The subject of the moment.
What we know and what we think.
I know I harp on about it but last season
Third in the league, trophy and final.
So what's gone wrong?
First reason, not excuse, is injuries, especially before Christmas.
Buys. Let's assume they are all his, none of the prices are his fault.
Worst buy Antony, and I lay that squarely at his door.
Onana. To be proved imo. He's getting better.
Hojlund. Good.
Lisandro. Good. Somebody said he's injury prone, actually he's unlucky. This latest for example is because someone fell on his leg.
Casemiro was good, less so now.
First team good now, yesterday with the three missing men available we would have won.
Reserves, many not up to standard.
Tactics, subs, in game management, I'm not qualified to judge.
So what do I blame him for?
Playing out of form players, notably Rashford.
Persisting in a two man midfield when we don't have the players.
We should be playing three up front, three in the middle. Until we get the players to make two work.
I'm tired of seeing the opposition walk through us, and not just under this manager.
Verdict. Let's see until season end, then if he goes make sure we get someone who plays entertaining football. Not Conte or similar.
To be clear, I don't give a toss if he is sacked, he was rich before he got this job, and now never needs to work again.
I want what's best for the club and my viewing.
I think he was given a difficult job, plus he is a methodical man who wants to build a team. He's not inspirational.
Do we wait for him to get it right. I don't know so I'll sit on the fence and wait.
Lastly, I do think he's been unlucky, Sancho, Greenwood and injuries have done him no favours.
He has brought through Garnacho and Mainoo which is in his favour.
ETH 2
posted on 25/2/24
Whilst I get the sense in giving ETH until the end of the season, it really depends who you want. If the manager is free (or could be poached now) then why not tie it up? Come the summer we’ll be looking for Klopp’s replacement with Bayern and Barca also in the market for a new manager. Tough competition.
posted on 25/2/24
You've just come off your best run of form this season with a couple of very good results - beating Villa and Wolves away from home. It's not like you were going to not lose a game for the rest of the season. I would say that so long as the form isn't disastrous and you finish in a Europa place, he deserves another crack under this new owner.
posted on 25/2/24
Don’t see why anyone would expect anything different to what we’ve had over the last ten years.
We’re 5+ years away from getting things sorted and that starts with upstairs, recruitment and having a continual style of player with character.
Hopefully Jim’s appointments upstairs all do well and start setting us up properly.
As others have said though, only players I would certainly keep are:
Hojlund
Mainoo
Martinez
Garnacho
Shaw (but injured a lot)
posted on 25/2/24
Can't believe some of the excuses this guy keeps getting. Fulham were missing Paulinha, Willian and Jiminez yesterday and they don't have the squad depth of a European club like us and they absolutely played us off the park.
It's time to wake up and understand that this is tactical. Conceding 100 shots in 5 games isn't because of one
player like Bruno or Rashford not playing well.
Sticking with a manager just because fans are craving continuity is crazy if said manager is making countless mistakes all the time which he is.
This isn't even as good as under Solskjaer. Time to stop deluding yourselves he's the one. He isn't.
posted on 25/2/24
This bloke has broken every terrible record alive for us this season, we’ve had the second most shots faced against this season and we are still on a minus GD.
Ten Hag is done at this club, he cannot coach a football team at this level. I don’t care if he’s got flawed players, he has shown no sign of getting them to play in a system. All we do is counter attack every team. It’s a joke.
posted on 25/2/24
comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
I'm tired of seeing the opposition walk through us
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This alone should at least give you some idea of the tactical issues in and out of possession and problems with our shape that we've been having pretty much all season.
Game after game, we keep on doing the same thing, no matter the opposition or what players we have available. A deep defensive line and a half-hearted press from the front which lacks any sort of co-ordination and a huge area between the two which is being exploited by every team we play. Sometimes we get away with it and sometimes like yesterday we don't and deservedly so.
The defence and midfield are being put under an enormous amount of strain because of the way he's setting us up to play.
I think it's become very clear that he won't change, that he thinks he's right in what he's doing and he believes the only reason why it doesn't work at times is because he doesn't have certain players available which is a deeply flawed way of looking at things. A manager at this level shouldn't be this player dependent, especially as injuries are part and parcel of football. You have to find a way to manage with injuries, to adjust and find solutions by doing other things instead of repeating what doesn't work.
Getting players back from injury and buying new players in the summer will only take you so far if tactically things are this poor and it's not enough to take us to where we want to be.
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Good post.
posted on 25/2/24
ETh hasn’t done a great job but the issues run so much deeper than the manager.
When you have a local player, supposedly loves the club, on £350k a week unwilling to even put in the bare minimum effort, there’s something very wrong.
posted on 25/2/24
I wanted him, sounded like he ticked all the boxes.
We can point to all the reasons/excuses of why it’s not working, which then opens up the discussion of is he at fault, or is he unlucky? A bit of both.
But what stands out for me, and again I’m someone that’s in Ten Hags corner right, but he is so different from last season, as the man that told it straight and no BS talk.
But this season, his comments are just getting more looney. No Journalist has been brave enough to ask, ‘Performance wise, are you happy, cos what I see is the pure definition of ‘Papering over Cracks’ performances, surely that’s unsustainable?’
Listen, not many games left, let him see it out, what INEOS, choose to do, if he’s to be sacked I won’t complain, cos he’s dug the hole for himself.
We don’t deserve Champions League, I’m all good for them not getting in, cos the Glazers are only for that, Winning was never a priority.
I was always of the mind, that the culture of UTD was all wrong, and it seems pieces are being put in place to address this. Cos, we’ve had good managers over the last 10 years, it can’t be all their fault.
Am sick to death of this lottery game we’ve been playing, hoping we strike it rich approach.
But like I say, there finally seems a plan in place, and I think a good manager will benefit from it, so that’s why I’m not all the way Ten Hag out.
Plus, enough is enough, a lot of these players need to go… Rashford and Bruno, have hurt us so bad this season, but I think for different reasons.
Bruno I believe is Mentally tired, and needs resting.
Rashford confidence is shot. He’s been crap for a year now. Won’t mind if we sell him.
What is also distressing is that there’s no in game tactical intelligence from the manager or players. And the entire team is low on confidence cos they look like they are scared of the ball. Nobody seems confident on it.. the play is rushed, with no thought. Overhit simple passes, all the signs of no confidence. They faking it.
Gut the team in the summer, Shaw, Maguire, McT, Rashford, Amrabat, Martial, Antony, Sancho.. and we’ll most probably lose Varane and Casamiro.
But push the damn button, and just nuke it.
posted on 25/2/24
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 2 hours, 5 minutes ago
ETh hasn’t done a great job but the issues run so much deeper than the manager.
When you have a local player, supposedly loves the club, on £350k a week unwilling to even put in the bare minimum effort, there’s something very wrong.
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This is the very definition of a distraction. His man management style means his best players can play rubbish and still play. Thats criminal.
The buck stops at him. Full stop.
posted on 25/2/24
comment by Redastomatoes- Feels very Moyesian...cleverson forever!If he is good enough he is ready! (U12026)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 2 hours, 5 minutes ago
ETh hasn’t done a great job but the issues run so much deeper than the manager.
When you have a local player, supposedly loves the club, on £350k a week unwilling to even put in the bare minimum effort, there’s something very wrong.
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This is the very definition of a distraction. His man management style means his best players can play rubbish and still play. Thats criminal.
The buck stops at him. Full stop.
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Saying that's criminal is untrue so ridiculous.
The buck stops with every manager and they will all make mistakes.