Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[Insanity]

Bayern will almost certainly be in for him. Barcelona just extended Xavi but I can see them backtracking on that if they learn that ETH is available.

You think Real might get in the mix knowing that he beat them on the way to that historic semi-final run? Any real football person will acknowledge that semi-final run with Ajax was a better achievement than Carlo's 4 CL titles with Milan & Madrid. Kind of like how Jose said 2nd with us was a better achievement than all his titles.

 

[golden_blunder]

I do wonder if we have already got zidane lined up ready to come in over the summer. It’s all gone quiet on the search for a new coach

 

[flameinthesun]

I do wonder if we have already got zidane lined up ready to come in over the summer. It’s all gone quiet on the search for a new coach

I have a feeling he keeps his job going into next season. He can't have just turned into a bad manager in 1 season. Also he has only 1 year left so I imagine in the long term its not that big of a risk to keep him on for another year. If he was let go I wouldn't be upset though, maybe disappointed as I truly thought/think he's the right manager. At the same time, I don't think its too far fetched that with the right signings and a slighlty better injury record that he has us easily in the top 4 next season. Either way the squad won't be challenging next season regardless of who is in a charge.

 

[Insanity]

I don't hold with the idea of their being no "outstanding" candidates being sufficient to stick with him. It seems the manager becomes more of a head coach under the new system and there are no more or less decent coaches around than their normally is. Outside of a Pep or Klopp, or perhaps Ancelotti or Zidane, it's mainly coaches building a reputation who may, or may not, prove to be good enough. A manager's stock is always rising or falling. What's going to change in a year other than some have a good season next year and some don't? A potential candidate might have another good season, but then still not be good enough if he get's teh job and has to step up.

I think notion of no one available or there being a dearth in quality managers is inherently flawed. It comes from the thinking that we need someone who is going to pip Pep to win us titles. If our wish is to find someone through that looking glass, then obviously we won't. Pep is one of the GOAT's powered by City's excellent structure and unlimited funds acquired through fraudulent means. It is nearly impossible to win against that consistently. Even one of the top 5 managers of the last 10-15 years could only beat him to one league title in 7 attempts going head to head.

We don't need another GOAT, necessarily. We need someone who can work with INEOS to build a structure that could make us a competitive club again from the yo-yo top 4 club we have become in the last XI years. I am sure if we go looking there are a few candidates who can do that. I am sure there are also a few up and coming managers who can be trusted with that responsibility. It is upto INEOS to look for them and get going from once this nightmare of a season ends.

The though that a guy who wasted 400m on duds, who was not even able to assess the players he needed that suited the premier league, in not one but two successive windows will suddenly have the measure of the league once INEOS comes in. The idea of wasting another 12 months with him sounds batshit crazy to me.

 

[golden_blunder]

I have a feeling he keeps his job going into next season. He can't have just turned into a bad manager in 1 season. Also he has only 1 year left so I imagine in the long term its not that big of a risk to keep him on for another year. If he was let go I wouldn't be upset though, maybe disappointed as I truly thought/think he's the right manager. At the same time, I don't think its too far fetched that with the right signings and a slighlty better injury record that he has us easily in the top 4 next season. Either way the squad won't be challenging next season regardless of who is in a charge.

Personally I feel that he would be more relaxed with the media if he knew that he was staying. He’s become very erratic and defensive- a man fighting for his job

 

[stevoc]

I have a feeling he keeps his job going into next season. He can't have just turned into a bad manager in 1 season. Also he has only 1 year left so I imagine in the long term its not that big of a risk to keep him on for another year. If he was let go I wouldn't be upset though, maybe disappointed as I truly thought/think he's the right manager. At the same time, I don't think its too far fetched that with the right signings and a slighlty better injury record that he has us easily in the top 4 next season. Either way the squad won't be challenging next season regardless of who is in a charge.

Well that's depressing.

Can't imagine 2 years ago anyone would have been happy with maybe challenging for 4th by year 3.

 

[flameinthesun]

Personally I feel that he would be more relaxed with the media if he knew that he was staying. He’s become very erratic and defensive- a man fighting for his job

Yeah, it does feel like everyone from Ten Hag, to the players to the fans are in limbo. I agree that he would probably relax a bit more and most likely the players as well if it was confirmed he was staying. Its such a weird position as if he by chance won the fa cup then he'd be tied or be the most successful post-fergie manager. Yet could have us finishing in the worst position in the league. I think if you're Ineos you disregard the results, the cup final, the league position and go by whether you believe that with the right players that he could challenge for the league/champs league trophies. If you believe he can, you keep him on. Im still on the side of if we recruit the right players, I actually think this style could challenge for titles. Its just the road to getting to that level is risky and like we see with this season, with a lacking squad you can get ripped apart when you have to play players that are not comfortable playing the tactic.

 

[Rista]

Well that's depressing.

Can't imagine 2 years ago anyone would have been happy with maybe challenging for 4th by year 3.

Time + ETH = fight for 4th?

 

[Fallon d'Floor]

I have a feeling he keeps his job going into next season. He can't have just turned into a bad manager in 1 season. Also he has only 1 year left so I imagine in the long term its not that big of a risk to keep him on for another year. If he was let go I wouldn't be upset though, maybe disappointed as I truly thought/think he's the right manager. At the same time, I don't think its too far fetched that with the right signings and a slighlty better injury record that he has us easily in the top 4 next season. Either way the squad won't be challenging next season regardless of who is in a charge.

The signs were there even last season. As early as January. Look at some of the results and performances after Christmas:

Palace 1-1 United
Arsenal 3-2 United (the scoreline flattered us)
United 2-2 Leeds
Liverpool 7-0 United
United 0-0 Southampton
United 3-1 Fulham (They outplayed us for large spells and we could only take control when they had 2 red cards and Marco Silva sent off)
Newcastle 2-0 United (Could have been 4-0)
United 2-2 Sevilla (blew a 2-0 home lead)
Sevilla 3-0 United
Spurs 2-2 United (blew a 2 goal lead vs Ryan Mason)
Brighton 1-0 United
West Ham 1-0 United
United 2-1 Fulham (outplayed by Fulham in the 1st half)
City 2-1 United (FA Cup final)

And then add in the 20+ shitshows this season and you get 14-15 months of bad form.

 

[Offside]

The signs were there even last season. As early as January. Look at some of the results and performances after Christmas:

Palace 1-1 United
Arsenal 3-2 United (the scoreline flattered us)
United 2-2 Leeds
Liverpool 7-0 United
United 0-0 Southampton
United 3-1 Fulham (They outplayed us for large spells and we could only take control when they had 2 red cards and Marco Silva sent off)
Newcastle 2-0 United (Could have been 4-0)
United 2-2 Sevilla (blew a 2-0 home lead)
Sevilla 3-0 United
Spurs 2-2 United (blew a 2 goal lead vs Ryan Mason)
Brighton 1-0 United
West Ham 1-0 United

All of those performances were absolutely abysmal. Before the World Cup it was:

Man Utd 1-2 Brighton (shit show)
Brentford 4-0 Man Utd (one of our lowest ever moments)
Man City 6-3 Man Utd (smashed by City)
Man Utd 0-0 Newcastle (poor after a crap Europa performance)
Villa 3-1 Man Utd (crap showing)

We then had a spell after the World Cup where there were some easy wins, and wins in big games (even then we were lucky, think of the City game at OT) mostly down to Rashford being on a crazy purple patch, a bit of togetherness after Ronaldo called them all out for what they are, and (sorry but it’s true) De Gea making saves to see out narrow wins. The rest of the time it’s been absolutely shite. We followed up that good run with the games you’ve mentioned and have basically been shit for 14 months straight. It only takes a purple patch to finish top 4, we found that out under LVG and Ole. They’ve then followed up that top 4 finish with the biggest calamity I’ve ever seen from a United team, and maybe the worst CL group showing from an English side ever - it was a pointless “achievement”.

Nothing to suggest ETH can take us forward, nothing.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

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[CM]

If we're smart about this we can negotiate a deal with Ajax so we don't have to pay him off

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

I'd go more with "concerning" than "funny" if that's the case but alright.

What’s concerning about it ?

 

[afrocentricity]

If we're smart about this we can negotiate a deal with Ajax so we don't have to pay him off

A chance for the new guys to show what they can do here...

 

[LawCharltonBest]

The signs were there even last season. As early as January. Look at some of the results and performances after Christmas:

Palace 1-1 United
Arsenal 3-2 United (the scoreline flattered us)
United 2-2 Leeds
Liverpool 7-0 United
United 0-0 Southampton
United 3-1 Fulham (They outplayed us for large spells and we could only take control when they had 2 red cards and Marco Silva sent off)
Newcastle 2-0 United (Could have been 4-0)
United 2-2 Sevilla (blew a 2-0 home lead)
Sevilla 3-0 United
Spurs 2-2 United (blew a 2 goal lead vs Ryan Mason)
Brighton 1-0 United
West Ham 1-0 United
United 2-1 Fulham (outplayed by Fulham in the 1st half)
City 2-1 United (FA Cup final)

And then add in the 20+ shitshows this season and you get 14-15 months of bad form.

Good post

Things went downhill fast after the League Cup win and it's just got worse this season

It's frustrating because there was a period from September - January where it was title winning form. With that win over Barcelona in there, it looked so promising. But this idea it's only been bad this season is wrong, it's been ongoing throughout 2023 and now well into 2024.

 

[Rista]

What’s concerning about it ?

That they still have not learned. Same fans who thought the same thing about Jose, Ole and others and only saw the light when the club took action.

 

[hobbers]

I do wonder if we have already got zidane lined up ready to come in over the summer. It’s all gone quiet on the search for a new coach

Would be nice if that were true but it's probably Tuchel and Potter both on standby.

 

[King7Eric]

What I still find funny is I haven’t spoken to a United fan, face to face, that’s actually desperate for ETH to be let go. Most seem to think another season wouldn’t be the worse given where the club is at. I’m still at that point , wouldn’t complain if he was let go but understand there’s other reasons why we’d keep him.

Interesting. Nearly all the people I've spoken to in real life seem to agree he needs to go. Only support I see for him is online. The consensus seems to be he isn't getting pelters at OT because most consider it in poor taste to actively boo the manager.

 

[Fallon d'Floor]

All of those performances were absolutely abysmal. Before the World Cup it was:

Man Utd 1-2 Brighton (shit show)
Brentford 4-0 Man Utd (one of our lowest ever moments)
Man City 6-3 Man Utd (smashed by City)
Man Utd 0-0 Newcastle (poor after a crap Europa performance)
Villa 3-1 Man Utd (crap showing)

We then had a spell after the World Cup where there were some easy wins, and wins in big games (even then we were lucky, think of the City game at OT) mostly down to Rashford being on a crazy purple patch, a bit of togetherness after Ronaldo called them all out for what they are, and (sorry but it’s true) De Gea making saves to see out narrow wins. The rest of the time it’s been absolutely shite. We followed up that good run with the games you’ve mentioned and have basically been shit for 14 months straight. It only takes a purple patch to finish top 4, we found that out under LVG and Ole. They’ve then followed up that top 4 finish with the biggest calamity I’ve ever seen from a United team, and maybe the worst CL group showing from an English side ever - it was a pointless “achievement”.

Nothing to suggest ETH can take us forward, nothing.

Yet some people just don't see these things.

We've ended up winning/drawing so many games that could have gone differently had the opposition had some extra quality.

Brentford should have battered us a few weeks ago. Everton had multiple good chances in the 3-0 win at Goodison.

We beat Leicester 3-0 last season. But at HT, the xG was almost identical. Both teams had 2 big chances. They didn't take their and went on to lose 3-0 after a good 2nd half performance from us.

That Fulham win at Old Trafford has been coming. They were the better team for good spells in the reverse fixture. A Leno howler at the death meant we took all 3 points. And they played very well against us last season. They had us on the ropes at Old Trafford in The FA Cup. The triple red card and penalty award from 1 incident killed them off after taking the lead. They also took the lead at Old Trafford again a few weeks later. Mitrović missed a penalty, which would have put them 2-0 up. They finally got their win this season.

Wolves played us off the park on opening night. And while we played very well at Molineux in the 1st half, they fought back well in the 2nd half. We needed a wonder goal from Mainoo to bail us out. Wolves lost both games.

We have gotten away with a lot of poor to average performances under ten Hag. Very rarely do we dominate a game or win comfortably.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Good post

Things went downhill fast after the League Cup win and it's just got worse this season

It's frustrating because there was a period from September - January where it was title winning form. With that win over Barcelona in there, it looked so promising. But this idea it's only been bad this season is wrong, it's been ongoing throughout 2023 and now well into 2024.

I would have thought the general consensus is that we've been relatively rubbish from Feb 2023 up until now.

The thing is, there was more leeway last season as it was his first season in the job. All things considered, it was a decent first season (3rd place and 2 Cup finals). We also had a pretty manic fixture list and a-lot of our poor performances were excused because of that. But, over a year on from that, it's pretty clear that there were deeper issues at play.

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

That they still have not learned. Same fans who thought the same thing about Jose, Ole and others and only saw the light when the club took action.

The United manager position is not influenced by what fans think so if makes no difference

 

[TrebleChamp99]

The United manager position is not influenced by what fans think so if makes no difference

Yep and fands seem to be running away with thinking the current ownership will make this decision on fan sentiment , spoiler, they wont.

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

Interesting. Nearly all the people I've spoken to in real life seem to agree he needs to go. Only support I see for him is online. The consensus seems to be he isn't getting pelters at OT because most consider it in poor taste to actively boo the manager.

I can see why he’d be sacked under normal circumstances. I don’t think circumstances at United have been anytime near normal for the entire time he’s been at the club.

If he’s sacked I trust all variables were factored in by INEOs and that he deserved to be replaced as it looks. If he’s not sacked , I presume they feel the mitigating issues were significantly relevant and ETH may suit what they are gonna be doing over the next year or so.

 

[NLunited]

We‘ve been Jekyll and Hyde. Last season we challenged in every cup we were in, but there were a number of games where we collapsed, catastrophically.

This season, with Casemiro and Eriksen dropping in quality and a shoit ton of injuries, it has been worse.

Even so, if we had gotten a few of the penalty calls this season we didn‘t get and avoided a few more silly mistakes and collapses in injury time, we would be above Spurs and maybe finish in 4th place.

Until this Frankenstein squad is sorted out, we will remain inconsistent.

 

[Florida Man]

This is what I don't understand about Ten Hag's current group of supporters. He has spent close to £400m. Buy the players you need to play your system. Don't waste money on over-priced players, ageing players and players that don't fit your system. This is mind-blowing managerial (and Director of Football) incompetence.

Even Lisandro Martinez looks highly vulnerable during defensive transitions.

Martinez hasn’t looked 100% lately when playing which could explain the relatively poor form. Otherwise I thought he did well in all conditions.

 

[NLunited]

Martinez hasn’t looked 100% lately when playing which could explain the relatively poor form. Otherwise I thought he did well in all conditions.

Right on, he hasn‘t played a run of games and looked off the boil.

 

[Robbie Boy]

That they still have not learned. Same fans who thought the same thing about Jose, Ole and others and only saw the light when the club took action.

There's plenty that somehow still haven't seen the light re: Jose and Ole.

 

[Archi]

One thing that really turns me off Ten Hag (along with several others ) is this insistence that without injuries we'd be in the top 4.

That may well be true but I am presuming he's talking about having players available all the time who have been long-term injury issues for the club and throughout their careers,

Shaw, Varane, Martial, Rashford too for that matter

And then others like Martinez, Malacia, Eriksen who have been injured across two transfer windows and we've made no attempt to mitigate for.

To rely on these players season after season in the miraculous hope that they're not going to be permanently injured is naive and stupid.

Meanwhile, he's bought a player in Mount coming off a long term injury, got rid of our stable goalkeeper to try and integrate a new one and sold/loaned players who are generally always fit - Fred, Elanga, Williams. They might not be good enough to be starters but we've desperately needed squad players

Ah yes DDG was extremely stable since WC 2018. I swear his rate of howlers was way higher than Onana's in his last 5 seasons.

 

[Livewire1974]

If we're smart about this we can negotiate a deal with Ajax so we don't have to pay him off

Or get a few quid back from Ajax as compensation, we filled their bank account with cash for Antony.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Yep and fands seem to be running away with thinking the current ownership will make this decision on fan sentiment , spoiler, they wont.

It should never remotely have anything to do with fan sentiment.

 

[Rightnr]

Of all the games against the bottom 10 sides we've looked convincing once, away at Everton. This isn't the sign of a side in transition, this is the sign of a poor team. We're played Coventry and Newport and couldn't dominate them.

It's time for a change

We won convincingly but they had loads of opportunities at 1-0 and if DCL did not have Timo Werner level of finishing, that could have easily gone sideways as well.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

I would have thought the general consensus is that we've been relatively rubbish from Feb 2023 up until now.

The thing is, there was more leeway last season as it was his first season in the job. All things considered, it was a decent first season (3rd place and 2 Cup finals). We also had a pretty manic fixture list and a-lot of our poor performances were excused because of that. But, over a year on from that, it's pretty clear that there were deeper issues at play.

I've heard a lot of things such as "last season we overachieved" or "last season was very good"

Which isn't necessarily wrong overall. But there is context to it, that we tailed off a lot after the Newcastle Cup Final.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I've heard a lot of things such as "last season we overachieved" or "last season was very good"

Which isn't necessarily wrong overall. But there is context to it, that we tailed off a lot after the Newcastle Cup Final.

I think for a first season, it was decent. In hindsight, there were several red flags, that some were willing to overlook at the time.

 

[Von Mistelroum]

Genuinely think our standards have fallen so low that it'll take a real humiliation to get him sacked. I also think we have the FA Cup final coming up, where that very humiliation is looking extremely likely.

 

[crossy1686]

Let him go... He can buy back Anthony for a start!

I’d love to send him back with a double deal for Antony and Sancho in the ultimate twist of irony.

 

[Matriac]

Is he gone yet?

Brailsford can handle the training at Carrington and then Ratcliffe can fly in on matchday to manage the tactics and subs.

 

[crossy1686]

Genuinely think our standards have fallen so low that it'll take a real humiliation to get him sacked. I also think we have the FA Cup final coming up, where that very humiliation is looking extremely likely.

We’ve had plenty of those in the last two years. Now some of our fans find creative ways to absolve him regardless. When we win it’s due to him, when we lose it’s the players.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

I think for a first season, it was decent. In hindsight, there were several red flags, that some were willing to overlook at the time.

I think I'm one of those guilty of overlooking the red flags.

If you go back and look at the games after the League cup final, we really were shit for most of the rest of the season. We grinded out the wins to make top 4 but it was pretty grim to watch. And the 7-0 result really was a sign of the shambolic lows we'd end up going through this season.

 

[sparx99]

But we only really create all these chances against poor opposition, the last two games were against bottom two teams (one of which has historically bad defensive record and are already relegated), in games against teams that are actually good we struggle to create anything. We did not have a shot (even off target) against Liverpool in the first half and scored two wonder goals, we got 2 goals at Bournemouth from basically our only two chances, we scored 3 goals at Chelsea from an xG of 1.5, scored at Brentford from our only decent chance, scored at City from our first shot, scored 3 against West Ham from an xG of less than 1.

We racked up quite a few goalscoring opportunities against Sheffield, Burnley and Everton but have struggled to create much against solid teams who have usually been able to control games to a large degree (though in some of these games we still pulled out a draw against the run of play, or even a win).

Those xG figures are fairly standard though. Arsenal scored 3 against Spurs from 2.37 and Spurs got 2 from 1.08. Newcastle scored 5 from 2.93 xG against Sheffield. When we lost 7-0 to Liverpool the xG for Liverpool was only 2.91.

 

[sparx99]

I think for a first season, it was decent. In hindsight, there were several red flags, that some were willing to overlook at the time.

I do think people forget how low we were after the Rangnick period. I was fully expecting us to finish outside the top 6.