Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[Sarni]

I want to see us play with a fully fit XI, with Martinez now back, and Casemiro also nearing full fitness, I will judge EtH after a few games with his strongest XI.
If the play does not improve, then I will hold my hands up and say: okay, maybe we just overperformed last season & found our (consistent) level under him this year.

It’s hopeless anyway even if we improve as that essentially means it takes 2-3 first team players being out for us to revert to being one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to quality of football. Even if our results have been better than performances, it’s not sustainable over the course of season, and we will hardly ever have all 11 first team players fit and healthy anyway.

Spurs lose most of their front 6 yet are still able to perform at a decent level and have the same identity to their play. We just collapse.

 

[Judas]

We will no doubt look better with a fully fit squad, but in my mind we cannot be content with a manager that only performs when the squad is fully fit. With the amount of games and the level of the prem that will rarely be the case for any team.

Exactly. Plus if you've got an idenity, it should run through the entire squad, so when players are missing, the idea isn't lost and the style continues. Ten Hag has failed at achieving that.

I was all for giving him sympathy that he'd not got to use his strongest side, but its not a good enough excuse for the wreck we've been watching.

 

[Sarni]

He says the same deluded shit after every game. He always thinks we played well. Makes me laugh that he has the audacity to talk about setting standards at the club, yet he doesn't apply any standards to himself

His fanatics maintain that he says that to the press because a manager is not able to criticize his players publicly but goes very hard on them behind the scenes and expects very high standards from all of them. I don’t think that is true though.

 

[Lyng]

Exactly. Plus if you've got an idenity, it should run through the entire squad, so when players are missing, the idea isn't lost and the style continues. Ten Hag has failed at achieving that.

I was all for giving him sympathy that he'd not got to use his strongest side, but its not a good enough excuse for the wreck we've been watching.

Yup agree completely with this. I dont see any clear playstyle other than hit and hope, and quite frankly we might as well have kept Ole if that was to be our playstyle.

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

Woke up feeling even more clear and certain, it's time to go. But I fully expect him to keep his job till the summer, where we will part ways with him.

Next appointment, first under the new structure, no pressure lads.

Oddly enough , if things just kept going from bad to worse until the end of the season it may actually make it a bit easier for a new manager coming in with such low expectations. Not being in CL May help discarding over paid players , maybe even quality ones who haven’t worked out so we can have a proper clear out.

I want to see us play with a fully fit XI, with Martinez now back, and Casemiro also nearing full fitness, I will judge EtH after a few games with his strongest XI.
If the play does not improve, then I will hold my hands up and say: okay, maybe we just overperformed last season & found our (consistent) level under him this year.

This is how I feel aswell. I’d rather see how he gets on from now to May. At that time there can’t really be any excuses. If we are performing poorly then it wast to be.

 

[Remember the geese]

Ten Hag's United is all about moments and relies on individuals

This isn't specific to ten Hag. It has been the case here for years and years.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Spot on criticism about the managers responsibility that changing the structure isn't going to rectify.

That is what bothers me the most. Results are bad but main problem is that i don't see any style of play in our game. After year and half.
That is why i think he must go. Results i can forgive (for one season) but i don't see bright future with him in charge.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Woke up feeling even more clear and certain, it's time to go. But I fully expect him to keep his job till the summer, where we will part ways with him.

Next appointment, first under the new structure, no pressure lads.

I think Potter is nailed. And, unlike many here, i don't see him as bad option. He is good manager with clear style of play. Something what we miss since we sacked LVG (no matter how his style was boring but he at least had clear plan).

 

[Jaap]

This isn't specific to ten Hag. It has been the case here for years and years.

And that‘s why there needs to be a whole change in structure, from the youth & within the club.

 

[redshaw]

Not sure we even need to focus on personnel because even with another better midfielder ten hags approach of lining up with two high 8s would still be suicidal

It would be. Especially so with our limited attacking midfield players, of which we've had too many.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Oddly enough , if things just kept going from bad to worse until the end of the season it may actually make it a bit easier for a new manager coming in with such low expectations. Not being in CL May help discarding over paid players , maybe even quality ones who haven’t worked out so we can have a proper clear out.




This is how I feel aswell. I’d rather see how he gets on from now to May. At that time there can’t really be any excuses. If we are performing poorly then it wast to be.

this is bizarre reason to keep him. Let’s keep playing shit and lowering standards so our standards drop even further then the next manager can be mid table with no stress.

how about we get someone in now as caretaker to Atleast try and fight for a spot in the new format champions league and give the new owners time and free reign to look for someone permanent to bring in in the summer. We are going nowhere very fast with ten hag

 

[Sunny Jim]

Tweet

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I see a shape on the right hand side

 

[brother ant]

We have some decent players and ETH is not getting anything out of them. There must be a reason for that. And that isn't injuries, or the Glazer's etc. That is coaching and management. And ETH knows it. I understand that he stated that he feels we should have won yesterday! What game is he watching?

It seems this is the way ETH wants us to play. Quick transitions and let the opponents have the ball. Simplistic view is to give the the ball to Bruno ASAP so he can try a quick pass to the forwards. Unfortunately most of the time this just leads to giving the ball back to the opposition.

I honestly don’t know why he is setting us up like this. Maybe he feels we don’t have the players to control the game but then why invest in Onana and Mount. We can blame injuries and we will look better if Martinez can find his form quickly but I believe holding the ball and trying to control the game would have found so much more space behind Spurs.

these tactics are a far cry from his Ajax team and what most fans expected.

I hope he can turn it around now players are slowly coming back but it would need some turn around to convince.

 

[flameinthesun]

I see a shape on the right hand side

That United shape is likely pretty much very similar to under Ole and Mourinho. This team has been heavily dependent on play through the left side for a while especially as Bruno also tends to get attracted to that side. What it highlights most is Rashfords positioning, either EtH is asking him to stay up with minimal backtracking or he is doing it himself. When Garnacho plays that side he tracks back a lot more than Rashford does.

 

[Castia]

He will be gone that’s a certainty. We’re well on track for a 20+ loss season in all comps and are almost guaranteed to miss CL football. Out of Europe in the group stage and also out of the Caraboe, he’s lucky there’s no real candidate for an interim at this time else I think he would be gone.

Awful manager.

 

[Ayoba]

Genuinely think Carrick would've done a better job than him.

 

[Skills]

Oddly enough , if things just kept going from bad to worse until the end of the season it may actually make it a bit easier for a new manager coming in with such low expectations. Not being in CL May help discarding over paid players , maybe even quality ones who haven’t worked out so we can have a proper clear out.

I'm sure this what many of you would love. Finish as low as possible and then the expectation for the new manager is to just move us up 1 single position year by year. So that you guys can have the father figure you need in the managers chair for 10 years.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Genuinely think Carrick would've done a better job than him.

This season? Probably yeah.

We've been utterly diabolical and the season has just drifted away from us by January. Madness.

 

[Pexbo]

Tweet

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Everyone knows symmetrical = prettier = better tactics

Ours looks similar to this though:

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

This season? Probably yeah.

We've been utterly diabolical and the season has just drifted away from us by January. Madness.

I think a lot of people would have done a better job this season.
Last season ETH got some stuff right after the shite left by Ole & Ragnick, but this year we’re right back where we were when Ragnick left.
It’s time we got back to the standards we set for the likes of Mourinho.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Everyone knows symmetrical = prettier = better tactics

Ours looks similar to this though:

It really doesn’t. It looks similar as we are both preferring playing down the left but Madrid seem a lot more compact and have a midfield there. The image depicting our shape has the defence and dm so far away from the middle of the pitch and a right winger out on his own. I don’t make much of these images but just looking at the Madrid one shows more of a structured shape and ours wide open

 

[Borys]

Under Van Gaal we dominated teams possession wise but we rarely score but under ETH we got dominated by small teams while having minus GD. Also LVG always perform against big teams while currently we almost always got hammered like a pornstar. There is no comparison here. Im not saying we are good under LVG but compared to ETH he might as well be Guardiola

This isn't specific to ten Hag. It has been the case here for years and years.

You are both correct. However, under Ole and van Gaal for example at least we knew the direction we're heading. Under current ETH regime it's just completely random stuff, at times seems like we don't have a coach at all.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I think a lot of people would have done a better job this season.
Last season ETH got some stuff right after the shite left by Ole & Ragnick, but this year we’re right back where we were when Ragnick left.
It’s time we got back to the standards we set for the likes of Mourinho.

Last season was a pretty decent first season. As a second season and with more money spent; it really would have only been a distinctly meh season.

There have been zero standards this season though, and we look an utter mess. I'm guessing he's only still there due to the takeover fiasco. This kind of annoys me more as essentially he's having a stay of execution, but he's just trying the same things over-and-over, which clearly aren't working.

 

[Jaap]

We will no doubt look better with a fully fit squad, but in my mind we cannot be content with a manager that only performs when the squad is fully fit. With the amount of games and the level of the prem that will rarely be the case for any team.

That is very true, also.

 

[Cassidy]

We will no doubt look better with a fully fit squad, but in my mind we cannot be content with a manager that only performs when the squad is fully fit. With the amount of games and the level of the prem that will rarely be the case for any team.

You have to have quality in the squad for a manager to be able to perform when you have major injuries. We have been mainly top 6 all season with major injuries

 

[Lyng]

You have to have quality in the squad for a manager to be able to perform when you have major injuries. We have been mainly top 6 all season with major injuries

We have that. What we lack is a clear plan.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Last season was a pretty decent first season. As a second season and with more money spent; it really would have only been a distinctly meh season.

There have been zero standards this season though, and we look an utter mess. I'm guessing he's only still there due to the takeover fiasco. This kind of annoys me more as essentially he's having a stay of execution, but he's just trying the same things over-and-over, which clearly aren't working.

Aye, you’d hope someone from INEOS tells him he needs to try something else because he’s fighting for his job and appearing delighted to get a draw whilst getting dominated by Spurs at home aint gonna cut it.
Instead he’s acting like it’s his job for the next 5 years and that it’ll eventually just magically “click”.

 

[Cassidy]

We have that. What we lack is a clear plan.

We do not

 

[Lyng]

We do not

Surely better than Spurs....

 

[Leftback99]

Feels like the LVG season where we have to watch terrible football every week and hope we make a change and the end of the season. Going to be a long few months with nothing to play for.

 

[Skills]

Feels like the LVG season where we have to watch terrible football every week and hope we make a change and the end of the season. Going to be a long few months with nothing to play for.

It's disgraceful. The clubs basically taken money of it's season ticket holders and given up less than half way through twice in the last 3 seasons.

 

[Cassidy]

Surely better than Spurs....

Again no. Bentancur for instance is a better midfielder than our starters yesterday.
Their CBs yesterday are better than ours from yesterday bar Varane, we are starting Evans ffs
Fullbacks we played AWB lb, we're still playing Dalot who was deemed not good enough under Jose

What makes you think we have better squad depth than Spurs? Because we spent more money? We don't even have a backup striker we can rely on

 

[Rossa]

Even with Martinez, Shaw and Casemiro back in the Starting XI, I just don't see the largely terrible football stopping.

Our pressing is laughable, we get played through so easily, our decision making on the ball is mostly poor, we can't defend set-pieces... basically unless a) All of our front 3 play well in the same game and b) We're running on emotion/adreneline, we're just a bit shit.

Aren't we doing quite well in terms of pressing, stats wise? Our midfield is carved through so easily though.

I'm willing to give him the benefit of doubt concerning all the injuries. However, Tottenham were just as plagued with injuries as we were for yesterday's match, and they at least try to play and are able to dominate a midfield. We are terrible. However, I have hope that with Martinez and Casemiro fit, hopefully Shaw back soon as well, our build-up from the back will improve drastically. Hope to have Mount back as well. Casemiro with either Mount or Mainoo and Bruno ahead can be interesting. Having Martinez and Varane as CBs will allow is to sit higher up the pitch as well.

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

[

this is bizarre reason to keep him. Let’s keep playing shit and lowering standards so our standards drop even further then the next manager can be mid table with no stress.

how about we get someone in now as caretaker to Atleast try and fight for a spot in the new format champions league and give the new owners time and free reign to look for someone permanent to bring in in the summer. We are going nowhere very fast with ten hag

I didn’t say keep him so we do crap. I said if we keep him and he does crap it would have potential benefits.

If INEOS replace him or don’t, I’m on board with their thinking as it’s different to whatever sh*te the glazers have been doing.

 

[Sir Bobby]

Woke up feeling even more clear and certain, it's time to go. But I fully expect him to keep his job till the summer, where we will part ways with him.

Next appointment, first under the new structure, no pressure lads.

I've been "ETH in" all the time because I'm convinced that it won't help this club in the long run to keep changing managers.
But the ship has begun to turn 180 degrees. Yesterday was a pain to watch.

We're talking lack of midfield and have done so for a long time. Yes, but so many weird decisions are made by the individuals. Sometimes it looked like youth football.
Not sure exactly what is wrong, but it's a lot for sure. Of course a new manager could motivate players so they at least look a little hungry again, but for how long?

So the big question is - which manager in the world can fix this up and keep it running?!?

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

I'm sure this what many of you would love. Finish as low as possible and then the expectation for the new manager is to just move us up 1 single position year by year. So that you guys can have the father figure you need in the managers chair for 10 years.

What on earth are you taking about ? This is some remarkable nonsense.

Incidentally, I don’t obsess over the manager position as much as others. I think a half decent manager can do well if the club is just run better.

 

[Licha-Vidic]

This was my message last year. January 2023. After playing against Arsenal. It's from this game I had very concerning question marks about ETH.

Easily, by attacking more. We are a team of transitions.

Look at the attacking maps shared by Premier League twitter account, we offered nothing going forward while Arsenal had their best attacking game this season.

It's backed by numbers, our goal difference, our goals scored, without Rashford we are toothless.

That's on him, still we have zero attacking patterns, remember we have his 100m attacking signing with ZERO assists in January.

attacking wise we are extremely poor, that's on him for sure.

The rest he has done commendable, especially on the discipline and belief aspect.

One year later, the problems we had 365 days ago, are still persistent to date.

Our goals scored, goal difference, attacking patterns, Antony with no assists. It's incredible we have the same same problem some of us talked about in January 2023.


Go read from this page https://www.redcafe.net/threads/erik-ten-hag-manchester-united-manager.470032/page-610

You will see how some of us, sounded the alarm of how the team set-up was, and we were flagged as rival fans or irrational.

Nothing that is happening now is new, all this things were very visible since last season but people decided to bury their heads.

 

[Scottynaldinho]

Would AI be a better manager than him? Serious question.

 

[Lyng]

Again no. Bentancur for instance is a better midfielder than our starters yesterday.
Their CBs yesterday are better than ours from yesterday bar Varane, we are starting Evans ffs
Fullbacks we played AWB lb, we're still playing Dalot who was deemed not good enough under Jose

What makes you think we have better squad depth than Spurs? Because we spent more money? We don't even have a backup striker we can rely on

We have Bruno, Rashford, Garnacho, Varane. All players that on paper should be better than what Spurs had yesterday. I argue that the quality of our players doesnt match with how shite we are playing.

 

[Cassidy]

We have Bruno, Rashford, Garnacho, Varane. All players that on paper should be better than what Spurs had yesterday. I argue that the quality of our players doesnt match with how shite we are playing.

Thats 4 players, one of whom is a teenager in his first season as a starter. What about the rest of the side or do we only play matches with 4 players?