Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[Brianschoccysurprise]

It's a massive gamble for Ineos to sack ETH after yesterday.
You beat arguably the best team in Europe, and champions, with a really good performance and had back to back trophy seasons.
It's blindingly obvious to everyone that the players have been a shambles, and with key players injured physically or mentally, you are trying to get a tune out of an over loaded squad.
Your job is under constant scrutiny, even when it's going well you've got people calling for your head.
The whole club structure changes mid-season and the new bosses are analysing your every move, everyone in this forum would be massively effected if they came under that scrutiny at work. I also really put big parts of our poor on pitch performances down to this disturbance, including many of our late brain parts at Chelsea, Coventry, Brentford. The players basically sh*t their pants. Coventry was unforgiveable.

Any manager would be struggling, it's so easy to just point the finger at ETH but nothing seems to of gone right for us this year. Imagine if he just had to focus on the team instead of the constant swirling BS

He also isn't blameless, I don't argue that. I think his biggest problems have been falling out with every single player at some point or other but to be fair to him, they all deserved it anyway.

Why would we bother bringing a new manager in? Who would of flourished in this environment? Klopp has half the drama at Pool & he's decided to quit.

I think we should be realistic in what we expected of ETH, 8th place isn't good enough but when he has the bullets he can do the job..

 

[stevoc]

Most reasonable people have this perspective, though. Clearly if he was staying, the club would have issued a simple statement. Some are just acting absolutely hysterical for no reason.

Yeah I can't imagine they would have let this level of speculation go unanswered if there was no truth to it.

 

[Vidooq]

There are so many signs that he is going to be fired, it's just a matter of the FA Cup win euphoria fading away first. The fact that he has won 2 cups in 2 years will not make good optics for INEOS.

 

[TsuWave]

We should aspire to be like the best team in the world other than City who didn't even beat them over two legs and got 35% percent possession

It's a choice to try and dominate the game out of possession, which we did in the first half until the Doku sub

I'm yet to see anyone criticising our approach for this specific game. Ogden's supposed criticism/questioning was framed as mid to long-term. Winning with 27% possession isn't sustainable, and not very easy to recreate.

Again, it isn't a binary choice between dominating possession and 27% possession. I've seen Liverpool go gunshot for gunshot with Manchester City plenty of times to assert as much.

Real fecking Madrid were reduced to parking the bus and hoping for the best against this City side, and still needed pens to beat them. We restricted them to half chances and long shots. We scored a beauty of a goal. We deserved to win. Even Newcastle and Chelsea fans who were praying for us to lose thought we deserved to win.

I completely understand wanting Ten Hag gone, and he's shat the bed over the course of the season, but trying to take yesterday off him is just silly.

You're talking nonsense - and before you react in an angry manner - it's just the dangers of joining a conversation mid-flow. Please read the posts carefully and you'll see no one is "trying to take yesterday off him". Once you recognise that, you'll recognise why I said you're talking nonsense - it isn't a personal attack.

My post isn't even particularly about yesterday's game, and at no point did I suggest we didn't deserve the win. In fact my assessment of the game was this:

Yesterday was a good win, but the underlying metrics were still poor, though to be fair, we were set-up to play in a specific manner that wouldn't translate well for said metrics

 

[Dannn411]

We should be dominating possession against city?

City are obviously the kings of possession but ideally, yes we should be aspiring to dominate everybody. City included.

 

[Leftback99]

I'd lose all confidence in INEOS if they let one game change their mind. Hopefully they stick to their guns.

 

[Sarni]

But I don't think the backlash would be so big that fans would be angry for any sustained period of time. He's not a legend that fans will still be angry at after the Euros.

That’s true. The minute a new manager is appointed people will just get behind him, if anything we have a strong history of supporting managers.

 

[stevoc]

Why? is it not you and it is 3 weeks ago?

Obviously it's me. Why are you randomly quoting it and what is your point?

 

[Leftback99]

Utter nonsense. Show them the various batterings and the several times we've been outplayed by relegation fodder and lower league teams and let's hear their backlash then.

They only remember the last game.

 

[SER19]

I cannot believe the stock Pochettino carries. I dont dislike him, but to view him as an obvious replacement of improvement on ten hag is absolutely crazy. They finished the season very strongly, don't get me wrong, but it many ways it was when pressure was off and things could only get better. Are we pretending that Pochettino coming here and having a first half of the season like he just did with chelsea wouldn't lead to anything but absolute catastrophe? People are forgetting how awful they were, and even in the midst of their good run, they lost 5 nil to arsenal with one of the most abject displays Ive seen in years. Once again, he ended a season without a trophy, something ten hag has yet to do in 2 seasons at United.

Potter, Frank and Southgate, I don't even want to entertain.

De Zerbi would be an enormous gamble. A very different style, back to square one, and right now, after beating city with such an accomplished performance, there would be huge pressure from the off for a manager who has never won anything. Ten Hag has come through the lowest of lows with United, and there's something to be said for seeing if this season will have taught lessons that only similar lows will teach another manager about managing United.

Tuchel is among the only viable options, and I get it. Personally, I just don't really like the guy and couldn't see it being anything but a changeover in a couple of years, probably after some dramatic fall out.

Lastly, there's mckenna. Are we absolutely convinced this team would buy into it - given that 2-3 years ago we were having leaks about how they thought his coaching was academy level. He was an assistant to solskjaer, and got battered on this forum too. I'd have him over tuchel, and i really like mckenna, but again - is it such a good bet that it justifies sacking a manager whose just won a cup v city with all the players still clearly fighting for him. Wins like that can galvanise a group and a set up.

I'd still be ten hag in, followed by mckenna or tuchel. The others, I don't think are worth discussing.

 

[Drainy]

he didn't write that you've just inferred it from a paraphrased quote

What do you think he means by 'is it really good enough for Man United to play that way, to only get 27% possession, they should try to dominate the game'

We dominated the game until Doku came on. Afterwards we lost some control as Garnacho had to support AWB since Doku was a threat on the wing and we ceded some control of the midfield area?

 

[Robbie Boy]

Yeah I can't imagine they would have let this level of speculation go unanswered if there was no truth to it.

It would be absolutely bizarre if they chose not to react to all this noise if he was staying. The likelihood is that his departure will be announced over the next 2 to 3 days. Hopefully as soon as possible, as this dragging on, isn't good for anyone.

 

[Danny_]

It would be absolutely bizarre if they chose not to react to all this noise if he was staying. The likelihood is that his departure will be announced over the next 2 to 3 days. Hopefully as soon as possible, as this dragging on, isn't good for anyone.

Lets hope not. Common sense will prevail and he will get at least, one more year. Terrible luck with injuries this year.

 

[V.O.]

You're talking nonsense - and before you react in an angry manner - it's just the dangers of joining a conversation mid-flow. Please read the posts carefully and you'll see no one is "trying to take yesterday off him". Once you recognise that, you'll recognise why I said you're talking nonsense - it isn't a personal attack.

My post isn't even particularly about yesterday's game, and at no point did I suggest we didn't deserve the win. In fact my assessment of the game was this:

If your post wasn't about yesterday's game, you wouldn't be going on about 27% possession.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

It would be absolutely bizarre if they chose not to react to all this noise if he was staying. The likelihood is that his departure will be announced over the next 2 to 3 days. Hopefully as soon as possible, as this dragging on, isn't good for anyone.

Yeah I think it’s pretty obvious he’s gone, but they don’t want to take away from the shine of yesterday’s win yet. If we had lost it would have been announced today

 

[Robbie Boy]

But I don't think the backlash would be so big that fans would be angry for any sustained period of time. He's not a legend that fans will still be angry at after the Euros.

I don't even see much of a backlash, if any. People may feel he's been treated unfairly given how things have played out. But, it'll all be quickly forgotten.

 

[Tarrou]

What do you think he means by 'is it really good enough for Man United to play that way, to only get 27% possession, they should try to dominate the game'

We dominated the game until Doku came on. Afterwards we lost some control as Garnacho had to support AWB since Doku was a threat on the wing and we ceded some control of the midfield area?

A poster already replied to you above and gave a good explanation. If you want to read it differently, that's fine. I'm too lazy for this.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Yeah I think it’s pretty obvious he’s gone, but they don’t want to take away from the shine of yesterday’s win yet. If we had lost it would have been announced today

Aye, that's my feelings on it.

 

[Mercurial]

and Eric will learn. I am just lost of words for people looking down on Eric because we had 27% possession against city (but Real Madrid and Ancelotti can do it).

Cup experts like Ancelotti win games, sometimes ugly sometimes beautiful and Ancelotti is just the best at it. Eric will surely have learned from this year.

 

[Drainy]

City are obviously the kings of possession but ideally, yes we should be aspiring to dominate everybody. City included.

Do you think Real Madrid have this inferiority complex response to winning against them in a way that ceded possession?

 

[Robbie Boy]

Lets hope not. Common sense will prevail and he will get at least, one more year. Terrible luck with injuries this year.

I find it unlikely he will stay. But, if he is, the club really need to announce something soon.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Lets hope not. Common sense will prevail and he will get at least, one more year. Terrible luck with injuries this year.

Roughly the same luck with injuries as Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs. All of who managed to finish above us.

Injuries definitely played a part in our poor season. The main reason it was so horrendous though was Ten Hag being either tactically inept or stubborn enough to not accept that his system of playing 1 man in midfield was making us one of the most open teams in the league.

Keeping a man who has shown himself to be that tactically inept would certainly not be "common sense" just because he won 1 match that we just as easily could have lost.

 

[rimaldo]

What do you think he means by 'is it really good enough for Man United to play that way, to only get 27% possession, they should try to dominate the game'

We dominated the game until Doku came on. Afterwards we lost some control as Garnacho had to support AWB since Doku was a threat on the wing and we ceded some control of the midfield area?

we were fairly comfortable until onana threw one in. reminded me of how we used to play against arsenal under fergie. let them dick about with the ball, going nowhere, and then hitting them on the break with direct football.

 

[stevoc]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Well they won't be able to please all of the fanbase all of the time.

 

[Stadjer]

Well, the vast majority still want him sacked. It's ok to be happy about winning the FA Cup, though.

The vast majority where? Not on that Twitter poll with 50k+ reactions, i dont believe the Goldbridge people want him out.. the 1k votes on this site want him out but this forum also has people who want Bruno out. This forum usually want players and managers out.

 

[stevoc]

It would be absolutely bizarre if they chose not to react to all this noise if he was staying. The likelihood is that his departure will be announced over the next 2 to 3 days. Hopefully as soon as possible, as this dragging on, isn't good for anyone.

Agreed, it would be best for Erik himself as well. On the off chance he hasn't been informed yet, I'm sure he probably does know though.

 

[astracrazy]

Well all you backing him now better not make a peep when the beginning of next season is a disaster and we end up sacking him in October and then appoint Southgate because he’s the only available option.

Works both ways

 

[Robbie Boy]

The vast majority where? Not on that Twitter poll with 50k+ reactions, i dont believe the Goldbridge people want him out.. the 1k votes on this site want him out but this forum also has people who want Bruno out. This forum usually want players and managers out.

From reading this thread and not looking at the poll, it's the majority that want him out. And no, this forum has been far too lenient on both players and managers for a long time now, imo.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

The club shouldn’t get a flying feck what supporters think when it comes to making decisions about the squad/management either way if I’m honest.

 

[Stadjer]

I've been pretty much on the fence over this and remain so. There are a lot of good reasons to sack ETH, and then there are a few factors that make you think that giving him another year with INEOS is worth a shot.

Ultimately, I have to trust INEOS to make the right decision. We've tried replacing managers before and we know that's not enough. The most important thing is to build the new structure and believe that the new people will do a job good - and that includes deciding who the manager is. If they don't do a good job, it won't matter who the manager is. We'll continue to struggle.

Exactly. Im on the fence too.

But if INEOS wants to start their project with their own manager they should sack him now. They shouldnt be waiting for a more opportune time in a sense that he will be fired at the first bad game. They need to make the big decision and make it soon. They cant please everyone since a part want ETH gone and a part want him to stay.

 

[Irwin99]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

I wonder if there's a part of Ratcliffe that thinks the FA cup win against all expectations has created a problem for him. Yes, after a week or so most United fans will get over EtH inevitably being sacked but if the new guy comes in, loses a lot of games and everyone pleads for patience and time, he'll have a section of the fanbase that will be quite annoyed and say that we panicked and pushed the reset button during EtH's rebuild, just so they could bring their own man in.

It's a tricky one. I'd like to know what the objectives seem to be for next season- is it patience and another rebuild or is it, "we want results, nothing but top 4 will do?" If it's the latter then i can see why EtH will be sacked but if it's the former then why ignore some of the better things EtH has done? He may have had a bad season but he's won two trophies and has developed (and left?) a core of some decent players for the future: Martinez, Dalot , Garnacho, Hojlund, Mainoo (and possibly Onana, jury is out on that one).

 

[TsuWave]

If your post wasn't about yesterday's game, you wouldn't be going on about 27% possession.

I know people don't like being wrong, especially so in a public setting, but it's OK to just say "my fault"/"I misunderstood the exchange" and move on rather than whatever this is.

Ogden seemingly suggested that the way we won isn't sustainable and maybe not the approach that United should be taking moving forward. A poster here said that those "criticisms" about how the bigger club should be winning with dominating possession made them angry because it shows poor understanding of football. Another poster said "that's not really what was said though", and I added that it doesn't even need to be a binary choice between dominating possession or 27% possession - this, contextually, being about United moving forward.

so yeah, I wasn't "trying to take yesterday off him" nor did I suggest we didn't deserve the win. To emphasise that - I even quoted my assessment of yesterday's game for you to see. Bizarre that you would double down with this.

Conversations about Ten Hag are getting weirder because people keep creating boogeymen and arguing against them, whilst attributing them to other people.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

I think even those who are Ten Hag in will change their tune pretty quickly if we bring someone in who can make us into a somewhat functional team that doesn't regularly get dominated by the likes of Palace, Bournemouth, Fulham and Newcastle.

 

[VP89]

The club shouldn’t get a flying feck what supporters think when it comes to making decisions about the squad/management either way if I’m honest.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Works both ways

Actually it doesn’t. People wanting him sacked still want what’s best for the club. If he stayed and we came out next season flying playing brilliant stuff I’m pretty sure everyone would be thrilled.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

I think even those who are Ten Hag in will change their tune pretty quickly if we bring someone in who can make us into a somewhat functional team that doesn't regularly get dominated by the likes of Palace, Bournemouth, Fulham and Newcastle.

Just blows my mind people can watch us against Crystal Palace or Bournemouth and then just chalk it up to missing some defenders.

 

[Berbaclass]

The club shouldn’t get a flying feck what supporters think when it comes to making decisions about the squad/management either way if I’m honest.

Bit of an extreme view

 

[astracrazy]

Feels to me like this was a it of a storm in a tea cup made by journos who now seem to be taking their foot off the gas.

Friday he was 100% gone no matter.

Today its all at risk, could be, decision not made.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Actually it doesn’t. People wanting him sacked still want what’s best for the club. If he stayed and we came out next season flying playing brilliant stuff I’m pretty sure everyone would be thrilled.

I've said this.

I think there was some irrational hate for past managers where it became in part a vendetta. I don't think there are many in the Ten Hag out camp that hate the man, we hate being humiliating to watch on the pitch weekly.

If that stopped then brilliant, it is just a lack in faith of his capabilities after the last 18 months.

 

[VP89]

Just blows my mind people can watch us against Crystal Palace or Bournemouth and then just chalk it up to missing some defenders.

What was wrong with the system or tactics against Palace? Can you explain? When the goals went in was it individual brainfarts from players out of position or was there a tactical set up that was wrong?