Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[romufc]

Reading some of the comments in this thread makes me think some of our fan base is absolutely crazy.

Lost 3 points in added time in the space of three days and suddenly it's "ETH out" "Ole would of done better".

Don't jump back on the bandwagon.

Its a joke right. Its as if people do not watch the game and look at the result only. I advice people who are questioning Ten Hag to go watch 90 mins of the City, Palace and Arsenal game. Then go watch 90 mins of the same games last season to have an idea of what progress is.

I had one poster claim that because we dont sell McTominay, then Ten Hag should go. "If Murtough and ETH cannot see this then we aren't going anywhere with them too because these are decisions that turn top four sttugglers into challengers"

People have put title expectations on a manager after months. Absolute joke.

 

[Ten Lasso]

We have one of the best managers in the game, and are way ahead of schedule based on the work that he's done. Do I need to remind you what we looked like this time last year?

Unbelievable. You deserve Ole, Moyes and van Gaal.

 

[CM10]

There's a lot of truth in this. Also factor in that we were missing 3 of our first-team players and Arsenal were at full strength (with the possible exception of Jesus), ten Hag is doing a great job and there isn't much between the two teams.

The summer window will be huge for us. If we can continue what we started last summer and bring in another few players to improve the starting team and phase out the squad players who aren't up to scratch, I have every confidence ten Hag will have us challenging next season. It's never that simple for us though, I'm fully expecting some complications with the takeover or FFP to impinge on our summer window.

 

[Lost bear]

There's a lot of truth in this. Also factor in that we were missing 3 of our first-team players and Arsenal were at full strength (with the possible exception of Jesus), ten Hag is doing a great job and there isn't much between the two teams.

The summer window will be huge for us. If we can continue what we started last summer and bring in another few players to improve the starting team and phase out the squad players who aren't up to scratch, I have every confidence ten Hag will have us challenging next season. It's never that simple for us though, I'm fully expecting some complications with the takeover or FFP to impinge on our summer window.

Totally agree about ETH. Things are really looking up for Utd for the first time in years. Can’t help but have faith in the guy after the transformation we’ve seen at the club, already.

 

[sunama]

Totally agree about ETH. Things are really looking up for Utd for the first time in years. Can’t help but have faith in the guy after the transformation we’ve seen at the club, already.

The same thing you wrote was said about previous managers.

When LVG was around, we hit top spot in the league at one point, then lost/drew a series of games. We did win an FA Cup, though.
He got fired.

When Jose joined, in his first season we won 2 trophies.

Then when Ole joined, and we won a lot of games initially, by big scorelines, the same was said. We won zero trophies.

So before you begin to congratulate each other on ETH's good performance, how about we win something first?
We are one of, if not the biggest spenders in World football and we haven't won any trophies in a long time. Those are the facts. If ETH really is one of the best, we should be winning a trophy this season and competing for all trophies next season.
I'm not saying that ETH is a bad manager - but we need to reserve judgement. If we can get 4th place this season, it'll be a good season for him.

 

[Ish]

Probably, those who wanted Conte and Poch

Yeah, though if the poll on the Caf was anything to go by, they should be a very small minority as EtH had 80%+ support in that thread. But yeah, weird to start doubting him when we're still in 4 cups and 3rd on the log (could have been in a title race, had the past week gone differently). Surely that's all surpassing what anyone could have expected from this season?

 

[Strootman's Finger]

Don't agree. Its the manager's call to pick a player. The Arsenal match was more important than '3 points' it was a season defining match. Beat them and United were right in the mix and their confidence would have been damaged. Casimero is United's best player, by a country mile, you just do not risk it at Palace, against some sides maybe, but not Selhurst Park. And Garnacho was desperately needed at 60 mins.
This is not hindsight, its pretty obvious stuff. ETH is good, but he is fallible.

I see your point in the significance of beating Arsenal vs Palace.

I don't agree about Garnacho though, he is a kid, he can't be expected to come on and win us every game, especially games like this. And Arsenal was dominating us, we couldn't even get out of our own half, what good would Garnacho have been?

 

[arthurka]

Yeah, though if the poll on the Caf was anything to go by, they should be a very small minority as EtH had 80%+ support in that thread. But yeah, weird to start doubting him when we're still in 4 cups and 3rd on the log (could have been in a title race, had the past week gone differently). Surely that's all surpassing what anyone could have expected from this season?

Absolutely it´s been much better than expected.

 

[mav_9me]

The same thing you wrote was said about previous managers.

When LVG was around, we hit top spot in the league at one point, then lost/drew a series of games. We did win an FA Cup, though.
He got fired.

When Jose joined, in his first season we won 2 trophies.

Then when Ole joined, and we won a lot of games initially, by big scorelines, the same was said. We won zero trophies.

So before you begin to congratulate each other on ETH's good performance, how about we win something first?
We are one of, if not the biggest spenders in World football and we haven't won any trophies in a long time. Those are the facts. If ETH really is one of the best, we should be winning a trophy this season and competing for all trophies next season.
I'm not saying that ETH is a bad manager - but we need to reserve judgement. If we can get 4th place this season, it'll be a good season for him.

The difference is how ETH has changed our style of play. We are moving to a pressing and possession type of football.

Ole and Jose didn't really do much for our style of football.

LVG did, and improved our possession but couldn't take the next step.

Point is for me performances are what matter, results and trophies follow.

 

[Ish]

Absolutely it´s been much better than expected.

All this without mentioning the Ronaldo situation/distraction, the change in attitude/culture around the players/club and most of the players we'd have gladly written off, showing great signs of improvement.

 

[Marcus]

I think EtH is a victim of his own success. Expectations were at a high because of how well we had done and so the disappointment is painful and people are looking for someone to blame.

 

[arthurka]

All this without mentioning the Ronaldo situation/distraction, the change in attitude/culture around the players/club and most of the players we'd have gladly written off, showing great signs of improvement.

Agree, it´s so much better looks like a pro football club vs a bunch of hobby kickers doing what they want.

 

[Red Dreams]

Leaving Casemiro on for the second half against Palace cost us.
We were a goal up and Fred should have come in.
We would easily have beaten Arsenal with Casemiro.

We are still 3 players short of a squad that can win the lot.
The Glazers hired Erik and gave him a handicap with Ronaldo who should have been moved on.

 

[NLunited]

Leaving Casemiro on for the second half against Palace cost us.
We were a goal up and Fred should have come in.
We would easily have beaten Arsenal with Casemiro.

We are still 3 players short of a squad that can win the lot.
The Glazers hired Erik and gave him a handicap with Ronaldo who should have been moved on.

Spot on. Except taking Casemiro off could have backfired too.

What we need to start doing is score the second goal, then we can take players off and rest them. That’s part of the next step we need to take in the process.

 

[Dec9003]

Leaving Casemiro on for the second half against Palace cost us.
We were a goal up and Fred should have come in.
We would easily have beaten Arsenal with Casemiro.

We are still 3 players short of a squad that can win the lot.
The Glazers hired Erik and gave him a handicap with Ronaldo who should have been moved on.

Casemiro is great but we didn’t beat Palace with him playing the full 90, so I’m not sure how we would’ve easily beaten Arsenal with him in the team.

 

[DJ_21]

Casemiro is great but we didn’t beat Palace with him playing the full 90, so I’m not sure how we would’ve easily beaten Arsenal with him in the team.

He’d of probably helped a lot against arsenal. But I get what you’re saying. Didn’t beat palace with him playing the full game. We need to start scoring the 2nd and 3rd goals like others have mentioned, that will allow us to bring of players

 

[Red Dreams]

Casemiro is great but we didn’t beat Palace with him playing the full 90, so I’m not sure how we would’ve easily beaten Arsenal with him in the team.

We did not beat Palace because of a great free kick.
Still as has been said we should have scored a second to put the game to rest.
Arsenal would not have been able to dominate midfield if Casemiro had played.
Even so I thought we did very well.

Erik has done an unbelievable job with the squad.
Our over dependence on a few players like Casemiro and Rashford clearly tells us that we need to strengthen.

 

[Ish]

Agree, it´s so much better looks like a pro football club vs a bunch of hobby kickers doing what they want.

Yep, he's brought a sense of discipline back where if you step out of line you suffer consequences. We're seemingly not handing out contract extensions like candy anymore either.

 

[CM10]

The same thing you wrote was said about previous managers.

When LVG was around, we hit top spot in the league at one point, then lost/drew a series of games. We did win an FA Cup, though.
He got fired.

When Jose joined, in his first season we won 2 trophies.

Then when Ole joined, and we won a lot of games initially, by big scorelines, the same was said. We won zero trophies.

So before you begin to congratulate each other on ETH's good performance, how about we win something first?
We are one of, if not the biggest spenders in World football and we haven't won any trophies in a long time. Those are the facts. If ETH really is one of the best, we should be winning a trophy this season and competing for all trophies next season.
I'm not saying that ETH is a bad manager - but we need to reserve judgement. If we can get 4th place this season, it'll be a good season for him.

None of those managers managed to achieve top 4 and win a trophy in the same season. Ten Hag has put us in a position where we could do both in his first season.

There's no comparison with any of them really - he's inherited the worst set of circumstances, managed to imprint his ideas on the team quickly and coached players who were either underperforming or lost causes to a good level. There obviously has to be continued progress but you can only judge him on what we've seen so far and the signs are positive.

 

[Robbie Boy]

What a fantastic job this man is doing.

 

[evil_geko]

I am just scared about new takeover and how new owners might go for some new "instant success" manager and will not have patience for Ten Hags long term process.

 

[Judas]

I am just scared about new takeover and how new owners might go for some new "instant success" manager and will not have patience for Ten Hags long term process.

Which instant success manager would make any sense? I don’t really get this panic, especially with how things are clearly going with Ten Hag.

 

[evil_geko]

Which instant success manager would make any sense? I don’t really get this panic, especially with how things are clearly going with Ten Hag.

I know, the progress is very clear, but just look at Chelsea owner, common sense is something some owners do not have unfortunately.

 

[NFM]

To be honest much of Arsenal's development is down to actually buying the right, young and hungry players in the last couple of years. In 3 years time we'll have a Casemiro that's 33 years old, a 32 year old Varane, a 31 year old Bruno and a 30 year old Shaw. So many of your top performers in their 30ies. DDG will be 35 by then. So I'm not sure we are much comparable to Arsenal unless we start investing in the right players for a change. Let's hope for owners that will be happy to spend and invest in this team.

Yes, Arsenal team is on average 3 yrs younger than United. This team/squad don't have 'time' to develop, if they can't compete for the title now they never will. The new rules on finances will be very constraining on United player purchases unless a new owner comes with a new sponsor and enough funds to develop a new stadium. ETH is doing well, but he is human and does and will make mistakes. The Antony purchase is very poor given the state of the finances.

 

[Tapori]

Sack Hag
Sell Rashford

I mean, the absolute state of our wider fanbase; Criticise yes but throwing him under after what he's turned around, is just nonsense
We need a CM or two this window if possible.

 

[Berbaclass]

People are questioning him already Jesus

 

[Glorio]

Sack Hag
Sell Rashford

I mean, the absolute state of our wider fanbase; Criticise yes but throwing him under after what he's turned around, is just nonsense
We need a CM or two this window if possible.

Particularly scary when you hear that Sis Jim Ratcliffe is an avid poster on the Caf!

Ok I pulled that out of thin air!

 

[Tapori]

Particularly scary when you hear that Sis Jim Ratcliffe is an avid poster on the Caf!

Ok I pulled that out of thin air!

White text

 

[Escobar]

Leaving Casemiro on for the second half against Palace cost us.
We were a goal up and Fred should have come in.
We would easily have beaten Arsenal with Casemiro.

We are still 3 players short of a squad that can win the lot.
The Glazers hired Erik and gave him a handicap with Ronaldo who should have been moved on.

Easily? No way. Yes it was a mistake but lets move on

 

[Escobar]

Sack Hag
Sell Rashford

I mean, the absolute state of our wider fanbase; Criticise yes but throwing him under after what he's turned around, is just nonsense
We need a CM or two this window if possible.

Some fans deserve Ole forever in a parallell universe

 

[bond19821982]

To be honest much of Arsenal's development is down to actually buying the right, young and hungry players in the last couple of years. In 3 years time we'll have a Casemiro that's 33 years old, a 32 year old Varane, a 31 year old Bruno and a 30 year old Shaw. So many of your top performers in their 30ies. DDG will be 35 by then. So I'm not sure we are much comparable to Arsenal unless we start investing in the right players for a change. Let's hope for owners that will be happy to spend and invest in this team.

That's not how it should be looked at. We need leaders in the team and you just can't do it with kids. (Not everyone is SAF). Arsenal is yet to win something . So lets calm down a bit .

Yes, In 3 to 4 years we will need to find adequate replacements for Casemiro and Varane. DDG would be gone by next season. 3 players in 4 years isn't a tough ask. As long as we get the right ones in, we are good.

 

[Tapori]

Some fans deserve Ole forever in a parallell universe

I loved Ole and really supported him but Ole's inevitable downfall was his obsequiousness towards a core group of players running riot in terms of poor form and discipline and his complete lack of tactical adaptation and lack of leadership when Ronaldo came in and Maguire was failing.

Sounds easy, but had he tightened up at the back, dropped Maguire on merit and rotated more whilst going back to tactical counter-attacking basics and abandoning that absurd high-line, he may well have come out the other side and been going toe-to-toe with Arteta. I feel he put far too much faith in Maguire and refused to budge.

Ten Hag though, has shown what a higher level of manager can bring. I will be disappointed if we don't win or challenge until the end for a PL title but I have little doubt that if Ten Hag ultimately fails in terms of that he will at least leave the squad and team in a far better shape than Ole did.

 

[Red Dreams]

Easily? No way. Yes it was a mistake but lets move on

I stand by what I said.

 

[Jericholyte2]

It's a recurring theme that United's 2nd half performance usually takes nosedive.
We got away with it few times, it was always going to bite us eventually, understandably so but last two games especially were one of the worst second halves under ETH. 2nd half against real sociedad away was another one

Is it fitness, lack of squad depth or mental issue? Nobody knows. It's something ETH must address

Nothing to do with the fact we have a shockingly shallow squad depth and have been, are, and will for the next few weeks, been playing games every 3 days whilst others have breaks (Arsenal having a full week off as an example).

Absolutely asinine in ETH’s first season as manager to be blaming him for this.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Which instant success manager would make any sense? I don’t really get this panic, especially with how things are clearly going with Ten Hag.

Zidane is very popular with the arabs.

 

[Grande]

Tbh i wouldn't get excited just yet. "Development" means feck all with this club. Gave Ole another 10 years and he still wouldn't win that EL final.
ETH probably will change that but he still need support from recruitment team.

Tbh, I wouldn’t ever be excited again. Life takes on such a (dis-)interesting hue if you suck all excitement out of it systematically.

On another note - I’ve read about 300 posts complaining about people giving up on Ten Hag already, but I’ve yet to find a post being negative towards Ten Hag. Are everyone paranoid, or am I illiterate? Note that I am
a huge Ten Hag fan.

 

[mav_9me]

Tbh, I wouldn’t ever be excited again. Life takes on such a (dis-)interesting hue if you suck all excitement out of it systematically.

On another note - I’ve read about 300 posts complaining about people giving up on Ten Hag already, but I’ve yet to find a post being negative towards Ten Hag. Are everyone paranoid, or am I illiterate? Note that I am
a huge Ten Hag fan.

A few

Today was absolutely shocking. Shades of Ole.

Not going anywhere under him. We might scrape top4 but only because Liverpool and Chelsea are in meltdown. Same old cycle.

Doing no better than Ole after spending 200m.

Erik ten Halfwit.

It feels like a lot of fans overhyped him to get back at Ole (so they could "win the argument" so to speak) and some just in general hope that he would turn things around.

I'm not getting too excited until I see genuine improvement and the team is on another level to what it was post Sir Alex Ferguson. He's done ok so far.

 

[Grande]

People are being a bit too precious about some of the criticism. Yeah the people going way too extreme we can rightly admonish.
But most of the criticism I've seen is just about his game management recently.

I get that he might not fully trust the bench options but I'd prefer if he was braver and tried to make a change. Same like I was with Ole. The game was clearly going against us and doing nothing was gonna bite us in the end. It's not like we're playing a bad team so if you leave it status quo they're gonna break through eventually.

Take the game to the opposition and force them back. Or go fully defensive and bring on another defender. Doing nothing ends up with the results we've seen the last couple games. Plus the players are tired because of the number of games. Fresh legs will help. He made positive changes against City and they worked. Do it against Arsenal.

During the game, I agreed with you about the subs. After it, I’m not so sure anymore. One thing is that statistics don’t back up the notion that subs are always better than no subs in the short run. In fact, subs destabilize as often as they strengthen. Solskjær in fact was criticized for his lack of subs simultaneously to stats showing that his subs had the most positive impact of all managers in the league, and we all agreed it wasn’t due to the quality of his bench. I think a fact of football fandom is that we long for some way to control our tension during the match thinking about possible changes, and easily imagine our ideas for changes not followed would have been proven right, whenif done, we’d just as often see our team lose cohesion or make defensive blunders as a result of our changes.

As it happened, we lost the game in the last minute, meaning we held a draw away to the fully rested league leaders for 89 mins. That might be held as evidence for the choice of making few changes. The three players most culpable for the flukey goal, Bissaka, McTominay and Bruno, were among the least likely to be subbed anyway, and the goal didn’t come as a result of a barrage, but a combination of huge defensive errors and some offside line luck. Fred was on the pitch, and Garnacho probably wouldn’t have affected that much. I think hindsight etc is at play.

 

[Grande]

A few

Icertainly missed the first three, which were braindead. The fourth I think is a fair statement. Even if I myself see huge improvement, it’s fair to say he hasn’t achieved anything substantially yet that Solskjær didn’t achieve. I think he will, but it’s more than fair to doubt such premonitions. Neither do I think Ten Hag or anyone is beyond mistakes or criticism, even if I agree with Henry more than those. But the three first, yea, three moronic takes (in a one to hundred minority though?)

 

[Shiva87]

I don’t understand the number of posters coming out and complaining about ten hag. Was he supposed to make us title challengers in 1 season?

he is making us a part of the conversation from a footballing standpoint. I no longer hear the apologies from players, the shameless selling of United merchandise to fans to maximise revenues, and chatter about over the top contracts.

that in itself is good for the first season. Anything above that is a bonus. I would have been happy with him not even getting us too 4 but looking like a team again.

Will support him for years now. Just hoping we don’t get a Bohely type of owner who wants his own guy when the sale happens!