So was it a good pre-season? Anything you take from it going into the season proper?

Fortitude

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Biggest takeaway for me is we're woefully thin squad wise and a few injuries or fatiguing run of games from being bare bones. ten Hag's system and intent seemed to become less applicable as the standard of opposing team improved.

Not worried or concerned, but I don't feel it's been a progressive pre-season, one where you build to a crescendo and believe the players and systems etc are ready. It doesn't look like we're ready.

Your thoughts on the pre-season?
 

PoTMS

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As it stands, we'll do well to finish above 6th place which is par. Anything exceeding that will be down to Ten Hag.
 

Skills

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Hard to read much into it when the first team barely plays 60 minutes. Generally speaking we were ahead when the first team was on the pitch so that's a positive.

I'd say the core group looked fit and we got away with it without significant injuries. We might struggle for the first month again, because a few key players aren't match fit yet. But I expect it to fall in place around September
 

Laurencio

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  1. Our manager is great
  2. Coaching is really good
  3. A number of first team players have significantly improved - Fred, Sancho and Martial especially.
  4. All of our new signings look good and should make an impact for us - we have recruited well.
  5. We have a handful of very talented youngsters who we should see involved at some point. Garnacho, Iqbal and Savage have impressed me.
  6. Robbie's boy is going to be better than his father.
  7. We need a technically and physicially dominant striker. Should be our second priority after de Jong. (BELIEVE)
  8. Tactically we have improved every game, and that will be very interesting to watch as the season progresses.
  9. We need a right back at some point in the near future.
 

Trequarista10

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Good pre-season.

The task ETH has taken on is monumental, and expecting all the problems to have been resolved before August was wishful thinking. There's a long way to go, but we're on the right track, can't ask for anything more at this stage.
 

Godfather

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Decent pre season. The football shown from the first team was mostly pretty good. Huge lack of depth though. Need still to do a lot on the market
 

Yagami

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I think the biggest problem was EtH not being able to bed in his starting 11.

Maguire and Martinez didn’t play together, no Ronaldo, Eriksen hardly played, Martial and Sancho got knocks.

We know EtH wanted to bed in his 11 so it was less than ideal.
 

Red Royal

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  1. Our manager is great
  2. Coaching is really good
  3. A number of first team players have significantly improved - Fred, Sancho and Martial especially.
  4. All of our new signings look good and should make an impact for us - we have recruited well.
  5. We have a handful of very talented youngsters who we should see involved at some point. Garnacho, Iqbal and Savage have impressed me.
  6. Robbie's boy is going to be better than his father.
  7. We need a technically and physicially dominant striker. Should be our second priority after de Jong. (BELIEVE)
  8. Tactically we have improved every game, and that will be very interesting to watch as the season progresses.
  9. We need a right back at some point in the near future.
Agree with all of this, though Laird may be the answer to the last point
 

Godfather

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I think the biggest problem was EtH not being able to bed in his starting 11.

Maguire and Martinez didn’t play together, no Ronaldo, Eriksen hardly played, Martial and Sancho got knocks.

We know EtH wanted to bed in his 11 so it was less than ideal.
People on here are telling us it's not possible to get your targets before the season starts so...
 

Borys

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At least we know with this squad we have to manage our expectations.

I have not seen any changes to the game, which is expected, we did rather ok against Atletico which is good to see. I believe first squad is in good shape.

I hope ETH knows already who to ditch completely (AWB, Chong?) and who to upgrade on (midfield).

I can't get excited about the first few games, so the only positive is game vs AM, the only one we lost :lol:
 

kps88

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Martial getting some form and confidence back is the biggest positive we can take from it.
 

golden_blunder

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Biggest takeaway for me is we're woefully thin squad wise and a few injuries or fatiguing run of games from being bare bones. ten Hag's system and intent seemed to become less applicable as the standard of opposing team improved.

Not worried or concerned, but I don't feel it's been a progressive pre-season, one where you build to a crescendo and believe the players and systems etc are ready. It doesn't look like we're ready.

Your thoughts on the pre-season?
You expected them to be ready after a few games? We’re in a complete reboot
 

Rustyspider13

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I missed the last game but from the ones I saw it's pretty clear that we've got the right man in the job. Even with our existing players it looked like we were more progressive with the ball, there is a direction in our play now that seemed sorely missing the last few years. We are far from the finished article, that will take transfers and time, but we are going in the right direction. I hope that as the season goes on our players will get more used to playing in the new system and we'll have a better second half of the season.
 

Van Piorsing

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Pre-season gave at least some amount of data, especially Atletico game, which was much needed bucket of cold water, not only for players but also Murtough & Arnie.
 

hobbers

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In showing how woefully thin our squad is and reminding us that a lot of our players aren't good enough to be here, yes it was good.
 

Banana Republic

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We were never going to become a title winning team after completing the pre-season.
New manager, new regime and a rebuilding job, that’s only just started.
There are more positives from what we’ve seen and most of the negatives are not new news.
ETG has had a good look at most of his senior squad and the younger players who are breaking through into the first team.
The new signings are only just starting to bed in and look good aquisitions.
Hopefully one or two more will come in. Midfield and a striker.
This is just the starting point and I think we should be quite happy with the positive turnaround and the improvement in form of a few players.
In the circumstances, this has been a good pre-season.
Just don’t expect making top 4 this coming season.
If we do, it’ll be a bonus.
 
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AndySmith1990

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Ten Hag is great. Coaching actually makes a big difference...
He's not a magician, he can't turn water into wine. Some players just aren't good enough
There's not enough quality in the squad. We still desperately need a few more signings, midfield and attack especially
There are a couple really good young players who should be part of the team this season
 

GazTheLegend

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We need midfielders
Every summer
No midfielders signed
Every summer
Even just one would be nice
Don't they understand
Midfield is really important
In football terms,
Defence is important,
Forwards are a nice luxury,
Inept midfielders make things impossible.
Even if you can defend or score,
Losing is inevitable without a midfield
Defending is much harder,
Endlessly giving the ball away,
Really really does make it stupidly hard
Stupid management really.
 

Teja

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I think it was a fantastic pre-season, I personally learned a lot about EtH by watching these games. Let's talk tactics exclusively because we can whine about transfers for another six months and nothing's going to change.

Positives: We generally pass the eye test and look like a modern side. If EtH is backed I really think he can push Pep / Klopp all the way.

Concerns:

Build up play still isn't automatic. Lot of thinking and second guessing involved leading to high turnovers a few times. Hopefully some more drilling will fix it, probably will take a half a season.

Likewise pressing is a lot better but we still allow the switch too easily to the opposite side (LB / RB) resulting in a run at the defence and a shot. Happens 3-4 times per game atleast which is way too much. Of course the press can get bypassed but not at the regularity that we are allowing right now. That's a recipe for disaster.

Dare I say I don't see patterns in attacking play? We don't play exclusively for the cutback like City do. Still lots of flicks, tricks, killer balls than a repeated run in behind from half space -> cross into the 6 yd box. More reminiscent of Wenger's Arsenal than Pep's City. Still need that individual brilliance in the final 3rd to make something happen.
 

sullydnl

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Main take aways:

1) Bar maybe one or two positions we have a clear idea of our first choice eleven, which is good.

2) I've seen enough to suggest there are some players ETH and ETH's system can get more out of. Someone like Dalot being an obvious example. Not that he's suddenly a better player but rather his flaws look less likely to be exposed because of how we set up. Ditto some others.

3) As it stands we don't have the players to finish in the top four.
 

daveskimufc

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I was glad to see a few younger players get minutes. I think iqbal is close to the first team and should definitely be pushing for Scott's position

Malacia seems to be good competition for Shaw, we will see how that goes
 

Rojofiam

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It's gonna be amazing and our strongest first 11 is not even that bad, but we need a lot of depth even with the potential acquisitions of de Jong and Sesko.
 

HookedOnAPhelan

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I'm optimistic, but also realistic. We're not going to mount a title challenge this season, regardless of who we sign over the next month. Anyone thinking we will is deluded. And top 4 is going to be very tough, with Arsenal looking significantly stronger and Spurs having Conte. Don't know what to expect from Chelsea, they've looked shaky, but pre-season isn't always a good barometer.

Ten Hag looks like the real deal. Excellent coach who knows exactly what he wants, and exudes natural authority. We need to get back into CL though, so if we can do that (either by getting top 4 or winning the EL) as well as showing significant improvement in our overall play I'll be happy enough. If we can get a cup title (CC or FA cup) as well that would be a nice bonus.

Not saying EtH should necessarily be sacked if we don't get CL mind.
 

VP89

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It appears we are a first half team. So I just hope we score early in games.
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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It’s only really the last pre-season match (Madrid) that has much bearing so I’ll repeat what I said in that thread:

The overall feeling from this match, and where we are generally, is that we’re not ready to go into the new season.

The key signing that Ten Hag wants to build his team around, De Jong is still up in the air. Up front we currently have just Martial, a player that most would have happily let go at the end of last season. We have McFred in midfield. Eriksen is not yet up to speed or integrated into the team. We have Dalot at right back. Overall, we were playing against a low block - a situation we'll find ourselves in regularly once the season starts - and struggled to create any real chances.
 

Robbie Boy

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I'm liking what I'm seeing from a footballing perspective, i.e. tactics, playing progressive football etc. There's still plenty of work needed, though.

It's hard to tell what youngsters will stay in-and-around the squad, and who might be loaned out, sold or go back to the U23's. It's also hard to tell who will be our starting 11 in 2 or so months.
 

Crashoutcassius

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Impossible to take anything from results pre season so not much to learn about readiness. It is more about fitness and prep and I'd say we are going to be middle of the pack on that front going into the season, which should wash out in a couple of games.

Squad wise, we still need quality in CM to replace pogba and an extra option up front to replace greenwood, but I do think we will get at least one more player. The squad quality is very easily top four. Just need to man manage Ronaldo if he is indeed staying and going to cost us 2m a month for the privilege
 

Fooza

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I can't say I'm optimistic for the season, especially as our window hasn't been good enough so far. Only thing giving me hope is last season we were optimistic and that failed, so who knows.
 

Borys

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We need midfielders
Every summer
No midfielders signed
Every summer
Even just one would be nice
Don't they understand
Midfield is really important
In football terms,
Defence is important,
Forwards are a nice luxury,
Inept midfielders make things impossible.
Even if you can defend or score,
Losing is inevitable without a midfield
Defending is much harder,
Endlessly giving the ball away,
Really really does make it stupidly hard
Stupid management really.
Fantastic.
It's like a poem written in excel. So true and deep.
 

r3idy

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Been a decent preseason in terms of player prep. It's actually good to see the manager on the sidelines living and breathing every kick like he's tried to drill it into them in training.

Looks like he's made his mind up on who is core group is. I think ETH has navigated the whole Ronaldo soap opera the best way he could have given the timing of that little hand grenade going off. Core group has come through pre season organised, fit and focused. Quite like the look of Malacia, early signs are encouraging.

Like a lot on here, agree our squad is painfully thin on quality in the number 9 position. Interesting that Oliver Khan reported as saying they won't sign a fwd this summer. With them being almost guaranteed Champs League football next season, I'd rather we go for that lad from Leipzig this summer before Bayern come sniffing.

I'm looking forward to seeing how ETH manages the inevitable drop off in form of either the odd player or group. Ole had some major peaks and troughs and am hoping this new coaching set up can turn round losses a lot quicker ala Fergie.
 

Leftback99

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Pretty average. I don't think we're ready for next week. We're going to be starting the season with basically the same team that ended last season which will lead to pretty similar results.
 

Bobski

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It depends on what your expectations were. I saw some promising signs, a team more able to press aggressively and maintain that for longer, which was a huge issue last year. Redeveloping the squad is an ongoing project though, expect Utd to still be in the 4th-6th range this year but structure, development of players, a framework to move forward with and creating a leaner squad of usable players can make it a successful season.

Ten Hag coming in and challenging City/Liverpool was never going to happen this year.
 

The Brown Bull

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I find it quite incredible that we haven’t bought at least one quality midfielder by this stage. Incredible and depressing. I have no doubt in ETH ‘s quality as a manager but he has to be backed by the club and he hasn’t been. That’s the bottom line. Now maybe that will change by the end of this window but I doubt it.
 

McGrathsipan

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All I'll say is that Rome wasn't built in a day.
We look better and new faces will help.
ETH will need a few seasons to really get the team back to the top table.
Have patience.

Imagine you have started a new job. Does your new boss expect you to post the best company results within 6 weeks? Absolutely not. Anyone that thinks you should is silly.

ETH has inherited one of the biggest jobs in football and walked into football wreckage.

It will take time
 

suheilsworld

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I would give it a 7/10

there are noticeable difference in the game play and over time it will build beautifully. Like many babe said , ETH was t able to build a starting XI with the players available .

looking at how our rivals have recruited top 4 looks a real uphill challenge . Europa might be our best shot of making to CL . Fingers crossed
 

ThanksBoss26

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Ten Hag is great. Coaching actually makes a big difference...
He's not a magician, he can't turn water into wine. Some players just aren't good enough
There's not enough quality in the squad. We still desperately need a few more signings, midfield and attack especially
There are a couple really good young players who should be part of the team this season
Fair summary.

Good that's he's had a chance to look at pretty much everyone and can now make some judgement calls. Only exceptions seem to be Williams and Jones who are available for transfer anyway.
 

Strelok

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I can't say I'm optimistic for the season, especially as our window hasn't been good enough so far. Only thing giving me hope is last season we were optimistic and that failed, so who knows.
Same here mate.

Last season I was super optimistic going into. This season pretty pessimistic. So who knows :D

We're short on RB, DM, CM, CF. Our starting CBs are no where near settled. Our starting RB is quite shite defensively. Our GK is still shit with his distribution while we're supposed to play out from the back. A ticking bomb in Ronaldo. No need to talk more about our shit midfield. I just can't be optimistic.
 
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ArmchairCritic

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My takeaway was, it’s going to take a long time to get to the level and consistency we need to be at but this coach is capable of getting us there. Stick with it.