Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[JoaquinJoaquin]

I'd take Lopetegui if I had to choose to take over tomorrow.

I think that’s probably a good shout. At this point it can’t be hard to improve on what we have done so far this season, regardless of who it is.

 

[JediSith]

Disappointed with him today. We clearly lacked width which allowed City’s FB to get forward.

ETH half subs took off a CDM and put on Mount which made us more vulnerable in the middle.

Then favouritism. Why not bring on Garnacho and Antony sooner and take off Rashford instead of Hujland ? Really disappointed because a few goals from McTominay and seems to be forgotten that McTominay is poor CM/CDM. Can’t be playing a CM in the hopes that he has a moment.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Newcastle, Liverpool and Villa in December. Might be the end of him if results don’t start going his way

Love that we have Chelsea too and not even worth a mention these days hahaha

 

[frostbite]

We should let him finish the season.

Not that I believe we are going to improve. The reason is that he brought a lot of mediocre players, it is not fair for another manager to try to get a tune out of them. At least in the summer, we'll be able to sell and buy and cover a few holes. Right now, with the players ETH brought, all our lines have serious problems.

 

[littlepeasoup]

Feels like he abandoned his progressive style and attacking nous when he came here, and adopted a more pragmatic attitude geared to winning games first and foremost, forgetting what made him such an attractive prospect in the first place.

Not sure if there’s too much pressure from above for this results-first approach or whether he feels that’s his best way of being successful at the club; either way it all feels wrong.

 

[Zen86]

We went through exactly the same thing BF (Before Fergie), Managers like Docherty, Atkinson and Sexton buying anyone who played well against us. When Ferguson came along he ahd to rebuild the club quite literally from the ground up, that included OT, moving from The Cliff to Carrington and rebuilding the academy.
WE are skint, so we are going to have to go through this whole process again, but whilst the leeches are milking the club, and letting the club service the debt it's going to take even longer, I'm 66 and I've been lucky, I've seen United win it all and break records, I doubt I will see the club as strong again, unless someone comes in, makes an offer the Glazers can't refuse and gets football men in to run the football side of the club.

Basically that just doesn’t happen these days unless a rich sheikh buys the club, at which point you wonder what’s the point of it all anyway.

 

[Robbie Boy]

It will be more of the same because the squad is a mess and not fit for purpose. Was vital he got recruitment right and he's blown it.

Yup, made a bollix of recruitment. The club is a fecking mess from top-to-bottom, it's a clown show.

 

[Judas]

The things he has in his favour is the injuries and the total lack of other options to replace him. It’s just so bleak to watch, game after game.

 

[OrcaFat]

It might, but it will improve year on year like it should and we'll all be fine with it. Instead of this one step forward, two steps back approach we currently do.

I dare say we’ll find out but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

 

[Devil81]

The problem we have is any manager coming in still has all the crap players ETH brought into the club.

How are we going to shift them?

Completely swung tonight, I'd like him gone now. The only hope of a half decent season is with a change of direction. New ideas and a change of leadership.

I just can't accept the signings, he doesn't even have belief in players he's paid big money for.

 

[GoldanoGraham]

Bottom line is that HIS signings have let him down..:.not all of them like Licha but most.

Also, he seems unable to rock the boat enough by dropping Bruno and Rashford - think the Sancho issue has effected him as well.

He really needs to change it up as what he is serving up right now is tosh and ineffective.

If he doesn’t he will be sacked.

 

[Fortitude]

The midfield setup and player base is just bizarre.

Been saying I am doubting he knows how to set up a functioning midfield for a few months now, and with each passing game he is compounding my doubts as he's getting progressively worse and not learning from mistakes or seemingly even acknowledging he's making them.

It comes to something when you know how bad we're going to be before a ball is even kicked.

What bothers me is he seems to be completely out of ideas on how to actually coach this team.

 

[OrcaFat]

This is true. But if they don't turn it around in 18 months they will be sacked. It's a hell of a selling point.

Exactly! It’s actually funny at this point.

 

[Judas]

I don’t get what he’s doing anymore or how he’s using his squad, especially the ones he bought himself. The subs today were bonkers, the players who remain on the pitch is often equally as bonkers.

 

[BluesJr]

Why can’t we just have a coach capable of moulding an actual style? We’ve seen at other clubs time and time again it’s possible with bad players.

 

[Judas]

Why can’t we just have a coach capable of moulding an actual style? We’ve seen at other clubs time and time again it’s possible with bad players.

Exactly. This is what’s criminal. You can have it in non league football, yet we can’t find someone to do it with top level players? It’s a total mess.

 

[lsd]

It's not the time to replace him. We have to let him get through this season. Plenty of time to make top 4. Need to get key players back.

Sacking him achieves nothing at this point. You think some other manager is going to come in and get the team working with that XI, against City? Please.

Hes here for the foreseeable, the players need to start playing for him.

Weird how other clubs hire managers who come on and immediately get their team playing.

It's just excuse after excuse for Ten Hag.

He has us playing absolutely dreadful football with no sign of a plan at all. Has continually been found reacting tatically and is outcoached by other managers with ease

We are the worst coached team in football as evidenced by set pieces and how we are unable to string two passes together week after week.

He has wasted an obscene amount of money on the worst transfers this league has seen

By keeping him we are going to get worse and worse

 

[Redstain]

He shouldn’t be on the list.

Whoever is on the list will need YEARS to sort this mess out. We all need to wake up to that.

I agree about Potter but disagree with the years. Why must it take multiple years ? The problem every United manager faces is that the team always has no Identity because the majority of them have been poor at coaching individual players. Erik ten Hag is in the same category of poor coaches. 18 months in and the team has no Identity.

Additionally he got all the credit last season and no one spoke about the Glazers hampering him, now it's going bad it's everyone's fault but the Glazers. This isn't in correlation with your point but the narrative around ETH is he was a promising manager from Ajax who as it stands and with continuity will have underperformed his role, responsibilities and privileges. That's on him, I think the directive for United heading forward is to hire a professional who is an esteemed coach, with a track record of either making the team play cohesively or raising the levels of individual players.

 

[Fortitude]

I am far from convinced he is what we need. But also entirely convinced that there is 0 use in replacing him until the Ratcliffe deal gets finished. Get Ratcliffe in. Put in a proper strategy at the top, sporting directors, get everyone on board with a forward thinking strategy and not rushing to win right away... If Ten Hag still meshes with that, keep him. If not, then replace with what the people in charge then deem worth replacing with. But pointless and dumb to sack now.

We still have a season that is salvageable. We can't keep tossing entire seasons out; it's extremely un-big club like and damages morale even more than needs be leading into the next campaign.

We need to get with the times in terms of our conduct. If it's not ten Hag, we shouldn't sit on our hands for months and months until there's a semblance of functionality at the club.

 

[lsd]

Why can’t we just have a coach capable of moulding an actual style? We’ve seen at other clubs time and time again it’s possible with bad players.

No apparently we have to give ten hag ten years and blame everyone bar him

 

[HotOne]

I genuinely think this season he's been a worse manager than all of the others we've had since Fergie. Last season there were signs of some progress and he seemed to be making the right decisions. Even his subs in the fist half of the season seemed to always be the right choice and make something happen when they came on. This season, absolutely everything he's done has been baffling. All of the signings he's made have been awful, barring Hojlund who hopefully might grow into a good player, but who knows. His team selections are dreadful. Never drops Rashford who's been consistently our worst player for months. Still wants to shoehorn Bruno and Mount in the team together even if he was forced to abandon that for a couple of games. He doesn't appear to understand what is needed in midfield in this league. Our attack is mid table standard. As is our midfield when he plays two 8's. Our defence I still think is strong when everyone is fit, but with the money he's spent, looking at this team, it's absolutely shocking. I would not trust him with any more money.

The sooner he's gone the better.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

His decision to build the team around Bruno and Rashford is sinking him, of course the way he went about it is problematic, but the idea is crap to begin with.

There’s just a real shortage of quality in this team, at least the one that started today. It’s sad to say but we currently have a worse squad than the Sanchez Pogba team in 18-19, as dysfunctional as they were.

 

[JayWalker]

Spend all this money on Mount and Varane and yet we had a 35 year old Evans and Eriksen start ahead of them in a derby no less. I don't understand the logic behind this.

 

[Judas]

Part of me still wants to see every player that has played for us before Ten Hag gone. A total fresh slate. But then you look at how average he has even his own signings playing….

 

[cpresc]

I think the biggest problem EtH has is that spurs hired posteloggy - we’re all now aware of the huge early impact a great manager can have

 

[Baxquux]

Basically that just doesn’t happen these days unless a rich sheikh buys the club, at which point you wonder what’s the point of it all anyway.

The club isn't controlled by the fans -it's being formally treated with less than contempt except as an source of revenue ( extraction rather than sustainability) by non-fans, essentially a foreign agent that doesn't even deserve to be termed an 'owner', let alone a custodian or 'management' (in the sense of oversight/chairing). What does it matter then if a Sheikh takes it over for the prestige? No club which isn't controlled by people to whom it belongs in terms of roots through support (and with that support at least partly rooted in regional identity, global as clubs are now as entities in terms of revenue sourcing) is 'free'. So why not at ;least allow someone or an organization for which 'value', in the sense of ambition and performance, matters?

We have a stronger case than City for 'legitimate' wins even if the ownership were suddenly swapped, since it would be a partial restitution or making up for what was stolen from us, through malign incompetence. That is, the legacy of genius and hard-work of SAF in revitalizing the club, along with the players he inspired, the name he cultivated. We deserved to be able to compete after SAF by building on those foundations, whether or not that meant equal levels of success or not, not to be dismantled by these parasites.

 

[JayWalker]

Part of me still wants to see every player that has played for us before Ten Hag gone. A total fresh slate. But then you look at how average he has even his own signings playing….

I am not sure if he should be given any more money or agency on new signings until he can get something out of the 400M he's spent.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

How much money does ETH have to spend on players he doesn't want before he gets the ones he does want?

That be a question for the clowns in charge of the club and the recruitment department.

 

[FrenchRed]

I am not sure if he should be given any more money or agency on new signings until he can get something out of the 400M he's spent.

Agreed. His signings have been at best bang average, at worst appalling. Cut him off.

I’ve never really seen a more unlikeable group either. Even City looked like a decent bunch of lads compared to our lot.

 

[Semigoodlookin]

I am a Ten Hag supporter and think he is a good manager. However, he is now a dead man walking. Many of the players have shown before that they will throw a manager under a bus. Add to that ETH's own shortcomings and I don't see how there is any way back. The best that we can hope for is getting top 4.

 

[bosnian_red]

We still have a season that is salvageable. We can't keep tossing entire seasons out; it's extremely un-big club like and damages morale even more than needs be leading into the next campaign.

We need to get with the times in terms of our conduct. If it's not ten Hag, we shouldn't sit on our hands for months and months until there's a semblance of functionality at the club.

feck the "big club like" mentality. That dramatic craving to get back in the CL and throw aside any strategy and long term thinking to rush back in there is what tricks us into spending big on stop gap players time and time again. Just be patient, build properly, accept it'll take time and a thorough rebuild of SMART purchases.

And we absolutely shouldn't touch ten hag now. Because the people who will be making these decisions are literally about to change. It would be a dumb feck move to change Ten Hag, hire a manager and then change the whole sporting direction of the club with Ratcliffe, whatever sporting director comes in, and so on. It'd be chaotically stupid. We know that Ratcliffe will likely take over soon. He'll have his plans. Hopefully he implements a proper forward thinking structure. Hopefully they are committed to a long term rebuild. Because it sure as feck will not happen over night or just with a few signings.

This is a situation that will take a few years to sort out. We'll need to look at replacing Bruno, Casemiro, Eriksen, Varane, Maguire, Evans, Lindelof, possibly Shaw, Amrabat isn't even signed but he is 27. Our RW's are pathetic and both need replacing. Sure some of these players can be good squad players. Some might last longer as starters than their age suggests. But we have a lot to do with the squad, we have a ton to do with our system, we have a ton do above the manager. That all takes time. There's no use in keep trying to put band aids and cover things up. Commit to the long term rebuild. Garnacho, Hojlund, Amad, Mainoo, Martinez... these guys are the future of our squad. They are the players who we should build towards being the spine of the next big team. Accept it will be a multi year project but build a side that will develop as a group and peak in a few years. Because yes, this year is tragic and garbage and over already from any achievement POV. Maybe Ten Hag can pull it together in the 2nd half. Maybe when Ratcliffe takes over and re-aligns us, Ten Hag is still the guy. But the system, the way we play, is more than 1 season away from being something that is capable of progressing us to where we want to be, especially compared to other top teams in the prem.

 

[AndySmith1990]

I am not sure if he should be given any more money or agency on new signings until he can get something out of the 400M he's spent.

He should be told he can spend whatever we make on sales and that's his lot. He doesn't deserve any more given how he's already squandered what he's been given. Mind you I think we're in the shit financially anyway so there's probably nothing to give him

 

[Livewire1974]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

He is delusional if he thinks that first half performance was anywhere near acceptable.

He will be gone by Christmas.

 

[Jericholyte2]

These players are like the only reason he's still in the job for now.

I don't need him to fix a mess. I just needed him to play some entertaining football and make us a team with a clear style or identity on the pitch. No matter how many people excuse him for this, he has had far more than enough time to achieve this and failed miserably.

For this alone it is a waste of time keeping him in job. This is a doomed project.

The players are the reason the last managers got fired!

A manager is hamstrung with a limit of 3 signings per year and you want him, with a team including the likes of who I mentioned previously, to do what you ask - it can’t be done.

Most of these players in the you-know-who era would be lucky to be on the bench. The likes of Rashford, Sancho, Martial, Bruno, Dalot, McT, Maguire, Lindelof etc would not have lasted a season with him, yet have not only stuck around, but managed to get improved contract after improved contract to the point where THEY price US out of leaving!

Yeah he’s made bad signings, but that so-called team needed burning to the ground and rebuilt brick for brick, and you simply cannot do that with the structures we have above the manager.

 

[Lay]

What was the tactical reason for not starting Varane?

 

[OrcaFat]

I agree about Potter but disagree with the years. Why must it take multiple years ? The problem every United manager faces is that the team always has no Identity because the majority of them have been poor at coaching individual players. Erik ten Hag is in the same category of poor coaches. 18 months in and the team has no Identity.

Additionally he got all the credit last season and no one spoke about the Glazers hampering him, now it's going bad it's everyone's fault but the Glazers. This isn't in correlation with your point but the narrative around ETH is he was a promising manager from Ajax who as it stands and with continuity will have underperformed his role, responsibilities and privileges. That's on him, I think the directive for United heading forward is to hire a professional who is an esteemed coach, with a track record of either making the team play cohesively or raising the levels of individual players.

I don’t want to depress you but just look at the last ten years and ask yourself what’s likely to happen in the next ten years.

 

[Zen86]

The club isn't controlled by the fans -it's being formally treated with less than contempt except as an source of revenue ( extraction rather than sustainability) by non-fans, essentially a foreign agent that doesn't even deserve to be termed an 'owner', let alone a custodian or 'management' (in the sense of oversight/chairing). What does it matter then if a Sheikh takes it over for the prestige? No club which isn't controlled by people to whom it belongs in terms of roots through support (and with that support at least partly rooted in regional identity, global as clubs are now as entities in terms of revenue sourcing) is 'free'. So why not at ;least allow someone or an organization for which 'value', in the sense of ambition and performance, matters?

We have a stronger case than City for 'legitimate' wins even if the ownership were suddenly swapped, since it would be a partial restitution or making up for what was stolen from us, through malign incompetence. That is, the legacy of genius and hard-work of SAF in revitalizing the club, along with the players he inspired, the name he cultivated. We deserved to be able to compete after SAF by building on those foundations, whether or not that meant equal levels of success or not, not to be dismantled by these parasites.

City are a joke. Like the football equivalent of a McDonalds.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Save us Jimmy!

 

[the_cliff]

I am a Ten Hag supporter and think he is a good manager. However, he is now a dead man walking. Many of the players have shown before that they will throw a manager under a bus. Add to that ETH's own shortcomings and I don't see how there is any way back. The best that we can hope for is getting top 4.

I don't think its that, the players just aren't good enough. Our 2 'best' players are just inconsistent and with Casemiro in bad form and Martinez/Varane struggling with fitness we don't have the solidity we had last season.

Granted ETH has had 4 windows to add some quality to that and has ultimately failed in doing so.

 

[Godfather]

He is delusional if he thinks that first half performance was anywhere near acceptable.

He will be gone by Christmas.

He should (even earlier) but he won't. You think this club has any plan on what to do going forward? They'll ride it out with him until this diabolical minority investment is done and things are a bit clearer on who decides what with footballing matters. I doubt any major decisions will be made before that as we are run by a bunch of greedy fecking amateurs.