Why do people like you pretend ETH is free of criticism on here? It’s utter bollocks, he gets it in the neck plenty, there’s a lot to be wary and critical of with our current manager. But he’s also got plenty of positives to allow him time and patience.
Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
I honestly do not know why TBH with you. He had a whole transfer window to adress the CB position that is dire. He probably knew that he wasnt playing Sancho at the beggining of the season and hasnt gone for a wide foward/winger. With a potential injury of Rashford and Garnacho we are not really covered in this position and our first CB of choice is Victor Lindelof. The Regulion transfer in the absence of Shaw has been done well
ETH free of any criticism ?? Where have you been hiding.
my personal view is he is exactly what the club needs to sort out the toxic mess of recent seasons. Its a mammoth task but I definately think he has the qualities to return us to greatness.
His job would be far easier if the Glazers moved on but its looking increasingly unlikely so we have to get on with it.
my personal view is he is exactly what the club needs to sort out the toxic mess of recent seasons. Its a mammoth task but I definately think he has the qualities to return us to greatness.
His job would be far easier if the Glazers moved on but its looking increasingly unlikely so we have to get on with it.
Oh so you’re annoyed by the lack of criticism you’ve seen (there’s plenty) because you want to rant and be critical of him? Makes sense.
A whole summer to address the centre back position, but it was conditional on Maguire leaving. Didn't happen. Also, he had the goalkeeping position to address, as well as upgrading the midfield and striker. He had every intention of using Sancho. Why wouldn't he? It's not the manager's fault that Jadon has acted the clown.
Thats a lot of ifs, buts and should haves. Maguire leaving or not leaving should not be an issue for a club of this size. Bad investment and the club should move on. I think the problem is that ETH thinks Lindelof is good enough and he obviously isnt. I agree the manager can not control the behaviour of his players outside the pitch but he can control the quality of the squad with possible alternatives if things go wrong with his first or second choice. He hasnt done that.
Feck Mourinho though, the toxic dickhead.
Sort of but also not really? He’s clearly got some say, but he’s not in charge of actually shipping the players out, that’s not his area. He is clearly making target selections though like Weggy.
I love the way some people just can’t help but bring it back to the managers all the f**king time.
United managers:
- are stuck with over paid players on ridiculous contracts
- some of these players stink the place out that disrupts preparation and squad culture
- clubs budget is hamstrung with poor value signings and poor value sales
- club supposedly aiming to challange for top honors but always has squads that look more “squeeze into top 4”
- every manager seems to have at least one or two major players being a pain in the ass
- every manager is left well short of required players, usually at least one or two positions poorly covered. But these managers are still expected to rival city who have a conveyor belt of talent where the manager is never short on any position
- every manager seems to get blamed for not handling troubled players. It always seems to be United managers fault when a difficult player inevitably publicly whines. Oddly enough, these players form is usually sh*t or patchy so the managers are nice human shields for them while they play the victim
- every United manager has the highest targets set and has to make do with the likes of Weghorst and Ighalo.
- every manager seems to have squads who can show-glimpses of quality , usually when they are written off, but as soon as expectations rise, the teams inevitably fall short
ETH could do little about Ronaldo , greenwood or Anthony. Even the Maguire situation is a problem he’s inherited. He also jumped through hoops for Sancho, way above what most top clubs would have done (you think Barca are would allow players month off and continue to pander to players who play and train poorly ?
It’s remarkable how anybody can shift the topic to”couldn’t ETH have done it better”. You can’t do better with a player who’s not putting in the work. There needs to be two parties working together, not one just taking all the time.
United has been like a house on fire for 10 years. The media , a lot of the fans (rival and our club) have been just throwing stones at the l burning club , blaming the people running out the club on fire , as if that helps in anyway.
Every player and every manager since Sir Alex retired, has been thrown into a broken club and most have left the club with their reputations In Tatters. The club has been crumbling from the inside the whole time. Every conversation about anything other than ownership or football infrastructure is just throwing stones at a burning building. It’s futile , short sighted and Ignoring the actual problem.
United managers:
- are stuck with over paid players on ridiculous contracts
- some of these players stink the place out that disrupts preparation and squad culture
- clubs budget is hamstrung with poor value signings and poor value sales
- club supposedly aiming to challange for top honors but always has squads that look more “squeeze into top 4”
- every manager seems to have at least one or two major players being a pain in the ass
- every manager is left well short of required players, usually at least one or two positions poorly covered. But these managers are still expected to rival city who have a conveyor belt of talent where the manager is never short on any position
- every manager seems to get blamed for not handling troubled players. It always seems to be United managers fault when a difficult player inevitably publicly whines. Oddly enough, these players form is usually sh*t or patchy so the managers are nice human shields for them while they play the victim
- every United manager has the highest targets set and has to make do with the likes of Weghorst and Ighalo.
- every manager seems to have squads who can show-glimpses of quality , usually when they are written off, but as soon as expectations rise, the teams inevitably fall short
ETH could do little about Ronaldo , greenwood or Anthony. Even the Maguire situation is a problem he’s inherited. He also jumped through hoops for Sancho, way above what most top clubs would have done (you think Barca are would allow players month off and continue to pander to players who play and train poorly ?
It’s remarkable how anybody can shift the topic to”couldn’t ETH have done it better”. You can’t do better with a player who’s not putting in the work. There needs to be two parties working together, not one just taking all the time.
United has been like a house on fire for 10 years. The media , a lot of the fans (rival and our club) have been just throwing stones at the l burning club , blaming the people running out the club on fire , as if that helps in anyway.
Every player and every manager since Sir Alex retired, has been thrown into a broken club and most have left the club with their reputations In Tatters. The club has been crumbling from the inside the whole time. Every conversation about anything other than ownership or football infrastructure is just throwing stones at a burning building. It’s futile , short sighted and Ignoring the actual problem.
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Look mate I dont expect a Rio Ferdinand transfer I just expect him to adress the issue. The Glazers dont have a problem with a small transfer and he didnt make one. At this point a slightly above average Championship CB would do a better job than Lindelof. Its actually sad and funny how many players in the lower divisions or lesser leagues would do a better job than the likes of Lindelof, Maguire, Fred, Telles and Martial.
The first three I agree. But on Sancho, I'm a bit torn. His actions seem sensible, but they also go against the whole "bringing back standards" stuff. Here's a player he inherited, who refuses to train. He could've put his foot down and made it clear that he's not going to play for us again. The same with Maguire. Should've told him right away that his options are the reserves or another club.
Hell, managers have done that even to players who've trained or had been playing reasonably well. Pep walked in and told Joe Hart to bugger off. He preferred to play an error prone Claudio Bravo over Joe Hart in that first season. Klopp fecked off their top defender (I forget the name, French guy) because he got caught in some doping related issue though he was proved not guilty.
Regarding ETH. Everyone has flaws and strengths. As a manager it's about if you're strengths are the right ones to bring the club to the next level. Ten Hag's are.
Focusing on the manager's flaws leads us to escalated arguments where he is over-criticised. As long as I believe his strengths are just what we need I won't go, or follow someone, down that rabbit hole. Simply because I don't believe it's good for the club.
Focusing on the manager's flaws leads us to escalated arguments where he is over-criticised. As long as I believe his strengths are just what we need I won't go, or follow someone, down that rabbit hole. Simply because I don't believe it's good for the club.
It doesn't matter if it "should not be an issue for a club of this size". Fact of the matter is, it is an issue under these owners and there's nothing the manager can do about it. I'm sure ten Hag would have loved to move Maguire on in return for a new centre back. Lindelof is perfectly fine as a backup centre half. We need a long term replacement for Varane and that wasn't happening until Maguire departed. Sad but true.
He does have alternatives to Sancho though. Sancho has been so poor that an alternative to him probably won't be too damaging at all.
If it was just one or even 2 issues at one time, you would have a point but When did Pep have to deal with the amount of player issues and drama ant United, ever as a manager? Also, what Pep wants, Pep gets, when he had to make do with a Weghorst?
Pep equally has never managed a club as broken as United. He’s walked into league winning squads everywhere he’s gone, far easier to turf out the odd weed, then trying to cultivate a field of dogsh*t.
The sheer number of issues at United, way beyond individual players, makes it far harder to simply discard every problem player.
First of all: Lindelof is not a good back up option or an option for that matter.
Secondly: The Glazers dont know football just numbers. If ETH and his scout crew though of some cheap option on the CB position they would not have had a problem with the Glazers giving the green light
Third: again neither Ole or Jose got this warm understanding from the CAF and then we beg the question of ownership rather than the manager.
First of all: Yes, Lindelof is a decent option as a backup centre half.
Secondly: Perhaps the player we had in mind to replace Maguire and challenge Varane wasn't some cheap punt.
Finally: If it was solely to the manager, he'd have signed a centre back. No question. However, it isn't and we didn't. Therefore, no need to point fingers.
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Nah mate Lindelof isnt a good option he just rode the wave of the Maguire hate. Everything else you said has some basis of an argument so I will give you that
Henry Winter is one of the few actual journalists in a sea of pathetic, shit stirring hacks. Top bloke.
Winter must be anticipating a massive backlash against Ten Hag this afternoon if we lose, if he's putting out stuff like that before a ball has been kicked.
100% agree with this
He is protecting hymself and that is not something I blame him for but at this point he is clearly looking out for his best interest and not the teams
He is the boss and he cannot let a low performer undermine that. Kick everyone out or let them rot if they dont move on. About time we put an end to that circus show. I supported Sancho and had hope he could come good, showed more drive recently but this seems to be a big issue and was such a stupid move. Doubt he will recover from that, and rightly so
Everything you said is true, nothing to add. I especially agree with the bolded/highlighted part.
Don't agree with your opinion on Lindelof. He isn't world class, but he is nowhere near as bad as you portray him to be.
Yes he is he was just fortunate enough everybody is ripping on Maguire. He never engages his attacker and he is very weak in the air
Like I said, he isn't world class by any means. However, this is not accurate.
I like his style and trust he'll do his job once he weeds out the failure transfers that Ole and others brought without any due dilligence.
Well I guess we are not going to agree on that one. I suggest you look up some of his stuff but Im aware Im not going to change your mind and you will not mine.
Huge week ahead...Erik needs a performance and a win today.
I don't agree with the mounting pressure...but it's there! but the team ultimately has control over it! 2 wins this week and the noise goes away for a few weeks.
C'mon United!
I don't agree with the mounting pressure...but it's there! but the team ultimately has control over it! 2 wins this week and the noise goes away for a few weeks.
C'mon United!
Word. At the end of the day CMON United!
One thing this Sancho business has done is take the heat off ETH. I wonder if by design? Before we were talking about our football and how he had a good squad now, his squad in fact, and he needed to get more from it than he is. Now we're talking about more rebuilds and how his task is just setting standards etc. It's like we've took 2 steps backwards and suddenly we're talking about his task being what it was last summer on arrival. Setting standards, discipline, cutting out the rot.
Our rebuilds are like a never ending task. After last season and the expenditure of the club, we should be aiming higher now. Talk about standards...
Our rebuilds are like a never ending task. After last season and the expenditure of the club, we should be aiming higher now. Talk about standards...
Well that was always the case. People's expectations shot up because we had a good season last year. The reality is we always needed a huge clear out and culture reset at the club. And yeah, it does feel like a never ending task. But that won't fully be complete until the owners are gone.
Till then we will just be in this limbo state of a couple of 'good seasons' (good for that phase of the 'rebuild) and then a bad year which leads to the manager being sacked or the reality kicking in that we're not quite good enough compared to other clubs.
For what it's worth, I think Ten Hag will be one of the first managers we've had to survive not making the top 4 (unless it's a catastrophic season like finishing 10th). I actually think, whether under ETH or someone else, we can mount a proper challenge and get close but we won't win it and we won't sustain that challenge for multiple seasons i.e it will be a one off thing. But ultimately we're just going to be stuck in this limbo state till there's a huge change and I only think that can happen with the ownership being resolved.
We can't afford to get rid of ETH 
It definitely has taken some of the heat of Ten Hag but then again he knew that when he was facing the reporter after a disappointing defeat to yet another top 9 side and he was asked the question. He could have said nothing but he chose to explain to everyone that what he’s working with is some dickheads who aren’t pulling in the right direction.
Ten Hag has been right in his assessment of the squad. Poor standards, weak mentalities, no willing to graft when needed, and we do need another rebuild, which is exactly what people don’t want to hear.
We’ve signed shite players with shite attitudes on big salaries. This is the consequences of that type of stupid behaviour and some manager has to sort it out at some point. So we unfortunately have to allow Ten Hag to bring in players and get rid of those that shouldn’t be here.
The one thing I can say if he does get the sack is that at least the players he’s brought in have the right mentality, which will put any future manager in a good spot. They might not be great but squads need grafters as a foundation to build upon, not Jason Sancho.
Seems like much of the press is really getting in to ramping the pressure on ten hag now. Three things I've seen are criticism of his treatment of Maguire and Sancho, and questions about whether anyone has improved under his coaching (by which I assume they mean against their levels before the Ole collapse/Rangnick period).
I think he's breaking eggs to make an omelette, and the reasons why he's getting the questions raised are;
1. Pundits/journalists who are partisan to the English national sides interests.
2. Pundits/journalists not appreciating that most of the squad EtH inherited probably can't be improved to the required levels.
3. The signing of Antony hasn't worked so far.
I hope he gets a sustained run of good results and performances, it's the only way he'll stop the narrative that's currently building. Hopefully the players are 100% behind him.
I think he's breaking eggs to make an omelette, and the reasons why he's getting the questions raised are;
1. Pundits/journalists who are partisan to the English national sides interests.
2. Pundits/journalists not appreciating that most of the squad EtH inherited probably can't be improved to the required levels.
3. The signing of Antony hasn't worked so far.
I hope he gets a sustained run of good results and performances, it's the only way he'll stop the narrative that's currently building. Hopefully the players are 100% behind him.
Not sure that I totally agree. On Swedish tv they are talking about how impressive a ‘team’ Brighton have become, and that is despite fielding some players that you would seriously question if they are good enough for the top level of English football. I don’t think we would be all that happy to see Lallana and Welbeck starting for us for example.
ETH has done okay and had to handle a lot of tough situations but now he really needs to get us performing as a team, and our away form has to seriously improve.
I'm a bit unsure about the Brighton love in, they finished 6th, 3 points above 9th, with Spurs and Chelsea having disastrous seasons. They've done well, but nothing incredible in my opinion. A couple of their players were punts that came good and they now play at top 6 clubs. I don't think their manager is a miracle worker is what I'm saying, Brighton were already doing well under Potter.
Totally agree with what you say about EtH, if he doesn't kick on then this press pressure is going to really take off.
They weren't "punts that came good" - they have an incredible scouting and analytics system that identified the right players.
Relative to their resources, they have no business being in the top half of the table (or arguably even in the division). The fact that they finished where they finished, while playing attractive football, is testament to how well-run they are as an organization.