Tag Archives: erik ten hag

Start Again

So my prediction last month that he’d last until the November international break proved optimistic in the end. I’m disappointed for Erik, but I’m sure that he knew it was coming the same as we did. He was on borrowed time since the Ineos takeover and was only spared the axe in May due to the unexpected FA Cup success. Other than that, our league form was utterly abject and despite the influx of new players in the summer, showed little sign of improvement.

When some time has passed I think his tenure might be looked upon more favourably. During his first season in charge, after a terrible start we actually looked like a decent side for a few months. That period saw him dispense with Ronaldo and culminated with the league cup win at Wembley. For a few weeks it genuinely felt like bald was indeed best and that something might be happening. Then Casemiro lost form through injury and suspension and De Gea started chucking it in his own net every week. The moment had gone and we never recovered.

Last season saw us go from bad to worse. Sancho took on Ronaldo’s mantle of disrupter-in-chief, Rashford virtually gave up trying and injuries across the whole squad decimated any chance of him picking a settled side. There was also the ongoing saga of the takeover resulting in a brand new management structure to contend with. Amidst all that Ten Hag successfully eased out serial underperformers and replaced them with several promising kids which was all a huge positive, but unfortunately didn’t lead to an upturn in league form.

The FA Cup win bought him a couple of months but if he was going to survive, this summer’s intake had to gel instantly and he needed results. That obviously didn’t happen but I still believe we’re in a better place now than when he first took over. Ten Hag wasn’t entirely blameless by any stretch and you could reasonably argue the job ultimately proved too big and that he’d run out of ideas. But I’d also contest that he needed more time. Unfortunately though, with Ineos ultra-keen to be seen as aggressively pursuing best-in-class, Erik was never going to be given the additional year or two needed to complete the jigsaw.

It didn’t take long for Ten Hag’s successor to be identified, and it wasn’t a name many would have predicted given his absence from the shortlist that was doing the rounds in the summer. An unfamiliar figure to most, the new man was to be Ruben Amorim from Sporting CP. He’s young, speaks good English, distinct playing style, highly rated coach, successful in a ‘lesser’ league and universally loved by his players. Basically, he possesses the exact same set of credentials that made Ten Hag the standout candidate in 2022.

It’s a shame that amidst the upheaval we’ve also lost ravishing Ruud after just a few months back at the club. I hadn’t really considered this a possibility given he was an Ineos-approved appointment, wrongly assuming it was part of a wider strategy that would see Ashworth/Wilcox take charge of the coaching structure from now on. One can only assume that Amorim made it a condition of the deal that he was only interested if his trusted deputies (the Amorimettes?) were allowed to accompany him.

Amorim arrived at Carrington looking tanned, relaxed and with a beaming smile plastered across his face – the Moncler jacket and hoodie giving off groovy 6th form tutor aesthetics. Also notable was a distinct lack of grey hair (give it 6 months) and a jeans/ trainers combo so appalling it brought to mind those strange rig outs City’s squad choose to wear on match day. Based off the MUTV-released footage, Amorim spent his first day in the country shaking hands with every single person within a 2 mile radius of OT. Receptionists, ground staff, chefs, random museum punters, the lot.

When I read that our new man is committed to playing 3-4-3 my immediate thought was there’s no way he can even attempt that with our lot. Successive United coaches have struggled to impose a distinct style of play and previous attempts at high intensity pressing lasted about 5 mins before the idea was abandoned. One of Ten Hags problems is that he was slow to recognise it was nigh on impossible to play out from the back once he was missing Martinez and half his midfield wouldn’t show for the ball.

Having pondered it for a while, I’d tentatively suggest it might possibly have a chance of working now. Martinez and De Ligt are both very capable of adapting and Mazraoui continues to impress on the ball. If Luke Shaw is nearing full fitness again (a big ‘if’, I know), then the idea might not be as outlandish as it first seemed. I still feel that Amorim has his work cut out if he’s expecting the entire squad to happily embrace a new formation and fresh ideas. One player in particular should be counting his blessings at the fact he’s survived yet another managerial cull whilst continuing to stink the place out with both his attitude and general demeanour.

As for his overall chances of success? We’ve been at this juncture so many times in recent years so who knows. I don’t think the squad’s a million miles away now but he definitely needs a new LB and another centre half. A top quality striker remains a must and a midfielder to replace Casemiro and Erikson when they depart in the summer. As well as that he could do with a decent start, regular doses of good fortune and most crucially of all, he needs consistent results. A magic wand would be nice too, of course.

In his first interview he made all the right noises, correctly pointing out that results buy time and for now, his immediate priority is giving the team an identity – something that completely eluded his predecessor. Amorim claims to be relaxed and not feeling “the weight” as he described it, but I don’t expect that to last. He’ll quickly discover (he should really know already) that the United gig comes with levels of scrutiny and pressure that don’t apply to almost any other job in football. The refs aren’t your friend and the media can’t wait for you to screw up.

The message has surely been relayed to Amorim that the expectation is the club needs to be challenging for the title next season otherwise he’ll be moved on. Ineos’ treatment of Ten Hag has made that perfectly clear – cup wins won’t save you, they’ll only delay your departure. As for the brains trust at the OT helm, they have their own man in now so they need to back him properly and show some patience. I won’t be happy if we’re having this same conversation again in a couple of years’ time.

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Fetch The Bolt Cutters

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The fact I’ve delayed writing this column until minutes before deadline due to the possibility Ten Hag could be sacked at any moment speaks volumes for how the campaign has begun. Given he was on thin ice to begin with, it was crucial that the new signings hit the ground running and that the team showed a marked improvement on last season’s miserable form. Unfortunately for Erik, instead it’s been a continuation of what we’ve seen for the last 18 months or so. United are still a complete disaster. We might even be getting worse based on the evidence seen so far.

It’s not all been completely terrible, as the first hour at Palace demonstrated what the team could be capable of at some point in the future. That aside, it’s difficult to find any positives at all other than the fact Mazraoui (naturally now unavailable for the foreseeable) looks to be an upgrade on Wan-Bissaka. But that’s pretty much all I can summon up 2 months into the current season. The main highlight I can recall is a goalless draw at Selhurst Park where we actually looked like a functioning football team for a brief period. And that’s your lot, really. It’s been almost laughably grim viewing for the most part.

Ten Hag really doesn’t help himself at times, and his reading of the game can be perplexing to say the least. Attackers are repeatedly withdrawn from games for purposes of rotation, he says – but when they’ve been the most threatening presence on the pitch (Rashford at Porto for example) the substitutions make no sense. I thought the same thing when he hooked Zirkzee at Palace, rather than providing fresh momentum, the subs tend to interrupt the flow and kill any attacking impetus. I understand the need to rotate and give players minutes, but surely what’s happening on the pitch should inform these decisions.

As well as the seemingly preordained attacking substitutions, he’s developed a habit of causing defensive uncertainty by making regular mid-game switches at centre-half. If these changes are forced due to injury or fatigue then fair enough, but there’s been a number of instances where this hasn’t appeared to be the case at all. For a team that needs to develop a spine, it’s a strange way to try and instil any kind of confidence or consistency. We don’t look to have progressed in the slightest – it’s the same incoherent mess that was a struggle to watch throughout the duration of last season.

Out of all the summer signings made, the one we desperately needed to work out was Ugarte in midfield. Casemiro looks like he’d struggle with the pace of Soccer Aid these days, Mainoo is suffering from starting every game and Bruno gets more erratic by the week. Based on the evidence seen so far, I’m not convinced Ugarte is anywhere near the level needed to improve the team’s ability to control games and dominate possession. I always forget that Mason Mount plays for United given how infrequently he’s seen. Anyway, he made a brief re-appearance before promptly getting injured again to no one’s great surprise.

I’ve always been a staunch defender of Bruno and overlooked his shortcomings due to the fact he provides a goal threat in a team that largely doesn’t. However, the moments of inspiration are becoming less frequent and his bad games are starting to outnumber the good ones. The worse the team is performing, the more risks he takes. Honestly, I’m starting to see logic in the school of thought that suggests we’ll never progress whilst he’s handed a license to roam around the pitch and do pretty much whatever he fancies.

It’s probably the recent sending offs that have tipped me over the edge, but I’m getting tired of watching the same things happen over and over again. If United were a better team we could probably accommodate his recklessness, but we aren’t. The midfield consists of vast swathes of empty space for the most part so it’s no wonder we struggle to control games. I said after the Spurs game that the 3 game suspension might turn out to be a blessing in disguise given it would force Ten Hag to try something different. Then, naturally, the red card gets overturned. Of course it does. More chaos incoming, then.

I was pleased that Ten Hag was given the opportunity to stay on this summer, but suspected deep down that we were headed for this juncture sooner rather than later. Ineos appeared to explore every possible alternative before offering him a chance to turn things around, but clearly the gamble has backfired spectacularly. We’re currently sitting 14th in the PL table and 21st in the Europa League. If we’re being honest, an 8th place finish flattered us last season when our form was more akin of a mid-table team. Right now it’s no longer a question of if they sack him, it’s more a question of when.

Despite being confounded by many of his decisions, the stubborn part of me still hopes they keep their nerve and give him more time. I maintain that Ten Hag is a top man and think he’s done a lot of positive things (in difficult circumstances) in trying to change the culture around the club. We all acknowledged it would likely take 2-3 years to eradicate the failings of the previous regime and become serious contenders again. Having decided to put their faith in him in June, is it really the right call to reverse on that decision before the end of October?

On balance, it probably is – as I don’t expect to see any sudden upturn in form over the next few months. Although I’m loathe to admit defeat and return to the cycle of sacking managers every 2 years, it now feels inevitable that he’ll be gone in a matter of weeks. The club can’t afford a season floundering in mid-table without any signs of progress. Qualification for Europe looks to be a stretch at present, never mind finishing in the top 4. My expectation is he’ll limp on until the next international break, by which time the board will have lined up the next recipient of the poisoned chalice. I’m sorry, Erik – but it’s just not happening, is it?

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Not Like Us

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The long, frustrating slog of last season was forgotten in an instant. I’d anticipated a summer not thinking about United but instead I’ve spent weeks floating round in a contented daze, thoughts constantly cycling back to the unbridled joy that was triggered by the final whistle at Wembley. What an incredible tonic it was. Mad how something so insignificant to the majority of people can send thousands of us into a state of near delirium. It’s been a long time since we last experienced a day like that. Absolute perfection. Football, bloody hell.

The good vibes continued when it was eventually confirmed that ETH would be staying on as manager. I’m still to be convinced that he’s the right man for the job long term, but given the lack of credible alternatives and the manner of the cup win, sacking him would have been incredibly harsh. Against a backdrop of the takeover, disciplinary issues in the dressing room and a never ending injury crisis, delivering a trophy and European football was a fine achievement. Merely extending his current deal can hardly be interpreted as a vote of confidence, however – it’s more of a stay of execution.

It’s pretty grim that the manager’s future is being questioned before a ball has been kicked, but clearly the new regime isn’t messing about. Anything resembling a repeat of last season won’t be tolerated. And, quite frankly, nor should it be. Unless Ten Hag can deliver a marked improvement in both consistency and results, he’ll be lucky to last until the end of the season. United have to do better, and fresh changes to the coaching staff indicate there’s a clear pathway for someone (hello, Ruud) to step up and replace him as an interim the moment Ineos decree that enough is enough.

Nevertheless, all that is hopefully some distance off. The club were unusually proactive early in the window (another welcome change) although there’s still lots of work to do if we’re going to see anything resembling the squad overhaul that’s needed. At the moment we still look short considering Martial, Varane, Amrabat, Van de Beek, Greenwood and Kambwala have all left the club. We need at least 3 more in before the end of the window otherwise it’s difficult to see how Ten Hag has any hope of improving on last season’s position – especially given the additional Europa fixtures this year and the fact the number of injuries shows no sign of abating.

With Ten Hag citing fatigue as a factor at the end of another jaunt to the USA, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make a case for these fixtures being in anyway helpful to preparations ahead of a new season. For the umpteenth year in a row we’re set to begin the campaign missing players through injury and with others still at various stages of recovery from the Euros/Copa America. Flying 5,000 miles around the globe to play some meaningless friendlies might be commercially astute, but it seems detrimental to the squad’s conditioning if there are multiple casualties to contend with by the time the tour has concluded.

Obviously, such concerns didn’t stop me booking flights as soon as Los Angeles was announced. I’d never visited the West Coast before and this seemed like as good an opportunity as any. LA is absolutely massive and unlike when visiting NYC, the public transport links are bafflingly insubstantial. If you aren’t hiring a car then Uber is a must when travelling late at night if you don’t fancy taking your chances on the Metro, where you’re highly likely to encounter some of the city’s more eccentric inhabitants.

As for what it’s actually like, well it’s a culture shock. I stayed in Santa Monica on the coast and you quickly realise that whilst the streets feel very safe, there’s a not-insignificant homeless population – many of whom are in the throes of fentanyl addiction which makes their actions unpredictable to say the least. You just have to accept that amidst all the boutique shops, Michelin-starred restaurants and miles of golden beaches you’re highly likely to stumble across a sizeable number of people with their entire earthly possessions in a shopping trolley… and they might decide to stop and drop their kecks at any moment.

I got chatting to an Irish ex-pat who has been out there for 25 years and we were discussing the contrast to living over here. He said the year-round sunshine never got old and that his life consisted of regular, ‘pinch me’, LA moments. I think the most LA thing I experienced was whilst walking through Palisades Park on a Friday afternoon. You had a group of a dozen or so well-to-do women striking Yoga poses and there was a bloke with a massage table enthusiastically offering his services to anyone passing. Meanwhile, just a few feet away you had a couple of homeless guys arguing over the contents of a bin. It was quite a scene. Talk about opposite ends of the California lifestyle happily co-existing.

The United game was being played at the SoFi in Inglewood, an outrageously opulent $5.5 billion NFL stadium that opened its doors in 2020. It’s absolutely incredible, both the architecture and the facilities – little wonder it’s being cited as one of the inspirations behind the decision to build Old Trafford 2.0 as opposed to developing what we have now. Although it’s hugely impressive, I’ll still be disappointed if United commit to such a move in the coming months. Yes, it’s shiny and new and looks great on the photographs but ultimately it’s just a high-end, soulless Enormodome. I certainly wouldn’t want to play there every week.

I’m not just being contrary for the sake of it, but undertaking a project like that would be a disaster in my eyes. Any new stadium would arrive years late, hugely over budget and bearing no resemblance to the place we’ve considered home for decades. I know the YouTube lads are ecstatic at the prospect, but I’m more concerned with United remaining accessible to my friends and I as we hurtle through middle age. Make no bones about it, if we go down this road expect your ST renewal to come in at a couple of grand minimum. I don’t want a 200% increase in ticket prices for the sake of a padded seat and a cup holder. That isn’t scaremongering or shortsightedness, it’s simply the reality of what will happen.

Everything we’ve grown up with would quickly be eroded. Some will cling on because they can still just about afford it, but the bulk of our core support will be sacrificed in the name of progress. We’re going to be told a lot of lies in the coming months when the decision is inevitably greenlit, about how it’s necessary for the club to be competitive and sign the best players and all that nonsense… please don’t buy into it. One of the main drivers behind this is that it will accelerate a purging of our traditional fanbase so they can milk additional millions from an entirely different breed of MUFC supporter. Ineos might appear preferable the Glazers, but their motivation for being here is ultimately the same.

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