Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[MalBot]

I have us (United) coming in at 6th this season. Thats may be optimistic based on the way we are playing at the moment. Hopefully, we have the key components come in within the few weeks that are left of the window.

6th seems about right to me. Which would be acceptable provided you see something tangible being build. A clear style of play, new culture/mindset, the right players being brought in etc. Then you could kick on the next season otherwise you will be going into a vicious circle which will make it hard to get out.

EtH has a massive job on his hands. Will be interesting to see how he does.

 

[bond19821982]

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I like Crafton. And I like the Athletic.

But I'm not entirely sure that Ten Hag's decision merits this kind of response/scrutiny.

Stop supporting the media clowns. They are already out for his blood. I refuse to believe ETH and his team isn't aware of any consequences, if any.

 

[Tony247]

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Ronaldo: you all are cnts. Never in my life I played with useless dafts like you.

Players: make him go away. He is ruining our atmosphere.

 

[Jazz]

Pisser is this is going to make the fannies more determined to get rid of ten Hag than up their game.

The club needs to tell them, manager is going nowhere so do your job or feck off. That's what the club needs to do before these players completely destroy United. They think they run this club and we need to cater to them. Hell no.

Fans shouldn't let them get away with it either.

 

[bond19821982]

I like this

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Good. Feck off and there should be nightmares before we lose with that scoreline again. It's like conceding 4 has become a norm these days.

 

[The Firestarter]

Should have asked them to walk on burning charcoals. Trial by fire.

I can help with the charcoals.

 

[Tony247]

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I like Crafton. And I like the Athletic.

But I'm not entirely sure that Ten Hag's decision merits this kind of response/scrutiny.

I am shocked to hear that such was only one off training session.

 

[Tigersam]

Cannot absolve him for blame when he is picking Maguire over Varane.... Pairing a midget with Maguire... Starting season with mctom and fred. He can just move Martinez to CDM and put Donny in the team instead of those 2 absolute clown pisstakes Fred and Scott.

Cannot blame him for our GK putting up a shower of shite however.

I looked Martinez up online and sportsmole has him at 5ft 10" (178cm) that's not that small. Maybe after a few matches he will prove his worth.

On a downside though, I've just watched MOTD2 on catchup and they were saying the manager has had the United players in on Sunday for extra work (it was supposed to be a rest day) Jemaine Jenas made a good point - how come the players haven't got to the required fitness levels in pre-season? Is the problem that some players know their positions are not under threat so they are not putting in the effort required? The most alarming thing I've read at the weekend and its only a rumour: ETH has been ordered to play certain players no matter what (not sure who) and if that is true - well is the manager the person to blame afterall?

 

[ti vu]

I'm telling you, Erik is far better off dropping the players complaining and using the few first teamers who are professional and at least want to try, plus some of the fringe/youth players. Honestly, this is the better option because those feckers are living in a fantasy world where you get paid loads to do feck all work!

I can imagine McFred being those first names. So no thanks.

 

[CarbonStoolBites]

I really hope the De Boer analogies prove wrong. But he is on thin ice and thumping from Liverpool will onyl add to the pressure. For all the talk of dropping players, attitudes etc, most of the team are internationals. He needs to be pragmatic for the next few weeks or will be gone by end of September

He’s on thin ice with who?
Sure, let these incompetent losers and frauds sack another manager, that’ll show him.

 

[Sweet Square]

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The nerds really have taken over football media.

 

[Marcus]

Good. Feck off and there should be nightmares before we lose with that scoreline again. It's like conceding 4 has become a norm these days.

Exactly. Improve fitness, let them realise there is a consequence to not following the plan, and getting those who can't take it to ask to leave the club.

 

[Marcus]

The nerds really have taken over football media.

That is not the term I would call them.

 

[Mickeza]

Did Crafton write articles about Conte when those images came out of players literally throwing up after training during preseason? Absolute bullshit. The bigger issue I have is it’s been leaked. Someone at the club thought it clever to tell everyone “training cancelled and he made them run” likely to put ETH in a positive light - I don’t want to hear about it. Just like the leaks about Maguire being captain and Ronaldo being a bellend - just fecking stop. It’s a circus again made of individuals who think they’re outside the team and not accountable for the utter clusterfeck this team has become. Everyone has to be in it together otherwise you get the bullshit we got on Saturday. Anyone who has an issue needs to feck off - yesterday. We knew this dressing room was split yet we’ve just decided to run it again with the same people. What the feck are we doing?

 

[1DeGea1]

I really hope the De Boer analogies prove wrong. But he is on thin ice and thumping from Liverpool will onyl add to the pressure. For all the talk of dropping players, attitudes etc, most of the team are internationals. He needs to be pragmatic for the next few weeks or will be gone by end of September

A thumping by Liverpool is coming, whether they do this extra running or not.

This next run of fixtures is much harder than our opening two, and I could well see us pick up only 4 points from the next 4 games (being optimistic).

If we’ve signed on for EtH’s style of coaching and genuinely want to modernise our style of play then we have to endure these teething problems. Our squad is not capable of playing high pressure football right now, we aren’t good at shouldering responsibility either, we need time to adjust and this is one coach it’s worth investing time in.

 

[DutchCruijff]

Its difficult if you have to run at speed and not at long distance/marathon pace.

They have multiple breaks and it is stop start.

I can assure you, I'd much rather prefer stop start sprinting - speed training - than being one one's feet running for 15K on the regular.

Shaw and Fred were hooked at HT. Maguire and Martinez/Varane are CBs thus not strenuous. Ronaldo, Rashford and Sancho showed zero intensity. Fernandes lethargic as feck too. Zero intensity.

Only Eriksen is the only one that would suffer.

 

[AbusementPark]

They can feck off.

The players put zero effort in on Saturday so they wouldn't have been fatigued for Sundays training session.

totally agree, they were outplayed and outfought on Saturday, considering Brentford eased up in the second half its even more astonishing that the difference in distance ran is that vast.

If they managed to run the difference on top of the training session, then good it means they can do it every game.
Make them run the difference every week until they start consistently winning and making this club a success again.

 

[Zen86]

The nerds really have taken over football media.

The narrative would be very different if Pep did this following a defeat, he’d be heralded for his response.

 

[Skills]

Fine them for leaking shit and being unprofessional. Not listening to instructions etc etc and putting in the bare minimum of effort. Yeah I know it can't happen but I really wish we could. Sick of them.

So subjective shit, rather than actually objective. If my employer ever tried that, I'd sue them. So should you

 

[Forevergiggs1]

Errr...

Someone remind me why we didn't want Conte again?

These player are way to fragile to be managed by someone like Conte. Hard work isn't in their job description act. Much prefer ETH than him any day of the week.

 

[ti vu]

Did Crafton write articles about Conte when those images came out of players literally throwing up after training during preseason? Absolute bullshit. The bigger issue I have is it’s been leaked. Someone at the club thought it clever to tell everyone “training cancelled and he made them run” likely to put ETH in a positive light - I don’t want to hear about it. Just like the leaks about Maguire being captain and Ronaldo being a bellend - just fecking stop. It’s a circus again made of individuals who think they’re outside the team and not accountable for the utter clusterfeck this team has become. Everyone has to be in it together otherwise you get the bullshit we got on Saturday. Anyone who has an issue needs to feck off - yesterday. We knew this dressing room was split yet we’ve just decided to run it again with the same people. What the feck are we doing?

Agree.

Show the result on the pitch. We don't this kind of sadist 24/7 entertainment.

 

[JPRouve]

Maybe if he strapped them to a chariot and flogged then whilst they pulled him along. But, no, even a full pace 13k recovery time usually 1-3 days maximum. If we allow light training and ball work stretch that to the week and then, let’s be honest, they wouldn’t have been going full pace for 13k.

It depends on what you do, the recovery time for sprinting and jogging aren't the same.

 

[westmeath]

Newsflash: 13k run isn’t that big a deal. Professional athletes should not have any problem with it.

 

[lefty_jakobz]

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Well maybe he demands high standards, but the club? Thats debatable

 

[VP89]

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I saw 21 jump street yesterday and now just imagine Ten Hag delivering a dressing down like Ice Cube.

 

[Hoof the ball]

What this is, is a disciplinary procedure in the form of a one-off drill in order to get a psychological and mental point across to the players. If it were a regular or semi-regular aspect of training, then fine, courting the advice of sports scientists would be useful, but this is not purely about fitness levels. It's about mental effort and the psychology of approach, individually and collectively, which determines how much a player desires to run. If more individuals desire to run, then collectively, you make up those team stats.

 

[tomaldinho1]

It depends on what you do, the recovery time for sprinting and jogging aren't the same.

No human can sprint anywhere close to few hundred metres let alone 13k. This is a perfect example of United fans being so susceptible to nothing stories right now, these are professional athletes who basically got a symbolic punishment that they can all do easily before a full day of rest today. The only story here is that ETH is reacting to their bad performance - they all go home to massages, elite nutrition and access to recovery facilities. They ran 8 miles for goodness sakes, most of the caf could jog that without issues and these are PL footballers who could easily run it at a good pace without any problems daily.

 

[Newtonius]

This isn't going to end well player power is too strong to do this in the modern game particularly at a club like United who would rather just replace the manager than ship out the obviously deficient players. Agree with one criticism at least, changing the captaincy was an obvious move to make right at the start it needed to happen you can't have a captain who performs like he does every week who doesn't actually possess any leadership qualities.

 

[mitchmouse]

I'm surprised there have been no complaints about the kit (remember the good old days of getting stuffed in grey but still being brillaint most weeks). I mean they all blended in with the pitch on my TV so probably couldn't see each other ha hahahahahg

 

[Kostov]

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So we still have rats in the dressing room? Good on Erik, I think he knows how to handle this situation.

 

[JPRouve]

No human can sprint anywhere close to few hundred metres let alone 13k. This is a perfect example of United fans being so susceptible to nothing stories right now, these are professional athletes who basically got a symbolic punishment that they can all do easily before a full day of rest today. The only story here is that ETH is reacting to their bad performance - they all go home to massages, elite nutrition and access to recovery facilities. They ran 8 miles for goodness sakes, most of the caf could jog that without issues and these are PL footballers who could easily run it at a good pace without any problems daily.

This a perfect example of someone who failed to understand the topic of the conversation.

 

[UnitedSofa]

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[Utuhu]

Dear Ten Hag, Kindly know that the McFred experiment will never stop flopping no matter how many times you experiment with it.

A double pivot of Martinez and VDB with Ericksen in front of them will be a far better combo.

 

[UnitedSofa]

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[Maluco]

The “source” must think we have some sort of sympathy for the players and will worry about the coach.

Time to wake up and realize that the supporters don’t have any sympathy for you, we are disgusted at your lack of effort, you deserved a far bigger punishment than a 13km run and that the only constant in years of failure are the “boys”

Stop leaking, noone feels sorry for you.

 

[Berbaclass]

I would be on board with Ten Hag waterboarding some of them at this stage. Deadly serious.

 

[Lentwood]

Let's be honest, ETH has started badly. That doesn't mean he can't turn things around, but so far his decision-making has been strange. I have defended all of our managers because I felt they were fighting a losing battle without the required support from the club, however, we need to be real sometimes about what the manager can and cannot control and so far ETH hasn't covered himself in glory.

1) The signings have been, let's be honest, quite frankly bizarre. None of them realistically improve our best XI (and that's saying something!) and none of them are in any of the key positions we drastically needed to improve. On the one hand, I understand that the management team might have missed some of ETHs other top targets but why spend nearly £60m on a 5ft 9" CB when we already have four internationals in this position and gaping holes elsewhere in the team? It makes no sense.

2) How has he dealt with the Ronaldo situation? Despite all of the strong words, he's done exactly what every other manager has done....bottled it and put him straight back into the side. Now, again, I love Ronaldo. I am slightly younger and grew up watching him and Rooney develop together at OT and become legends of the game....but his behaviour recently has been unacceptable. Leaving the Derby when not selected to start, leaving pre-season games early, not going on tour, the petulance when subbed...I could go on...IF this had been any other player this forum would have melted down. You can't be seen to be allowing some players to behave badly with no consequences.

3) The squad is still ridiculously bloated and there are a number of senior players hanging around who I guarantee won't start more than 5 or 6 league games...so why are they here!? I get ETH doesn't directly deal in transfers but be forceful! Make it clear you won't use them, so we might as well get something for them, anything. Put the pressure on the management team to act! If I had taken over this job in July, I'd be giving the Board a list of players who wouldn't be considered for selection and telling them - these lads will be the PLs' most expensive training ground dummies if you don't get them out by whatever means necessary!

4) Has ETH ever watched us play, prior to taking over? A brief skim through this forum and taking the time to watch some of our games last season should have been more than enough for ETH to know that playing penalty-box tika-taka with DDG, McTominay and Fred is absolute suicide. Again, I get he wanted FDJ but why does that stop us going out and making another signing in CM? We needed two or three anyway! Why have we seen absolutely no mention at all of signing a new GK? Why have we allowed a good (if unspectacular) GK to leave the club on loan? There's one thing sticking to your principles and believing in your coaching skills but you've got to be realistic! Pep didn't try to coach Hart...he was gone. No chances, no 'if's', 'but's' or 'maybe's'....just "this lad can't do what I want, end of conversation".

5) It concerns me that ETH thinks he can fix this with 'discipline', i.e. by getting the players to run in training on their day off. This isn't a discipline issue, this is a 'you can't polish a turd' issue. How is getting DDG to run 13K going to help him stop chucking the ball in his own net or passing it to opposition players? How is it going to help Fred and McTominay play on the half-turn and make progressive passes? I have said it before...you can't punish a fish because it can't climb a tree!

 

[pseudo_canadian]

I would be on board with Ten Hag waterboarding some of them at this stage. Deadly serious.

Me too

 

[bond19821982]

Why is that Maguire is always on one side when it comes to dressing room fights ?

 

[Relevated]

Why is that Maguire is always on one side when it comes to dressing room fights ?

Nobody likes him as captain