It also had more views then all of the games in the CL so far
Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager
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Not true. Xavi has managed them since middle of last season, not this season. He was the manager for all six group stage games of CL where they conceded 12 goals and managed only 1 point against Bayern and Inter (and even that was a fluke late equalizer vs Inter at home). In Europe they are easily a tier below Real even if they lead La Liga comfortably.
So fecking what? We play Newcastle in the Carabao Cup who for a large part of this season have been in the top 4. Barcelona had a bad start, same as us, but so far Xavi has developed a very good team and I'd reckon they'd whoop most CL teams easily. They've already beat Madrid twice this season and Atletico once. Your logic seems incredibly flawed to me.
He's been the manager since last season and they got dumped out of the CL this season
Ah shit my bad! Thought it was last November.
There's always one....
I think that was definitely evident in our way of playing football back then. I went back and watched highlights of United's 3-0 win against Juve in Turin in 2003 (giggs scoring twice and Keane at centre back) and it's just ...mental football. Box to box intensity, chances galore, etc. The famous 3-2 game in 99 against Juve is another example.
ten Hag for me so far has struck a really nice balance between stopping the opposition and imposing our own style on the game. It's not possession for the sake of possession but it's not just pure counter attack either.
because I want more intensity and focus from the off? Ok RobbieTalk about flawed logic. The evidence is they weren't able to whoop any CL teams and that's why they found themselves in the Europa League knock outs.
And we got whooped by Brighton and Brentford in our initials matches, so that means we're shit?
It's ridiculously flawed. Doesn't take into account that yesterday was our 15th game of 2023, and it was played on 23 February. That's fecking ludicrous, and I'm surprised at the level of performances some of our lads are putting in, as they must be wrecked.
Barca have conceded 7 goals all season in La Liga, and we put 4 past them over 2 legs. ETH has had just over half a season and is generally still starting matches with 8 or so players from previous managers. The level of performances he has gotten out of this group is unbelievable.
Ole got stick because literally after his initial interim run, we looked absolutely horrible until Bruno arrived. Our football never looked sustainable under him, as we failed to control games, and were using out-dated tactics. We never hit the levels of football under him that we've seen under ETH. People must have short memories because the football we've played this season, looks a different sport to the one that was served up last season.
ETH hasn't even had a full season, and he has instilled a winning mentality and galvanised the whole club. Nitpicking utter shite to complain about to paint Ole in a better light is extraordinary stuff, it really is.
Yeah, I am not a huge fan of Queiroz’ defensive football but it was needed in 2008 against Barca if we didn’t want to get knocked out once again in Europe due to our naive game.
I am glad we learnt the lesson after the 3-0 trashing against Milan the previous season. Ancelotti and the Milan players back then said they preferred playing against us than against Liverpool because we play football (what they meant was we were easier to play against than Benitez’ Liverpool).
And I have seen enough signs already with ETH to be confident that he too is flexible and will adapt and change tactics if needed to beat certain opposition.
Well no. The team has changed with the addition of Casemiro and Antony since then and the performances have improved as shown in the results. What's a concern, albeit a minor one, is that at least lately we start out flat in matches and have to fight our way back into them. This is an area where ten Hag can improve.
Nope. That's a fair assessment. But maybe have a look how you phrased your initial post.
For the record they got dumped out of CL because their entire back line was injuredExcept they got dumped out of the CL.
Not too impressed with Xavi as a manager. Ten Hag is much better and the tie shows that. But I want better starts from us. More intensity, more focus.
And I think this is less a Ten Hag thing and more a “we play every fecking 2-3 days” thing.
It’s very difficult to constantly start fast when you played more games than anyone in Europe in a compact schedule.
They’ve clearly improved since then much like ourselves.
Could be. It may be a recent thing that is standing out because it appears to be a theme across our last five games. Anyways things are looking good but still bits to improve if we want to conquer all before us.
I thought they looked a bit shit last night. They were much more dangerous at the Nou Camp.
To be fair, in light of your detailed post above my concern is even more appropriate. We've played a lot of matches in 2023. We can't possibly keep going this way. Good that we do have players who can come on later and up the intensity and threat, though.
Well yeah they were missing their two most important midfielders and playing away from home.
Bald is best. That's it
I just don't see any comparison to what we saw under Ole; like zero. I was a wee bit pissed at our first half display yesterday, but as ETH said, both teams were flat. Barca had some nice breaks but nothing in the way of decent chances.
ETH saw that pace would expose them, and when he switched it up, we were in control. I feel he probably should have started the match with the lineup from the second half, but that's a very minor quibble.
I'm honestly shocked our performance levels are as good as they've been. I expected a drop off - and it still might come - as we have an insane amount of games, and we're using a relatively small pool of players. As I also said, ETH is starting 8 or so players from previous eras, and they aren't used to playing at this kind of intensity. I feel as ETH adds more of his own players, and some of the lads from other eras get a season behind them under him, we'll look more controlled over a 90-minute period.
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Thank you Erik for making us believe in this team again.
I think this is spot on and has a huge impact on who is selected and how we play - this shouldn't be swiped under the rug and this speaks volumes of ETH that the fact we're still in 3 cups, 3rd in the league with the squad we have.
Saying that, I'm expecting us to falter at some point given that the amount of matches played will catch up with certain players.
If we walk away at the end of the season with one cup and a solid 3rd place, I'd take that.
This summer we need to get rid of some dead wood / injury prone players who play one match and injured for the next four, sign 3 or 4 players of the same calibre that we signed last summer but where needed of course and I reckon we can go even further next year.
This is why Fergie did'nt get as many European cups as he deserved. In the 90's we played with blood and thunder and European referee's often hampered this. We had so many European games affected by refereeing decisions where we got badly bit for bringing a Premiership approach to tackling and combativeness. In the 90's we were always on a knife edge and it only really paid off the once in 99. The later period under Quieroz we were more pragmatic and defended in a European style that didn't draw as many harsh refereeing decisions.
Once Roy wasn't on the scene we had midfielders like Hargreaves, who could manage a game in midfield without giving away fouls, yellows and red cards and it's why we had more sustained success in Europe. It was just unfortunate it coincided with that Barca team being at peak strength. If we'd had been able to play that way in Europe in the 90's we might have won 3 or 4 more champions leagues. On form we should have won in 97 as well as 99 but I believe we could have prospered even better in Europe with a different approach.
This is why I'm really excited by EtH. I think his way of playing is adaptable to the cut and thrust of the Premiership and also the way of playing in Europe.
Doc is tripping.
Very harsh on Keane, who was often our best player and could dominate games with his passing (the 2-2 away to Bayern in 99 for example). I watched the 0-0 vs Real Madrid in 2000 and Keane was by far our best player besides Bosnich and was literally a one man midfield at times with how much space was being left by the other midfielders. It was definitely a tactical issue that Quieroz rectified: the games against Roma, Lyon and Barca in 2008 being prime examples.
Honestly I'd doubt if you've ever watched it in the first place. Go read the post match thread of that match and you'd see like half of the posters were gutted or at least regretted we didn't win.
Username checks out.He looks a good player and talent going forward to be fair. Probably one of, if not their most dangerous player. Was impressed. Seemed like he also had no one in front of him the whole game. Almost the whole left side line to himself, which was weird.
edit: ffs I just got it, nvm
Haha. Yeah, pretty optimistic I’ll admit.
We had higher non-penalty xg across both legs. The difference was much higher away especially.
If these trends continue..... eeeeeeyyyyy!!!
Precisely. It wasn't sustainable because the way we used to struggle all the time and were overly reliant on individual quality. We are day night different now compared to then.
I don’t think it had anything to do with Keane’s tackling. I mean, yes he got cards and suspensions for his fouls but that was the same in England. Obviously European referees were stricter but I don’t remember many games Keane missed in Europe due to suspension apart from the most important one of course!
We were just not tactically prepared/good/flexible enough for knock-out stages against Europe’s best teams between 2000 and 2007. That’s why apart from the disaster in 2005/06 we always easily qualified from the group stages (even when they had 2 group stage rounds for a few seasons), but couldn’t get over the line in the knockout against the best teams (and we had a lot of excuses for that: we were the better team, unlucky, went out against the eventual winners, refs, offsides, etc. - reminds me a bit of Bayern/City in the CL under Pep).
Uhm no, Xavi started this season, with a lot of new players Koeman didn’t get.
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Yeah I realised this was wrong.
I watched it twice. They were pressuring us at the end.