Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager / awaiting clarity from the club over his position

[Matt Varnish]

We cannot afford to lose him. We have no money. There is a definite feeling that we cannot go through the cycle of bringing in manager after manager when we always end up with this same toxicity and mess. We still have players whose attitudes stink. Our best players. Fernandes and Rashford, when the going gets tough either saunter like they don't give a hoot (Rashford) or they lose their composure and discipline (Bruno). And these are our key players. It is not professional. Only two players showed up today Onana and Maguire. Maguire's attitude was bang on and considering the amount of abuse he gets is credit to him.

But I cannot see them shifting Ten Hag anytime soon.

We went through exactly the same thing BF (Before Fergie), Managers like Docherty, Atkinson and Sexton buying anyone who played well against us. When Ferguson came along he ahd to rebuild the club quite literally from the ground up, that included OT, moving from The Cliff to Carrington and rebuilding the academy.
WE are skint, so we are going to have to go through this whole process again, but whilst the leeches are milking the club, and letting the club service the debt it's going to take even longer, I'm 66 and I've been lucky, I've seen United win it all and break records, I doubt I will see the club as strong again, unless someone comes in, makes an offer the Glazers can't refuse and gets football men in to run the football side of the club.

 

[crossy1686]

Newcastle, Liverpool and Villa in December. Might be the end of him if results don’t start going his way

It's usually abject performances to the shit teams that get managers sacked, but then again another 7-0 should do it really.

 

[UnitedSofa]

That's assuming they're not too thick to properly execute what they're being told to.

I'm not denying we're unbelievably shite now, but I'm just beyond expecting anything different from these players with a different manager.

That's what I've been thinking, do the players understand what they've been asked to do?

Look at Spurs it's taken them 2 months of pre-season to get to where we can see what Ange is trying to do. With us, we still don't really know what EtH is wanting to do. This is the guy who made a young team in Ajax play Real Madrid off the park away from home!

He can't be THIS bad surely.

Why is it that every other team can manage it but United can't after multiple multiple managers. LVG from memory is the only one who changed the style of play completely that it was obvious to everyone.

It can't be the manager, it HAS to be the players or there's something toxic going on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

 

[Rooney24]

I am willing to write off one or two seasons for Potter to create the foundation when I voted him here then. Why not?
Keeping to wash and rinse every two years is more damaging than a true reset.

But Ten Hag hasn’t even been here two seasons so you aren’t willing to do that for him?

 

[UnitedSofa]

I also think we as fans need to understand that we aren't the big boys anymore and haven't been for a very long time, we're the 4th place nearly there team and even then it's a struggle sometimes. Neville's prediction of 6th place finish, doesn't seem too far from the truth right now.

 

[Lay]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

What???? We played well

 

[Telsim]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

29% possession, 0.30 xG, and one goal down is "playing well".

This man has lost the plot. He is finished.

 

[Hammondo]

At this point I would be more than happy to see rough diamonds every week if they are, in essence, more suited to the system than the experienced players. Trouble is, we have a lack of elite quality in every position, in one way or another, which, I’m afraid, extends throughout the whole squad. The players we have could be set up and drilled in a way so as to maximise points, minimise defeats, minimise goals conceded. The football would be regressive and the end result would be marginally different.

Looking at the teams we’re up against, fourth should be possible but nothing we can do with these players will make that easy. They are not good enough.

Back to your point, I’d rather EtH sticks to his principles even if he “crashes and burns” than any realistic alternative I can think of.

What principals?

 

[crossy1686]

29% possession, 0.30 xG, and one goal down is "playing well".

This man has lost the plot. He is finished.

Its these kinds of comments that lose the fans

 

[Castia]

I also think we as fans need to understand that we aren't the big boys anymore and haven't been for a very long time, we're the 4th place nearly there team and even then it's a struggle sometimes. Neville's prediction of 6th place finish, doesn't seem too far from the truth right now.

But we’re spending money that should put us among the best, we’re paying wages like this is one of the greatest sides ever assembled. It’s bad recruitment, bad management that’s fecked this club up.

 

[UnitedSofa]

What???? We played well

29% possession, 0.30 xG, and one goal down is "playing well".

This man has lost the plot. He is finished.

Its these kinds of comments that lose the fans

What he says in public compared to what he says behind the scenes is 2 different things.

All eyes are on him now because of these comments and not the team. He's protecting them.

 

[redshaw]

The McTom thing shows he's just reflecting on what happened the other week. McTom can be useful against lesser teams higher up and I've said he'd probably score more than Weghorst (zero league goals). City wasn't the game to do that, nor have Bruno wide, and just because Amrabat is on a yellow doesn't mean he should be off, we have no midfield without him.

He has to change his approach or maybe he's just waiting for the sack now, both him and Casemiro have looked hugely deflated since end of last season. Something went wrong after the League Cup win, we looked like a team that was going somewhere, beat City Pool and Barca. The unity and belief in the manager has gone. The only time we looked like a football team and the crowd really enjoyed it was in the league cup to Palace with players on that give a shit to play and make things happen. It's not downing tools but going through the motions, the lack of unity with the manager and players, cliques and favourites.

 

[Lay]

I haven’t actually watched that post match interview or any that he does because the man is a personality vacuum. He bores me to death and I can see why Spurs had concerns about his lack of personality.

 

[pascell]

Since we won the Carabao.

Won 19
Drawn 4
Lost 13
Scored 50
Conceded 48

I was a bit advocate of us bringing him in but I don't think he's the right manager to take us back to the top. What a mess.

 

[AltiUn]

8pts off fourth haha

We're nowhere near good enough to be in the CL anyway, as evidenced by our performances so far.

 

[sixdwarf]

Could they be worse? For whatever reason the players aren't doing what Ten Hag wants them to (his words). Maybe they will for someone they don't dislike?

I hear what you say. And if you look at Ten Hag's record it is abject this season. This is the most games we have lost in the first ten games in the top flight since 1986/87. It was six then when Ron Atkinson got the boot and replaced by Sir Alex. And at any other time the Dutchman would get the boot. But do we actually think things will get better? If we bring in a De Zerbi or Unai Emery or a Postecoglu it means millions in compensation for a club having to borrow money to buy players this season on top of a near £1bn in debt. And if we bring someone else in, they will expect to be backed with more spending to throw away what went before. We have been through this cycle so many times that I am tired with it all. We needed a sugar daddy.

We needed massive investment and we haven't had it. Ratcliffe isn't bringing investment. He is bringing a more solid foundation to the Glazers' power base because it will look like he is running things but make no mistake the Glazers will ultimately hold the purse strings. The money for buying a 25% stake doesn't go to the club. It goes to ... the Glazers. The deal makes the Americans richer. While the club falls apart.

There is so much wrong with the club I have loved since a boy that it makes me physically weep. There is no quick fix. There is none. Especially as the prospect of Qatari money has gone. Some of you would not want Qatari money for political with a small 'p' reasons. I personally believe you can find issues with any would-be investor and I just want to see my club at least play with pride. Today just further entrenches the feeling that there is no pride left at Old Trafford .

 

[Jezpeza]

Who then? Who from this huge pool are you replacing him with ?

we’d finish the season with more points if we appoint Sam Allardyce as caretaker now.

 

[hobbers]

The good thing with CL being off the table already is that hopefully by next summer we'll have a new DoF, new manager, and no European football to distract, so plenty of time on the training ground to try and put together an actual coherent football team for Premier League level competition.

 

[city-puma]

But Ten Hag hasn’t even been here two seasons so you aren’t willing to do that for him?

Not willing or advocating it, but open to that idea.
Ole lost his job because of several transfer business, VDB, Varun, Sancho, and especially Ronaldo. The former few resulted in lost of squad improvement opportunities and the latter (Ronaldo) ruin the squad.
Under the Glazers’ ownership, the transfer business cannot fail so often for any manager to survive. Remember the constraints of three major signs in summer.
I think Potter is more likely to succeed given the same intolerance of transfer failures because Potter will create the foundation with more cost efficient players.

 

[Jezpeza]

The only time we've looked remotely decent this season is when those two weren't playing though. It's also the game in which we scored the most goals. So, what's the logic in not trying that lineup again?

you’d have to ask ETh. I agree with you

 

[Lay]

Since we won the Carabao.

Won 19
Drawn 4
Lost 13
Scored 50
Conceded 48

I was a bit advocate of us bringing him in but I don't think he's the right manager to take us back to the top. What a mess.

Just a bad patch.

 

[el3mel]

Only an idiot thinks that top 3, two finals and a cup whilst being statistically the best manager in his first 50 games in United history is "not remotely impressive".

He might have turned wank now, who knows. But only an idiot would think the above.

Im not directly calling you an idiot by the way. You can infer what you like.

Finishing top 4 and winning League Cup is definitely not impressive at all. Pretty much the bare minimum you'll expect from a Man United manager.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Since we won the Carabao.

Won 19
Drawn 4
Lost 13
Scored 50
Conceded 48

I was a bit advocate of us bringing him in but I don't think he's the right manager to take us back to the top. What a mess.

I think the GD of +2 from 36 games better demonstrates how dire the team is

 

[crossy1686]

I hear what you say. And if you look at Ten Hag's record it is abject this season. This is the most games we have lost in the first ten games in the top flight since 1986/87. It was six then when Ron Atkinson got the boot and replaced by Sir Alex. And at any other time the Dutchman would get the boot. But do we actually think things will get better? If we bring in a De Zerbi or Unai Emery or a Postecoglu it means millions in compensation for a club having to borrow money to buy players this season on top of a near £1bn in debt. And if we bring someone else in, they will expect to be backed with more spending to throw away what went before. We have been through this cycle so many times that I am tired with it all. We needed a sugar daddy.

We needed massive investment and we haven't had it. Ratcliffe isn't bringing investment. He is bringing a more solid foundation to the Glazers' power base because it will look like he is running things but make no mistake the Glazers will ultimately hold the purse strings. The money for buying a 25% stake doesn't go to the club. It goes to ... the Glazers. The deal makes the Americans richer. While the club falls apart.

There is so much wrong with the club I have loved since a boy that it makes me physically weep. There is no quick fix. There is none. Especially as the prospect of Qatari money has gone. Some of you would not want Qatari money for political with a small 'p' reasons. I personally believe you can find issues with any would-be investor and I just want to see my club at least play with pride. Today just further entrenches the feeling that there is no pride left at Old Trafford .

I hear what you're saying but all of that stuff is a distraction from the fact the team aren't coached well at all. There's no style of play and no patterns at all, it's as bad as it's ever been footballing wise. We need someone who knows what they're doing and understands the obstacles in front of them, not someone who is asking for another £400m to fix the issues he's caused. The next incoming manager will have to work with what he has or his career is done, they'll know that coming in, they'll be no notion of buying their way out of trouble, which should stop us from getting into situations like this every 2 seasons.

 

[Darlington Padgett]

It's not the time to replace him. We have to let him get through this season. Plenty of time to make top 4. Need to get key players back.

Sacking him achieves nothing at this point. You think some other manager is going to come in and get the team working with that XI, against City? Please.

Hes here for the foreseeable, the players need to start playing for him.

Brighton, Tottenham, Wolves, Arsenal, Palace, Galatarsaray, Brentford, Kopenhagen. All of those teams completeley outplayed us, most of them at Old Trafford.

 

[AndyMUFC]

Everyone expected to lose today but it is hard to see what we're actually doing here. Some of his decision making is worrying.

 

[el3mel]

And replace him with who exactly ?

Any manager would achieve what he did so it's not a big deal. Even Carrick will put out similar results.

 

[sixdwarf]

We went through exactly the same thing BF (Before Fergie), Managers like Docherty, Atkinson and Sexton buying anyone who played well against us. When Ferguson came along he ahd to rebuild the club quite literally from the ground up, that included OT, moving from The Cliff to Carrington and rebuilding the academy.
WE are skint, so we are going to have to go through this whole process again, but whilst the leeches are milking the club, and letting the club service the debt it's going to take even longer, I'm 66 and I've been lucky, I've seen United win it all and break records, I doubt I will see the club as strong again, unless someone comes in, makes an offer the Glazers can't refuse and gets football men in to run the football side of the club.

I am a wee bit younger than you. I go back to the Tommy Doc days and even then we played with pride and glamour and fight. Even when we were relegated we has a swashbuckling spirit. There was still a glamour to United. Today it is just abject. What bothers me is Bruno. I love his style, but when the going gets tough he throws his toys out the pram and is unprofessional. He is not captain material. And then we have Antony today doing the same thing. It is unacceptable.

 

[Rooney24]

we’d finish the season with more points if we appoint Sam Allardyce as caretaker now.

Sam Allardyce. feck me. We are truly gone.

Didnt save Leeds did he ?

 

[Moriarty]

I'm just not sure anyone can with this group of players. They're beyond shite, and stupid to boot.

Who'd want the job? Who would want to manager under the Glazers and maybe Ratcliffe? Which top or middling manager will take an unbiased look at Manchester United and think they can fix things? Way too many imponderables.

 

[Castia]

Finishing top 4 and winning League Cup is definitely not impressive at all. Pretty much the bare minimum you'll expect from a Man United manager.

Especially in a freak season where Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs were in a mid table scrap, our form since the Carabao Cup final wouldn’t get us top 4 with those teams in their usual form. We were crap for the vast majority of last season just look at the goal difference

 

[AshTheBash]

Get this fraud out the club. Don't let him spend another penny. He's not another Pep or Klopp and persisting with him won't turn him into them.. he was obviously overhyped at Ajax to be a "mini Pep"

Sacking inevitable. He controls the team and can drop Rashford and Bruno. He chooses not to

no CV. No style of play in his 2nd season. Time to go the job is too big for him.

Fans booing the team at half time, booing Ten Hag subbing Rasmus and booing the team at half-time.

Ten Hag has lost the dressing room (Ronaldo, Sancho, even Antony shaking his head today on the bench) and lost the fanbase. It will get even more toxic if he isn't sacked. Sacking Ten Hag and getting a new manager will bring some positive back into the club.. get a manager like Ang and play good football and proper coaching. And who's honest in press conferences and interviews not robotic charlatan.

 

[Rooney24]

Any manager would achieve what he did so it's not a big deal. Even Carrick will put out similar results.

Carrick is sitting 10th in the Championship with Boro.

The race to sack Ten Hag and then just replace him with a hit an hope manager blows my mind.

It’s complete lack of planning and foresight that had led us to where we are today. Ripping it all up again without a proper plan isn’t getting us anywhere

 

[sixdwarf]

I hear what you're saying but all of that stuff is a distraction from the fact the team aren't coached well at all. There's no style of play and no patterns at all, it's as bad as it's ever been footballing wise. We need someone who knows what they're doing and understands the obstacles in front of them, not someone who is asking for another £400m to fix the issues he's caused. The next incoming manager will have to work with what he has or his career is done, they'll know that coming in, they'll be no notion of buying their way out of trouble, which should stop us from getting into situations like this every 2 seasons.

But we have been here before repeatedly. Everyone said Ole was an amateur and Ten Hag was the man. I was never that positive because his record was in the Eredivisie which is a weak league. Last season it was the sixth strongest league in Europe below France and just a few places in front of Scotland. I know Postecoglu had no record before he went to Spurs. But this is United. We are the biggest club in the Prem in terms of fan base. And one of the biggest in the world. You have to have a certain something to be the manager here and to wear that shirt I think we have too many that are just not worthy. I don't doubt that his record says Ten Hag should be fired. But unless there are major changes in ownership I honestly cannot see anything other than that papering over the cracks.

 

[Jezpeza]

Sam Allardyce. feck me. We are truly gone.

Didnt save Leeds did he ?

shit squad. No time. Comsistently achieved decent results with west ham and bolton with a much worse squad than we have. And i’m saying this from a ‘things are this shit this would be an improvement’ angle.

theres others like Zidane, Bielsa, Flick, Lopetegui out there.

 

[Jeffthered]

Man just follow my posts. I'm not talking about how good we are now. fecksake it's like going around in circles.

All I'm saying is hes clearly not a toddler if he's capable of achieving some very impressive things last season. Saying he's lost the players is also just dim, they're running and working for him. Losing the players is what the squad did to Ole and Jose before they were sacked. Literally not give a feck and be thumped 4-0 by relegated teams.

Ten hag is pretty shite right now. I agree. He was also pretty good last season. And his overall win % as a United manager is not remotely as bad as what you want to claim. So let's not make shit up, shall we? Give that a go and see how you do.

Villa, Spurs, Newcastle, Liverpool are all significantly better than they were last season. As many anticipated.

ETH has been found out. Obvious.

Mid-table beckons, as we are now, genuinely, competing with Brentford, Palace, West Ham, a bunch of kids at Chelsea, and possibly Villa (who are now ahead of us..) for a possible, possible Europa league spot. £400m spent.

A complete joke.

 

[CallyRed]

I'd take Lopetegui if I had to choose to take over tomorrow.

 

[Redstain]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Mediocre management confirmed

 

[Matt Varnish]

A lot of truths and common sense in this

 

[Redstain]

December to January will be the month that defines his management. Said it earlier on that I think he will make his position untenable. Don't see it changing.