So many encouraging performances last night but for me the big thing was seeing how in sync the whole team appeared. Our structure looked good in attack, and Ten Hag himself mentioned he was especially pleased with our 'rest defence' - i.e. how we were set in order to avoid getting sliced open on the counter, and being compact enough to counter-press effectively and win the ball back when we lost it. Moving the ball forward, and circulating it when we were in the final third, the players looked on the same wavelength, and therefore were individually executing things more decisively and confidently.
I think this is key. We talk a lot about players being out of form and last night it looked as though several players were back to their best. Individual output is very much connected to the collective structure, and I think we're now starting to see the understanding of the structure click into place, and the 'automatisms' of synchronised movement start to happen more seamlessly. Huge credit to Ten Hag for getting us to this point just two months after Brentford and Brighton.
I'm sure there will be more bumps in the road. It's not a linear process. But the upward trend is visible.
By the way, I'm also really impressed with the work the new management has done with De Gea. He looked as though he'd never be able to reliably play the kind of role ETH wanted from a keeper, but it's clear that the work done on his kicking and/or confidence with the ball at his feet is having significant results.
system clicking into place
posted on 20/10/22
There’s still a number of issues that need addressing, and I’d argue a keeper could be the most transformative, so we can defend 15-20 yards higher up the pitch.
posted on 20/10/22
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 5 minutes ago
Berbaking & Dazza
Agree with you about Martinez. I'd argue he has become the single most important player in the side in terms of enabling the transition to Ten Hag's style of football. The defending is aggressive and the ball progression is world class.
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You can see why he has particularly become a fan favorite.
Of all the summer signings he is the most important one.
posted on 20/10/22
Sancho was quiet last night but I hope more team performances like that will help him. Antony and Rashford (second half) were good and I'm sure Sancho will join in as the side becomes more settled. A proper midfield will help as well.
posted on 20/10/22
By the way, over the summer I listened to some Dutch football people talking about Ten Hag's time at Ajax, and they mentioned that he got a lot of criticism in his first few months in charge, with some not very convincing performances. It was only after a few months that the new system started to take shape and a very effective style of attacking football began to emerge.
posted on 20/10/22
I think there were some similar criticisms when he managed Utrecht, if I recall. Hopefully that it is a pattern that continues with United. Though I suspect United fans probably have a different attitude towards what a convincing performance is than what the Dutch, and particularly Ajax, fans would have.
posted on 20/10/22
comment by David The King Beckham (U10026)
posted 4 minutes ago
I think there were some similar criticisms when he managed Utrecht, if I recall. Hopefully that it is a pattern that continues with United. Though I suspect United fans probably have a different attitude towards what a convincing performance is than what the Dutch, and particularly Ajax, fans would have.
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Yes. Ajax fans would be much more dogmatic about the correct way to play than United fans. And would be able to explain their views more articulately in English.
posted on 20/10/22
What is intriguing about ten Hag is how he is going to evolve as a manager as well. It’s just not like anything he’s undertaken before. That excites me, though.
posted on 20/10/22
comment by David The King Beckham (U10026)
posted 2 minutes ago
What is intriguing about ten Hag is how he is going to evolve as a manager as well. It’s just not like anything he’s undertaken before. That excites me, though.
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Personally he comes across pretty "ready made" (to borrow an Ole term!) to me. He always seems to say exactly right thing in his interviews and press conferences, and his ruthless handling of Maguire, Ronaldo and others that he hasn't deemed to meet his requirements has been impressive. He clearly commands a lot of respect but seems even-handed. And I've found his footballing choices to similarly precise so far; he has shown a propensity for early subs, including half time subs, taking off his star player, adopting a more pragmatic approach to playing from the back in the earlier weeks of the season when it was clear we weren't quite 'game-ready' in that department, and his recruitment - which he's clearly had a massive influence on this summer - has so far been very good (better than any summer I can think of in recent memory).
I think all of the above bodes well. I'm really keen to see what he does next time he faces City. The Brighton & Brentford games can be written off as part of the initial teething process, but the City game was a proper mauling and came at a time when we were looking like getting into a little bit of form and ETH-ball. ETH strikes me as someone who doesn't need too many goes to learn his lesson.
posted on 20/10/22
Berbaking, yeah. We've said it elsewhere, but I like his mixture of having clear ideas he wants to implement and the intellectual subtlety to make pragmatic modifications based on the realities of the resources and demands at hand. There are a lot of very good coaches out there who have mastered complex systems to fine levels of detail. What can elevate a coach above the crowd is probably not having a big idea that supersedes today's football, but having the imagination and flexibility to make micro-adjustments to the system (as Guardiola has done repeatedly in his career) or to fuse together components of different footballing philosophies. It's early days but we have reason to believe Ten Hag can do better than Van Gaal in respect to being rather more agile and less dogmatic.
posted on 20/10/22
I've enjoyed reading this thread