I’m increasingly baffled by ETH’s assertion that we could “never" play like his Ajax teams with these players. Here’s ETH’s 2019 CL semi-finalist best 11:
———————Onana
Mazraoui—De Ligt—Blind—Tagliafico
——Schone——De Jong
Ziyech—-van de Beek—-Neres
——————Tadic
His team that won the title before joint us was quite different but included the likes of Martinez, Timber, Haller, Gravenberch & Antony.
We quite literally have Onana, Martinez, Antony & van de Beek in our squad. Shaw is an upgrade on Tagliafico, Casemiro better than Schone & we’ve signed Mount, Amrabat & Hojlund - all of whom fit the mould of players he’s had before and were players he wanted.
At CB, Maguire is probably closest in profile to De Ligt: aerially dominant, not particularly mobile but decent on the ball. Dalot would be closest to his previous RB’s.
I just don’t buy that the majority of the squad couldn’t be coached to play something stylistically similar to what made ETH such a touted coach. Obviously not every player will be suited or able to adapt. Those are the ones you phase out. We’ve also got injuries of course, but that’s temporary.
So it begs the question… what is our current recruitment strategy geared towards if not playing the way the manager landed the job using? Why haven’t we been building a team to play the way ETH did at Ajax?
I also can’t get on board with the idea that this group are suited to whatever ETH is trying to do currently - results & performances would appear to show the opposite.
Can’t play like Ajax??
posted on 1/11/23
He's right in what he says that we can't play like Ajax with some of the players we have but there's no reason why we can't still play much better football than the shiiit we're now having to watch on a weekly basis again.
There's been enough money spent while he's been in charge to have built pretty much whatever kind of team he wanted and to have been able to demonstrate something more refined and identifiable on the pitch. If that was the case but things were still a bit rough around the edges I'd be more than content but right now there's absolutely nothing for us to cling onto and feel encouraged by.
Also if the way you play drastically changes in the absence of a couple of players, that's not a good sign.
posted on 1/11/23
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 54 minutes ago
comment by Glazers Out (SE85) (U21241)
posted 1 hour, 41 minutes ago
He abandoned that style before he'd even managed one PL game.
If you go from FDJ to Casemiro as your main midfield target because the Barca man didn't want to join then you've basically admitted defeat right away as Casemiro is many things but one he isn't is a natural ball playing midfielder and someone who controls and dictates play
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Jesus wept.
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What's wrong now old man? What do you need explaining to you today? Have you had your meds?
If we'd have signed FDJ we wouldn't have signed Casemiro too. They play totally different styles as you yourself admitted the other day.
How is going from FDJ to Casemiro going to result in playing the same way? It isn't.
posted on 1/11/23
That Ajax team without FDJ would have been out much earlier, he was the fundamental, high end Ingredient that side could not do without. As soon as Spurs went long ball in that Semi and effectively cut him out of the game, they were done.
United should be all over Barella in the summer
posted on 1/11/23
Ajax, he can’t even get you playing like Nijmegen at the moment
posted on 1/11/23
What's wrong now old man?
……
Well, your brain is malfunctioning again if you think Casimero was bought to play the same role as FDJ.
We would have needed to fill the position Casemiro plays if we had have bought FDJ.
You should actually know this. You really should.
posted on 1/11/23
What do you need explaining to you today?
…..
I have never needed anything Football related explained to me by you, SE85. You are well know for being clueless about football.
AndI am not on any meds, so that insult is wasted.
posted on 1/11/23
Maybe he’s been told by the higher ups don’t forget about the Utd dna. So he’s just doing what he’s told. He probably never knew what it was prior to joining, but hey, Utd dna is Utd dna and it must be followed, even if it fails.
posted on 1/11/23
comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 2 hours, 45 minutes ago
He's right in what he says that we can't play like Ajax with some of the players we have but there's no reason why we can't still play much better football than the shiiit we're now having to watch on a weekly basis again.
There's been enough money spent while he's been in charge to have built pretty much whatever kind of team he wanted and to have been able to demonstrate something more refined and identifiable on the pitch. If that was the case but things were still a bit rough around the edges I'd be more than content but right now there's absolutely nothing for us to cling onto and feel encouraged by.
Also if the way you play drastically changes in the absence of a couple of players, that's not a good sign.
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Basically this. I understand that getting a new team to play your way is a process and not an event. We have enough good players across the squad to be showing serious signs of progress, with further refinement to come in the next window or two.
I’d not expect us to be playing free-flowing, dynamic attacking football every week, but I’d certainly expect to be seeing a decent amount of it by now. And I’d certainly expect to see us with a sturdy defensive structure when both pressing higher or sitting in deeper.
posted on 1/11/23
He’s just making excuses. Perhaps he genuinely thinks we all live in a world where a United manager in 2023 gets 5 years to build a style of play.
Good luck to the guy, he really needs it.
posted on 1/11/23
He’s getting us play like the current Ajax - bottom of Eredivisie