shadow of a doubt.

He signed about 10 players. Basically a full new team. Out of them, only Martinez and Hojlund we can build on for the future. The rest are either flops or short term business as stop gaps.

 

[Rusholme Ruffian]

Ok, we’ve been shit since March. That better?

Well that's more accurate yeah.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

Genuinely wouldn’t trade him for any manager outside of Pep and Klopp. He’s been thrown into and absolute shitshow and had to deal with more drama than anyone could reasonably expect in such a short period of time.
I really fail to see what sackiing him would accomplish, it’s just cutting your nose of to spite your face.

 

[DickDastardly]

He signed about 10 players. Basically a full new team. Out of them, only Martinez and Hojlund we can build on for the future. The rest are either flops or short term business as stop gaps.

Nah. Not even close to a full new team.

Signed:
Malacia
Martinez
Casemiro
Antony

Mount
Onana
Hojlund
Amrabat

The rest are loans or free transfers.

And the last 4 have played maybe 3 games together ffs.
And Amrabat as a left back.

Come on, let's get some reality in here.

 

[Leftback99]

Don't make me dredge up a million of your posts again

Go for it. I'd love to see you find a single post where I say we should be worried about Ole walking away from the club or anything remotely along those lines.

 

[Sarni]

Watch us Destroy Galatasaray with Rashford and Bruno on the bench and then ETH will revert to using them again next weekend. A good manager has to adapt, has to be humble enough to know that plan A won't always work and also has to have the balls to drop big players for the betterment of the team. The next few days will be crucial. If Rashford starts any of our next two games then I'm fully ETH out!

I get that we beat Crystal Palace B team without Bruno and Rashford which has made everyone think we would instantly become the best team in the world if we simply benched both of them but that’s not really an issue here. The team we fielded mid-week would likely lose against full strength Palace team playing at close to a 100% that we saw today.

 

[Rightnr]

Don't make me dredge up a million of your posts again

No need. Happy to confirm he's a founding member of the OGS cheerleaders.

He was borderline bullying anyone daring to criticise his (if I am not mistaken) countryman and even going back to last season he was trying to criticise based on some dumb logic when we were doing well.

Having said that, EtH is definitely in the danger zone but this guy should be no authority on the matter.

 

[Sarni]

Might have "felt" that way but in reality was never a contest. They had one small patch after 25 minutes and they profited.
EtH got bested by a geriatric Hodgson playing 90's Catenaccio.

It’s actually shocking that we created so little with 77% possession.

 

[El Jefe]

The main reason we were happy when he joined was for us to finally play front foot attacking football where we look like a team particularly in possession.

He’s been dreadful in that respect so what’s the point of keeping him. We were better off keeping Ole and letting him rebuild.

I’ve seen enough that he doesn’t know what it takes to win in this league. His squad building and tactics are getting worse and this is what confirms he’s no good. Pep and Klopp used the first season to know what was needed to implement the exact style they wanted and they were flying from the second season

Ten Hag has only caused more confusion with his summer buys and the tactics he’s adopting. We look like a team that doesn’t really know what it’s doing and that is reflective of the manager and his decision making.

 

[DickDastardly]

Also:

Malacia - injured
Martinez - injured
Casemiro - slow starter
Antony - rape charges

Mount - injured after two games or so
Onana
Hojlund - came injured - 2 games so far
Amrabat - came injured, playing as a left back

 

[Zlatan 7]

Well that's more accurate yeah.

So 7 months ago?
instead of coming in here with your snidey comments why don’t you tell us how you feel about the football, how we’re playing, what you expect? Are you happy?

 

[el3mel]

Nah. Not even close to a full new team.

Signed:
Malacia
Martinez
Casemiro
Antony

Mount
Onana
Hojlund
Amrabat

The rest are loans or free transfers.

And the last 4 have played maybe 3 games together ffs.
And Amrabat as a left back.

Come on, let's get some reality in here.

Loans and free transfers don't count now? Amarabat is a loan too, by the way.

The reality is he spent 400m in 2 summers and these are results. He splashed 60m on Casemiro, close to 70m on Antony and 60m on Mount, plus 64m on Hojlund. How much of this money could have been used better?

What other reality do you want to force on this?

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Also:

Malacia - injured
Martinez - injured
Casemiro - slow starter
Antony - rape charges

Mount - injured after two games or so
Onana
Hojlund - came injured - 2 games so far
Amrabat - came injured, playing as a left back

Rape charges? Let's not start making things up.

 

[DickDastardly]

Koop used the first season to know what was needed to implement the exact style they wanted.

Some of you really love rewriting history.

Klopp finished 8th in his first season.
4th in his second season
4th in his third season

 

[el3mel]

Some of you really love rewriting history.

Klopp finished 8th in his first season.
4th in his second season
4th in his third season

That first season he got the job midway during the campaign without the luxury of spending any money in transfer business.

In his 3rd year he was playing a CL final.

 

[TMDaines]

I like Ten Hag.

But, I think the writing is on the wall. I think he’s lost the dressing room personally.

I don’t see much evidence of him having lost the dressing room. The players are working hard out there, but they could work even harder still and it would make little difference. Our football is so inefficient and disjointed that we’re worse than the sum of our parts. I don’t think you could get our players to explain our philosophy or approach currently. How do we want to score goals?

 

[The Hilton]

To be fair it’s not the fans job to choose a replacement. They can still say they are unhappy with the current manager. We’re going through a 7 month tough spell so people are blind to be asking questions and having doubt

The very premise of thinking a manager isn't doing a good enough job and should be sacked relies on thinking another manager could do a better job. It's a requirement for the opinion to be rational. Fan or not. Without an alternative, it's just reactionary.

 

[DickDastardly]

Loans and free transfers don't count now? Amarabat is a loan too, by the way.

The reality is he spent 400m in 2 summers and these are results. He splashed 60m on Casemiro, close to 70m on Antony and 60m on Mount, plus 64m on Hojlund. How much of this money could have been used better?

What other reality do you want to force on this?

I wouldn't count them no, seeing as he didn't buy any of those loanees.

Mount and Hojlund played for 180 minutes maybe and you're already signing them off as flops?!

While Nunez and Gakpo are some solid buys?

Feck me.

The reality is, where 7 games in. With a injured and shitty squad.
Give the man a break ffs

 

[Leftback99]

No need. Happy to confirm he's a founding member of the OGS cheerleaders.

He was borderline bullying anyone daring to criticise his (if I am not mistaken) countryman and even going back to last season he was trying to criticise based on some dumb logic when we were doing well.

Having said that, EtH is definitely in the danger zone but this guy should be no authority on the matter.

No need because you've got no chance of finding such nonsense.
Bullying
All you'll find is me consistently saying we won't improve under the next manager until we get recruitment right (said the same under Mourinho). Looks like I'm being proven right (again).

As for 'dumb logic' criticism when we were doing well. I merely pointed out that our attacking play was very underwhelming around Feb/Mar time and got a load of abuse for it. Guess everyone has caught up with what I could see now.

 

[Mercurial]

It’s actually shocking that we created so little with 77% possession.

Any team could get fecked by a well oiled Catenaccio I guess, but this was a dumpsterfire. Hodgson made Mourinho proud today.

 

[Sarni]

Does anyone here remember Jurgen Klopp's first team? The likes of Mignolet, Clyne Alberto Moreno, Lucas, Sakho, etc?

They were fecking dross.

He cycled through the shit players, changed three goalkeepers to get to Alisson, replaced his whole starting line up in 4+ years to get to the title.

And you're judging a coach who's here for a year and a half and has bought 6,7 players or so and has half of them injured?

Yes the results are bad and yes the play is also bad but come on, it takes time. And it takes money.

But above all, it takes patience.

It’s a bit of a myth. Klopp was appointed mid-season and struggled the first few months but still showed signs of being a brilliant manager. Mere weeks after he joined he got them to win 3-1 at Chelsea and 4-1 at City, took them to a Europa League final. His first full season he took them to 4th and the first time he was with them in CL he got them to the final. There was never this extremely long transition period where they looked inept, they weren’t instantly amazing but they were improving and had a sense of direction.

The idea that any manager will become good if given enough time has been with us since Moyes and is blatantly false. Most managers don’t turn it around.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Some of you really love rewriting history.

Klopp finished 8th in his first season.
4th in his second season
4th in his third season

Think that was his point, klopp didn't care about position in his first season, and just forced his style on the team.

 

[el3mel]

I wouldn't count them no, seeing as he didn't buy any of those loanees.

Mount and Hojlund played for 180 minutes maybe and you're already signing them off as flops?!

While Nunez and Gakpo are some solid buys?

Feck me.

The reality is, where 7 games in. With a injured and shitty squad.
Give the man a break ffs

Yet you counted Amarabat despite being a loan.

I didn't count both as flops but the money spent on all these 4 players could have spent better. Hojlund is a 20 years old boy who suddenly wake up in the morning to find himself 64m main striker for Manchester United. Ridiculous transfer strategy.

We didn't need Mount and he adds nothing of value to the team regardless of being a good player or not. We have no clue how to shoehorn him in the squad and are just forcing him into a midfield trio that's clearly not working. United would have been better off spending all this money on a reliable attacker instead, or a midfielder that actually complements Casmeiro and Bruno better. Similarly, United would have been better off spending Casmeiro money on a long term defensive midfielder instead of someone who already looks like he's on his last leg. Not to mention Antony.

Ten Hag got ton of money but wasted most of them on players that simply don't help the team, or are just stop gaps for two years at most

I like how the number of games keep increasing every week. One month ago it was "just 3 games in, be a little patient you entitled pricks". Now it's "just 7 games, keep patient". Anyway, as we said millions of times, the team has been shit since March and not just these 7 games. We ended last season on a negative tone and we are just continuing from where we stopped.

 

[golden_blunder]

Ok. Not in a good position. Let's see if he can turn it around. I have high hopes for him.

Doesn't seem to hard. Just needs to reward good games and good attitudes.

Yes, the left back conundrum is a bit silly. I'd rather he play a u19 left back then slot Amrabat there.

Get Garnacho on. Get Mejbri on. Play Amrabat in the middle. Play Bruno on his position. Play Antony on rw.

Start winning ffs.

The u21 team just got walloped 8-1 by Bolton. There is nothing to find there

 

[Zlatan 7]

The very premise of thinking a manager isn't doing a good enough job and should be sacked relies on thinking another manager could do a better job. It's a requirement for the opinion to be rational. Fan or not. Without an alternative, it's just reactionary.

Fair enough but surely there’s lots that could probably do a better job at getting the team to play some decent football. Doesn’t mean the fan needs to know who those managers are. Most didn’t know much about ten hag other than a few Ajax champions league games

 

[pratyush_utd]

The midfield was not a problem today. We had 77% possession and this was a lot to do with the work of our two high 8s. The midfield worked okay and will work fine when the whole team is used to our set up.

No-one likes losing but you’re pinning the blame on the wrong guys.

Keeping ball without creating anything. I am not pinning the blame but the balance of the midfield was not correct. We might have had 80% possession but we never looked in control and never looked like we will score. It was more of recycling possession and trying to push through passes to attacking players.

Its a shame that Eriksen legs are gone and we bought no one to play his role

 

[Conor]

You can't concede first again these teams, you're absolutely fecked if you do.

 

[El Jefe]

Some of you really love rewriting history.

Klopp finished 8th in his first season.
4th in his second season
4th in his third season

This is as disingenuous as it gets.

Liverpool finished 6th and 8th in the two years before with points totals of 62 and 60. In his first full season he finished 4th with 76 points. The year after 4th and a CL final.

The main point was Klopp knew exactly what he needed to progress in the PL and what type of players he needed for his style of play. Two things ten Hag seems absolutely lost on.

 

[Yorkeontop]

Has he signed some possession hog? No. Our manager just needs the courage to carry out his vision, it's a fallen United, he needs plenty of it.

 

[r0663664]

Have they though?

Season One:
Antony- some alright moment, mostly poor. Chased all summer and over spent by £20/30m.
Martinez- I’ll give you this one, good signing.
Casemiro- world class before he arrived, now on the decline.
Malacia- started okay, can’t remember to many standout moments though.
Eriksen- some good moments, many more bad.
Sabizter (loan)- come and went without doing anything.
Dubravka (loan)- waste of time
Butland (loan)- waste of time
Weghourst (loan)- worst player to ever wear the shirt.

Season Two:
Onana- he can pass, his ability to keep the ball out of net is questionable. Is he really much of an improvement on Dave?
Mount- causes more of a headache in terms of team selection and has yet justified his fee.
Højlund- might turn out to be a good signing but as of yet, jury is out.
Bayindir- who knows, pointless signing and for more money than we sold Kovar.
Evans- nostalgia signing.
Amrabat (loan)- again, might turn out decent but as of yet hasn’t set the world alight.
Reguilon (loan) has been possibly the best summer signing despite being on loan, 30th choice left back and seemingly forgotten about by Tottenham.

In summary, there’s more bad than good when it comes to ETH signings and given the vast amount of money he’s spent, that’s really disappointing.

I don’t watch Dutch football so I thought great but when they started playing, I thought to myself that Antony was just average player. Martinez started badly and recover but this season he is shit,no question about it. Mount could score shit is friendly against low quality opponents, how is he planning to score against a good one. Rashford was pretty bad in preseason and continue his shit form. Onana aren't really better David, how many has him conceded. I really think ETH stubbornness will get him no where. This club is crisis because there is shit leadership at the top. Why McTominay and Maguire is still part of the squad? Why did we pay top dollars for average players? Antony, Mount, Onana? Why do we buy players when they are injure in the first place? Amrabat and Hoijund? Why do we gamble on players who aren't even one of the best? Antony and Hoijund? Many questions with very little answers. Every OT games, fan turns up to watch shit serve with by the players and manager. I really hope that it see an empty stadium in the next few matches, this will send a message to Glazers that it is time to get out of the club. This is turning into a joke club of the decade and it isn't funny.

 

[Smithy89]

He's just not very good or elite anyway.

His in-game management is some of the worst I've seen in my lifetime at United, man management doesn't seem to be all that, we don't even play good stuff, in fact we are one of the worst teams to watch in the league, with questionable talent ID. I don't think he could even tell anyone his preferred 11 or how he wants to play, we haven't had a distinct way of playing in so long, we're still relying on moments and individual performances. He's just having a bit of a mare really and all in all seems quite uninspiring.

 

[Yorkeontop]

The system needs him to make some big decisions. The ball is to be shared and moved along, he needs to have the courage to realise who does this best.

 

[Ubik]

This is as disingenuous as it gets.

Liverpool finished 6th and 8th in the two years before with points totals of 62 and 60. In his first full season he finished 4th with 76 points. The year after 4th and a CL final.

The main point was Klopp knew exactly what he needed to progress in the PL and what type of players he needed for his style of play. Two things ten Hag seems absolutely lost on.

You can't accuse someone of being disingenuous and come out with this. He was appointed October 2015 when they were 10th after 8 games, they finished 8th. The two prior seasons were 2nd in 13/14 and 6th in 14/15.

 

[sglowrider]

I was a big fan of him last year and ignored some red flags. But this season i have no sympathy or excuses for him.
He wasted 200 mil euros on wrong players and instead making step forward this year, we made 2 steps back.
He was backed like no manager was. Ever. So all this mess is on him. Not on Glazers, not on luck or injuries. 100% on him.

This. 100%

 

[TMDaines]

It makes no sense that ETH correctly identified that it was essential for United to have a fit LB, so we got Reguilon in on loan, but once Reguilon is also injured, we play a midfielder at LB and get him to cosplay as Zinchenko, completely vacating the left flank. You can’t go from Shaw, Malacia or Reguilon supporting Rashford, Garnacho or Sancho to not even having a warm body there.

Same principle as having Weghost up front or Antony on the right. Someone doing the basic support work, even if their personal output is underwhelming, is far, far better than nothing.

 

[zapp]

But seriously now, how many players has Erik even bought?

Last year it was Martinez who he wanted, and Malacia. One's good one's a flop.

He wanted Frenkie, got Casemiro instead. Was he Erik's wish?

Eriksen came in for free.

Antony came in as a shit stopping panic buy.

This year it's Onana for DDG who he didn't want, jury's out although it's a good signing.
Hojlund and Amrabat. Also not enough time to see if they're worth it or not.

And Mason Mount. Fine, maybe a miss, but still, early season to see if this works or not.

And we're only 7 games in. And half of them are/were injured.

Let's not forget the Ronaldo shit show, the Greenwood case, the Antony incident still ongoing and the Sancho outburst which may effect his friend Rashford.

That's a lot of shit to take on at the same time.

I say let's see how this works out in the end, but I'd definitely give him this and next season without a shadow of a doubt.

Very few, if any, managers get all of their 1st choice transfer targets.

How about going for a different player of similar footballing profile to Frenkie rather than chase him all summer when it was clear early on he wasn't keen on leaving Barcelona?

Certain posters were saying the recruitment structure was being revamped so it made sense to go with the managers targets. Fair enough. How about trying for a similar player this summer with the recruitment structure in place? Instead he's gone in a different direction with Mount and it's not working so far.

You're arguing for patience but Ten Hag will have to earn it. So far things are eerily similar to the worst periods under Ole. Favourites that have to be removed from the squad by external forces or they'll continually be given game time over alternatives. Poor game management. Poor subs. Poor timing of subs. Lack of rotation (going back to last season).

If the reason we're losing games is wastefulness in possession by the usual culprits. Don't keep picking them to start games! Give younger guys a chance especially when they've put on a good display a few days prior.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

I was a big fan of him last year and ignored some red flags. But this season i have no sympathy or excuses for him.
He wasted 200 mil euros on wrong players and instead making step forward this year, we made 2 steps back.
He was backed like no manager was. Ever. So all this mess is on him. Not on Glazers, not on luck or injuries. 100% on him.

True. Enough with the excuses.