Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[LARulz]

Sack him, he’s too good a coach to be tarnished at United due to the ineptitude of the owners and the lack of structure at the club.

What coaching has he done? All the players he has brought have hardly been a success bar Martinez really. Hardly any of the players look better than they did 2 years ago

There are lots of problems at the club but his job is to make sure on the field the players know what the feck they are doing. I've seen little evidence of that and 0 this season

He has had money but blown it on nonsense mostly so that's not an excuse either. A shit stadium doesn't mean the players can't make more than pass 3 consecutive passes in the opposition half

I wanted and still want him to succeed but I honestly don't see what his plus points are anymore to be honest

 

[Red00012]

I’m tired of getting hammered because the players down tools

 

[Castia]

Because our style of play is quite very different to Ajax blueprint and this goes back to SAF latter years, where we're happy to concede possession, soak up pressure and hit teams on counter, than trying to dominate possession, outside of 2 season with LVG. And ETH struggled to get the best of the class when it comes to the Ajax preferred profile players. Antony is not world class. Malacia is squad level. Eriksen is decent but he's not even among the best at his peak. Not so much right now at his age when transition to a deeper role. Lisandro is good but with weaknesses. Hojlund is young and may need time to become prolificent first before being considered top CF. Amrabat is no way top class or he would have been picked long time ago at the potential fee Fiorentina asked. Onana maybe one of the best with with his feet, but overall he's way down the list of top GK. Mount is unexplainable signing... And the squad ETH inherited is most United way squad Ole built.

No long term strategy and underwhelming short term transfer doesn't help this team moving onto the right path at all.


Pau Torres aerial ability is questionable too. There is a reason no other top clubs went in for him especially after the World Cup. Emery knows him well since he coached him at Villareal, so he kinda covers for his weaknesses. He's not the kind of savior/transformative signing

If we expect good scouting, we could have gotten Kim Min Jae before he moved from Turkish league to Napoli. Or Hojlund before he moved to Atalanta, Enzo before he moved to Benfica and soon joined Chelsea (Rangnick recommended him?!)... Not another known quality with weakness that also eats a good chunk of our budget.

But isn’t that the major issue? You’ve just mentioned every signing not being good enough he’s blown 400m quid on crap.

He’s identified mainly ex players or players he’s played against like he had a plan to play a certain way and now we’re just suppose to watch this shitty football on a weekly basis there’s clearly no plan.


This is why I won’t have the argument that manager x,y and z would all fail here. They would have bought players to fit a system, there’s way worse teams than us playing far better football having spent less. There’s no excuse he’s been given a team full of his ex players and can’t deliver.

It’s been poor since last season this has gone on for months. We managed to finish third in a freak season that saw the usual top 4 challengers all end up in mid table.

 

[OrcaFat]

So effectively he said the players are shit? After signing most of them? Got it...

He didn’t sign most of them. There is just no need to write stuff that isn’t true because you have plenty of sticks to beat him with without doing that.

The players he signed haven’t been a roaring success but are the ones I’d probably keep.

 

[Gordon Godot]

He didn’t sign most of them. There is just no need to write stuff that isn’t true because you have plenty of sticks to beat him with without doing that.

The players he signed haven’t been a roaring success but are the ones I’d probably keep.

He signed a lot of them, 12 in total including loans. Most of the rest are experienced internationals.

 

[VP89]

But isn’t that the major issue? You’ve just mentioned every signing not being good enough he’s blown 400m quid on crap.

He’s identified mainly ex players or players he’s played against like he had a plan to play a certain way and now we’re just suppose to watch this shitty football on a weekly basis there’s clearly no plan.


This is why I won’t have the argument that manager x,y and z would all fail here. They would have bought players to fit a system there’s way worse teams than us playing far better football having spent less. There’s no excuse what so ever he’s been given a team full of his ex players and can’t deliver.

It’s been poor since last season this has gone on for months. We managed to finish third in a freak season that saw the usual top 4 challengers all end up in mid table.

In agreement on a few signings not working out but wasting money on wrong players has been an issue with the club long before him.

Not sure how it's a new thing to you?

 

[Gordon Godot]

He didn’t sign most of them. There is just no need to write stuff that isn’t true because you have plenty of sticks to beat him with without doing that.

The players he signed haven’t been a roaring success but are the ones I’d probably keep.

So you would keep Casimero for the remaining 4 years? Antony, our £80m toothless winger? Mount are £60m invisible man? Make the Amrabat loan permanent? Really?

 

[El Zoido]

It’s gone horribly wrong for him, but I’d back him to do a good job at whatever club he manages next.

 

[OrcaFat]

But isn’t that the major issue? You’ve just mentioned every signing not being good enough he’s blown 400m quid on crap.

He’s identified mainly ex players or players he’s played against like he had a plan to play a certain way and now we’re just suppose to watch this shitty football on a weekly basis there’s clearly no plan.


This is why I won’t have the argument that manager x,y and z would all fail here. They would have bought players to fit a system there’s way worse teams than us playing far better football having spent less. There’s no excuse he’s been given a team full of his ex players and can’t deliver.

It’s been poor since last season this has gone on for months. We managed to finish third in a freak season that saw the usual top 4 challengers all end up in mid table.

This always happens. People start finding ways to invalidate the good stuff. You don’t need to do it. We finished 3rd because we had a great spell of playing decent winning football. We dropped off at the end but still managed to hold off Liverpool and to catch Newcastle who were in the box seat for 3rd.

3rd is 3rd just leave it at that. Having said that, it’s true we haven’t played well since before the cup win and we’ve been terrible this season. It’s easy to make a damning case without making excuses for anyone who gets beat by us or finishes below us. It’s not necessary.

 

[VP89]

So you would keep Casimero for the remaining 4 years? Antony, our £80m toothless winger? Mount are £60m invisible man? Make the Amrabat loan permanent? Really?

I think the jury is out on mount and Amrabat being a loan is pretty low risk.

feck no on Antony though

 

[OrcaFat]

So you would keep Casimero for the remaining 4 years? Antony, our £80m toothless winger? Mount are £60m invisible man? Make the Amrabat loan permanent? Really?

Amrabat, not sure but he’s just a loan anyway. Casemiro, probably phase him out as he ages (has done well for us). Anthony yes keep him he’s no more toothless than the rest. Mount, yes keep him.

Hojlund keep. Martinez keep. Onana keep. Malacia keep.

 

[Strelok]

He has lost the dressing rooms of overpaid assholes, I can't think of any other reason for that performance. They just didn't try with any heart.

Imo he hasn't lost the dressing room. Some of our players are just too exhausted. Because of the injuries some of them have been playing every 3 days for a while like Dalot. Some just came back from injury like Casemiro.

My opinion might be unpopular to some. But imo he should sit deep and counter for a while instead of the current tactic. It obviously doesn't work with the current state of our squad. It's very easy to play against us now. Just sit deep and counter. Let us have some of the ball we'd create feck all because we move the ball too fecking slow now. Then wait for the inevitable mistakes from our defenders, which happen multiple times every matches.

Our backline is too slow to play a high line so we had to employ a middle line. This make us unable to press effectively and to progress the ball fast enough when we have it. Especially when there's basically no good ball playing or ball carriers available now. Without Casemiro we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. We had to move Bruno everywhere to find a place for Eriksen else none would be able to progress the ball. And our players especially the FBs are too exhausted to run back and forth all game.

Just sit back and counter for a while ETH. Until your first choice players are back. You won't like it but it's simply not logical anymore to be stubborn with your ideas. You will lose your job most wouldn't give a flying feck about vision and shit if you don't deliver the results.

 

[Suv666]

Ten Hag was always a risk, this was why I leaned towards Poch.

The first season was so exciting I genuinely believed he could challenge Pep and Klopp.
It’s actually shocking how fast he unravelled, we’re only 10 games into his second season!

Like it or not he’s done. Might be tomorrow, might be in January, he’s not turning this around. So fecking sad this.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I genuinely think it's gonna get worse. I think we will lose on Saturday (they battered Ipswich away 3-1 who are playing well, and yes obviously it's a different calibre playing us but our confidence is on the floor and the players don't look arsed) and then again next week in Copenhagen and out of the Champions League.

I cannot see him turning this around. The players are a disgrace for the most part too.

 

[soapythecat]

Just how bad were that Newcastle side on paper though, last night? No disrespect to those players but given how little they played and out of position, it’s a team that we should have beaten quite easily with a decent set up and had a go at them. The fact we didn’t even try to score is the biggest worry in all of this. We look absolutely woeful attacking teams. It’s been a gradual decline since the cup win and I just don’t see how sticking with ETH is going to rectify it. He hasn’t shown any inclination to change or how he can change it.
I’d love to think we can change the ownership and that will change the fortunes on the pitch, but ETH doesn’t look like the man even if the ownership changes.
He has to go, I just don’t see any other way of avoiding relegation.

 

[ti vu]

But isn’t that the major issue? You’ve just mentioned every signing not being good enough he’s blown 400m quid on crap.

He’s identified mainly ex players or players he’s played against like he had a plan to play a certain way and now we’re just suppose to watch this shitty football on a weekly basis there’s clearly no plan.


This is why I won’t have the argument that manager x,y and z would all fail here. They would have bought players to fit a system there’s way worse teams than us playing far better football having spent less. There’s no excuse what so ever he’s been given a team full of his ex players and can’t deliver.

It’s been poor since last season this has gone on for months. We managed to finish third in a freak season that saw the usual top 4 challengers all end up in mid table.

Last season is not a freak season. The point tally required for tittle challenge and top 4 were high enough. If you consider Liverpool missing out top 4 last season a freak, then we can use the same excuse for playing too many games last season and a World Cup in between. The reason we are now facing never ending injury crisis, and players look gassed same as Liverpool last season. Chelsea continued to languish in mid table even lower than us currently. Last 5 season we made top 4 more than Spurs, and Spurs is leading the table like no time before for couple weeks now.

There were 2 cup finals too. Freak season where City won Treble and West Ham won ECL? Or the league is ever as strong, and non top 6 teams of yesteryears have grown strong enough to give the former top 6 a run for their money?

GK, 2 LBs, 1 CB, 4 CM (counting Mount), 1 RW, 1 CF. Two has been injured, with Casemiro back to joined them. Only 3 former players are not a full team of ex players.

The issue is a better recruitment team can help pick up similar quality from same profile for cheaper. He may draw the profile, but to the extend that he's allowed to handpick these players and our directors give an Okay to pay the fee is clearly upper management issue. Which other clubs fighting for CL football operate like this?

 

[Conor]

Of this football year, 23-24 season. Unless I’m forgetting a worse one already.

It was a patchwork league cup team built from a patchwork squad and 2 of their goals were excellent outside of the box strikes. The xG was .7 to 1 or something like that. It was a load of shite, but hardly the lowest of the low.

 

[diawl_coch]

I suspect FC Copenhagen will be the last game for him.

Hardly deserved to win at OT, and can't see him being retained if we lose there.

 

[Ish]

"I'm a fighter, and I know it's not always going up and we have a lot of setbacks this season so far, but you also have to deal with it and it's never an excuse."

"I have said before, when there are setbacks, the routines, the way of play are not similar, not the same, but even then you have to get the results in."

"Obviously, Sunday and tonight was far from that. We have to do things right, at a certain level, a minimum level to win games."

"I understand [the scrutiny]. When the results are not there then there is a logical process questioning that. I am confident I can do it. I have done it at all my clubs and also last year, I did it here as well."

"But at this moment, we are also in a bad place. I take responsibility for it. I see it as a challenge, I'm a fighter, I am in the fight and I have to make sure I share the responsibility with the players that we stick together, fight together and get better results in."

"Everyone has seen, it's below the standards you can expect from Manchester United,"

"It's not good enough by far. We have to put things right and I take responsibility for it. It is my team and they are not performing. But I have to share it with my players but I am responsible.

"As a team, we are not good enough and whatever the reasons are, there is no space for excuses. We have to do things better, we have to raise our standards otherwise you never get the right levels and you never get the performance and you never get the result.

"The results are not there, it's a process, the confidence goes down. Therefore, you are Manchester United and it's expected that you can deal with that pressure, so it's normal. Play football but they (the players) have to understand we do it together and everyone has to take responsibility for his own performance and the togetherness for the performance.

"What I mostly heard is they are backing us. We don't deserve it in this moment, but they are backing us. They are behind us and we are pleased with that and we are in good times with them and now in bad times, I am happy that they are behind us."

At least he's taken responsibility, acknowledged it's nowhere near good enough & doesn't want to come up with excuses. Not sure he's going to be able to turn this around - i think it's too late for that.

 

[VP89]

Based on what?

What coaching has he done? All the players he has brought have hardly been a success bar Martinez really. Hardly any of the players look better than they did 2 years ago

There are lots of problems at the club but his job is to make sure on the field the players know what the feck they are doing. I've seen little evidence of that and 0 this season

He has had money but blown it on nonsense mostly so that's not an excuse either. A shit stadium doesn't mean the players can't make more than pass 3 consecutive passes in the opposition half

I wanted and still want him to succeed but I honestly don't see what his plus points are anymore to be honest

It's an interesting point that the Ten Hag out side have raised.

I'm not ETH out but I'm not going to get annoyed by the other view anymore because his form is in sackable territory.

What I would say however, is the team looked devoid of any coaching eventually under Jose, Ole, Rangnick and now Ten Hag. I would seriously ask a different question - rather than asking "this guy isnt coaching the team" I'd ask why the players are so uncoachable.

 

[Oranges038]

Ten Hag was always a risk, this was why I leaned towards Poch.

The first season was so exciting I genuinely believed he could challenge Pep and Klopp.
It’s actually shocking how fast he unravelled, we’re only 10 games into his second season!

Like it or not he’s done. Might be tomorrow, might be in January, he’s not turning this around. So fecking sad this.

He's walked into a bigger mess at Chelsea and is doing worse than ETH is now.

The sad fact is, you could being in Pep, Klopp even prime SAF and this club would still be a mess on and off the pitch. ETH hasn't done a great job since March, things have been stagnanting for a while. The football has been getting slower and slower, the players have been playing worse and worse and less like a team that knows how to play with each other.

It's not going to change by just changing the manager, we've been down this road 4 or 5 times now with some of these players. There really needs to be some long term planning done, sort out this squad, get rid of the over paid shysters, bring in physically strong, fast, technical players who can work hard and play football. There's too many slow, weak, technically poor and low IQ players at the club.

You could get rid of 14/15 players and you wouldn't miss any of them. Even if you decide to keep Onana, Bayindir, Martinez, Shaw, Mount, Hannibal, Bruno, Rashford, Hojlund, Garnacho, Mainoo, Amad, & Pellestri, maybe even Alvaro Fernandez. This lot will need to go and be replaced over the few years if we're going to see any improvements. Because they are either too old or just not good enough. And some of these should have been gone long ago.

Shaw *replaced in 2/3 years
Bruno *replaced in 2/3 years
Dalot
Linfelof
Maguire
AWB
McT
Donny
Malacia
Evans
Martial
Casemiro
Eriksen
Antony
Varane
Amrabat* forget about that loan option

Doesn't matter who comes in, you're looking at 2 to 3 years of restructuring and rebuilding this squad before any serious challenge for big trophies can be made.

 

[LARulz]

It's an interesting point that the Ten Hag out side have raised.

I'm not ETH out but I'm not going to get annoyed by the other view anymore because his form is in sackable territory.

What I would say however, is the team looked devoid of any coaching eventually under Jose, Ole, Rangnick and now Ten Hag. I would seriously ask a different question - rather than asking "this guy isnt coaching the team" I'd ask why the players are so uncoachable.

Its the players are the consistent but this is where again I will look at Ten Hag and question. Majority of his signings are questionable and seem to have shown nothing, if we could see they were doing well but the old guard were dragging then Ten Hag would have a leg to stand on

But equally Ten Hag had complete license to rip the squad up and if they didn't follow his plans then put youth players in if needed who follow instructions. He hasn't really done that, for all his faults, at least LVG played players who followed his system, and Ten Hag had complete freedom and time to do it

I just sadly feel Ten Hag hasn't helped himself

 

[Laurencio]

Only we could be so inept that we hired one of the best posession based managers in Europe - at the time - who is a notoriously bad recruiter and his very specialised coaching staff to implement direct football and head the recruitment. What the hell are we thinking.

 

[crossy1686]

It’s gone horribly wrong for him, but I’d back him to do a good job at whatever club he manages next.

I don't see how anyone outside of Holland touches him after his transfer market exploits.

 

[Leftback99]

It's an interesting point that the Ten Hag out side have raised.

I'm not ETH out but I'm not going to get annoyed by the other view anymore because his form is in sackable territory.

What I would say however, is the team looked devoid of any coaching eventually under Jose, Ole, Rangnick and now Ten Hag. I would seriously ask a different question - rather than asking "this guy isnt coaching the team" I'd ask why the players are so uncoachable.

The biggest issue is that the players we have just aren't that good. Always has been as I've maintained through the last few managers. Ten Hag's biggest mistake has been recruiting badly with £400m.

Add in the ridiculous tactic of playing one past it midfielder marooned on his own and this is the football we get.

People said the 'coaching' would be far better under Rangnick and then Ten Hag. It was clear to me we'd be just as bad with the same players.

 

[mustaine]

He's lost the players - probably a mixture of tactics and personality. I get that we need rules and regulations but he seems like a manager that sorely lacks any kind of man management skills. These guys aren't robots but it seems he wants them to be - last night he ignored the lot of them after the match out on the field which is probably the way he likes it. At this point in time he needs this group of players to work for him. Ignoring them will not get him there, he needs to be a motivator and I just don't think he has it in him. You need a mixture of being hard and having a good relationship with the players, otherwise it's not going to work out. You can have a job that you like but your boss makes it less fun, even to the point of that you want to leave that job. I'm not saying he's toxic but it sure doesn't look fun being a player for Manchester United at the moment. I don't think they hate him but I just think they don't enjoy working for the man. I'm not sure I would to be honest.

This obviously doesn't free the players, they've been incredibly bad and need to take a hard look in the mirror but I don't think things will get any better under Ten Hag, hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[VP89]

The biggest issue is that the players we have just aren't that good. Always has been as I've maintained through the last few managers. Ten Hag's biggest mistake has been recruiting badly with £400m.

Add in the ridiculous tactic of playing one past it midfielder marooned on his own and this is the football we get.

People said the 'coaching' would be far better under Rangnick and then Ten Hag. It was clear to me we'd be just as bad with the same players.

Can you tone down the exagerration? "Recruiting badly with £400m".

Lets dig into this. Antony super flop thats an easy one to agree on early doors.

Casemiro was an ETH signing? It didnt really look like it the way it unfolded. Hojlund is a bad recruitment already? This is news to me. Malacia as a squad player I actually like, maybe we disagree. Licha I actually like, maybe we disagree there too.

Rangnick said that open heart surgery was needed on the team and the entire first XI probably needed to go. Ten Hag in his last few games has been fielding a majority of players he's inherited from his predecessors - so I dont think it's different players and same result.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Amrabat, not sure but he’s just a loan anyway. Casemiro, probably phase him out as he ages (has done well for us). Anthony yes keep him he’s no more toothless than the rest. Mount, yes keep him.

Hojlund keep. Martinez keep. Onana keep. Malacia keep.

I think I will only keep Hojlund and Martinez. The rest are replaceable.

 

[VP89]

Its the players are the consistent but this is where again I will look at Ten Hag and question. Majority of his signings are questionable and seem to have shown nothing, if we could see they were doing well but the old guard were dragging then Ten Hag would have a leg to stand on

But equally Ten Hag had complete license to rip the squad up and if they didn't follow his plans then put youth players in if needed who follow instructions. He hasn't really done that, for all his faults, at least LVG played players who followed his system, and Ten Hag had complete freedom and time to do it

I just sadly feel Ten Hag hasn't helped himself

I actually agree that if we include emergency signings / loans then its questionable.

However, I put a big onus of that on the structure being inept and ultimately being a bunch of yes men. Klopp had some poor punts on transfers at Liverpool and reportedly didnt want Salah. He was overriden on it, and I feel like Ten Hag needs to be kept in check similarly. Heck, any manager needs to be kept in check because their job is to manage.

 

[Laurencio]

I don't see how anyone outside of Holland touches him after his transfer market exploits.

If he gets the sack, he will probably be back at Ajax within a fortnight.

 

[Born2Lose]

A tale of two managers.

One who plays his favourites regardless of form and another whose based his teams on a culture of meritocracy.

No surprise one team looked more motivated than the other.

Depressing watching sides like Brighton and Newcastle looking more like SAF sides than this United side has since he left.

 

[VP89]

I think I will only keep Hojlund and Martinez. The rest are replaceable.

Onana, Malacia, Mount may be replaceable but I wouldn't say they are a waste of money either.

 

[VP89]

I don't see how anyone outside of Holland touches him after his transfer market exploits.

He's not a director of football. Why are you so insistent on thinking our transfer failures is solely down to him. You keep peddling this broken logic it's really frustrating, almost as though you were burried under a rock for 10 years and didnt know we wasted money on shit players long before Ten Hag came in.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Onana, Malacia, Mount may be replaceable but I wouldn't say they are a waste of money either.

It’s just your expectation on their potential which you think could be realized in future. Based on what they have been showing they are a waste.

 

[VP89]

It’s just your expectation on their future here. Based on what they have been showing they are a waste.

Onana has actually been quite good for us of late, and Malacia was fine as a back up.

 

[rooney2009]

The price isn’t down to the manager, he doesn’t get involved in the negotiations.
The executive and the negotiators were reckless, as they have been on numerous transfers.
Mount has 1 year left on his contract and Chelsea wanted to offload him.
How did they willingly get mugged again?

.

just buying Mason Mount is a Sackable offence
I just can’t see what he offer or does
Everyone that was nvokved in that transfer are pretty much incompetent.

 

[Leftback99]

Can you tone down the exagerration? "Recruiting badly with £400m".

Lets dig into this. Antony super flop thats an easy one to agree on early doors.

Casemiro was an ETH signing? It didnt really look like it the way it unfolded. Hojlund is a bad recruitment already? This is news to me. Malacia as a squad player I actually like, maybe we disagree. Licha I actually like, maybe we disagree there too.

Rangnick said that open heart surgery was needed on the team and the entire first XI probably needed to go. Ten Hag in his last few games has been fielding a majority of players he's inherited from his predecessors - so I dont think it's different players and same result.

Hojlund and Eriksen are the only ones I'm happy with, the rest we wouldn't get near what we paid back. Mount is a decent player but far from what we needed, I don't rate Martinez as high as most.

Same players same result is what I said. Despite being told the coaching would make them all better.

 

[Jeffthered]

Do you guys think he gave up on his principles after losing to Brentford last season? And since then he is just trying to implement something completely new which he has not done before? Have no other idea how we can look so shite after he has been working with this squad for a year and something now. I have no clue how, who or why would anyone try to solve this if we sack EtH.

He's been found out, simple as that. Last season Spurs, Liverpool, even City and Arsenal.. all were works in progress... now look, and add to that Brentford, Brighton, Villa... I wouldn't put West Ham or Palace too far behind. Other manager's have stepped up and improved, and ETH has been left wanting. His talent, qualities as a coach and manager are under more scrutiny and he's struggling.

We're rubbish and uninspired under ETH. Seven of the starters last night were his signings. He has recruited 16 players in his time. This is his team. Nothing to do with 'the Glazers'. We have a number of decent players, who are playing dreadful football, consistently. Why is that? Because of the Glazers? Don't make me laugh. ETH has been found out. Look at the great Ajax legacy that he left behind. Look at them now.

I would love to Alonso at Leverskusen, but I think he may be lining up Liverpool post-Klopp.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Onana has actually been quite good for us of late, and Malacia was fine as a back up.

He has about 1 game out of 15 games here which has been good. There rest are average to poor to shockingly poor.

 

[VP89]

Hojlund and Eriksen are the only ones I'm happy with, the rest we wouldn't get near what we paid back. Mount is a decent player but far from what we needed, I don't rate Martinez as high as most.

Same players same result is what I said. Despite being told the coaching would make them all better.

Same players same result under a 3rd or 4th coach. Is there an argument for the players not listening to the coach when the going gets tough?