Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[Zlatan 7]

I’m sure he has many qualities as a coach but being a great tactician is definitely not one of them.

I did say may be. I think he is clued up on football, studies it and whatever else, may have great ideas but clearly it’s not working for him or the team at the moment.
I was more pointing out that I think he’s struggling with motivating the team and creating a never say die bond more than he’s struggling with understanding football itself. He doesn’t seem to be the most inspiring.

at the end of the day who knows what his best and weakest attributes are on the training field and in the changing room, it’s just clear to see that somethings not quite right. We had some good spells last season then it died off, maintaining that momentum seems a problem for him

 

[Andy_Cole]

I think we may struggle for a while yet, ten hag may be one of the best tacticians around but I think he’s really struggling with man management and creating or maintaining a team bond. Hopefully a win or two will change it around

Everton A - draw
Galatasaray A - draw
Newcastle A - loss
Chelsea H - loss
Bourmouth H - win
Bayern H - loss
Liverpool A - loss
West Ham A - loss
Villa H - loss
Forest A - loss

looks grim when I look back at this list and how I feel about these matches, hope I’m wrong about them

5 losses in a row? 7 losses in 8? 1 win in 10? Come on that is not happening. We will probably win 5 of them.

 

[Oranges038]

Christ this is grim, and we still want to keep the guy that gets those results while also playing crap football every week?

Why exactly?

Probably because those games haven't happened yet.

 

[Shark]

I think we may struggle for a while yet, ten hag may be one of the best tacticians around but I think he’s really struggling with man management and creating or maintaining a team bond. Hopefully a win or two will change it around

Everton A - draw
Galatasaray A - draw
Newcastle A - loss
Chelsea H - loss
Bourmouth H - win
Bayern H - loss
Liverpool A - loss
West Ham A - loss
Villa H - loss
Forest A - loss

looks grim when I look back at this list and how I feel about these matches, hope I’m wrong about them

Five losses on the bounce(seven overall), one win and two draws. I hope you're very wrong too, but it's like you've never watched a PL season before. The losses could be wins and the ones you don't expect could be the ones we feck up.

 

[Zlatan 7]

5 losses in a row? 7 losses in 8? 1 win in 10? Come on that is not happening. We will probably win 5 of them.

Which 5

 

[USREDEVIL]

Zlatan is on the drink

Everton A - win
Galatasaray A - draw
Newcastle A - loss
Chelsea H - draw
Bourmouth H - win
Bayern H - loss
Liverpool A - loss
West Ham A - win
Aston villa - draw
Forest A - win

4 wins
3 losses
3 draws.
We don't draw much so maybe 541. We can beat villa .

 

[Leftback99]

5 losses in a row? 7 losses in 8? 1 win in 10? Come on that is not happening. We will probably win 5 of them.

We'll barely score 5 goals.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Five losses on the bounce(seven overall), one win and two draws. I hope you're very wrong too, but it's like you've never watched a PL season before. The losses could be wins and the ones you don't expect could be the ones we feck up.

I don’t disagree with you, obviously anything can happen otherwise we’d all be rich from betting. But going into those games looking at our form against the teams we’re playings form, on a game by game basis, that’s what I thought would be the outcome of each game.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Zlatan is on the drink

Everton A - win
Galatasaray A - draw
Newcastle A - loss
Chelsea H - draw
Bourmouth H - win
Bayern H - loss
Liverpool A - loss
West Ham A - win
Aston villa - draw
Forest A - win

4 wins
3 losses
3 draws.
We don't draw much so maybe 541. We can beat villa .

Hopefully you’re more near right than me

 

[USREDEVIL]

Hopefully you’re more near right than me

Me too. I'm hoping we can get back some of our starters before most of those games.

 

[Alex99]

Everton A - win
Galatasaray A - win
Newcastle A - win
Chelsea H - win
Bourmouth H - win
Bayern H - win
Liverpool A - win
West Ham A - win
Aston villa - win
Forest A - win

 

[Zlatan 7]

Everton A - win
Galatasaray A - win
Newcastle A - win
Chelsea H - win
Bourmouth H - win
Bayern H - win
Liverpool A - win
West Ham A - win
Aston villa - win
Forest A - win

It’s sad that I laughed when seeing these predictions. Also, not even sure if you’re serious

 

[DJ_21]

I hope they’re wrong too but it does look a tough set of fixtures.
Bournemouth we really should win, Chelsea could go either way depending on how each team turns up, forest should be a win but they can surprise and dig in and could smell blood by that point

Ye they are very hard games. I think Everton are gonna be really tough to beat. There inform at the minute. That’s a game we really need to win though as in the same weekend our rivals are playing each other.

 

[DJ_21]

Everton A - win
Galatasaray A - win
Newcastle A - win
Chelsea H - win
Bourmouth H - win
Bayern H - win
Liverpool A - win
West Ham A - win
Aston villa - win
Forest A - win

Love you spirit. If you get that spot on then you can do my next lottery ticket.

 

[Alex99]

It’s sad that I laughed when seeing these predictions. Also, not even sure if you’re serious

Not at all serious. I'd be very shocked if we lost five on the bounce, in a run of seven losses in eight games, though.

At this point, I'm not that arsed about the CL or dropping into the Europa League. Given our issues with keeping everyone fit, fewer games might be a blessing, and we're not going to realistically win the CL anyway. If we manage to get through, great. If we don't and drop into the Europa, I hope we do well. If we end up last in the group, might be a good thing.

Four wins, two draws, two defeats I reckon.

Love you spirit. If you get that spot on then you can do my next lottery ticket.

I made £150 off us losing to City so the spirit isn't always there.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Alex is likewise on the drink. But i know he's being "funny"

 

[DJ_21]

Not at all serious. I'd be very shocked if we lost five on the bounce, in a run of seven losses in eight games, though.

At this point, I'm not that arsed about the CL or dropping into the Europa League. Given our issues with keeping everyone fit, fewer games might be a blessing, and we're not going to realistically win the CL anyway. If we manage to get through, great. If we don't and drop into the Europa, I hope we do well. If we end up last in the group, might be a good thing.

Four wins, two draws, two defeats I reckon.



I made £150 off us losing to City so the spirit isn't always there.

I’d call that a win-win situation. We win and you’re happy, you won 150 pound so should still be fairly happy.

 

[Alex99]

I’d call that a win-win situation. We win and you’re happy, you won 150 pound so should still be fairly happy.

Oh absolutely. I saw our back four and immediately chucked £15 in a depressingly predictable bet builder.

 

[el3mel]

No, he doesn't need a squad of 32, but he is constantly needing to pick players he never bought in his first XI where Mount aside, it's obligated as his transfers were injured or unavailable. Amrabat himself has started games too. Him rotating with McT doesn't mean he's displaced but eludes more to squad management.

So that shows it isn't ten hags squad. What you said is complete and utter hyperbole and bullshit, considering I named 6-8 players that he never bought who have been prominent performers in his side.

The players you mentioned are ones he trusts and plays whenever they are available. The only bullshit thing is treating someone like Rashford as not one of his guys when he's indispensable for Ten Hag and played a huge role in us finishing top 4 and winning that cup last season, yet he's not "his player". Clutching at straws, basically.

Also no, Scott playing isn't a squad rotation. He has been a main starter for about 2 months now while Mount and Amrabat are warming the bench for him despite being his main midfielders signings last summer. More like he realized his signings are crap and resorted back to Scott McTominay, which is ultimately Ten Hag's fault for choosing players to begin with. Scott starting ahead of Mount instead of him trying to play Mount into form like how he has been doing for Rashford since the season has started proves that in how own mind Ten Hag doesn't have any time it patience for Mount, his biggest signing last summer, to start performing. He's not forced to start McTominay.

He bought half of the current main lineup and the other half are mostly indispensable for him whenever they are available. You basically want the guy to come in and buy 11 new players that he picks in starting lineup and consider any player he didn't bought as being forced on him. That's pretty dumb way of thinking. No manager will walk in and replace the entire team just to be "his team". Bring me examples of this?

 

[Zlatan 7]

The players you mentioned are ones he trusts and plays whenever they are available. The only bullshit thing is treating someone like Rashford as not one of his guys when he's indispensable for Ten Hag and played a huge role in us finishing top 4 and winning that cup last season, yet he's not "his player". Clutching at straws, basically.

Also no, Scott playing isn't a squad rotation. He has been a main starter for about 2 months now while Mount and Amrabat are warming the bench for him despite being his main midfielders signings last summer. More like he realized his signings are crap and resorted back to Scott McTominay, which is ultimately Ten Hag's fault for choosing players to begin with. Scott starting ahead of Mount instead of him trying to play Mount into form like how he has been doing for Rashford since the season has started proves that in how own mind Ten Hag doesn't have any time it patience for Mount, his biggest signing last summer, to start performing. He's not forced to start McTominay.

He bought half of the current main lineup and the other half are mostly indispensable for him whenever they are available. You basically want the guy to come in and buy 11 new players that he picks in starting lineup and consider any player he didn't bought as being forced on him. That's pretty dumb way of thinking. No manager will walk in and replace the entire team just to be "his team". Bring me examples of this?

Klopp basically did this to be fair. I remember arguing against people that said klopp took a team and improved the players when basically instead he changed the entire first eleven

 

[baskinginthesun]

I tried getting some discussion going by posting quotes from Jonathan Liew's article in The Guardian, but nobody followed up on it. Let's try again then. It was this post:

But since the quotes don't come through in a quote, here's the bit about the stats that are currently looking positive for United:

And here is how Liew contextualizes that in terms of what United's play looks like right now (which obviously does not look quite so positive), and what it might mean for how that play may (or may not) evolve in the near future:

I appreciate the outlook and positive stats here. Some of these definitely get lost in the chaos. However, it seems ETH knows how to win the ball back high up the pitch but potentially doesn't know how to implement a style that will move the ball quickly and create a solid chance. I mean I do agree that it is obvious were winning the ball in key areas only to inevitably be frustrated when the play breaks down 2 seconds later. Due to a misplaced pass, a cutback or shot from distance when other players were in better positions. Etc.

We've been rather terrible at scoring goals (for a multitude of reasons) as a team since he's been the manager and that doesn't seem to be improving. If he can fix that problem some of the outlook here may change. But for now we're left frustrated and stuck comparing United to City and Liverpool who score goals for fun. And we're also left wondering about all the "what if's" just as the author of the Guardian article put it in that quoted last paragraph.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

The players you mentioned are ones he trusts and plays whenever they are available. The only bullshit thing is treating someone like Rashford as not one of his guys when he's indispensable for Ten Hag and played a huge role in us finishing top 4 and winning that cup last season, yet he's not "his player". Clutching at straws, basically.

Also no, Scott playing isn't a squad rotation. He has been a main starter for about 2 months now while Mount and Amrabat are warming the bench for him despite being his main midfielders signings last summer. More like he realized his signings are crap and resorted back to Scott McTominay, which is ultimately Ten Hag's fault for choosing players to begin with. Scott starting ahead of Mount instead of him trying to play Mount into form like how he has been doing for Rashford since the season has started proves that in how own mind Ten Hag doesn't have any time it patience for Mount, his biggest signing last summer, to start performing. He's not forced to start McTominay.

He bought half of the current main lineup and the other half are mostly indispensable for him whenever they are available. You basically want the guy to come in and buy 11 new players that he picks in starting lineup and consider any player he didn't bought as being forced on him. That's pretty dumb way of thinking. No manager will walk in and replace the entire team just to be "his team". Bring me examples of this?

Pretty much this./

I don’t spend time on other forums but are other fanbases so cucked. Since when was it against the rules of coaching for a manager to come in to a club & improve players? I like EtH but the people making excuses for him are actually wearing me down.

Antony, Mount, Eriksen, Malacia, Martinez, Onana, Amrabat. Bar Hojlund & Casemiro (who wasn’t his preferred signing) EtH has bought players that are clearly phys not up to a 38 game season at the top level. I list Onana because he’s ‘small’ for a goalkeeper. EtH seemingly still hasn’t come to terms with what profile of payer succeeds in the league so giving him more money would be foolish.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Klopp basically did this to be fair. I remember arguing against people that said klopp took a team and improved the players when basically instead he changed the entire first eleven

But he had some players overperform until they were replaced though. Klopp had some shockers that people look past but he made players better also.

 

[Zlatan 7]

But he had some players overperform until they were replaced though. Klopp had some shockers that people look past but he made players better also.

Maybe he made a few better but still not good enough, he took over in was it 2015 and I think the champions league was his first trophy in 2019 once the entire team had been changed.

I’m not using this as a time equals success argument. It’s also quite bad because we’ve changed half of our first 11 since ten hag came in and the players brought in don’t look anywhere near good enough or will need replacing again

 

[Conor]

Everton A - dog
Galatasaray A - dog
Newcastle A - dog
Chelsea H - dog
Bourmouth H - I didn't even know he played running back, he's a dog
Bayern H - dog
Liverpool A - dog
West Ham A - dog
Aston villa - dog
Forest A - dog

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Maybe he made a few better but still not good enough, he took over in was it 2015 and I think the champions league was his first trophy in 2019 once the entire team had been changed.

I’m not using this as a time equals success argument. It’s also quite bad because we’ve changed half of our first 11 since ten hag came in and the players brought in don’t look anywhere near good enough or will need replacing again

But he did make them ’good enough’, ‘good enough’ for him to keep his job & for the team to evolve by buying more players.

If the current form under EtH continues we’ll never see the starting 11 of his dreams because he’ll be gone. Managers rarely come into a ready made situation, what we were sold with EtH was the first few years would be a mix of performance & results, I never thought we were a Harry Kane away but the football is gross & results unsustainable.

My biggest concern with EtH are the profile of players he’s recruiting. The squad lacks leadership so he buys Mason Mount & a 20 year old striker. Onana isn’t a leader & Amrabat simply isn’t very good. He’s been here a year & has learnt little.

 

[Zlatan 7]

But he did make them ’good enough’, ‘good enough’ for him to keep his job & for the team to evolve By buying more players.

If the current form under EtH continues we’ll never see the starting 11 of his dreams Because he’ll be gone. Manager rarely come into a ready made situation, what we were sold with EtH was the first few years would be a mix of performance & results, I never thought we were a Harry Kane away but the football is gross & results unsustainable.

My biggest concern with EtH are the profile of players he’s recruiting. The squad lacks leadership so he buys Mason Mount & a 20 year old striker. Onana isn’t a leader & Amrabat simply isn’t very good. He’s been here a year & has learnt little.

I don’t disagree with any of that really.

when I said good enough, I meant Good enough to win anything meaningful. He clearly did enough to keep his job

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

It’s really just my expectations to be honest, has nothing to do with ten Hag.

I think he will keep the job until middle of next season at least regardless of results. Even if we finish low this year, he will be allowed to buy more of his players in the Summer and try to get the team to play better next year. If we are not competitive then, he will go. I think with new leadership at the club they will want to give him at least the Summer to fix things.

Hmm I guess it really depends on the new guys at the top that will be running the footballing side of the club. Because we've seen instances before where it's expected that a manager gets to the end of the season no matter what and then the results/performances crater so hard that the noise is too much and we sack them.

 

[city-puma]

Everton D
Galatasaray L
Newcastle L
Chelsea D
Bournemouth W
Bayern don’t care
Liverpool L
West Ham D
Villa D
Forest D

This would be my expectation so 8 points in the next 8 league games. Based on that schedule, anything above 12 points in the league will be considered a big success, 10-12 will be simply good, below 5 points will be bad.

Liverpool we will 100% lose, just hope we keep it under 3-0 somehow. Bournemouth I think should be a win. The other 6 games I think we could win any of them except West Ham and Newcastle, and lose any of them really.

CL I don’t care about anymore as we likely make it out of the group and I’d rather not be third to be honest.

You prediction will be surely off significantly if only considering the result of every game, because there are too many draws. We rarely end up with draw. But the points might be close. We might win three or four games and lost all the others in the league.

 

[city-puma]

Everton A - win
Galatasaray A - win
Newcastle A - win
Chelsea H - win
Bourmouth H - win
Bayern H - win
Liverpool A - win
West Ham A - win
Aston villa - win
Forest A - win

I admire you, honestly, your optimism. That’s a treasure. No kidding.

 

[VP89]

The players you mentioned are ones he trusts and plays whenever they are available. The only bullshit thing is treating someone like Rashford as not one of his guys when he's indispensable for Ten Hag and played a huge role in us finishing top 4 and winning that cup last season, yet he's not "his player". Clutching at straws, basically.

Also no, Scott playing isn't a squad rotation. He has been a main starter for about 2 months now while Mount and Amrabat are warming the bench for him despite being his main midfielders signings last summer. More like he realized his signings are crap and resorted back to Scott McTominay, which is ultimately Ten Hag's fault for choosing players to begin with. Scott starting ahead of Mount instead of him trying to play Mount into form like how he has been doing for Rashford since the season has started proves that in how own mind Ten Hag doesn't have any time it patience for Mount, his biggest signing last summer, to start performing. He's not forced to start McTominay.

He bought half of the current main lineup and the other half are mostly indispensable for him whenever they are available. You basically want the guy to come in and buy 11 new players that he picks in starting lineup and consider any player he didn't bought as being forced on him. That's pretty dumb way of thinking. No manager will walk in and replace the entire team just to be "his team". Bring me examples of this?

Mate you're turning this into another debate. I'm not saying he doesn't trust my named players. I'm saying he's obligated to trust them because unlike your lie, this is NOT his squad.

Him playing McT over Mount doesn't mean it's his squad. It means one of his signings means more time and that's extremely common if you consider how various players have needed to settle, from Thiago to Cancelo to Fabinho to Grealish.

Amrabat has made 10 apps and already played around 600 minutes for us despite joining injured and needing to get into the rhythm of the squad. You're acting like he's never used which is just bullshit (again).

This is not his squad, so you can't go out and lie that it is. As you put, that is a pretty dumb way of thinking. You can't throw around these terms after your own posts which are commonly classed on this forum as bipolar.

 

[VP89]

Ten Hag has spent an absolute fortune and moved many of players on. At what stage does he take responsibility?

Responsibility for what specifically. Do you know what is being debated?

Yes he takes responsibility for the performance of his signings. No he does not have his own squad, given he's obligated to pick 6-8 players that he didn't actually buy. McTominay is the only one who he is voluntarily picking over one or two new signings whereas Lindelof, Maguire, Dalot, wan bissaka, Rashford, martial are all inherited.

 

[Licha-Vidic]

Mate you're turning this into another debate. I'm not saying he doesn't trust my named players. I'm saying he's obligated to trust them because unlike your lie, this is NOT his squad.

Him playing McT over Mount doesn't mean it's his squad. It means one of his signings means more time and that's extremely common if you consider how various players have needed to settle, from Thiago to Cancelo to Fabinho to Grealish.

This is not his squad, so you can't go out and lie that it is. As you put, that is a pretty dumb way of thinking.

Also you, don't make dumb opinions as you call other people's opinions dumb way of thinking.

What threshold will make this squad his? 23 players?

You're very delusional if you think this is not ETH squad.

Only the defence he has not 'properly' address but he has bought a new keeper, a new CB, 3 midfielders, 1 right winger, 1 striker.

Only Fullbacks, 1 more CB, and Left wing he has not bought a player there.

ETH has been massively backed. He's lucky a new regime is coming as they will back him even more.

 

[VP89]

Also you, don't make dumb opinions as you call other people's opinions dumb way of thinking.

What threshold will make this squad his? 23 players?

You're very delusional if you think this is not ETH squad.

Only the defence he has not 'properly' address but he has bought a new keeper, a new CB, 3 midfielders, 1 right winger, 1 striker.

Only Fullbacks, 1 more CB, and Left wing he has not bought a player there.

ETH has been massively backed. He's lucky a new regime is coming as they will back him even more.

Read the posts better - he brought in the "dumb way of thinking line" first, not me.

Do you know what a squad is by the way? Sorry for the patronising question but it needs to be asked. Saying this is his squad before accepting a third of his outfield positions (together with a left winger who is inherited) aren't actually his shows you don't really know the answer.

Also this idea that he's been able to build a squad is just crazy. Do you lot really think if he had money to spend to build his squad over two windows (no fecking manager can do this who isn't state backed anyway), he'd choose to buy Amrabat? The man was a Loan. He's obligated to dumpster dive for budget signings and then we see lazy posters who give bipolar opinions shout at him for not choosing them.

You want to crticisie his pick of Mount or Antony fair fecks. But that doesn't mean he's not using any of his signings and it doesn't mean the entire squad is his own so don't make shit up

 

[el3mel]

Mate you're turning this into another debate. I'm not saying he doesn't trust my named players. I'm saying he's obligated to trust them because unlike your lie, this is NOT his squad.

Him playing McT over Mount doesn't mean it's his squad. It means one of his signings means more time and that's extremely common if you consider how various players have needed to settle, from Thiago to Cancelo to Fabinho to Grealish.

Amrabat has made 10 apps and already played around 600 minutes for us despite joining injured and needing to get into the rhythm of the squad. You're acting like he's never used which is just bullshit (again).

This is not his squad, so you can't go out and lie that it is. As you put, that is a pretty dumb way of thinking. You can't throw around these terms after your own posts which are commonly classed on this forum as bipolar.

Yeah he bought half of the main lineup but it's not his team. He needs to replace Varane, Shaw, Bruno and Rashford to make it his team.

 

[VP89]

Yeah he bought half of the main lineup but it's not his team. He needs to replace Varane, Shaw, Bruno and Rashford to make it his team.

So now we are getting somewhere. You've understood the difference between a squad and a first XI, and you also understand that he hasn't bought a whole new one.

 

[el3mel]

So now we are getting somewhere. You've understood the difference between a squad and a first XI, and you also understand that he hasn't bought a whole new one.

The only thing I'm understanding is that you are asking for the manager to come in and buy a full new starting lineup to make it his team which is dumb no matter how you look into it but gives you additional excuses to defend him. If he buys 10 starting players and leaves Rashford on the pitch it won't be his team.

Good morning buddy.

 

[VP89]

The only thing I'm understanding is that you are asking for the manager to come in and buy a full new starting lineup to make it his team which is dumb no matter how you look into it but gives you additional excuses to defend him. If he buys 10 starting players and leaves Rashford on the pitch it won't be his team.

Good morning buddy.

No, you can't follow posts well if you think that's what I said.

I'm just calling you out for literally making shit up and being overly extreme in your posts again.

Good morning my friend

 

[el3mel]

No, you can't follow posts well if you think that's what I said.

I'm just calling you out for literally making shit up and being overly extreme in your posts again.

Good morning my friend

Have a nice day.

 

[Isotope]

So now we are getting somewhere. You've understood the difference between a squad and a first XI, and you also understand that he hasn't bought a whole new one.

That's a moot point, though. He could buy 50 players with 400m to spend, and make the squad plus the reserve all his "players", but he chose not to.