Erik ten Hag - Manchester United manager

[Robbie Boy]

So where does he rank then for you among our post Fergie managers? Surely behind Mourinho and LvG. Better than Moyes. Not yet sure whether Ole was worse.

It's kinda crazy that we've hired so badly over the past decade that it's a list of who was the least shit as opposed to anyone coming out on top because they were actually successful.

 

[DavidDeSchmikes]

My biggest worry is that at the end of the season he puts on an amazing presentation to the powers that be in order to convince them that the plan is going to be fruitful, pretty much exactly how he got the job in the first place. I had high hopes for him butI have never really warmed to him as he's a bit devoid of an enduring personality. It's always felt like he's an interim and not the manager of United, I can't put my finger on why.

I think his biggest downfall has been Onana. He expected him to transform the way we play but he's absolutely horrendous at the basics.

I can't help but think that he struggles to get a connection with the players and to get his ideas across, hence we have this mashup of whatever football we try and play now. Sadly, it's time to move on and try somebody else in the summer. Hopefully INEOS get it right otherwise we are properly fecked.

the results and performances on the pitch speak for themselves.
Unless there is a big significant improvement in results (and performances), I feel we nearing the end.

 

[Danny]

Thats very doomy gloomy.

We just came down from a 7 game unbeaten run.

Last season after 25 played, the 25th being the 7-0 loss against LFC, we had 50 points. At this moment we are still only 6 points off that number.

The 26th game in season 22/23 was a draw. The 27th game in 22/23 a loss.

We could still win from this Fulham, with more shots, better positions than Fulham. This game, very evidently, our attacking players and mainly Bruno themselves failed. You cant blame Ten Hag for that.

More pragmatic? We have one defensive right back and he is injured. We have an attacking minded left back in Shaw, who is also injured. When Shaw gets pressed, he gets into trouble.

We just sold a more defensive but increasingly error prone, 375k a week budget eating keeper for a an attacking style Onana. His Turkish replacement wasnt that good 6 weeks ago.

Then, sit back and let current modern teams run at Varane, Maguire? Casemiro can probably paint his wall red with the amount he will get. McTominay is no dm. Eriksen is a liabilty and beside legs gone, yesterday he could not string together a few passes. It was painful to see.

Then we have Bruno, who has shown for a while now he doesnt have an eye for counter attacks. He has problems with long cross balls. Not with the ability, but with choosing where. And to who? Rashford? Garnacho is the only good attacker left and so he will get marked by 2 or 3 men.

So lets sack Ten Hag tomorrow and get Allardyce. (One of his fans, Dan Asworth is coming in, so who knows.) Who exactly is he gonna play more pragmatic with?

Ole did that pragmatic thing and it went ugly. United need to get into the modern world but FFP and Glazers hold things down.

The wise thing here really, would be to be patient. Be happy when we finish top 8 because we simply arent better. And when Ten Hag loses one game after a reasonable run, dont go and ask for his head. The transition will take time. We are still only 6 points of our last seasons run schedule when we ended 3rd.

Me, i'm actually not unhappy with yesterdays game. It puts more light not just on our light and understaffed defense, the non scoring attackers but at Bruno being judged whether he has what it takes. If there was any doubt, there is none today. He is no longer our main 10 this summer onwards, of that i'm convinced. And even in the moment of losing, there was no Antony. I told myself yesterday we can lose 5 nil as long as I dont have to watch Antony. Thank you, Erik.

Ten Hag, he will get sacked if he gets a run of losses. Many predicted we would get slaughtered through december and we didnt. Can the man not get a little loyalty?

Come on!

We are getting torn to shreds by every team that we come up against- the recent unbeaten run doesn't mask it unfortunately. Villa should have put us to bed easily, Luton had several decent openings against us, Fulham yesterday exploited the acres of space in behind our holding midfielder and our full backs.

The whole system is a shambles as others have highlighted. You simply can ask your full backs to play high up the pitch if you don't have the ability to keep the ball better. You have Bruno trying to play a killer pass every time when we could just be more patient and recycle the ball.

The problem is that we miss Martinez and Shaw when trying to play this way (it's not perfect when they play but it is much better and more coherent).

We're basically asking Maguire and and aging Varane to go one on one when defending with the full backs out of position. Will never work.

 

[Longshanks]

We needed a midfield general to control the tempo of the game and also act as a barrier in front of the defence. Do midfield generals exist any more.

Casemerio? Mainoo? Amrabat? All capable of it. But that's not part of ETH's philosophy clearly.

He wants fluidity and risk taking which is great but it actually leads us nowhere most of the time and we get broke through relentlessly against any capable side. It's not players that's the issue, it is very much structure, shape and philosophy. It's coaching.

Where is that we are a terribly coached side thread from the Ole days. Feel like it's needs resurrecting.

 

[Robbie Boy]

10 defeats in 26 PL games is shocking.

 

[Von Mistelroum]

Don't worry lads, he says we deserved to win against Fulham. I guess we missed that bit.

 

[rk4utd]

His body language on the touch line mirrors that of the players on the pitch too. Add in McLaren looking gormless and the rest of the bench looking shell shocked and it hints at what training and coaching must be like between the games - shambolic and pointless.

Just to think a year ago today we were winning a trophy! We have regressed massively since. Who would bet against the 7-0 being threatened next week at the Etihad? God help us….

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Personality vacuum.

 

[OldTrevil]

I'm still behind him but it gets harder and harder with some of his baffling decisions and in-game management. Firstly, his blind loyalty of never dropping Bruno or subbing him. When your captain is the main reason the team is constantly losing the ball and having to defend on the back-foot, and you insist on always playing him and never subbing him, losing a majority of the dressing room becomes a matter of when rather than if. Secondly, constantly giving full games to Rashford, who defends like a sand wall against a tsunami and presses like a drunk tortoise, will hardly bring you any support or willingness from the rest of the team to go the extra mile. Turning Garnacho into another star boy who cannot be subbed is also inexplicable.

He has a disjointed squad and his in-game management reflects that I guess, it's like he always has big doubts on most of his starting XI and is subsequently worried about destroying the entire balance of the team by making any change. In the end, he rarely makes changes on time, and when he eventually gets to it, brings off the wrong player for the right one or brings on the wrong player for the right one. Occasionally taking off the wrong player and bringing on the wrong one of course.

The game against Fulham yesterday, why did he play Maguire and Lindelof in defence knowing very well that those two with Casemiro at his age cannot defend well in open spaces in transition against an energetic team? To make it worse, why have Bruno and Rashford in front of them, two players who like giving the ball away as much as NATO loves giving bombs for genocide, and then throw in a teenager for his debut amongst all that when you have a young player in Amad who has experience in the same position. Then you take off Casemiro for McT and claim that his loss killed the stability of the team, when you had Amrabat on the bench. You then bring on the physically dead Erksen hoping for some efficiency on the ball but you keep on your number one and two turnover machines. Now you have a attack of McT, Garnacho, Bruno and Rashy trying to break down an opposition that has moved to a low block. Eventually you are forced to bring on Amad for some efficient attacking play, but having tied yourself in some inexplicable knot of never taking off your captan and glamour boys, you end up taking off Mainoo and killing your midfield stability even further.

EtH has his faults for sure and they can get maddening in defeats, but I believe this team's biggest issue is getting rid of the many players at the club, who are not capable of playing a proactive attacking game that can go toe to toe with pressing teams and break down those in low blocks. These being Bruno, Rashford, McT, Maguire and Lindelof. If it was up to me I'm getting rid of that quintet, or at least get them as far away from my core team as possible, before I begin assessing the credentials of an attacking coach.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Don't worry lads, he says we deserved to win against Fulham. I guess we missed that bit.

We also showed character. Must of missed that too.
oh, and we created chances. Just less than Fulham.

 

[peridigm]

10 defeats in 26 PL games is shocking.

Zero goal difference says it all.

 

[GwynnieJ]

Done with the slaphead now. Had high hopes for him but the football is tumescent. Cant attack, cant defend and players look clueless on the pitch. Hasnt addressed any glaring issues in months. Its almost like he knows his time is up and he's just picking up his wages. He only has one game a week too so plenty of time to get the shape right and keep the team energised.

I'd Just ban anyone Dutch from Old Trafford at this point:
Depay, Buttner, Fosu-Mensah, Chong, Van de Beek, Weghorst, Malacia, Van Gaal and now Ten Hag. Yikes

 

[Adamsk7]

It’s so hard to defend him currently. His team selections are baffling and his post match comments are delusional. I think if he loses the next two then he is gone. Just get an interim in until seasons end and assess then. We have got literally no chance of champions league anyway - we are objectively worse than all the teams above us

 

[Von Mistelroum]

We also showed character. Must of missed that too.
oh, and we created chances. Just less than Fulham.

Character! The absolute least thing you can accuse this lot of showing is the remotest hint of character!

Hojlund, Mainoo, Martinez, even Onana for his flaws have some character. The rest of the squad are the anti-character.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Done with the slaphead now. Had high hopes for him but the football is tumescent. Cant attack, cant defend and players look clueless on the pitch. Hasnt addressed any glaring issues in months. Its almost like he knows his time is up and he's just picking up his wages. He only has one game a week too so plenty of time to get the shape right and keep the team energised.

I'd Just ban anyone Dutch from Old Trafford at this point:
Depay, Buttner, Fosu-Mensah, Chong, Van de Beek, Weghorst, Malacia, Van Gaal and now Ten Hag. Yikes

You also had Stam, Van Nistelrooy, Blind and Van Persie. Stop painting with broad strokes.

 

[Lee565]

Probably our most inept manager tactically considering the money and influence he had had on getting to buy and sell who he wants.

Honestly if moyes had the money ten hag had had then we may not win a major title with him but there is no way the team would look as open defensively or toothless in attack.

Ole created a terrible mentality in the side and gave players too much power but on the field he definitely produced more than ten hag, there was even a time when he had pep's number for a good run of games and that spell from when he took over as caretaker to when he was officially given a contract was probably the best football we played post fergie over a good long course of games.

 

[Winrar]

Surely has to go if SJR is indeed serious about wanting to compete with and overtake City

 

[Sarni]

So I take it he‘s still here. Not even the slightest noise he might be a goner? Oh to be a United manager…

I will remain of the opinion that he has the safest job in the league and is going to be untouchable for another 12+ months. If there’s one thing he is good at it is talking the talk, he will have assured our new governors behind the scenes that everything is heading in the right direction and I don’t delude myself into thinking that they won’t buy it.

 

[JB08]

I will remain of the opinion that he has the safest job in the league and is going to be untouchable for another 12+ months. If there’s one thing he is good at it is talking the talk, he will have assured our new governors behind the scenes that everything is heading in the right direction and I don’t delude myself into thinking that they won’t buy it.

Absolute bollocks.

If we lose our next 15 games he's not going to be here, is he?

 

[pocco]

I will remain of the opinion that he has the safest job in the league and is going to be untouchable for another 12+ months. If there’s one thing he is good at it is talking the talk, he will have assured our new governors behind the scenes that everything is heading in the right direction and I don’t delude myself into thinking that they won’t buy it.

What could he possibly say to convince them of that? All they have to do is watch us play and they'll see he's a bluffer.

 

[Irwin99]

This style of completely giving up all control in games and relying on turnovers to launch direct vertical attacks all game long can win matches, but never leagues. Add to that the fact that we manage to look likely to concede every time the opposition get the ball and it's absolutely pathetic. No patterns or style of build up when we have the ball and no semblance of a good rest defence when we lose it, what the feck do we even do in training besides Bruno just trying to find someone in the front 3 every time the ball comes to him?

We need to upgrade to a manager who can get these guys to actually play football.

Yeah i really hate that if i'm honest and it's one of the reasons no one could really complain if he was sacked. Ole ball may have had the crushingly dull combination of Fred and mctominay in midfield but it was at least something of a defensive foundation, even if it was so uninspiring to watch. When you find yourself almost nostalgic for that defensive midfield set-up then something is horribly wrong.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Zero goal difference says it all.

Yeah, 36 goals scored is the actual thing that will be the nail in the coffin.

Villa have scored 20 more goals than us in 26 games.

 

[Amsterdam Devil]

We are playing once a week now, so a lot of time on the trainings field for Ten Hag. But we are still shit, can’t pass and look less fit than the opposition.

 

[Revan]

My biggest worry is that at the end of the season he puts on an amazing presentation to the powers that be in order to convince them that the plan is going to be fruitful, pretty much exactly how he got the job in the first place. I had high hopes for him butI have never really warmed to him as he's a bit devoid of an enduring personality. It's always felt like he's an interim and not the manager of United, I can't put my finger on why.

I think his biggest downfall has been Onana. He expected him to transform the way we play but he's absolutely horrendous at the basics.

I can't help but think that he struggles to get a connection with the players and to get his ideas across, hence we have this mashup of whatever football we try and play now. Sadly, it's time to move on and try somebody else in the summer. Hopefully INEOS get it right otherwise we are properly fecked.

We hope that the moron Murtough who has always been easily impressed won’t be there by then. And that his replacement would be a bit harder to be impressed.

 

[ArtetasHair]

They might be bothered this time when they look at Arsenal hitting 6/5/4 goals every week. Could come down to GD. We concede way too many chances… city aren’t like wolves,Fulham or Villa. They’ll put them away 9 times out of 10. Could be an ugly scoreline. And it might be ETH last. Ratcliffe will not accept it if we lose by 5+ goals.

I'll be honest, you guys have this doom and gloom before every City game at OT but you seem to win more often than not (someone correct me unless I am wrong?). Rival games are totally different. If Arsenal played Utd tomorrow at OT I can guarantee you Utd would be still favourites. There was this same doom and gloom before you played Liverpool this season at Anfield fearing another 7-0. Nothing of the sort happened.

 

[parmenio]

He Is so tactically inept. Has he ever influenced a game positively by making changes? He’s simply not good enough. If we want to be the best we need to be attracting the best. With ETH as manager we play appallingly football. It’s simply not good enough. He’s gone come the summer for sure. Miracles or not he’s out.

 

[Pscholes18]

It’s so hard to defend him currently. His team selections are baffling and his post match comments are delusional. I think if he loses the next two then he is gone. Just get an interim in until seasons end and assess then. We have got literally no chance of champions league anyway - we are objectively worse than all the teams above us

Been pro ETH from the start....but if they fired him tomorrow, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. I was so eager to see that style of play he had at Ajax brought to this shite side yet it's never materialized with the exception of a ten minutes here, ten minutes there. I think he is stubborn. I believe there is a style of play he wants out of this lot, but he can't get it and currently doesn't have the players to make that happen. Is he a shite manager? We won't know until his next job and the outcome of that. It would be inteersting to hear from him five years from now about his time at Man Utd.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I will remain of the opinion that he has the safest job in the league and is going to be untouchable for another 12+ months. If there’s one thing he is good at it is talking the talk, he will have assured our new governors behind the scenes that everything is heading in the right direction and I don’t delude myself into thinking that they won’t buy it.

I remain confident that internet posters with feck all inside intel of the club saying that he has the safest job have no clue what they’re on about.

Bookmarked.

 

[JJ12]

I've been very pro Ten Hag but making it harder and harder to defend.

It's going to be one hell of a rebuild because I think we have about 4 players I wouldn't want to sell.

 

[mav_9me]

I still can't believe we brought in what we thought was a progressive possession based coach from Ajax, and this is the football he has delivered.

I could understand if he'd turn us into an LVG-era type team that has a lot of the ball but struggles to create a lot as teams are forced to get a lot of men behind the ball. But he has less control of games than Ole's teams did. Our passing is even worse, ball retention even worse. 2 years and 400 million spent and he's not actually improved us on the ball.

It's not really a shock that he's failed because that seems to be inevitable for a Man United manager these days. It's the way he's failed that is shocking. There's absolutely no principle of possession or territorial dominance in our play.

Excellent post.

He hasn't failed in implementing his style. He has failed by implementing a crazy style which does not make any sense for me.

Unexplainable.

 

[mav_9me]

The players argument even makes more sense if you compare that to arsenal and city. Arteta joined arsenal in December 2019 and since then their board has totally revamped their squad by selling the deadwood and the only two players he had before him joining were young Saka and Martinelli. Both of them have turned out to be really good so make sense to keep them

Now let us look at City players who were at city before December 2019 and are still playong for them
Rodri
Bernardo silva
Walker
Stones
Ederson
KDB
Foden

One could argue all of them are top players who would walk in most teams in the europe.

Now let us look at the Manchester United and the players we have had before October 2019 that are still with the club
Shaw
Martial
Rashford
Lindelof
Dalot
Mctominay
Maguire
AWB

Those are 8 players , more than City and much much more than arsenal. How many from that 8 are remotely close to what City have or that deserve to have stayed for this long or deserve to stay for another season. People may not understand it but this is a huge issue. And the scary part is all these 8 players are still featuring regularly for us in some form.

I am all for sacking ETH but if they think these players and some of the duds purchased after December 2019 deserve to stay for long, then I am not sure what to even say.

Great post. The club has failed ETH in that sense. We need the same overhaul that Arsenal did over 2 to 3 seasons. But of course our set up and ETH identification of players is awful.

At the same time unfortunately ETH has done quite a bit of damage himself with these stupid tactics.

 

[tjb]

Honestly never share your opinion again, it makes as much sense as your name, he can’t get the team to press because he hasn’t got a clue and the ETF out brigade have been saying he’s full of shit for a while now

I think he's actually

Excellent post.

He hasn't failed in implementing his style. He has failed by implementing a crazy style which does not make any sense for me.

Unexplainable.

He is playing that style. That's what people don't get about this. The style just doesn't work the way it did in the Netherlands, ad Premier League teams can easily bypass the press and exploit counter attacking opportunities. So where in Holland, it would mean that the individual physical superiority they had led to turnover of possession in the opposition half, for us it leads to a basketball game where we have no control. This with the combination of width and fluidity in the backline means we are so easy to exploit. His Ajax system could never work her. At Ajax, Blind and Timber were constantly breaking through the lines and out of possession. In England, that's impossible to do.

What people have to come to terms with is that we essentially hired a Celtic manager. A manager who's team was so superior to the rest that he had the freedom to use strategies that can't work in top leagues. Now that he's being asked to use normal systems, he's struggling. This is why he hasn't adapted or experimented tactically. He just doesn't have ideas.

 

[Toblerone92]

I will remain of the opinion that he has the safest job in the league and is going to be untouchable for another 12+ months. If there’s one thing he is good at it is talking the talk, he will have assured our new governors behind the scenes that everything is heading in the right direction and I don’t delude myself into thinking that they won’t buy it.

I'm sorry but what planet are you living on? Brailsford et al will carry out a full audit, assessing every player, coach and member of staff, and will not be sentimental when it comes to getting rid of those who do not meet the required standard or fit into the philiosophy an style of play that they want to implement. Once we have a DoF etc. in place and Berrada starts work orchestrating the rebuild, they won't waste any time sacking the manager if it's in the best interests of the club, which is why he could quite easily be gone come the start of next season.

 

[crossy1686]

I will remain of the opinion that he has the safest job in the league and is going to be untouchable for another 12+ months. If there’s one thing he is good at it is talking the talk, he will have assured our new governors behind the scenes that everything is heading in the right direction and I don’t delude myself into thinking that they won’t buy it.

He won't be in charge after the next 12 games, never mind 12 months. I'd love to know what makes you think he's totally untouchable because managers have lost their jobs for far less. The only reason he's still here at the moment is because the takeover took so long.

 

[Judas]

He won't be in charge after the next 12 games, never mind 12 months. I'd love to know what makes you think he's totally untouchable because managers have lost their jobs for far less. The only reason he's still here at the moment is because the takeover took so long.

This. It's hysterical based on nothing nonsense to suggest he's safe for another 12 months. This is a new regime, and I truly believe things will be handled differently.

 

[Sarni]

He won't be in charge after the next 12 games, never mind 12 months. I'd love to know what makes you think he's totally untouchable because managers have lost their jobs for far less. The only reason he's still here at the moment is because the takeover took so long.

All the noises from the club suggest that he’s highly valued and trusted. I think they will sit down, he will present his vision (which he’s good at), tell them he needs 18-24 months to implement it and they will trust him to do it under new structure. Whatever happened this season will get discarded because injuries/weak squad/other factors.

They will get him the players he wants, or the profile of players he wants, and as long as we see good progress next season and finish top 6 comfortably, he will be given another one to get us closer to challenging/into top 4.

I am setting my expectations very low. I would rather be positively surprised.

 

[Pscholes18]

Question.....if you had to choose, would you lot have ETH implement his Ajax style of play tomorrow with the current squad or have him keep playing the Ole ball he is now scraping out wins and waiting for better players to come in the summer and following windows and possibly seeing a more United style of the past?

 

[Stepney73]

All the noises from the club suggest that he’s highly valued and trusted. I think they will sit down, he will present his vision (which he’s good at), tell them he needs 18-24 months to implement it and they will trust him to do it under new structure. Whatever happened this season will get discarded because injuries/weak squad/other factors.

They will get him the players he wants, or the profile of players he wants, and as long as we see good progress next season and finish top 6 comfortably, he will be given another one to get us closer to challenging/into top 4.

I am setting my expectations very low. I would rather be positively surprised.

He had that under the glazers(400 million pounds worth)and bar Martinez,Rasmus and case(last season) the rest have been average at best.
Antony and mount for 150 million is worth the sack on its own.

 

[crossy1686]

All the noises from the club suggest that he’s highly valued and trusted. I think they will sit down, he will present his vision (which he’s good at), tell them he needs 18-24 months to implement it and they will trust him to do it under new structure. Whatever happened this season will get discarded because injuries/weak squad/other factors.

They will get him the players he wants, or the profile of players he wants, and as long as we see good progress next season and finish top 6 comfortably, he will be given another one to get us closer to challenging/into top 4.

I am setting my expectations very low. I would rather be positively surprised.

Noises? He was appointed by incompetent idiots who are all being replaced as we speak, the people who rate him and trust him are all but gone. Sir Jim was asked last week if he had confidence in the manager and he dodged the question, that would have been the perfect opportunity to say Ten Hag will be the man for next season and he has confidence in him.

He won't get chance to present anything to the board, he's interviewing for his job right now, and it's terrible, pre match, during the match, post match. There's nothing else to discuss come the close of the season. What's he going to present? "Yeah well now you guys are here my vision is to be all round less shit at every aspect of my job, just trust me bro..."

We've lost games because he can't win when he comes up against organised opposition, it doesn't matter who's in the team, injuries or not. Look at Fulham, they had more players out than us and they battered us. I get that people on here want to make excuses for Ten Hag because they want to judge him in a perfect world scenario only, but the people who just put down billions to take control of the football side know that football is rarely perfect and you rarely get what you want, so you make the best of what you get and you win games if you want to keep your job.

He's on borrowed time and could have been fired at any point this season. We're not improving and there's nothing to suggest giving him more time will result in anything better than what we're already seeing, and to be fair, if he's allowed any input in any more signings moving forward then the club might as well relegate itself now.

 

[VP89]

Noises? He was appointed by incompetent idiots who are all being replaced as we speak, the people who rate him and trust him are all but gone. Sir Jim was asked last week if he had confidence in the manager and he dodged the question, that would have been the perfect opportunity to say Ten Hag will be the man for next season and he has confidence in him.

He won't get chance to present anything to the board, he's interviewing for his job right now, and it's terrible, pre match, during the match, post match. There's nothing else to discuss come the close of the season. What's he going to present? "Yeah well now you guys are here my vision is to be all round less shit at every aspect of my job, just trust me bro..."

We've lost games because he can't win when he comes up against organised opposition, it doesn't matter who's in the team, injuries or not. Look at Fulham, they had more players out than us and they battered us. I get that people on here want to make excuses for Ten Hag because they want to judge him in a perfect world scenario only, but the people who just put down billions to take control of the football side know that football is rarely perfect and you rarely get what you want, so you make the best of what you get and you win games if you want to keep your job.

He's on borrowed time and could have been fired at any point this season. We're not improving and there's nothing to suggest giving him more time will result in anything better than what we're already seeing, and to be fair, if he's allowed any input in any more signings moving forward then the club might as well relegate itself now.

If you watched the full interview, there is a lot more to suggest he has a lot of support from the new owners than not.