Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[redshaw]

I'd be playing Eriksen in Bruno's spot as much as he can, hopefully ETH saw it today.

Eriksen is such a lovely creator, no-one has his finesse and should be back in his old position. Bruno needs to be watching on and seeing how it's done.

Perhaps Bruno is done and peaked. I know he's been liable before but he was so much better for us in the 18 mohts and at Sporting, very disciplined, accurate shots, goals. He looks like he's running around for us with shin splints, perhaps overplayed mentally and physically and stuck in a rut. I keep thinking a good coach will reign him in as I've seen what he can do for Sporting and us before but perhaps it's beyond coaching now?

Would've loved Maddison to phase him out.

A better use of funds we could've had a strong squad this year, Bruno is one of many problems.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

I disagree with this for the most part. feck possession. Right now, it’s LVG style possession without creating chances.

The fancy way of saying it is patterns of play, but it’s really fundamental stuff. We’re so focused on being the cool team who has lots of possession, with pinched fullbacks, building possession in midfield, line breaking passes, blah blah blah. Get the ball to your wingers, encourage them to go 1v1, get to the end line, cut the ball back, utilize overlapping fullbacks, use classic wing play instead of inverted wing play.

Look, Pep has focused on possession, but he’s all about movement and search for 3v2s and 2v1s, but he also encourages his wingers to go at people. The obsession with possession football is ridiculous. Most teams can’t execute it consistently save Barca and Bayern.

We had barely more possession against Galatasaray, at home, in fact, the only games this season where we've had more possession than the opponent is Wolves, Forest, and Palace x2, 3 of which we won. Our number 10 who was playing as a winger gave the ball away 27 times, our DM gave it away 18 times, our other midfielder who was having a decent game gave it away 10 times. This team is patently not safe on the ball. How the feck is that LvG style?

You arent creating chances when every 2nd or 3rd passes turn into loss of possession. We need to ditch this stone age mentality of trying to get the ball up the pitch with as few passes as possible as our primary means of chance creation, this is what we've been trying to do for a long time, it's not working.

 

[The Hilton]

We will have to agree to disagree on the signings but I am with you on the direction and succession. It would be so easy to bring in a Mourinho clone and revert to low block fast paced breaks and we would probably get a CL qualification or two but we will be back to square one the moment teams find us out or we try to challenge for the bigger honors.

If ETH is to go we need a better coach of the same school but the problem with the club right now is that it is stuck in paralysis and I can't see anyone having a clear head to cooly identify the next guy in the midst of this crisis. Murtough, for one, will be lucky to survive this disaster or have the same leeway he had in choosing ETH.

Feels like we have to forget about any achievables this term, get Erik to do an Artetasque clean up job for 18 months and hopefully emerge with a younger, leaner squad. Just changing the manager feels like a 'been there, done that' scenario because say we get Di Zerbi in, he will need 5 to 8 players at 50m each, which the Glazers can't afford and by the 2nd summer he has fallen into the trap of relying on the Bruno hero ball and a Rashford purple patch. The moment those two feel comfortable, the team will be exposed and another manager will be done again.

There are painful things that will need to be done to undo the recent and long standing errors underpinning this malaise. We should let Erik do the clean up, he fecked anyway so we might as well use him to clear the decks. We shouldnt lie to ourselves that there is a manager who is like a silver bullet to our issues because this team is broken to the core, its been traumatised far too many times and some attitudes just stink which will undermine any new manager in due course.

De Zerbi hasn't been anywhere even close to the level of pressure at United. He was fired by Sassuolo and got Benevento relegated, and now at Brighton he's doing well but it's still effectively a free hit for him. Bringing him in would be a complete change of direction, as well as a frankly irresponsible punt on a completely unproven manager. I'd much rather ETH stay, as I see the building blocks of something really good, but if he does go then we have to bring in someone who can build on top of those blocks.

 

[Melvin_]

Just seen this on Twitter.

Records broken so far this season -

- Galatasaray hadn't won a game on English soil in 117 years of existing, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United had never lost the opening 2 CL group games, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United had never conceded 7 goals in the opening 2 CL group games, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United had never conceded 3+ goals in back to back CL games, until Erik Ten Hag
- Galatasaray hadn't scored in or won an away goal in the CL since 2015, 3 in one game as soon as they meet Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United hadn't lost 4 of the opening 7 games in PL history, until Erik Ten Hag
- Manchester United haven't had as few as 9 points from the opening 7 games since 1989, until Erik Ten Hag
- Manchester United hadn't conceded 4 goals in a CL group game in 28 years, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United hadn't conceded 3+ goals in 3 consecutive games since 1978, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United had never lost at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United hadn't lost the opening two away games since 1973-74, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United hadn't conceded more than one goal in 4 consecutive league games since 1979, Until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United had never conceded 2 goals in the opening 4 minutes of a PL game at Old Trafford, Until Erik Ten Hag
- Manchester United had never conceded 23 shots in one game at Old Trafford in PL history, Until Erik Ten Hag
- Brighton had never won twice in a row at Old Trafford, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United hadn't lost 6 of their first 10 games in all competitions since 1986, until Erik Ten Hag.
- Manchester United hadn't conceded 18 goals in the opening 10 games since 1967, until Erik Ten Hag.

 

[AneRu]

De Zerbi hasn't been anywhere even close to the level of pressure at United. He was fired by Sassuolo and got Benevento relegated, and now at Brighton he's doing well but it's still effectively a free hit for him. Bringing him in would be a complete change of direction, as well as a frankly irresponsible punt on a completely unproven manager. I'd much rather ETH stay, as I see the building blocks of something really good, but if he does go then we have to bring in someone who can build on top of those blocks.

De Zerbi was just an example but I agree that we need to see out the season but Erik himself needs to show something. We are falling prey to familiar issues like tactical indiscipline, lack of effort and concentration and he is just watching and playing the same players. He needs to rein in the big players because their wastefulness in possession is costing us.

Defensive collapses are to be expected given the number of injuries we are nursing but there is no excuse for zero effort or just losing our collective heads. The leadership nucleus has to change and shift it to calmer players who react well to adversity. I agree with the poster above that suggested benching Bruno for Eriksen as he is a fine creator with a calm head.

 

[Licha-Vidic]

I'm still on the fence about this. On one hand you can point to the Palace cup game and say look how great we are without them. On the other hand, Bruno is the reason we beat Burnley.

.

Burnley game Bruno had only 19 completed passes. 19 passes. He attempted 34 passes. He lost the ball 15 times. He had 55% completion rate.

19 passes, is as poor as they come even for Bruno standard who's very poor in passes.

But he scored a goal, you know. We couldn't win without Bruno.

When people will know with Bruno, the juice is not worth the squeeze anymore it will be too too late.

With Bruno we already reached the Point Of the Diminishing Returns around 2021.

The team needs to evolve and mutate into something else, we can't be playing the same way we used in 2021,2022,2023 it's just 3 months we go in to 2024.

2024 Still with Bruno playing Hollywood passes, naaah.

 

[Thom Merrilin]

.

Burnley game Bruno had only 19 completed passes. 19 passes. He attempted 34 passes. He lost the ball 15 times. He had 55% completion rate.

19 passes, is as poor as they come even for Bruno standard who's very poor in passes.

But he scored a goal, you know. We couldn't win without Bruno.

When people will know with Bruno, the juice is not worth the squeeze anymore it will be too too late.

With Bruno we already reached the Point Of the Diminishing Returns around 2021.

The team needs to evolve and mutate into something else, we can't be playing the same way we used in 2021,2022,2023 it's just 3 months we go in to 2024.

2024 Still with Bruno playing Hollywood passes, naaah.

I get what you're saying, I really do. I was hesitant when he first came to the club. My friend told me he had a pass completion of 76% in his last full season in Portugal. After I heard that I was worried.

Since then, I've seen how he can win games on his own. Because of that I still like him and hope he fits into ETH's vision.

 

[Jordan_mufc]

I get what you're saying, I really do. I was hesitant when he first came to the club. My friend told me he had a pass completion of 76% in his last full season in Portugal. After I heard that I was worried.

Since then, I've seen how he can win games on his own. Because of that I still like him and hope he fits into ETH's vision.

Not for me unfortunately. I mean take a look at all of the top teams around the world. Which one has a player in the starting 11 that is as sloppy in possession as Bruno?

Bayern - No
Real - No
City- No
Liverpool (18-21) - No
Barcelona - No

The list goes on, it's blindingly obvious to see that you cannot carry a player that consistently causes turnovers and puts the team in trouble.

Add to that Rashford on the other wing giving the ball away for fun, and a slow Casemiro playing the single pivot and you have a recipe for disaster.

 

[Thom Merrilin]

Not for me unfortunately. I mean take a look at all of the top teams around the world. Which one has a player in the starting 11 that is as sloppy in possession as Bruno?

Bayern - No
Real - No
City- No
Liverpool (18-21) - No
Barcelona - No

The list goes on, it's blindingly obvious to see that you cannot carry a player that consistently causes turnovers and puts the team in trouble.

Add to that Rashford on the other wing giving the ball away for fun, and a slow Casemiro playing the single pivot and you have a recipe for disaster.

Fair points. I could argue some of those teams have had players at least similar to Bruno though.

Bayern - Robben, Ribery

Real - CR7 or the Ramos and Pepe back line.

Barca - Neymar, Ronaldinho, Ibra.

 

[Jerry Garcia]

I loved Erik when he first came in because he had the balls to drop the underperforming players, no matter what their status at the club was, and it turned our form around straight away.

So why he's showing loyalty now to underperforming players now is very frustrating, and will probably end up getting him the sack.

I couldn’t agree more. I’m not really sure why he’s changed that aspect. It’s really concerning to me.

 

[stefan92]

Fair points. I could argue some of those teams have had players at least similar to Bruno though.

Bayern - Robben, Ribery

Real - CR7 or the Ramos and Pepe back line.

Barca - Neymar, Ronaldinho, Ibra.

All of them were much more reliable in their passing. They lost balls when trying to dribble or score, but that happened when they had to.

Bruno tries the difficult pass all the time no matter if that makes sense in the situation.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

Maybe it's blind faith but I still think we can qualify to the next stage by beating Galatasaray at their home with better GD. BM will walk into last 16.

 

[Thom Merrilin]

All of them were much more reliable in their passing. They lost balls when trying to dribble or score, but that happened when they had to.

Bruno tries the difficult pass all the time no matter if that makes sense in the situation.

Yeah that's fair. I guess I don't see the difference between an attempted pass or attempted dribble, as long as they both have the same frequency of success. Ribery and Robben especially were not consistent but their risk taking occurred high up the pitch usually. That's where Bruno shines as well, high up the pitch.

 

[pocco]

Until we realize it is the players, things will never change. And I am not talking about ETH's signings, even if some are poor. There remains a core of players who have been here for years and simply drag down the team and it seems the dressing room. Some of them are only bit part now, but they are still here and I think they impact moral and quality. Then the whole structure of the club also plays a part. I stand by belief that ETH will go on to win everything if he leaves United. In my opinion, leaving would be the best move for him but not the club as it will just be recycle and repeat with the next manager. For the last three managers, the team has had a hint of success and then downed tools.

Based on what, exactly? This self depreciating piss about managers being too good for us needs to end. This guy was handed a golden ticket, got to spend more than he's ever spent, came in to talented players who just needed steering, everything. It's on him that he's made such a mess. If he leaves now he'll maybe get the Bayern job one day but nothing better. If he stays too much longer then he'll not get another top job.

This is the worst of them all. This was an easy game we bottled completely because one of his signings fecked us up.

Not just on mistakes. We had no control of an easily controlled game, as per usual. It was kamikaze stuff at times, a complete mess. When you allow games to play out like this then you are opening up the possibility of things going wrong.

Amrabat is a midfielder filling in at left back I find it hard to blame him.

According to ETH, he was viewed as an option at full back when we signed him. Another great vision of ETH, to go with his vision of Bruno at RW, Casemiro alone in midfield, and Weghorst at no10.

Really dislike a lot of the fan base at times like this. ETH isn't a useless manager and last season oversaw the most progress we've made since Ferguson retired. We've become so entitled and blinded to the rot at the top.

I do think he'll probably resign or be sacked. Things have gotten bad and the Glazer's will want a scapegoat which plenty of posters on RedCafe will gladly lap up. I think that'll be the wrong decision as we'll just be in the same position next year or the year after.

We've had a few as good or better seasons since Fergie.

I don't think the players "have completely given up". They are trying hard, but they are not world class players. We have spent 400 million on average players. And ETH doesn't really help. For example, last year ETH was constantly playing Wout, who was useless. People make excuses, that Wout is running and trying. However, you need your striker to score goals, not to just run around like a headless chicken. But ETH seemed happy with that. This year, again we have Mount and we don't know what to do with him. ETH just moves Bruno around, trying to accommodate first Wout, now Mount. This is not a good plan.

After spending 400 million you expect to get at least a couple of world-class players, but didn't get any. We only have average players. And an average manager.

Wout at no10 was the writing on the wall for me that ETH was not only stubborn, but stubborn about completely shit ideas. Sign of a poor manager/ coach and it will grate the players before long, if not already. The worst thing was our fans acting like it was great, just because they thought we had the new Pep and therefore any weird idea was automatically great. Thankfully everybody got fed up eventually.

This is utterly false. We looked extremely cohesive on the pitch tonight, and were undone by terrible errors from Dalot, Onana, and Lindelof.

That was cohesive? You really need to watch more football if you think that. Honestly it was a dogs dinner and we had little control. Constantly giving the ball away. Reliance on hopeful long balls and counters.

Their first goal, our attack completely sits off their defenders on the ball, almost on the half way line. They play a long ball and are 1v1 with our last defender. How does that happen? Our team isn't pressing, yet we're wide open with a high line. We're a compete mess.

Right now a few people are still saying they think ETH can turn it around. And by turn it around I'm guessing they mean stop losing all the time. But the bigger picture is that we should have been closer to what arsenal were last season. A reasonable challenge even if we do eventually drop off. To go from getting beat regularly, to being the best team in the country/Europe is a step that ETH simply won't be able to make. And that's what we really should be expecting, not avoiding defeat to dross teams.

 

[sglowrider]

Should keep him and give him time. Should send a signal to the players that they won’t get what they want by downing tools.

Will be interesting how long this line will hold if we don't win our next 3 games before City -- games we expect and need to win.

 

[r0663664]

ETH needs another 200 million to undo his wrong. He needs to sign 2 CB, 1 GK, 1 RW, RB and 1 backup ST. Oh, 200 million isn't enough he needs 500 million. Pray Glazer to sell, this club will go no way except down. It would be funny that we get relegated.

 

[RedDevil@84]

I'm still on the fence about this. On one hand you can point to the Palace cup game and say look how great we are without them. On the other hand, Bruno is the reason we beat Burnley.

Neither am I, but something needs to change.

 

[Thom Merrilin]

Based on what, exactly? This self depreciating piss about managers being too good for us needs to end. This guy was handed a golden ticket, got to spend more than he's ever spent, came in to talented players who just needed steering, everything. It's on him that he's made such a mess. If he leaves now he'll maybe get the Bayern job one day but nothing better. If he stays too much longer then he'll not get another top job.



Not just on mistakes. We had no control of an easily controlled game, as per usual. It was kamikaze stuff at times, a complete mess. When you allow games to play out like this then you are opening up the possibility of things going wrong.



According to ETH, he was viewed as an option at full back when we signed him. Another great vision of ETH, to go with his vision of Bruno at RW, Casemiro alone in midfield, and Weghorst at no10.



We've had a few as good or better seasons since Fergie.



Wout at no10 was the writing on the wall for me that ETH was not only stubborn, but stubborn about completely shit ideas. Sign of a poor manager/ coach and it will grate the players before long, if not already. The worst thing was our fans acting like it was great, just because they thought we had the new Pep and therefore any weird idea was automatically great. Thankfully everybody got fed up eventually.



That was cohesive? You really need to watch more football if you think that. Honestly it was a dogs dinner and we had little control. Constantly giving the ball away. Reliance on hopeful long balls and counters.

Their first goal, our attack completely sits off their defenders on the ball, almost on the half way line. They play a long ball and are 1v1 with our last defender. How does that happen? Our team isn't pressing, yet we're wide open with a high line. We're a compete mess.

Right now a few people are still saying they think ETH can turn it around. And by turn it around I'm guessing they mean stop losing all the time. But the bigger picture is that we should have been closer to what arsenal were last season. A reasonable challenge even if we do eventually drop off. To go from getting beat regularly, to being the best team in the country/Europe is a step that ETH simply won't be able to make. And that's what we really should be expecting, not avoiding defeat to dross teams.

Bolded gave me a chuckle, thanks for that.

 

[lex talionis]

One thing we've learned is that ETH is not a great judge of talent. He got it right with Martinez and Hojlund, but his other acquisitions are questionable at best. And his insistence on playing certain players regardless of form is hard to stomach. He's been dealt a cruel blow with injuries -- we all know that he's lost THREE LBs now -- and any fair assessment has to acknowledge that, but doubts about his ability to get his players to perform at an acceptable level are growing.

 

[Thom Merrilin]

One thing we've learned is that ETH is not a great judge of talent. He got it right with Martinez and Hojlund, but his other acquisitions are questionable at best. And his insistence on playing certain players regardless of form is hard to stomach. He's been dealt a cruel blow with injuries -- we all know that he's lost THREE LBs now -- and any fair assessment has to acknowledge that, but doubts about his ability to get his players to perform at an acceptable level are growing.

If you're judging him on his ability to see talent alone then I'd argue he's perhaps the best we've had SAF.

If you ignore transfer fees, how many of his transfers have been failures?

 

[RedDevil@84]

Should keep him and give him time. Should send a signal to the players that they won’t get what they want by downing tools.

There is no proof that the players are deliberately downing tools. And even if we assume they are, players would continue downing the tools and picking up their checks. They wouldn't care as long as they are paid.

 

[TsuWave]

I still think there's something there with him, if I'm honest. I do think he's a manager with potential, but he's just making some really unforced errors - and unfortunately for him, managers have to be assessed on results, especially after spending the outlay he's spent. I saw some good things today, before the usual collapse.

I'm just "whelmed" by him. I expected more and it's just been bleh. I won't exactly cry if he gets the chop, but I do hope he turns it around

 

[The United]

How can Onana play the way he did vs Man City in terms of passing in the CL final vs now, where every match he seems to pass/lob more and more hailmarys up top?

The answer is that every players can play a blinder once in a while.

 

[Thom Merrilin]

I still think there's something there with him, if I'm honest. I do think he's a manager with potential, but he's just making some really unforced errors - and unfortunately for him, managers have to be assessed on results, especially after spending the outlay he's spent. I saw some good things today, before the usual collapse.

I'm just "whelmed" by him. I expected more and it's just been bleh. I won't exactly cry if he gets the chop, but I do hope he turns it around

I tend to agree with your posts, the bolded however is a sticking point for me. No modern manager should have full authority over transfers. That failing lands on the Glazers, Arnold, and Murtough.

 

[AshRK]

He is on thin ice and the ice is melting fast. I want to back him but he is in deep trouble if we lose this weekend as well. You cannot be losing to palace at home and Galatasaray at home.

 

[bosnian_red]

I still think there's something there with him, if I'm honest. I do think he's a manager with potential, but he's just making some really unforced errors - and unfortunately for him, managers have to be assessed on results, especially after spending the outlay he's spent. I saw some good things today, before the usual collapse.

I'm just "whelmed" by him. I expected more and it's just been bleh. I won't exactly cry if he gets the chop, but I do hope he turns it around

Yeah. I'm not convinced he knows how to turn this around. He's had to deal with a lot and it's not easy. But again, we need someone who can deal with adversity and know when to shut up shop, abandon tactics to go simpler rather than be stubborn and stick with failing tactics. I don't think the tactics will always be failing, but they need adjusting until we find confidence again. He seems like he's just stubborn though and is repeating the same mistakes every game. You need to know the softer side of management and I'm not sure if he has that

 

[TsuWave]

I tend to agree with your posts, the bolded however is a sticking point for me. No modern manager should have full authority over transfers. That failing lands on the Glazers, Arnold, and Murtough.

I'm not trying to find where the "fault" lies. I think our transfer structure and strategy has been reported on extensively and most of us would generally agree it's not suitable, efficient nor sustainable. However, fact of the matter still remains that funds were made available to purchase targets he wanted, yes - managers shouldn't have full authority over transfer, but ultimately - these are players he wanted thus, when assessing, how well/bad he's doing - the money invested and where - will also come into consideration.

"it's not his team yet", "it's not his squad", "he needs x amount of transfer windows" - > are often talking points parroted to defend/excuse managers. As such; "this is the money he's spent" should also be used to hold them accountable

 

[sglowrider]

One thing we've learned is that ETH is not a great judge of talent. He got it right with Martinez and Hojlund, but his other acquisitions are questionable at best. And his insistence on playing certain players regardless of form is hard to stomach. He's been dealt a cruel blow with injuries -- we all know that he's lost THREE LBs now -- and any fair assessment has to acknowledge that, but doubts about his ability to get his players to perform at an acceptable level are growing.

Do we know Hojlund was his recommendation? No Dutch connection there or players that his teams have played against like Kane, Mount, or Malacia.

Hojlund may be the recruitment team's recommendation.

 

[sglowrider]

Yeah. I'm not convinced he knows how to turn this around. He's had to deal with a lot and it's not easy. But again, we need someone who can deal with adversity and know when to shut up shop, abandon tactics to go simpler rather than be stubborn and stick with failing tactics. I don't think the tactics will always be failing, but they need adjusting until we find confidence again. He seems like he's just stubborn though and is repeating the same mistakes every game. You need to know the softer side of management and I'm not sure if he has that

The next 3 games will decide his future at United. Or a bad hammering by City.

 

[Ubik]

Do we know Hojlund was his recommendation? No Dutch connection there or players that his teams have played against like Kane, Mount, or Malacia.

Hojlund may be the recruitment team's recommendation.

Failing Kane, he supposedly pushed for him over Kolo-Muani as he liked his mentality.

 

[sglowrider]

Failing Kane, he supposedly pushed for him over Kolo-Muani as he liked his mentality.

Would be interesting if true.

''Players outside his orbit.'' What a radical concept.

 

[justboy68]

As I've said before, sometimes you can make the best decision available to you but things just don't work out. Ten Hag was a good hire. Also he might be a decent coach as it worked out decently last year, but now? It just clearly isn't working out. Recruitment has been a disaster and it's all starting to fall apart. A real shame.

 

[RedDevilQuebecois]

ETH is really making it harder and harder for anyone sane to support him. Does he ever watch for things that click during matches? I know we are crippled by injuries, but that does not explain why he does not take action on things that he can actually control.

If Onana is just not performing, you have to play the other goalie (Bayindir) like Chelsea did for a few years with Kepa and Mendy. If Rashford is not performing, then Garnacho has to start. If you need energy in midfield, Hannibal has to play instead of Eriksen/McTominay/etc. Whatever can be controlled by the manager has to be controlled by the manager.

Right now, Ten Hag needs to be showing ruthlessness again. Player power cannot triumph through this mess again.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Do we know Hojlund was his recommendation? No Dutch connection there or players that his teams have played against like Kane, Mount, or Malacia.

Hojlund may be the recruitment team's recommendation.

Hojlund is most likely scout recommendation as it’s been reported we have been scouting Hojlund since his early days at Copenhagen (20-22). And that’s before ETH arrives here.

My guess is, out of all players we’ve signed, mostly likely signings recommended by him are:

Malacia
Martinez
Antony
Eriksen
Weghorst
Mount
Onana
Amrabat

And signings most likely recommended by scouts:

Casemiro
Hojlund
Evans
Sabitzer
Bayindir
Reguilon

But I really had no idea about Sabitzer, Bayindir, Reguilon sighing. Could be recommended by either.

 

[Mibabalou]

Records broken so far this season -

- Galatasaray hadn't won a game on English soil in 117 years of existing, until Erik Ten Hag.

- Manchester United had never lost the opening 2 CL group games, until Erik Ten Hag.

- Manchester United had never conceded 7 goals in the opening 2 CL group games, until Erik Ten Hag.

- Manchester United had never conceded 3+ goals in back to back CL games, until Erik Ten Hag

- Galatasaray hadn't scored in or won an away goal in the CL since 2015, 3 in one game as soon as they meet Erik Ten Hag.

- Manchester United hadn't lost 4 of the opening 7 games in PL history, until Erik Ten Hag

- Manchester United haven't had as few as 9 points from the opening 7 games since 1989, until Erik Ten Hag

- Manchester United hadn't conceded 4 goals in a CL group game in 28 years, until Erik Ten Hag.

- Manchester United hadn't conceded 3+ goals in 3 consecutive games since 1978, until Erik Ten Hag.

- Manchester United had never lost at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, until Erik Ten Hag.

- Manchester United hadn't lost the opening two away games since 1973-74, until Erik Ten Hag.

- Manchester United hadn't conceded more than one goal in 4 consecutive league games since 1979, Until Erik Ten Hag

. - Manchester United had never conceded 2 goals in the opening 4 minutes of a PL game at Old Trafford, Until Erik Ten Hag

- Manchester United had never conceded 23 shots in one game at Old Trafford in PL history, Until Erik Ten Hag

- Brighton had never won twice in a row at Old Trafford, until Erik Ten Hag

 

[Thom Merrilin]

I'm not trying to find where the "fault" lies. I think our transfer structure and strategy has been reported on extensively and most of us would generally agree it's not suitable, efficient nor sustainable. However, fact of the matter still remains that funds were made available to purchase targets he wanted, yes - managers shouldn't have full authority over transfer, but ultimately - these are players he wanted thus, when assessing, how well/bad he's doing - the money invested and where - will also come into consideration.

"it's not his team yet", "it's not his squad", "he needs x amount of transfer windows" - > are often talking points parroted to defend/excuse managers. As such; "this is the money he's spent" should also be used to hold them accountable

I just fundamentally disagree. At most, you can judge ETH on the profile of player he's signed. It's not his job to identify or sign talent.

 

[gaffs]

He is on a slippery slope and maybe to far gone to turn this around but to me the bolded is the biggest problem we have had in a decade. We shouldnt base our managerial tenures on what happens with a the CL qualification, the Glazers do for obvious reasons, but for us fans what joy is there for us to qualify for a tournament we have no hope in winning so that we can attract the next batch of mercenaries?

Don't get me wrong, I love CL football and this club was built on our exploits in that tournament but we are placing too much emphasis on it to our own detriment. It could be the reason why we are failing, managers know that if they make it they are safe and it leads them to relying on off-the-cuff mavericks who have no regard for team structure, control and tactics for the overall good of the team.

Managers won't have the motivation to work on long term, team building solutions when they know 4th is enough. Then other teams raise the bar and we are shocked when we can't compete. They are building Championship winning teams, we are just building for top 4.

I would say allow Erik to weed out the rats or at least be in charge of the big players. If he the one telling Bruno and Casemiro to waste possession by spamming long balls then he deserves what's coming. If we hold our nerve and resist firing him we can finish the clear out and rebuild. More than anyone he will know the mistakes he made in Onana, Mount etc but if the club works with him we have the youth to help us cover some of the most glaring ones.

He has got to this level by mistake, we saw the football he played in the CL with Ajax. He has made a few costly mistakes but we all know that we will be here in two years with the new guy. At least let's be in that position with him, he would have solved a few of the issues we have. Ordinarily I would say sack but as we have seen before that's got us nowhere.

You need that CL money to compete for the best players. It is the stepping stone to further progress.

And its just just the CL. You finish 8th, it means you have probably only taken 60 points. Just not good enough.

 

[city-puma]

You need that CL money to compete for the best players. It is the stepping stone to further progress.

And its just just the CL. You finish 8th, it means you have probably only taken 60 points. Just not good enough.

Extrapolate the current points linearly. We will get 49 points. I hope it won’t be this bad.

 

[gaffs]

Hojlund is most likely scout recommendation as it’s been reported we have been scouting Hojlund since his early days at Copenhagen (20-22). And that’s before ETH arrives here.

My guess is, out of all players we’ve signed, mostly likely signings recommended by him are:

Malacia
Martinez
Antony
Eriksen
Weghorst
Mount
Onana
Amrabat

And signings most likely recommended by scouts:

Casemiro
Hojlund
Evans
Sabitzer
Bayindir
Reguilon

But I really had no idea about Sabitzer, Bayindir, Reguilon sighing. Could be recommended by either.

Been given way to much influence on transfers. If he gets the sack, he are left with a team of "his" players.

 

[gaffs]

Amrabat at left back. No. Just because it worked against Crystal Palace B, doesn't mean it will work against a decent team.

Why not put Maguire or Evans at CB, then have Dalot lb and Lindelof at rb.

Ten Hag would rather pick his biggest names and have them out of position, than put players in their natural position, or at least close to.

Daft decision.