Erik "Shit on a Stick" Ten Hag.
ETH on United philosophy: “Built a side to play direct football”… “Impossible to play like Ajax”
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What was the point of bringing him in then?
It isn't news and is only causing a dramatic and emotional reaction from some people because we're not playing well. Louis Van Gaal came here and tried to implement Ajax style football and everyone hated it. He's learned the lesson and is saying that he intends to keep Manchester United true to its roots and adapt to our history and traditions. It doesn't mean we can't be a dominant team. Just not in the same way that Ajax are sometimes.
Just from the perspective of building from the back it's a huge difference. Shaw was so effective at inverting inside and driving through the middle. I'm not sure most people even realise this. Even when he wasn't on song, his instincts were key. Then you've got Martinez; well, we all know how much of a difference. Not one defender at present can, or does, make a pass through lines.
We simple are not brave on the ball.
We constantly go from left to right, and right to left. It's courage, or lack thereof. You've got to have the courage to pass a ball centrally when the "safe" option is out wide, even if there isn't that much space because that's how you unsettle teams.
Sadly, this is what I have suspected all along. I’d imagine that during the interview process he was told he had to play in the ‘United way’ This whole story screams incompetence at senior levels of the club
I don't think Dalot suits that style. Mount too - he maybe "tidy" on the ball and he maybe runs around a bit but so far, for what he's been bought, he hides too much. Whenever we try to build up play he somehow always finds an opponent to hide behind. The McT maneuver.
It's the midfield. Mount does not help and Amrabat is just okay. The two players comfortable with the ball, Casemiro and Eriksen, are too old to be effective for 90 minutes and every match. I think the midfield is the most important part of the team and we have not had a good midfield since Carrick was playing. The club just can't buy good, young midfielders.
If you can't trust your midfield to work the ball through traffic, you have to play direct.
Our only hope for this season is if Mainoo is ready to play a big part.
If you can't trust your midfield to work the ball through traffic, you have to play direct.
Our only hope for this season is if Mainoo is ready to play a big part.
So ETH has built a side to get the best out of Rashford and Bruno?
Then he has either failed spectacularly, or they are letting him down big time.
Then he has either failed spectacularly, or they are letting him down big time.
Yeah that, on top of needing to compensate with their stand-ins by playing an extremely low block to compensate. I’m not sure many clubs out there, excluding city perhaps, won’t be dramatically weakened losing their entire first choice backline. It’s almost unprecedented.
Still, not an excuse as there are plenty other things wrong us outside of the defence.
Looks like they were right, to be fair.
International football means f**k all to league football
Legitimately thought the whole reason we got ETH in was to have us play like his Ajax team did.
And also thought that was a big part of his sales pitch to the board.
Just fecking get rid now. Pathetic.
And also thought that was a big part of his sales pitch to the board.
Just fecking get rid now. Pathetic.
I’m still behind ten hag. Rashford, Bruno and Casemiro’s form last season did a lot of heavy lifting. All 3 are having a shocker so far. Add to that the ownership situation/FFP fecking up the window, the disciplinary issues of Greenwood, Sancho and Antony, and the worst injury crisis I think I’ve ever seen at the club, you have to wonder if anyone else would do any better.
Good post. Agree with the half measured bit. It's been a huge problem with every manager outside of LvG. I'd say it's been our main problem.
We sometimes accuse managers of being stubborn but actually Moyes, Ole, Mourinho and ETH all compromised too much.
The best managers stick to their guns. They have a way and recruit accordingly. You see a definite type being brought in.
Ugh this is just depressing.
What’s the thinking, he’s been told ‘you will play this way’ or has he just decided we don’t have the funds / players to play any other way?
What’s the thinking, he’s been told ‘you will play this way’ or has he just decided we don’t have the funds / players to play any other way?
He wants his attack to press like Liverpool in the opposition box and his midfield and defense to play like a David Moyes team hanging back in front of their box. The vast middle is where his hopes, dreams and common sense died.
I get it short term, but this is worded like it is the plan going forward aswell.
I am happy to stick up for Ten Hag as we hired an exciting coach who has had to put up with alot in short space of time here, I also don't really want the manager thing again, but he's not qualified to play this way, so if it was always then plan then he should never have got the job.
Really unusual amount of players currently out, most players that aren't not playing for him, club sale not playing out as he maybe thought, weird comments about Lindelof and Evans before the game yesterday, even weirder comments after, I am beginning to wonder if he's trying manouvere his way of the job himself.
I am happy to stick up for Ten Hag as we hired an exciting coach who has had to put up with alot in short space of time here, I also don't really want the manager thing again, but he's not qualified to play this way, so if it was always then plan then he should never have got the job.
Really unusual amount of players currently out, most players that aren't not playing for him, club sale not playing out as he maybe thought, weird comments about Lindelof and Evans before the game yesterday, even weirder comments after, I am beginning to wonder if he's trying manouvere his way of the job himself.
Such a dumb comment. If you don’t know the difference between international football and club football then no wonder you think Bruno is a possession player. The intensity, the opposition, the tactics everything is different. By your logic Maguire is also capable of many things and lukaku is a world class striker. Southgate is a top top manager too. We should hire Southgate then.
The excuses made to absolve him of blame are getting ridiculous
If he was trying to do this why was he persisting with the inverted full backs crap?
Reading between the lines there is too much interference from above Ten Hag. There is no focused approach. There are undroppable players that Ten Hag has no control over.
Sounds like a classic case of too many cooks
Sounds like a classic case of too many cooks
I would absolutely LOVE to see that happen. It wont happen, but I would love it.
So we sign a manager from Ajax to play a similar style that he did at Ajax. He then blows 400 mill mostly on all his old players from Ajax. Then he just decides 'oh fk it. Ill play long ball.'
Like i said yesterday we need someone brave enough to clear the deck or stick to his guns even if it means us going through hell. At the end of the day most our managers were sellouts. The moment they join they ditch their ways in hope to grind results just so they can hold onto position it seems.
Without going far back, look at Ole first games performance wise till that moment when talk started how clowns in board room might give him perma job before end of the season review how its planned, since then moment he changed goals it was clear to see, results kept being positives but performances went to shit fast and last games of the season we didnt have either. After that he turned into biggest waster and loser we had at the helm.
Then we had Ralf, who started with whole pressing high and 4-2-2-2 thing, how long that lasted, few games top not even that, he moved away from his ways, his formation to adapt to bunch of cnuts instead, he turned sell out and got what he deserved at the end.
Now seems we have same thing with ETH, dont take me wrong not saying their ways would be successful but at least stick to your philosophy and what you believe, you got hired to implement ways of your ex X teams, their recruitment, culture etc.
So yea, he will pay the price good or bad, for decisions he made and it will be well deserved. Also, we can shit on LvG and his boring football but at least he forced his way and his way only from day one and i can respect that at least unlike some others before and after that.
Without going far back, look at Ole first games performance wise till that moment when talk started how clowns in board room might give him perma job before end of the season review how its planned, since then moment he changed goals it was clear to see, results kept being positives but performances went to shit fast and last games of the season we didnt have either. After that he turned into biggest waster and loser we had at the helm.
Then we had Ralf, who started with whole pressing high and 4-2-2-2 thing, how long that lasted, few games top not even that, he moved away from his ways, his formation to adapt to bunch of cnuts instead, he turned sell out and got what he deserved at the end.
Now seems we have same thing with ETH, dont take me wrong not saying their ways would be successful but at least stick to your philosophy and what you believe, you got hired to implement ways of your ex X teams, their recruitment, culture etc.
So yea, he will pay the price good or bad, for decisions he made and it will be well deserved. Also, we can shit on LvG and his boring football but at least he forced his way and his way only from day one and i can respect that at least unlike some others before and after that.
The end of that vid many won't like, United may need to suffer through more seasons of shite if they are to build anything
How much do you think we should be spending when we're already the highest bar whatever maniac stuff Chelsea are pulling?
Hojlund, Onana, Mount.
That's 170-180m which is huge.
Did you think we'd be lashing 400m instead?
Say what you like about the wisdom of these signings, that's quite another question.
I'm on outlier here as the performance and the outcome of yesterday's match wasn't quite as bad as I expected it to be nor do I think any new logs have been placed on the bonfire that it's ETH management of United this season.
Anyone who had a problem with ETH before yesterday is on the same ground as before. But anyone who was ok with ETH before yesterday but who now wants him out needs to have their head examined. We actually stalemated City going into HT. Yes we were down but it was a shit pk call that gave City the advantage. For those who agree with Oliver and Tierney on the pk, I'd like to know if they are willing to apply the same standard to the foul committed on Hojlund...who actually had the ball and was in a scoring position.
Anyway, ETH shat his pants with the Amrabat substitution and persisting with McTominay. There was no tactical plan that would have had us beat City -- especially considering that our entire back line and Casemiro were out -- so there's nothing about the result yesterday that should have us wondering what to do next. We've got Fulham coming up and we should strip their skin off and set it on fire, but that's up to the players. Maybe instead their spending their days instead of training brushing up their Insta pages and if they do then we deserve the bitchslapping that Fulham will give us. Wgat ETH can do right now is send a message to his marquee players that shit performances will not be rewarded and that younger players like Hannibal and Gore will get starts, come what may. Wat exactly are the Glazers going to do at this point...sack ETG?
Anyone who had a problem with ETH before yesterday is on the same ground as before. But anyone who was ok with ETH before yesterday but who now wants him out needs to have their head examined. We actually stalemated City going into HT. Yes we were down but it was a shit pk call that gave City the advantage. For those who agree with Oliver and Tierney on the pk, I'd like to know if they are willing to apply the same standard to the foul committed on Hojlund...who actually had the ball and was in a scoring position.
Anyway, ETH shat his pants with the Amrabat substitution and persisting with McTominay. There was no tactical plan that would have had us beat City -- especially considering that our entire back line and Casemiro were out -- so there's nothing about the result yesterday that should have us wondering what to do next. We've got Fulham coming up and we should strip their skin off and set it on fire, but that's up to the players. Maybe instead their spending their days instead of training brushing up their Insta pages and if they do then we deserve the bitchslapping that Fulham will give us. Wgat ETH can do right now is send a message to his marquee players that shit performances will not be rewarded and that younger players like Hannibal and Gore will get starts, come what may. Wat exactly are the Glazers going to do at this point...sack ETG?
We didn't need Onana and Mount. Even for those who hated De Gea, the money we spent on Onana should have been spent addressing other needs. Mount is a squad player at best at this level, although a decent squad player. But you don't spend 60m on a squad player, especially when you have a decent young player coming through the ranks in that position.
Hojlund is a great buy, but he's one for the future. We're already putting too much on his shoulders.
What would that mean, really? I mean, he's not forced to play them every game. If he drops one of them for a few games and it works, would he be forced to bring them back into the team? If the team clicks and succeeds withone them, would he be told he can't sell them even if they are not needed?
The fact that he keeps playing them indicates he's not forced to do anything.
Erik "I give you a rating of four out of" Ten Hag.
That is what I thought aswell.
If the team is being built to play direct football, then ETH shouldn't be the coach, because he's not experienced enough to coach direct football and its not his specialty.
The club might aswell replace him as soon as possible with a manager that knows how to coach direct football.
If the team is to play similar to Ajax then ETH should do this and I fully support him.
If the aim is definitely direct football then I am not supporting him as the manager anymore. I was happy to defend him in this tough time for him due to myvthinking/expecting the possession based Ajax style to start showing soon, but the performances under direct football have not been good enough to give him the benefit of the doubt so far.
Rewatch his performance vs Morocco. Force 60% of whole team chances with hollywood passes and shots with 0 composure then cried about ref aftermatch.
The guy shit his pants as soon as there is pressure. Typical Broono
But sure, he was brilliant vs mighty Luxemborg. Wish United played them every week
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It's another time supplants success argument that doesn't hold any merit because the manager has to be credible. The only team where this time argument falls into place is Arsenal / Arteta, Klopp took time but improved his league position progressively, same for Pep because the longer they stayed the more they refined their style of play.
Additionally, given the size of United the goal is to challenge. There's almost no basis to believe Erik can do this with time and investment, we don't have anything to visualise a United team that can challenge under him.
Potentially with Ratcliffe's interval and denouncing the managers involvement with recruitment maybe Erik will think more clearly and reflect to make right decisions moving forward but so much about a successful manager is not just tactical, it's also how to relate with the players on a personal basis, the ability to drive discipline while also being charismatic. I think charisma is why a few of the young lads shined under LVG he's a bright character and his vision for the team allows the younger debutants to make a mark.
There's a multitude of elements the manager has to get right and it will only take a certain type of individual to succeed. Time doesn't guarantee any of those things. So it's a gamble.
If ten hag has been told to play the dinosaur "united way", who would be powerful enough to dictate such a thing, I doubt the glazers would have a scoobie about football tactics all together, same with murtough, so is it fletcher, fergie?
I dont think anyone wants to absolve TEN hag of any blame. It's more that a tough 10 games doesn't call for scrapping the process. Just stick through it.
It makes me laugh when people think ETH would need another massive war chest to get us playing any semblance of decent football. I have seen clubs with FAR inferior players play some beautiful football. This notion that Maguire and Varane are unable to play balls into midfield and that McTominay and Casemiro’s skill set means they can’t receive a ball on the half turn are ridiculous. Watch an Ipswich match in the championship or Brighton’s team of Championship players a few seasons ago and you’ll see that it is very possible. My bloody Sunday league team kept possession and played out from the back in a more composed manner than our supposed international players are showing! ETH clearly doesn’t have the coaching credentials to develop a fluid style with us and is resorting to nonsense long ball crap instead!
Strange game to criticize him. He had 86% passing rate against Morocco, with 3 key passes. His 11 long ball "hollywood passes" reached 8 of them. And yes, he had the highest rating there.
Only a mighty 1.5% less than Bernardo Silva, who created 1 key pass.
It's all here, if you don't believe me:
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1...national-FIFA-World-Cup-2022-Morocco-Portugal
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I agree not to get rid of the manager at this present moment but I will maintain my prediction that come February Erik's position will be untenable. 10 played, 5 losses and 5 wins. Injuries returning is a contribution but it's not like the team was flying with a majorly fit squad.
I predicted a poor season in the summer (6th place finish) due to the recruitment but what I didn't predict is what the bottom will look like. If in February/ March the team has more games lost than wins by ratio it will eclipse Moyes's league finish. The team is on course for the worst season in the club's recent history, the manager isn't going to get through that imo.
I dont have the stats to pull, but I'd surprised if Jurgen Klopp hadn't seen a 10 game spell where his win % was at an embarrassing level maybe even in two periods during his Liverpool stint?
Mr. Rashford and Mr. Bruno. They don't like possession football, they want hoofball. Don't dare annoy them with tactics though, they'll just stop scoring.