It was Villa away. They are a very good side this season. I was hoping for a draw so the win is a job well done for me. Just be happy guys. The next game maybe different altogether. We may play much better or play even worse.
Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager
- Thread starter sewey89
- Start date
that cliche about teams winning despite not playing is a sign of champions
Playing well is the building blocks to becoming the team we want to be.
And it was an utter disaster.
Exactly, Villa have been excellent this season. City didn’t get a sniff when they played there. That was a great 3 points for us.
Only us and Newcastle have won at Villa park in the league.
Results are far more important, if you're getting results without great performances the level of confidence that comes with that will allow you to start playing better, whereas playing well but not winning is a big hit to the confidence.
No team, no matter how good, will be better than the opposition every match, especially away to a good team who are highly motivated. Grinding out wins in those situations is the kind of thing every team would be proud of.
This Scott sub tactic is a legitimately high quality plan B that not many teams have. It may shock some to know he doesn't send him on telling him to jog about. Someone mentioned luck. It's not luck to make a sub, switch the tactics to another one that is clearly being worked on in training, and exploit a weakness, like the size advantage over Cash. Not luck at all.
Horrible tactics once again, and a lucky win.
We need a new manager.
We need a new manager.
Was it? I remember his debut when he drifted out there and made some lovely switches.
Some people seem genuinely upset and angry that we won and we keep winning.
Suck it up, boys.
Suck it up, boys.
Don't think many on here gave us much chance of getting 9 points from West Ham at home and Wolves/Villa away.
You tell me. You whine and complain after every win. Call me superstitious, but maybe there’s a correlation. Hence why I want you to keep crying.
If you read my previous posts on this very page, you’ll find that I was quite complimentary of Ten Hag and happy for the win. If Garnacho takes one of those chances, we win 3-1.
There is something called nuance, where we can be critical of Ten Hag and complimentary at the same time.
Putting McTominay on and Lindelof worked out. He still hasn’t coached the team on how to break a high press, we were turning the ball over consistently. The xG was 2.68 Villa vs 1.99 United. Dalot cleared a couple of shots off the line and Onana had some luck and also some nice saves.
Happy for the team and Ten Hag, but at the same time I’m not convinced he’s the answer as the manager. Neither should you be convinced.
"play like that vs Villa and we lose"
Wasn't the best performance, but we are actually starting to look like a team. Many teams have been spanked at Villa Park. Take the win and run
So much wisdom with his analysis. He sees what Caf coaches don't see.
Agree to disagree. We were on the ropes for a long time before their equalizer. They kept cutting thru our midfield numerous times. And then that sequence where we had the ball at the back four 2 mins before Lindelof finally tried something and gave the ball away, boy that was painful.
Villa were a tough side at home. Not anymore. They are struggling. Lost to Newcastle and Chelsea at home in back to back games, and I saw the Chelsea game midweek where they were completely outplayed.
Sounds extremely pissed off with our mentality after going a goal up, it's up to him to drill it into the players.
Still shouldnt be our manager even if he remarkably survives until next season he wont see the year out. His track record with tactics, selection & transfer business should still count against him. The football still wont stand up against top sides on their good days.
That's the most controlled we've looked away from home in ages. It still wasn't perfect but hopefully that gives the team a bit of momentum. If it wasn't for the injury to Shaw it might've been more comfortable.
Agree to disagree. If the fundamentals aren't there's in your performances, in terms of pressing, passing, the basics etc, and you are dependent on moments, sooner or later you'll get found out.
If licha and Shaw were fit I think we'd have carved through their midfield just like they did through ours.
I've criticized ETH a ton but I actually thought we were fine today. My only complaint is that we should've probably been 2-0 up or more before Villa scored. Earlier in the season we would've crumbled completely and lost after conceding, but now we're getting the late winners we need. Hope the run of results continues.
Wasn't a very good performance, but we played a close game at Villa Park which could've gone either way (and luckily went ours, thanks to the changes Ten Hag made), which isn't the disaster some on here would have you believe.
I don't think a different coach (bar Pep or Klopp) would get much more out of this team tbh.
I don't think a different coach (bar Pep or Klopp) would get much more out of this team tbh.
It really wasn’t painful. It was exactly what we needed to do. Put our foot on the ball and slow things down. The game was getting frantic and that suited Villa. That spell of possession took the heat out of the game and we scored shortly after.
I don't think you get to lecture me on nuance given the ridiculous strawman you had to resort to in your previous post.
We were turning the ball over, but we're noticeably much better against a high press when we have our more press resistant players on the pitch, a back four that includes Maguire, Varane, and Lindelof is never going to be brilliant when pressed no matter who is coaching them.
As for the xG, it's not enough to tell the story of the game, we had Rashford on the ball in the 6 yard box but he passed instead of shooting and so that's automatically 0 xG.
Your last line is very reasonable, and I agree, he may not be the guy to take us to the top but he has made some definite improvements and if someone else takes over they'll be inheriting a much better team than the one ETH inherited.
We bet a top 9 team away from home finally and this place is full of misery. Bloody hell.
He hasn't coached a team on how to play through a high press? What bollocks is that
Another win, 3rd best away record in the league now. Great result.
Why can't some people just be happy with a win?
Why can't some people just be happy with a win?
Because XG innit.
It's not complicated. We can win games while not playing well but until we can play well regularly we aren't going to have any form of success. Unfortuantely comprehending that is beyond many on here
That would be true if we never showed anything at all match after match, but that isn't the case at all. We've had some much better performances, winning when not playing well is an important thing to master.
Agree on that but not on the lack of movement leading to hoofing it away.
And yes when we started to do it better, that's when we managed to push forwards and managed to create stuff and finally led to the goal.
Feck xg and feck Villa. I'm delighted win the win.
3 on the bounce, 5 points off top 4 now.
Season is not over yet.
41 after 24 is only 8 less than last season. Away against Villa really is a good result. The next 8 games have 6 winnables. You critics still want him out? I think he performs. Maybe not well, but well enough. Also, Onana was amazing today. Maybe Ten Hag isnt that bad?
I can speak for myself. If you look back on my posts after the Villa game at home, I was on the fence regarding ETH. I wanted to see how we did with the returning players, Casemiro, Shaw and Martinez, and some extended game time for Mainoo in the middle. That's when I wanted to judge the team and his coaching. Which is what my focus is, which is where my posts are.
He's riding his luck, on any other day we would've lost today and draw against Wolves. I'm worried his game management is poor we never look in control, it's like as soon as opposition start pressing we crumble. We never look solid on a game and it has cost us plenty this season.
A great result. Neither saw the game or listened on radio, but that's a great result. No idea how we played but I don't expect much and I never know how much you actually learn from a Man Utd performance. Great that our No 9 is now scoring regularly, doesn't it change the whole feeling of the side? Sancho, Martial etc..gone, gone.
We are where we are for a reason so I take anything really. Well done to the lads and ETH.
We are where we are for a reason so I take anything really. Well done to the lads and ETH.
It's not just simply playing well where we are lacking. I am worried about our midfield, our structure, our lack of control in games etc. That's the whole point of giving a coach like ETH time right? To see improvements there. Now I might be wrong and there are improvements which will slowly improve our performances but that's not what I'm seeing right now.