Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[GaryLifo]

He's the best decision the club have made in a very long time. He has a clear plan and he's working to implement it.

Too many people have some kind of yardstick "must finish x" "must win at least x this season"

If people can't see the vast improvement in the way United play compared to any other manager post Ferguson, then I'm not sure what they're watching.

The manager will be working now with all the young players and the remaining senior players and will have 5 weeks of solid coaching time to get them playing his system better. I think we're going to see an even better playing style after the world Cup with a few more of the young lads like Iqbal and McNeil breaking through by the end of the season.

 

[TwoSheds]

He's the best decision the club have made in a very long time. He has a clear plan and he's working to implement it.

Too many people have some kind of yardstick "must finish x" "must win at least x this season"

If people can't see the vast improvement in the way United play compared to any other manager post Ferguson, then I'm not sure what they're watching.

The manager will be working now with all the young players and the remaining senior players and will have 5 weeks of solid coaching time to get them playing his system better. I think we're going to see an even better playing style after the world Cup with a few more of the young lads like Iqbal and McNeil breaking through by the end of the season.

I was with you until you said Iqbal and McNeil. They're alright but they're not likely to make it here.

 

[Dion]

Realistically it's much to early to judge him on anything other than his conduct and the way he's handled adversity. Both of which have been top notch. The footballing side of things will either happen in time or it wont, but he's given off no red flags yet.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

After Ronaldo saga, he is now facing even bigger problem that the owners are looking to sell the club. Hope Glazers continue to spend on the team until the new owner is found. And the new owner will be supportive of ETH. Too many unknowns and hope it doesn't affect him. What a bad time to be at the club.

For the immediate future the Glazer need to sign him a striker to replace Ronaldo. For mid-term we need to have a strong summer window again. For long term, hope the Glazers feck off soon and a new owner is found.

 

[croadyman]

After Ronaldo saga, he is now facing even bigger problem that the owners are looking to sell the club. Hope Glazers continue to spend on the team until the new owner is found. And the new owner will be supportive of ETH. Too many unknowns and hope it doesn't affect him. What a bad time to be at the club.

For the immediate future the Glazer need to sign him a striker to replace Ronaldo. For mid-term we need to have a strong summer window again. For long term, hope the Glazers feck off soon and a new owner is found.

Guarantee we don't sign number 9 in January

 

[Shai-Hulud]

Now with probably the last dickhead primadonna out I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season. We'll play some nice football I reckon. Hope the board will buy him a new striker in Jan.

My thoughs exactly. I have a lot of faith in EtH but he needs to be backed.

Your username seems familiar. From Stalker?

 

[TheReligion]

Guarantee we don't sign number 9 in January

Why won’t we?

 

[ggg333]

He's the best decision the club have made in a very long time. He has a clear plan and he's working to implement it.

Too many people have some kind of yardstick "must finish x" "must win at least x this season"

If people can't see the vast improvement in the way United play compared to any other manager post Ferguson, then I'm not sure what they're watching.

The manager will be working now with all the young players and the remaining senior players and will have 5 weeks of solid coaching time to get them playing his system better. I think we're going to see an even better playing style after the world Cup with a few more of the young lads like Iqbal and McNeil breaking through by the end of the season.

I personally not expecting much change to the way we play atleast immediately and think lot of the players will show up only by December 3rd week where we play on Dec-27th. Also thought ETH has not been in Carrington last few weeks himself. May be by end of the season we might see the style of play by end of the season. This isn't saying that you are wrong or anything rather just my opinion.

 

[croadyman]

Why won’t we?

Because top targets aren't available until the summer,hoped we might get a loan/short team deal for one but zero links thus far.

 

[TheReligion]

Because top targets aren't available until the summer,hoped we might get a loan/short team deal for one but zero links thus far.

Who said they aren’t available?

 

[Strelok]

My thoughs exactly. I have a lot of faith in EtH but he needs to be backed.

Your username seems familiar. From Stalker?

Yes. You've played that game too I guess.

And your username? The band or the worm?

 

[Judas]

Why won’t we?

Because he lives in the land of misery.

 

[phelans shorts]

Why won’t we?

because only Middle East owners buy top strikers without fail, everyone knows this

 

[Shai-Hulud]

Yes. You've played that game too I guess.

And your username? The band or the worm?

Sand snek. Didn't know there was a band by this name.

 

[GaryLifo]

I personally not expecting much change to the way we play atleast immediately and think lot of the players will show up only by December 3rd week where we play on Dec-27th. Also thought ETH has not been in Carrington last few weeks himself. May be by end of the season we might see the style of play by end of the season. This isn't saying that you are wrong or anything rather just my opinion.

Yes, what you say is completely fair.

 

[croadyman]

Who said they aren’t available?

There is no way Spurs sell Kane, Napoli sell Osimhen, Juve sell Vlahovic, AC Milan sell Leao, Brentford sell Toney or Lille sell David, if there is anyone left let me know

 

[mav_9me]

Guarantee we don't sign number 9 in January

There is no way Spurs sell Kane, Napoli sell Osimhen, Juve sell Vlahovic, AC Milan sell Leao, Brentford sell Toney or Lille sell David, if there is anyone left let me know

So you mean we won't sing a top number 9.

Cuz we can very easily get a temp no.9, depay or thuram, or Felix on loan etc.

 

[croadyman]

So you mean we won't sing a top number 9.

Cuz we can very easily get a temp no.9, depay or thuram, or Felix on loan etc.

Wouldn't class Depay or Felix as your typical number 9. Can't really comment on Thuram as don't know enough about him.

 

[glazed]

Honestly 18 clubs out of the league would pray for the investment constraints that the Glazers have supposedly imposed. Our problem isn't financial. Its strategic management.
The way money spent over the last 10 years has just been appalling. Hundreds of millions were spent just on the galacticos projects alone. That strategic blunder really points only at one man, Woodward.

This chestnut keeps coming up - the Glazers spent a lot but spent badly. It ignores the intimate connection between the commercialisation of the club and the bad spending decisions. It gave us Ole, the coach who rolled over because he knew he was there as a yes man not a top coach. It gave us Ronaldo mark 2 and a whole load of other big names at the fag end of their careers. It made us miss out on Klopp and who knows how many players who cared about winning more than they cared about their pay packet. And it gave us Woodward in charge. The list goes on and on.

 

[Isotope]

This chestnut keeps coming up - the Glazers spent a lot but spent badly. It ignores the intimate connection between the commercialisation of the club and the bad spending decisions. It gave us Ole, the coach who rolled over because he knew he was there as a yes man not a top coach. It gave us Ronaldo mark 2 and a whole load of other big names at the fag end of their careers. It made us miss out on Klopp and who knows how many players who cared about winning more than they cared about their pay packet. And it gave us Woodward in charge. The list goes on and on.

Mate, I think you're agreeing with him. His main point that our woe is not about financial but the non-existent strategic management. The later includes spending badly, getting a Yes man manager, focus more on commercialization above football success, etc.

 

[Demon Barber]

I am totally behind EtH and what he has done so far.
Some of the deadwood has gone and the rest have been marginalized as he looks to rebuild the team/squad. His signings have improved us considerably.

I like how he conducts himself and how he handles the media. I like his "good is not good enough" philosophy. But most of all I enjoy watching us play, after years of turgid, unexciting football.

It will take time for us to be back where we want to be, but I am finally optimistic.

 

[Revaulx]

This chestnut keeps coming up - the Glazers spent a lot but spent badly. It ignores the intimate connection between the commercialisation of the club and the bad spending decisions. It gave us Ole, the coach who rolled over because he knew he was there as a yes man not a top coach. It gave us Ronaldo mark 2 and a whole load of other big names at the fag end of their careers. It made us miss out on Klopp and who knows how many players who cared about winning more than they cared about their pay packet. And it gave us Woodward in charge. The list goes on and on.

Er, what part of “Our problem isn't financial. Its strategic management” fails to account for the issues that you've (correctly) mentioned?

 

[LordSpud]

There is no way Spurs sell Kane, Napoli sell Osimhen, Juve sell Vlahovic, AC Milan sell Leao, Brentford sell Toney or Lille sell David, if there is anyone left let me know

Rightly or wrongly, Kane will be one of our top targets this summer. Also everyone has a price as we saw with Antony. Ajax had half of their squad bought in the summer and were adament that no more would leave - enter John Murtough dressed as the Monopoly Man with a suitcase and 100m and its deal done.

Toney after the gambling thing is out of the question. David I dont think is good enough

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Made me chuckle thinking of his first press conference back after the WC.

Most managers will just be asked about upcoming preparations, how their players got on in the WC

Ten Hag will have to field questions on why their biggest name player has been sacked and the potential sale of the entire club.

 

[Hansi Fick]

Wouldn't class Depay or Felix as your typical number 9. Can't really comment on Thuram as don't know enough about him.

Thuram is the obvious answer to your obvious problem. No brainer.

 

[Greck]

When he's not just spending 200m on recent window.

True but you have to factor that our spend last window was inflated by inaction and the resulting late window panic spend. It wasn't a true 200m and it could have been prevented if the Glazers had a clue how to structure the club for continuity of action. We're constantly overhauling because they bring no expertise on the business side of the game. Can't wait till they leave so we are no longer having to back their structure on crappy questionable decisions like staking an entire summer on Frenkie De Jong. Without a breakthrough that situation could be in court till long after his retirement.

 

[diarm]

Rightly or wrongly, Kane will be one of our top targets this summer.

I really hope not.

This summer is exactly the moment a smart club like Bayern or Madrid would sell Kane for silly money. We all know what happens then.

 

[bosnian_red]

True but you have to factor that our spend last window was inflated by inaction and the resulting late window panic spend. It wasn't a true 200m and it could have been prevented if the Glazers had a clue how to structure the club for continuity of action. We're constantly overhauling because they bring no expertise on the business side of the game. Can't wait till they leave so we are no longer having to back their structure on crappy questionable decisions like staking an entire summer on Frenkie De Jong. Without a breakthrough that situation could be in court till long after his retirement.

We still spent big, regardless of inflation or not. If we acted earlier we could've saved ourselves probably 50m, but that's about it. 150m is still a good spend per summer.

It was just a case of our squad needing a decent sized overhaul, so it takes a few windows to get into actually competing. Also depends on the players available. Antony for example isn't having the impact of a 100m player. He probably never will. But he was a left footed RW with big potential, and there is a massive dearth of those players in the world right now, and our previous one went and got himself arrested, so yeah we needed to get one. Otherwise we could've just had Greenwood there and spent 100m on Osimhen and gotten rid of Ronaldo without caring in the summer and we'd be much further along.

 

[glazed]

Mate, I think you're agreeing with him. His main point that our woe is not about financial but the non-existent strategic management.

Er, what part of “Our problem isn't financial. Its strategic management” fails to account for the issues that you've (correctly) mentioned?

The point you are missing (still) is that the strategic management problem was caused by the financial problem that you don't think exists. They're not two seperate things.

 

[Adisa]

Made me chuckle thinking of his first press conference back after the WC.

Most managers will just be asked about upcoming preparations, how their players got on in the WC

Ten Hag will have to field questions on why their biggest name player has been sacked and the potential sale of the entire club.

It's been a baptism of fire tbh. I hope he's enjoying it.
I don't know how it was for him at Ajax, dealing with so many issues. Here, managers get no protection. It's full frontal all the time.

 

[phelans shorts]

It's been a baptism of fire tbh. I hope he's enjoying it.
I don't know how it was for him at Ajax, dealing with so many issues. Here, managers get no protection. It's full frontal all the time.

Well, we do have a history of Dutch managers being full frontal.

 

[sglowrider]

Mate, I think you're agreeing with him. His main point that our woe is not about financial but the non-existent strategic management. The later includes spending badly, getting a Yes man manager, focus more on commercialization above football success, etc.

he just wanted to say it in his own words

 

[Revaulx]

The point you are missing (still) is that the strategic management problem was caused by the financial problem that you don't think exists. They're not two seperate things.

So what you are saying is that if we hadn’t got the debt to service we could have bought Neymar, Mbappe and Haland?

Well that might have got us better results.

 

[glazed]

So what you are saying is that if we hadn’t got the debt to service we could have bought Neymar, Mbappe and Haland?

Well that might have got us better results.

No I'm saying we ran the club on too much of a comercial basis which led to bad footballing decisions even while it generated funds which we then misspent on bad footballing decisions. The two were intimately linked and not just total coincidence.

 

[Greck]

We still spent big, regardless of inflation or not. If we acted earlier we could've saved ourselves probably 50m, but that's about it. 150m is still a good spend per summer.

It was just a case of our squad needing a decent sized overhaul, so it takes a few windows to get into actually competing. Also depends on the players available. Antony for example isn't having the impact of a 100m player. He probably never will. But he was a left footed RW with big potential, and there is a massive dearth of those players in the world right now, and our previous one went and got himself arrested, so yeah we needed to get one. Otherwise we could've just had Greenwood there and spent 100m on Osimhen and gotten rid of Ronaldo without caring in the summer and we'd be much further along.

Okay. Nice addendum but not really the theme which is that he quality element in our transfers was never simply about the raw spend figure. Agree with all the posters already making that point. Simply quoting figures misses the more pressing issue.

 

[Judge Red]

Between the performances of our players and Ronaldo lying, cheating and trying to steal goals from team mates, this World Cup couldn’t be going much better for the boss.

The future is finally bright.

 

[Isotope]

True but you have to factor that our spend last window was inflated by inaction and the resulting late window panic spend. It wasn't a true 200m and it could have been prevented if the Glazers had a clue how to structure the club for continuity of action. We're constantly overhauling because they bring no expertise on the business side of the game. Can't wait till they leave so we are no longer having to back their structure on crappy questionable decisions like staking an entire summer on Frenkie De Jong. Without a breakthrough that situation could be in court till long after his retirement.

It doesn't matter whether the executives fecked up with overpaying. ETH knew the numbers, and he approved those purchases. He probably aware too, how much transfer money is available.

 

[Isotope]

The point you are missing (still) is that the strategic management problem was caused by the financial problem that you don't think exists. They're not two seperate things.

Numbers are there to see. We've spent as much as other top clubs (and possibly near the top). At one point, we had 2nd highest wages in the entire world.

The ways we spent those money are the real mismanagement problem. When we say "management", it includes the executives. We have debts but it's serviceable.

 

[Boondog]

Rightly or wrongly, Kane will be one of our top targets this summer. Also everyone has a price as we saw with Antony. Ajax had half of their squad bought in the summer and were adament that no more would leave - enter John Murtough dressed as the Monopoly Man with a suitcase and 100m and its deal done.

Toney after the gambling thing is out of the question. David I dont think is good enough

Not a chance. Everyone who he adds will have some pace to them and an ability to press and play defense. Kane is the kind of option we would have chased a year ago. EtH will have his sights set higher.

Look at Gakpo. Young, fit, strong, big upside, and can press and play defense. There is zero chance he goes after an old vet like Kane.

 

[tenpoless]

The biggest winner of World Cup is him.