Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[Fallon d'Floor]

I didn’t say they didn’t lay a glove on us. Re read the post.

Ours was 3.06

I don’t care when we win of course not. I’m happy.

I care when we are falsely attributing worse things than are actually happening.

We had the chances to win that game even if we include their penalty.

It wasn’t the terrible performance some are suggesting.

"Without it theyd not laid a proper glove on us" was your response to Pocco.

It's 2.72, but it all depends on which model you use.

Because it wouldn't have suited your ten Hag agenda to point it out then, but you take issue with Burnley's xG being inflated now. That's called hypocrisy.

I doubt anyone disputes that. It's 19th place Burnley at home. The fact is that ten Hag has consistently failed to get the attack to play well/convert chances consistently. He's been heavily relying on Bruno to score this month. But at least Antony repaid him with a goal after snubbing Amad again. A small win for ten Hag.

It wasn't a good performance though. Just not terrible. We had less of the ball at home and Burnley regularly had shots inside our box. 10 overall.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

Also add in that Coventry got their penalty against us for AWB handball in exact same circumstances that we did not get a penalty for the Antony cross.

 

[JPRouve]

I don’t think we’ve had a manager post Fergie (other than the Ole caretaker period) do what Emery is doing at Villa - getting a team playing beyond the sum of their parts. Emery took what is essentially the same team Gerrard had hurtling towards the championship, and took them into the champions league.

Moyes, Van Gaal, Jose, Ole, now Ten Hag…they’ve all had an initial upturn in form, but it all eventually goes the same way. They make terrible signings (even good signings ending up poor) and our players end up looking lost, not arsed, making individual mistakes and generally looking clueless.

Nobody is able to have the effect on the team that a great coach should - and I think there’s been some great coaches post Fergie. So we need to ask why that is. I really don’t think it’s as simple as sack Ten Hag = problem solved. Yet at the same time, I don’t think you can ignore some of the weird decisions he’s made that have helped get us here.

Who are those great coaches?

 

[Godfather]

Yeah the suffering will end if we sack him now.

Imagine being this naive.

Can't get mmuch worse so no I don't think it's naive at all. It's naive hanging on to a manager that has proven to not being good enough. At all.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

"Without it theyd not laid a proper glove on us" was your response to Pocco.

It's 2.72, but it all depends on which model you use.

Because it wouldn't have suited your ten Hag agenda to point it out then, but you take issue with Burnley's xG being inflated now. That's called hypocrisy.

I doubt anyone disputes that. It's 19th place Burnley at home. The fact is that ten Hag has consistently failed to get the attack to play well/convert chances consistently. He's been heavily relying on Bruno to score this month. But at least Antony repaid him with a goal after snubbing Amad again. A small win for ten Hag.

It wasn't a good performance though. Just not terrible. We had less of the ball at home and Burnley regularly had shots inside our box. 10 overall.

Yeah a proper glove. We were being lightly jabbed by a poor opponent.

I have no Ten Hag agenda im pointing out how Manchester United are playing irrespective of the manager. I was the same under Ole, Jose, LVG and Moyes. You don’t have to be a fan of a manger (which would be a weird thing to be) to acknowledge what is or isn’t true.

I

 

[Nori-]

66% of people in the poll above would sack ETH before the cup final?! That's crazy.

Irrelevent of whether you think he should go or not in the summer, he's gotten us to that final (the third in 2 years) and put everything he's got into trying to turn things around under awful circumstances.

I genuinly would rather go into this final and give him a shot at it rather than sacking him now, looking like the club have zero class......and still losing anwyay.

 

[Red in STL]

https://x.com/akomeahmessiah/status/1784255869787504793?s=46&t=P92OE6yqjCvRY1wVdS0h6Q

That’s not a foul anywhere else on the pitch.

Not really, you might get it now and again elsewhere but rightly or wrongly you ain't getting a penalty for that, if you give that then you have to give one when Maguire tussles with the Burnley player for the one-on-one that Onana saved

 

[Shunty]

He’s become a pr puppet saying we’re playing well when we’re not, he’s going to sack himself at this rate. I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing but I’ll stand by a manager with a plan to get better and tactical knowledge, but I cannot accept that he says we’re playing good football, nope I’m out. Delusion is something I can’t endure sorry out

 

[Godfather]

Not at all. I think he gets sacked end of season and as I’ve said for months now whatever INEOS decide to do I’ll back 100%.

This is such a weird stance.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

Not really, you might get it now and again elsewhere but rightly or wrongly you ain't getting a penalty for that, if you give that then you have to give one when Maguire tussles with the Burnley player for the one-on-one that Onana saved

So you a United fan, don’t think there is a foul on Garnacho? Ok.

Maguire doesn’t kick through a players leg in the box.

This is such a weird stance.

@Godfather why exactly is it weird to not care about Ten Hag’s future and trust INEOS to make a good decision one way or another?

 

[Leftback99]

I'm pretty sure he's hardly watched any PL football before he came here based on his signings and how naively he sets us up, let alone our 04/05 team. Ridiculous comments.

 

[Godfather]

@Godfather why exactly is it weird to not care about Ten Hag’s future and trust INEOS to make a good decision one way or another?

It's weird saying you'll back every decision INEOS will make to 100%. If they do some dumb shit then it should be pointed out. If they keep this idiot even after the summer for example. They are hanging on to him for too long already...

 

[ohhrooney]

Who are those great coaches?

If Eric was dealt the cards that Sean Dyche has been this season, Netflix or Amazon would have made a documentary series inspired by the number of his excuses.

 

[Red in STL]

So you a United fan, don’t think there is a foul on Garnacho? Ok.

Maguire doesn’t kick through a players leg in the box.

I don't have on rose tinted glasses, I'd be pretty pissed if that had been given the other end, and if I was a Burnley fan I'd be pissed if that was given and the Maguire one wasn't

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

66% of people in the poll above would sack ETH before the cup final?! That's crazy.

Irrelevent of whether you think he should go or not in the summer, he's gotten us to that final (the third in 2 years) and put everything he's got into trying to turn things around under awful circumstances.

I genuinly would rather go into this final and give him a shot at it rather than sacking him now, looking like the club have zero class......and still losing anwyay.

Or the other way to look at it is that the decision to sack him shouldn’t be dependent on what happens in the final. It is obvious to anyone who has seen us this year that he has no future at United. If we are going to sack him anyways then why not give ourselves the best chance to win the final now. There is zero chance we win the final under him. I am sick of the class argument, this is top level sport & he gets paid millions to do a job. I can promise you that I can name at least 10 big clubs in Europe where he would have been sacked long back

 

[BenitoSTARR]

I don't have on rose tinted glasses, I'd be pretty pissed if that had been given the other end, and if I was a Burnley fan I'd be pissed if that was given and the Maguire one wasn't

Agree to disagree then. If a defender kicks a player in the box and misses the ball it should be a penalty.

 

[Sandikan]

I'm pretty sure he's hardly watched any PL football before he came here based on his signings and how naively he sets us up, let alone our 04/05 team. Ridiculous comments.

That was the fear immediately last season when he bought a tiny centre half, a winger who doesn't really beat players and the whole Wieghorst scenario.

Martinez initially allayed those fears, albeit even the most "football isn't about height and strength" deniers would admit you have to then have powerful players around him for every single set piece.
Mount was utterly baffling as a transfer. It was like he thought we needed a more mobile Eriksen, but it was clear in a tiny handful of games we were super open and it didn't work

 

[BenitoSTARR]

It's weird saying you'll back every decision INEOS will make to 100%. If they do some dumb shit then it should be pointed out. If they keep this idiot even after the summer for example. They are hanging on to him for too long already...

Why? Am I more qualified than the people they are appointing into sporting positions to make a better judgement with less information?

Im flattered you think so highly of me.

 

[2 man midfield]

Who are those great coaches?

Van Gaal, Jose, Ten Hag. Moyes is a decent coach, but the players just weren’t having him. Ole, who knows? We only have his United stint to go by.

 

[Leftback99]

That was the fear immediately last season when he bought a tiny centre half, a winger who doesn't really beat players and the whole Wieghorst scenario.

Martinez initially allayed those fears, albeit even the most "football isn't about height and strength" deniers would admit you have to then have powerful players around him for every single set piece.
Mount was utterly baffling as a transfer. It was like he thought we needed a more mobile Eriksen, but it was clear in a tiny handful of games we were super open and it didn't work

Yep and went completely against his earlier comments about Pep underestimating the physicality of the PL.
Im not sold on Martinez like others. I don't think he'll be first choice at CB under a new manager.

 

[Godfather]

Why? Am I more qualified than the people they are appointing into sporting positions to make a better judgement with less information?

Im flattered you think so highly of me.

You hopefully are more than a sheep never questioning anything mate. It's OK to have opinions.

 

[JPRouve]

Van Gaal, Jose, Ten Hag. Moyes is a decent coach, but the players just weren’t having him. Ole, who knows? We only have his United stint to go by.

None of these were/are great coaches when we got them or after they left. To me it's important to make that point because there is a real gap between good/decent coaches and great ones.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Why? Am I more qualified than the people they are appointing into sporting positions to make a better judgement with less information?

Im flattered you think so highly of me.

So you only form an opinion on things you're qualified to talk about? Pretty strange but at least it affords you the safety of sitting on the fence. Bit of a cop out however as it doesn't take a genius to see we're badly coached and the tactics are a chaotic mess

 

[glazed]

It's as clear as day that ETH's problem is trying to high press without high press players in midfield and defense. Hence the huge spaces opening up. He's working towards the time when we do have those players by seeing who can adapt, since he can't just sack them all and he can't go back to counter attacking football. Of course it looks like shit half the time.

But any other manager who comes in will be in exactly the same situation because there is zero chance that the club will ditch the high press aspiration going forward. It's all about the transfers and the youth promotion now.

I still think there is a strong argument for seeing this phase through with him in charge. If he is to be sacked (which seems inevitable), the new coach needs to come in at a time when he has players who can fix the obvious problems. So summer at the earliest.

 

[Fortitude]

Everyone has a plan until someone gets punched in the face

*they

But 'someone' tickled me. Just a random kablam dissuading someone else.

 

[mythz]

Give him next year with a proper structure, summer reinforcements and a healthier squad.

If we are still struggling, we part ways (his contract is over anyway). That way we've given it our best shot.

No thank you.

Waste another season / money with this guy.

Should got sacked long time ago.

 

[Sandikan]

Yep and went completely against his earlier comments about Pep underestimating the physicality of the PL.
Im not sold on Martinez like others. I don't think he'll be first choice at CB under a new manager.

When you look at Arsenal's centre back combo that's more what we need.
Two guys strong in the air in both boxes and a great mixture of pace and strength.

Our lot obviously have some attributes, but not enough individually or as a pair.

 

[Abhinav]

So he has finally gone full speed in the self preservation mode.
Talking down past teams which were by far superior to any team he is capable to build and labelling our attacking play as entertaining .

I would have no sympathy for him if he lost his job before the cup final. My respect and perception of him has gone down so much in the last 6 months. All he has come out with is excuses and false statements like this one. He is lucky that Ineos could only come on board late into the season, else he would have not survived this season.

 

[didz]

*they

But 'someone' tickled me. Just a random kablam dissuading someone else.

If I didn't make that change, people who didn't see the match might have thought Onana was swinging for Ten Hag

 

[Leftback99]

When you look at Arsenal's centre back combo that's more what we need.
Two guys strong in the air in both boxes and a great mixture of pace and strength.

Out lot obviously have some attributes, but not enough individually or as a pair.

Agree. It would make a big difference having such a pair to build around. Set piece can goals make a big difference too. The only threat we have is Maguire.

 

[2 man midfield]

None of these were/are great coaches when we got them or after they left. To me it's important to make that point because there is a real gap between good/decent coaches and great ones.

Alright, they’re good coaches. They all underperformed at United though.

 

[Nicolarra90]

66% of people in the poll above would sack ETH before the cup final?! That's crazy.

Irrelevent of whether you think he should go or not in the summer, he's gotten us to that final (the third in 2 years) and put everything he's got into trying to turn things around under awful circumstances.

I genuinly would rather go into this final and give him a shot at it rather than sacking him now, looking like the club have zero class......and still losing anwyay.

We don't succeed because we are a fecking charity club. And people who think like you do don't really help

 

[Shady]

Most scary thing is that we are right on course to end up in the Conference League next season. I would expect us to finish 7th. Horrible.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Less possession and less passes at home to Burnley.
The sooner this absolute incompetent clown leaves the better.

 

[Jev]

With Villa’s likely win it will be mathematically impossible for us to finish in the top 4. Is that the trigger? Personally not holding my breath.

 

[didz]

Less possession and less passes at home to Burnley.
The sooner this absolute incompetent clown leaves the better.

Less possession is less passes.

 

[pocco]

It's as clear as day that ETH's problem is trying to high press without high press players in midfield and defense. Hence the huge spaces opening up. He's working towards the time when we do have those players by seeing who can adapt, since he can't just sack them all and he can't go back to counter attacking football. Of course it looks like shit half the time.

But any other manager who comes in will be in exactly the same situation because there is zero chance that the club will ditch the high press aspiration going forward. It's all about the transfers and the youth promotion now.

I still think there is a strong argument for seeing this phase through with him in charge. If he is to be sacked (which seems inevitable), the new coach needs to come in at a time when he has players who can fix the obvious problems. So summer at the earliest.

The high press is just a small part of it. When we have the ball the next coach has to coach us to keep it better. The way we set up in possession isn't good either and lends itself entirely to transition football. If you press high well, and keep possession well, then you can get away without pace in midfield and defence. Look at City, they have CBs and midfielders that aren't blessed with pace but it barely gets mentioned because they don't make it a problem.

 

[TsuWave]

66% of people in the poll above would sack ETH before the cup final?! That's crazy.

Irrelevent of whether you think he should go or not in the summer, he's gotten us to that final (the third in 2 years) and put everything he's got into trying to turn things around under awful circumstances.

I genuinly would rather go into this final and give him a shot at it rather than sacking him now, looking like the club have zero class......and still losing anwyay.

More evidence to my theory that a substantial number of United fans just want to hold on to a childish notion that we’re not like other clubs. Alongside the "back your manager" speech, these things are at the root of why so many fans have this over-zealous commitment to under-performing managers. Well, we're like other clubs, we're just really bad at it.

"he's put everything he's going into trying to turn things around".

fecking hell, what the feck happened to us

 

[didz]

With Villa’s win it’s now mathematically impossible for us to finish in the top 4. Is that the trigger? Personally not holding my breath.

Considering what the club did in January, I suspect we're so close to the PSR line that we won't be able to afford sacking Ten Hag even with a CL clause. I think it would happen July 1st, when we move into the next accounting period. Possibly with an announcement after the cup final.

 

[glazed]

The high press is just a small part of it.

It's a small part of it in the way that the bottom brick is a small part of a tower. Without it you are fekked. Everything else falls down. WIth such big spaces, retaining and passing the ball becomes a nightmare, every pass is a Bruno failed Hollywood pass.

We have to be honest and say these are problems of transitioning from a Frankenstein squad built up over a decade to something coherent. It won't happen in one or even two seasons. And if we bottle the process it won't happen at all.