Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[BEST No7]

Showed he's the more mature and quite frankly levels above peps assistant

 

[Just Hope]

Mate ole is a club legend but he's a dreadful manager.

The problem I think is that the project with ole had no legs. Similar to Di Matteo in Chelsea, it was a one time thing.

Ten Hag gives the feeling that there are more dimensions and more resources to his management. So far his signings have proven wise and his pragmatism is a breath of fresh air.

 

[The United]

Ole had his bright moments but he struggled with the more strategic aspects of the game in terms of reading the changing tactical emphasis of opponents and making the right in-game changes at the right time.

It is Ralf that I'm still clueless about as far as his managerial expertise goes

Ole struggled against smaller teams in general, and this team is not showing much better at this moment against them. Not that I think ETH will not do well. There is still no proof of it at this moment. It is still too early.

Ole's in-game changes were not bad at all. Just look at how many times we came from behind to win. ETH had some questionable in-game management in past games as well. We are still not playing as well as we should in the second halves of the games this season or even in preseason.

Obviously, Ole reached his limit last season.

 

[NLunited]

Ole was not that bad, that is what has been wrong here for such a long time. This club needs is ruthless culture back.

Is Ten Hag ruthless, or is he just better at motivating the players? Picking players based on performance and work rate is normal, not ruthless.

It is a process, eh.

 

[The United]

Still can't believe we wasted three and half seasons on Ole, wouldn't have been that bad if we had realised and got rid of him in the first season.
Anyway, incredibly glad we finally have a coach that is worthy of this club, finally on the same level, world class club world class players world call Manager, before it was so unbalanced.

I am not sure if you could call it waste. Ole did as much as he could, and everyone knows that he is not an elite-level manager. We finished in respectable places on the table. I mean, who else could have taken over and been more successful at that time?

ETH still has a lot to prove to us. Even if he becomes very successful, it was not like we hired Ole and ignored ETH, Pep, or Klopp back then.

It is all about timing and we have not had that until now, assuming ETH is that guy.

 

[arthurka]

Is Ten Hag ruthless, or is he just better at motivating the players? Picking players based on performance and work rate is normal, not ruthless.

It is a process, eh.

Yes it is, he has been ruthless hasn't he? Dropping Shaw and Harry, plus the Ronaldo treatment has the markings of a tough manager.

 

[Greck]

Ole struggled against smaller teams in general, and this team is not showing much better at this moment against them. Not that I think ETH will not do well. There is still no proof of it at this moment. It is still too early.

Ole's in-game changes were not bad at all. Just look at how many times we came from behind to win. ETH had some questionable in-game management in past games as well. We are still not playing as well as we should in the second halves of the games this season or even in preseason.

Obviously, Ole reached his limit last season.

Imo there can't be a proper direct comparison between Ole's struggles with smaller teams and ETH's, not this season at least. Say this because the problem massively overlaps with team construction issues Ole is majorly responsible for. ETH would never have built a team full of players that get progressively worse the more we have the ball. The struggles against bad teams starts with stacking the team full of anti-possession personnel. With his ideal tools ETH would be dismantling smaller teams.

 

[Tincanalley]

Eric Ten Hag. Let us dream.

 

[Infestissumam]

Yes it is, he has been ruthless hasn't he? Dropping Shaw and Harry, plus the Ronaldo treatment has the markings of a tough manager.

in a way, that Brentford game was cathartic. He gave the likes of Maguire, Shaw and Ronaldo just enough rope to hang themselves, as in they made it justifiable to drop them without a fuss. ETH has taken full advantage of that and the last four games have more than justified his decisions.

not sure I'd even call it ruthless, but I just feel he gets "it".

 

[Pronewbie]

I can see Real Madrid coming in for Ten Hag sooner rather than later. He'd suit them to a tee. Hopefully we can stave them off.

Pragmatism > Idealism

 

[SinNombre]

Some of Ole’s criticisms here are ridiculous.

We finished 3rd and 2nd and the team obviously fought for him a lot in those seasons. He likely would have finished in the top-4 last season too if Ronaldo wasn’t forced into the team.

That said, that was the limit of Ole’s competency.

 

[Pronewbie]

Some of Ole’s criticisms here are ridiculous.

We finished 3rd and 2nd and the team obviously fought for him a lot in those seasons. He likely would have finished in the top-4 last season too if Ronaldo wasn’t forced into the team.

That said, that was the limit of Ole’s competency.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that losses are felt 10x more than positive outcomes.

 

[Sky1981]

How could people see what ETH brought in 6 games then say Ole wasnt that bad

 

[Ole's screen]

Doesn’t Ole also have some sort of record for a lot of high scoring wins? I remember we twice went to a run of winning 3 games by 3 goals are more or something.

I know it’s it’s in vogue to hate on Ole now that we have Ten Haag, and I hope he’s successful too, but when things were on song under Ole, It felt like it was the United of old.

Ole remains the only time since Fergie that we felt like Manchester United again, we could be down and out but it felt like we could always just score a flurry of goals out of nowhere and we were genuinely punching back with the big boys again. He was the only one who got back to back top 4 finishes since Fergie too.

it all went to shit for various reasons last year - Ronaldo, Ole himself, Maguire having the worst season I’ve seen from a United CB, etc. But I’ll always remember Ole’s time managing the club fondly.

 

[Dion]

How could people see what ETH brought in 6 games then say Ole wasnt that bad

I mean Solskjaer has had periods where we've looked far better than we do right now. People love to count their chickens before they hatch.

 

[Tarrou]

Doesn’t Ole also have some sort of record for a lot of high scoring wins? I remember we twice went to a run of winning 3 games by 3 goals are more or something.

I know it’s it’s in vogue to hate on Ole now that we have Ten Haag, and I hope he’s successful too, but when things were on song under Ole, It felt like it was the United of old.

Ole remains the only time since Fergie that we felt like Manchester United again, we could be down and out but it felt like we could always just score a flurry of goals out of nowhere and we were genuinely punching back with the big boys again. He was the only one who got back to back top 4 finishes since Fergie too.

it all went to shit for various reasons last year - Ronaldo, Ole himself, Maguire having the worst season I’ve seen from a United CB, etc. But I’ll always remember Ole’s time managing the club fondly.

I'm in agreement that Ole wasn't as bad as made out, but wherever you fall on that debate mate he just wasn't an elite manager. We weren't mixing it with the big-boys under Ole, we were playing deep and looking to hit on the counter. That's fine every once in a while but not every big game, not at United.

In Ten Hag we have potentially an elite manager, and it feels amazing.

 

[The United]

How could people see what ETH brought in 6 games then say Ole wasnt that bad

I mean we have to give time to ETH and on the other hand, we can only judge his achievements after a certain amount of time. It goes both ways.

Ole had 10 games winning straight with good football most of the time as well and finished second at one point.

 

[Pronewbie]

I'm in agreement that Ole wasn't as bad as made out, but wherever you fall on that debate mate he just wasn't an elite manager. We weren't mixing it with the big-boys under Ole, we were playing deep and looking to hit on the counter. That's fine every once in a while but not every big game, not at United.

In Ten Hag we have potentially an elite manager, and it feels amazing.

I don't think anyone disputes that. It's just the revisionism that grates.

 

[Ole's screen]

I'm in agreement that Ole wasn't as bad as made out, but wherever you fall on that debate mate he just wasn't an elite manager. We weren't mixing it with the big-boys under Ole, we were playing deep and looking to hit on the counter. That's fine every once in a while but not every big game, not at United.

In Ten Hag we have potentially an elite manager, and it feels amazing.

I’m definitely happy. I’m just a little tired of the abuse and derision a club legend gets for taking over when the club was in the pits with no light in sight and giving us two good seasons and some very memorable moments.
It ended poorly and we’re past him now, so I find the urge some posters have to constantly deride him now kinda pathetic.

 

[city-puma]

My issue is with the hyperbole statements from these cnuts. ‘Solskjaer did none of these things’ is nonsense. He just was out of his depth. He did manage to win some big games.

Two bad games and they will go after Ten Hag.

Sadly, it’s all true. They have extremely short memory. Ole’s winning run is far more than four games but all yielded due to injuries after high intensity play during the run.
ETH definitely has shown his management skills to quickly unite the team together and started to put his demand and way of play into the team gradually. Four wins are the start of long journey. I just hope the short-memory posters won’t go after ETH when we have the other setbacks.

 

[AjaxCunian]

Some of Ole’s criticisms here are ridiculous.

We finished 3rd and 2nd and the team obviously fought for him a lot in those seasons. He likely would have finished in the top-4 last season too if Ronaldo wasn’t forced into the team.

That said, that was the limit of Ole’s competency.

No he wouldnt, that team was getting worse and worse long before Ronaldo came in.

Many were voicing out their concerns over the football we were playing but were shut down here all in the name of "progress".

 

[sglowrider]

Doesn’t Ole also have some sort of record for a lot of high scoring wins? I remember we twice went to a run of winning 3 games by 3 goals are more or something.

I know it’s it’s in vogue to hate on Ole now that we have Ten Haag, and I hope he’s successful too, but when things were on song under Ole, It felt like it was the United of old.

Ole remains the only time since Fergie that we felt like Manchester United again, we could be down and out but it felt like we could always just score a flurry of goals out of nowhere and we were genuinely punching back with the big boys again. He was the only one who got back to back top 4 finishes since Fergie too.

it all went to shit for various reasons last year - Ronaldo, Ole himself, Maguire having the worst season I’ve seen from a United CB, etc. But I’ll always remember Ole’s time managing the club fondly.

This.

People are looking for easy scapegoats. But the reality is that we all knew that Ole was never one to bring up to the very top. We all hoped that it would be the case for romantic reasons. But regardless, he did alright considering that the club was in complete disarray after the Jose soap opera.

He did give up some wonderful moments, and high-scoring games -- I think he has more 4-0 wins more than any manager since Fergie. But I am sure he knew he has his limitations.

He's a club legend and one who gave us one of the greatest unbelievable nights of our lives. We owe him that much.

For that, I will never slag him off.

 

[Ole's screen]

No he wouldnt, that team was getting worse and worse long before Ronaldo came in.

Many were voicing out their concerns over the football we were playing but were shut down here all in the name of "progress".

Actually up until Maguire got injured towards the end of the season we were doing quite well. We’d fallen short of City yes but we had a very fun EL run where be spanked some teams in the knockouts (much more fun than Jose’s EL run where we were relying on Fellaini to nick a goal against Celta Vigo).

There’s no point relitigating all this now, but for me Ole was the best I felt as a United fan since Fergie. I hope ETH supplants him, but he ain’t done nothing yet. We could well go on a run now and then fall apart towards the end like Ole’s team, you never know.

 

[city-puma]

Actually up until Maguire got injured towards the end of the season we were doing quite well. We’d fallen short of City yes but we had a very fun EL run where be spanked some teams in the kockouts (much more fun that Jose’s EL run where we were relying on Fellaini to nick a goal against Celta Vigo).

there’s no point relitigating all this now, but for me Ole was the best I felt as a United fan since Fergie. I hope ETH supplants him, but he ain’t done nothing yet. We could well go on a run now and then fall apart towards the end like Ole’s team, you never know.

Exactly.
I think we all want ETH can show that he can get the result no matter what even when we as a team can’t fully execute the way to play he wants. We hope ETH the one who can take us back to the top quickly and do it in a sustainable way.
My current worry is how he can manage the squad to prevent the burnouts similar to Ole’s interim period. Note that we have similar intensive game schedule as then, two games per week. Can we sustain the high intensity every game and avoid too many injuries?

 

[Tarrou]

I’m definitely happy. I’m just a little tired of the abuse and derision a club legend gets for taking over when the club was in the pits with no light in sight and giving us two good seasons and some very memorable moments.
It ended poorly and we’re past him now, so I find the urge some posters have to constantly deride him now kinda pathetic.

yeah I agree, it’s time to just move on and Ole deserves respect

people just never let stuff go and will be bringing up Pogba for years too

 

[Yakuza_devils]

The most amazing thing and I never seen any manager done that is that ETH is able to be pragmatic while also playing ETH ball drifting in and out of the game between pragmatism and ETH ball. Once we clicked and able to play ETH ball fully we will be an amazing team.

The best manager in transition and implementing his style of play while not compromising the results.

 

[AjaxCunian]

Actually up until Maguire got injured towards the end of the season we were doing quite well. We’d fallen short of City yes but we had a very fun EL run where be spanked some teams in the knockouts (much more fun than Jose’s EL run where we were relying on Fellaini to nick a goal against Celta Vigo).

There’s no point relitigating all this now, but for me Ole was the best I felt as a United fan since Fergie. I hope ETH supplants him, but he ain’t done nothing yet. We could well go on a run now and then fall apart towards the end like Ole’s team, you never know.

Sure the EL knockouts were great, but the minimum was to win the tournament (which we shouldn't even have competed in, in the first place).

We were miles away from City and Liverpool were clearly a lot better as soon as they regained their players after a freak injury record for them.

Many buried their hands in sand to this, and claimed only City were better, a reasonably fit Liverpool was far superior and they showed us this.

Let alone all the other losses in chances to win an actual trophy, that team was going nowhere. Ole was taking us nowhere, though the ride was fun at times.

 

[Ole's screen]

Sure the EL knockouts were great, but the minimum was to win the tournament (which we shouldn't even have competed in, in the first place).

We were miles away from City and Liverpool were clearly a lot better as soon as they regained their players after a freak injury record for them.

Many buried their hands in sand to this, and claimed only City were better, a reasonably fit Liverpool was far superior and they showed us this.

Let alone all the other losses in chances to win an actual trophy, that team was going nowhere. Ole was taking us nowhere, though the ride was fun at times.

Everyone’s going nowhere until they get somewhere. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

[Greck]

but when things were on song under Ole, It felt like it was the United of old.

Ole remains the only time since Fergie that we felt like Manchester United again, we could be down and out but it felt like we could always just score a flurry of goals out of nowhere and we were genuinely punching back with the big boys again. He was the only one who got back to back top 4 finishes since Fergie too.

To who exactly? This is as irritating to read now as it was back then because some of us knew it was sentimental garbage blinding those who felt that way. A team that couldn't execute basic one-twos consistently in an era where even midtable teams play with organised passing moves. A manager that was so limited he relied on counters against teams with a fraction of the budget. Let's just say the signs were obvious for anyone who bothered to look close enough. It's also convenient people want his tenure not to be spoken of when they spent the whole 3 years talking about Jose and the mess he left behind. We could draw a game to a midtable team and they would call it progress if the previous manager lost the corresponding fixture. Comparisons like this are now suddenly taboo. Convenient.

Hey, everyone reading this, make as many comparisons as you like. Even compare their facial hair, sitting posture, whatever.

 

[AjaxCunian]

Everyone’s going nowhere until they get somewhere. Hindsight is 20/20.

Just false.


Many were saying this even during his tenure, the fact you were blind doesnt change it. The fan base was super divided over this, have you forgotten?

Ole was far out of his depth, but he did quite well for his standard. He made good use of the few strengths that he does have, but in the end it wasn't enough and would never have been.

 

[Ole's screen]

Just false.


Many were saying this even during his tenure, the fact you were blind doesnt change it. The fan base was super divided over this, have you forgotten?

Again I don’t wanna relitigate, I’m just saying how I felt at the time you’re free to disagree.

Just curious though, how are we going under ETH and where are we headed according to you?

 

[AjaxCunian]

Again I don’t wanna relitigate, I’m just saying how I felt at the time you’re free to disagree.

Just curious though, how are we going under ETH and where are we headed according to you?

You can feel however you felt, but it was certainly not that everything was great before Ronaldo arrived, that's just false. Surely fans are fickle and unreasonable often enough, but there was a plethora of fans that gave Ole a chance that wanted him gone that summer or at least not to have his contract renewed.

I think EtH has a very good idea of what needs to be done for United to be a CL competitive team and by that also a domestic title challenger. He is building towards that but is not a miracle worker by any means.

He is recruiting players he feels are of that standard in various aspects or have that potential (even Eredivisie players). He is trying to cultivate a standard of much higher demands throughout the club, because he understands what it takes to be among the best. It is what he worked on at Ajax and did very well. Ajax underachieved for the quality of football they were playing in my view, their football was genuinely among Europe's best, even statistically.

So that is where we are heading I'd say, but the United job comes with big obstacles.

 

[berbatrick]

This is as irritating to read now as it was back then because some of us knew it was sentimental garbage blinding those who felt that way. A team that couldn't execute basic one-twos consistently in an era where even midtable teams play with organised passing moves.

I have no idea about the "United of old", but in terms of results, goalscoring, and excitement, there were some extended spells under Ole which were great.

His initial 3 months (13W 2D 1L) and the finish of the next season after Bruno signed and everybody came back fit (15-4-2), you'd really have to nitpick and use hindsight to criticise.
Maybe also the middle of the next season which delivered very good results, but the football wasn't that great, and shortcomings were becoming obvious.

e - His transfers hurt him more than any single other thing. In his first summer, sold Herrera, Smalling, Lukaku, and Young, for a combined 85m, replaced with Dan James, Maguire and AWB for a combined 150...tragic.

 

[elmo]

One huge failing of Ole was that our players didn’t improve when playing under him. That failed us more than the dumb transfers.

 

[Ole's screen]

You can feel however you felt, but it was certainly not that everything was great before Ronaldo arrived, that's just false. Surely fans are fickle and unreasonable often enough, but there was a plethora of fans that gave Ole a chance that wanted him gone that summer or at least not to have his contract renewed.

I think EtH has a very good idea of what needs to be done for United to be a CL competitive team and by that also a domestic title challenger. He is building towards that but is not a miracle worker by any means.

He is recruiting players he feels are of that standard in various aspects or have that potential (even Eredivisie players). He is trying to cultivate a standard of much higher demands throughout the club, because he understands what it takes to be among the best. It is what he worked on at Ajax and did very well. Ajax underachieved for the quality of football they were playing in my view, their football was genuinely among Europe's best, even statistically.

So that is where we are heading I'd say, but the United job comes with big obstacles.

We’ll see how he does, I hope it doesn’t crash and burn like everything post 2013.

Look good for you if you could foresee last season’s fiasco, but my point stands that Im not a fan of the constant ridicule of a club legend when he did take over the club in dire straits and way over performed and gave us a lot of really memorable moments.

 

[Strelok]

Ole was not that bad, that is what has been wrong here for such a long time. This club needs is ruthless culture back.

Spot on.

I was a big fan but the moment he subbed Cavani for Ronaldo in the Everton match last year I knew he's finished and would never be the right man we'd need.

Anyway I still really like Ole and so thankful to him for bringing back the joy of watching us after Moyes, LVG and Jose. Even it was only a short period and there were a lot of ups and downs. Especially the season when we were named "King of Comeback" again. We were really entertaining to watch in that season.

Let's simply thank the guy and move on with ETH I think.

 

[roonster09]

FFS, can you take Ole discussion to Ole thread. Good or bad, not everything should be compared with past. We were shit since SAF retired, only difference is level if shitness.

We have hired superb coach and signed some very good players, few moronic journalists wants to bring back all the discussion to past and people fall for it.

4 wins in a row, not sure when was the last time we did that. Things are shaping up really well. Just need Casemiro and Ronaldo to be match fit.

 

[AjaxCunian]

We’ll see how he does, I hope it doesn’t crash and burn like everything post 2013.

Look good for you if you could foresee last season’s fiasco, but my point stands that Im not a fan of the constant ridicule of a club legend when he did take over the club in dire straits and way over performed and gave us a lot of really memorable moments.

I didnt foresee last season's fiasco, just that we weren't becoming a genuine top side under Ole and that we weren't. I thought that us being 2nd or 3rd and that being used as the single barometer brushed a lot of things under the carpet.

Ole didn't do United more of a favour than United did him. We would have been able to get good managers, the club failed by appointing him in the first place, a total lack of vision. Far too reactionary.

Ole overperformed for his standards yes, fair enough in that.

 

[Ole's screen]

I didnt foresee last season's fiasco, just that we weren't becoming a genuine top side under Ole and that we weren't. I thought that us being 2nd or 3rd and that being used as the single barometer brushed a lot of things under the carpet.

Ole didn't do United more of a favour than United did him. We would have been able to get good managers, the club failed by appointing him in the first place, a total lack of vision. Far too reactionary.

Ole overperformed for his standards yes, fair enough in that.

It’s not his fault that the club were such a shambles after Jose they didn’t know whether to stick or twist. I think people forget just how toxic things at the club were back then.

 

[Lebo]

The good thing about ETH is that we look dangerous when we sit back and counter and even when we take the initiative to attack.