Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

criticalanalysis

Full Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Messages
6,034
We play the same amount of matches as Man City in EPL and FA.
We play the same amount of matches in Europa League as City in CL, since we got knocked out at QF while they get to the final.
The only competition we play more than them is League Cup, and it's only by 3 matches.

So there is no way we played an insane number of games moreso than the opponents.



No but saying we played an insane number of games moreso than the opponents while we only played 3 more is an excuse, and a bad excuse at that since they still have the CL final to play while we can bring 200% to the FA Cup final.
Unless I'm missing something here, opponents is the catch word (as was the original word in the post you quoted) and not Man City.

You might want to look at our games against everybody else, not just City because it's a not a 1 vs 1 competition.
 
Last edited:

croadyman

Full Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2018
Messages
34,327
I've been as big a supporter as any but I have to say talk of getting Mount/ Rice has me worried. I still want is to move to a possession based style.
Yeah Mount really underwhelms me but perhaps Erik knows how to get more out of him
 

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
I've been as big a supporter as any but I have to say talk of getting Mount/ Rice has me worried. I still want is to move to a possession based style.
Mount would he awful business but I think Rice will be a great signing for our midfield.
 

Fluctuation0161

Full Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
8,156
Location
Manchester
We play the same amount of matches as Man City in EPL and FA.
We play the same amount of matches in Europa League as City in CL, since we got knocked out at QF while they get to the final.
The only competition we play more than them is League Cup, and it's only by 3 matches.

So there is no way we played an insane number of games moreso than the opponents.



No but saying we played an insane number of games moreso than the opponents while we only played 3 more is an excuse, and a bad excuse at that since they still have the CL final to play while we can bring 200% to the FA Cup final.
City have 2 starting 11s. We barely have 1. No rest = fatigue.

Erik has worked miracles.
 

city-puma

Full Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2020
Messages
3,215
Location
NYC
Top 4 is the minimum in my mind from the beginning.
It’s great he finally achieved it. I worried the ship was about broken down. Now, finally I can feel nicely.
He did it by overcoming so much obstacles, especially Ronaldo shitshow, dense match schedule, injuries, suspensions, and lack of squad depth. Great job done! If we can win FA cup, it will be a really storytelling season but also an extremely satisfying one.
 

redcafe_reader

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
Messages
330
Unless I'm missing something here, opponents is the catch word (as was the original word in the post you quoted) and not Man City.
Yea if the OP talked about all other teams then there is nothing to argue about. Obviously we know that we played much more than other teams because we go deep into all competitions. The same can be said about City.

You might want to look at our games against everybody else, not just City because it's a not a 1 vs 1 competition.
What is the purpose of that? I already watched all of the games and know the result. Now all that left is our final again City, which is a 1 vs 1.

My point is simple, we played similar amount of games as Man City, not "insane more" => We can't use that as an excuse again City. If OP's point is not an excuse then fine, nothing to argue here.

City have 2 starting 11s. We barely have 1. No rest = fatigue.
Not denying that. Obviously City has better team than us. That's not the point of the OP I quote.

Erik has worked miracles.
Again, not denying that. You will see from my post history I always support ETH no matter what.
 

Piskin

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Apr 22, 2023
Messages
110
Delighted for him to get top 4. Has had a tough time of it the last few months, hopefully he will get the money to get better players in and get rid of the dross.
 

Dansk

Full Member
Joined
May 7, 2017
Messages
1,377
He has exceeded the reasonable expectations. Top 4 finish (possibly 3rd place), a trophy, and an FA cup final--we're quite unlikely to win it, but even so, that's not nothing. And we may yet win it, you never know. What is it they say about derbies?

It did start to come apart in the last third of the season, but we've also had some serious injury woes as well as losing Casemiro to two consecutive red cards that were both highly questionable. Then a season-ending injury to the team's best player, and a range of other minor injuries as well. On top of that, we've played very close to the maximum possible number of games that a team can play in a season, and that's after a winter World Cup where much of the squad played quite a few games. These things are relevant. They're the reason things got tough towards the end.

When taking all of that into account, he has gone above and beyond. His signings have worked well, by and large. Our season's bottom line has come out ahead of rational expectations, even if we do lose the FA Cup final. At the start of this season, if any fan had been asked if they'd take CL qualification and a cup win for ETH's first go at the job, anybody with any sense would have screamed 'yes!'

There have been some fair questions about his team selections, especially when it comes to Sancho and Weghorst; but all in all, he has done as much as any sane person could possibly require, and he has more than proven that he deserves a serious chance to keep this going, even if next season proves tough with CL football and the desperate need for more signings than it would be fair to demand in one summer.

Throughout the first half of this season, everyone was gushing with enthusiasm and praising him for turning United into a tough team that won the games we should be winning (aside from those first two games when he was clearly just getting his bearings). For some time, there was even talk of a potential title challenge. Then fatigue set in and it was clear that the absurd number of games was taking its toll on a squad that wasn't really used to it, but that'll get better. One of our key players, Bruno, has played more football this season than literally anyone else in Europe. That sort of thing matters. That'll have an inevitable effect as a season wears on, and it would be unintelligent to ignore that and attribute all problems to the manager's own work.

So I'm very optimistic for the future. There are good reasons to be, and the concerns people have had and unfairly attributed to ETH were clearly the product of the aforementioned difficulties. Injuries, fatigue, lacking a dependable striker because none were really available on the market, these aren't to be seen as failures of ETH's management. The fact that we did quite well in the end despite these factors says all that needs to be said.
 

amolbhatia50k

Sneaky bum time - Vaccination status: dozed off
Joined
Nov 8, 2002
Messages
95,336
Location
india
Superb stuff from him this season. Took a club in shambles, broke the 6 year barren run and got us top 4.

Next hurdle is to get this team playing high quality possession football as they seem completely unsuited to it.
 

Suv666

Full Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
8,705
He's the real deal. After going through so many managers post Fergie I'm glad we have finally found our man
 

mshnsh

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
1,361
Location
old trafford
If he is backed by the club in the coming transfer window, I'll expect more next season both in style and substance. Recruitment is key.

The goal for next season is to become atleast contenders for the league, win a domestic cup and go deep in the UCL (atleast quarter finals). Anything more would be welcome.
 

Raw

Full Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2013
Messages
25,399
Location
Manchester, UK
We've got the 2nd best home record in the league under him (45 pts, 7 behind City, could be 4 if we beat Fulham), and the best defensive record at home (9 goals conceded, Newcastle are 2nd with 14). We've been so impressive at home this season, it's nice to have Old Trafford be a fortress again thanks to ETH.

Just need to put a stop to those embarrassing away losses!
 

giggs-beckham

Clueless
Joined
Sep 9, 2007
Messages
6,926
He's the closest in personality to SAF we've had. I just hope you guys are right that he will implement a more possession/movement based system next season because its hard to get far without one these days.
 

Robbie Boy

Full Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
27,693
Location
Dublin
Beat Fulham and he’s already had a better league season than any post Fergie manager besides Mourinho in his second season. Considering where we were last May that’s frankly incredible.
That we have one cup in the bag and an FA Cup final to look forward to only enhances that even more.
Brilliant start as United manager, would love to see him get a top ball playing CM in now and see what we can do.
Beat Fulham and he's beaten Ole's points total for the infamous, utterly amazing, second place 20/21 season.
 
Last edited:

Hughes35

Full Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2014
Messages
2,536
He's done a brilliant job really. Just seems to know what he's doing.

Very steady manager, consistent and has high standards.

Hope we give him the backing he needs this summer as he's proven he can challenge and win trophies.
 

Gycraig

New Member
Newbie
Joined
May 3, 2018
Messages
396
Supports
Hull
Well he's the 100m attacking fix which hasn't worked out. Martinez and Casemiro have been spot on. Hopefully more hits than duds this summer though.
How has he “not worked” he has been an integral part of an amazing season playing nearly every game and has done ok - good his first season.
 

ErikElevenHag

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Feb 24, 2023
Messages
262
Yea if the OP talked about all other teams then there is nothing to argue about. Obviously we know that we played much more than other teams because we go deep into all competitions. The same can be said about City.



What is the purpose of that? I already watched all of the games and know the result. Now all that left is our final again City, which is a 1 vs 1.

My point is simple, we played similar amount of games as Man City, not "insane more" => We can't use that as an excuse again City. If OP's point is not an excuse then fine, nothing to argue here.



Not denying that. Obviously City has better team than us. That's not the point of the OP I quote.



Again, not denying that. You will see from my post history I always support ETH no matter what.
How can you both acknowledge that city have a much deeper squad than us and still say that the number of fixtures we've played aren't an issue?

It's easier to play 60 games if you have a squad where you can rest members of your first team and not miss a beat.

We've been forced to run the likes of Bruno, martinez, cas and rashford into the ground.

It shouldn't be an excuse come Cup final day, because if you can't get up for that game then you shouldn't be playing for this club, but to deny it's been a factor in our form would be a little silly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cheimoon

DutchSerb

Full Member
Joined
May 9, 2019
Messages
925
Supports
FC Groningen
Now that the season is almost finished, time to look back at this wild ride. I didn't expect ETH to do this well, I expected him to come in, maybe battle for top 4 but I wouldn't be surprised if we finished 5th considering the state of our team. I thought he would come in, beat some players into shape and this upcoming season would be the season where we would be fighting over some silverware. Not title contenders, but a cup or the Europa League. The moment we went on that large unbeaten run after a horrible start I was pretty confident top 4 would be there for the taking though. The season had big ups (amazing home record, players regaining form and confidence, two cup finals) and big downs (Liverpool away + other batterings, Sevilla, sloppy end-of-season form) but overall he defied expectations for me personally.

There's a lot of different opinions on the state of our football, some think we have improved massively, others think we stayed the same, others want him to be more pragmatic and think more result-based. I think its fair to say this team doesn't have a real identity yet and the football we played was a mixed bag. There is still a lot to improve on, but considering we had to play a large portion of the season without a proper striker, a right-side that doesn't complement eachother, a left back that had to be molded into a CB and a midfield that fell apart due to injuries and constant red card bans that's okay. Overall I'm obviously very happy with how he handled this season.

Hopefully we sell some players and are able to get him some quality up top and in midfield this summer. This is also the first time in forever that I'm actually looking forward to the pre-season. I do want us to be more dominant next season. Too many times this season I've sat on the couch thinking "why do I watch this absolute garbage for 90 minutes instead of a highlight clip?". And that's not just a knock on Erik, but the team/club as a whole.
 

Mike Smalling

Full Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2018
Messages
10,464
Currently 14 points ahead of our total from last season. Am I right in thinking this is the biggest points improvement under any new manager since Fergie retired?
Yes. LVG and Mourinho only improved us by 6 and 3 points respectively. For Ole you can't really make the calculation as he took over in the middle of the season, and I don't think Giggsy, Carricky or Ralfy can claim it.
 

Tom Van Persie

No relation
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
24,321
A phenomenal job would be winning the league. He's done a good job, and made some mistakes along the way. Nothing wrong with that, and nothing wrong with some constructive crirism. I'm happy with his first season overall
Look at the predictions at the start of the season, not many pundits or even our own fans had us finishing in the top four. To finish 3rd is a brilliant achievement. And who said constructive criticism was wrong? What me and others have a problem with is the constant slating of him from certain posters who are desperate for us to change managers every season. A few weeks ago we had posters calling for him to be sacked because they were convinced we were going to bottle top four. And where are those posters now? They never seem to show up after we win. Constructive criticism my ass.
 

Pogue Mahone

The caf's Camus.
Joined
Feb 22, 2006
Messages
133,349
Location
"like a man in silk pyjamas shooting pigeons
Yes. LVG and Mourinho only improved us by 6 and 3 points respectively. For Ole you can't really make the calculation as he took over in the middle of the season, and I don't think Giggsy, Carricky or Ralfy can claim it.
Wow. Didn’t realise the difference was so big! Still waiting for the likes of @GifLord to swing by and argue that we’ve actual got a very similar points per game to last season…
 

Adisa

likes to take afvanadva wothowi doubt
Joined
Nov 28, 2014
Messages
50,311
Location
Birmingham
He has a massive job over the coming seasons. We are a long way from being a top side.
 
Last edited:

UNITED ACADEMY

New Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2018
Messages
13,127
Supports
Erik ten Hag
I've been as big a supporter as any but I have to say talk of getting Mount/ Rice has me worried. I still want is to move to a possession based style.
May be not rice since he plays for west ham but under Tuchel, chelsea were possession based team and Mount was his most played player.
 

Amar__

Geriatric lover and empath
Joined
Sep 2, 2010
Messages
24,002
Location
Sarajevo
Supports
MK Dons
He's done pretty well overall, much better in first part of the season for me than in the second part, but for first season it's always about the results, and winning the cup, reaching finals of other cup, and finishing in top4 is not something you would normally expect.

Saying that, Newcastle finished 4th, Liverpool had terrible season and finished 5th, and Brighton are 6th, Spurs and Chelsea are nowhere, so anything below 4th place would be terrible season anyway, considering we have invested decent amount in our squad at start of the season, it that has to be said. Casemiro, Lisandro, Antony would be big addition even for teams like City, let alone our squad.
 

Conor

Full Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
5,452
Solid first season, considering everything he has had to deal with. Not as far along in the footballing identity side of things as I would have hoped, but a few signings in the summer and pre-season should help.
 

Dyslexic Untied

Full Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
10,970
Location
Oslo
A good first season all things considered.

We need to massively increase the amount of goals we score if we are to challenge next year, and much of that depends on being supported in bringing in a striker this summer. Our defensive record in the PL is fairly good, also considering that 13 or so of our goals conceded came in two horrible matches against City and Liverpool.
 

Mike Smalling

Full Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2018
Messages
10,464
When assessing his season, you can’t discount what an absolute fecking shitshow he took over.

Easy to forget because we are in a much better place now (due to ETH). Doesn’t even seem like Ronaldo played for us this season.