Manchester United had two team meetings at their hotel in London before they were ferried to the Community Stadium on Saturday evening. Their performance suggested few players were listening. They also napped at their hotel. United then sleepwalked through 90-odd minutes until Mason Mount committed daylight robbery. Although United were minutes from victory yet drew, their performance warrants assessment through the prism of defeat. They were battered and bullied by a team that has won two of their last 18 games. There were also victories for Tottenham and Aston Villa, now so distant they are nearly a mirage. "Don't lower the performances from Brentford," Erik ten Hag bristled. "I have seen them against Man City and City was also lucky to win that game. And against Liverpool in the first 35 minutes Brentford should have taken the lead. So don't express this." It has been noticeable since Sir Jim Ratcliffe was the sole bidder left at the table that Ten Hag's rhetoric has changed. As critical as he was of United's lack of "passion and desire in many moments" at Brentford, he also opined it could be a "big point". The City revisionism was bizarre. Brentford went 1-0 up through the rarity that is a Neal Maupay goal but City were level by half-time and ahead within eight minutes of the restart. They racked up 15 attempts on target. Brentford were unmistakably Brentford against United: a back three, wing-backs, physical, primed to press and a nuisance at set-pieces. That was in spite of the absences of Ben Mee, Ethan Pinnock, Aaron Hickey, captain Christian Nørgaard and Rico Henry. They started with their third-choice left wing-back. United were recognisably unrecognisable. No style and still mired in an identity crisis. Ten Hag blindly named an unchanged team and blind faith is the only consistent thread with United's approach. The grin on Steve McClaren's face as Mount charged towards the away end was so broad he thought United had got away with it again. Once McClaren had calmed down, he turned to the pitch and pointed at his temples. That was another message that did not get across to the players. Emotion dictated Ten Hag's selections and that is another tell-tale sign his methods are failing. United's raucous victory over Liverpool was sparked by a substitute and won by another substitute. At Brentford, their scorer was also a substitute. Victor Lindelof is not quick, not durable and aerially vulnerable, so he was pitted against Ivan Toney. Raphael Varane was United's most accomplished performer in the first half, so Toney pulled onto Lindelof as Rodrigo Muniz did in Fulham's victory. Lindelof is a pushover for physical frontmen. Aaron Wan-Bissaka seldom resembles a modern right back yet continued at left back. Ten Hag turned in disgust at his positioning after the ball was played in behind Wan-Bissaka. Rewatch Brentford's equaliser and United have a near-perfectly choreographed defensive line to trap Toney offside. Apart from Wan-Bissaka, who is two yards deeper. Scott McTominay is a moments squad player whose goalscoring impacts have come either off the bench or in charged atmospheres. Only his robustness can account for why he played more than 100 minutes at Brentford. Ten Hag berated Antony for pressing high, offered encouraging applause in response to Marcus Rashford's miscontrol and had to shout "Bruno" at least three times before Fernandes heard and was summoned to the touchline for a conflab. That was midway through the first half. "I'm not happy with the performance," Ten Hag stressed. "There is no misunderstanding, the players are also disappointed by the performance and we should be consistent in the game, go in the game, perform and show more aggressiveness." Man United's pre-match preparations make you wonder what they talked about
Man United are big admirers of Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna and he is emerging as strong contender to be their next manager, sources have told Football Insider. A well-placed source has told Football Insider that Red Devils chiefs have been hugely impressed with his transformation of the Championship club and have a “concrete” interest in his services. McKenna and Ipswich are on course for a second consecutive promotion as the Championship run-in approaches. It is believed the 37-year-old is seen as a manager with strong Man United credentials following his time as assistant to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and in the club’s academy as a coach. Sources say he is seen as a “future Man United manager” by some at Old Trafford. Club chiefs have been impressed by his character and profile, as well as his excellent track record during his time at Ipswich so far. Ratcliffe and INEOS director of sport Dave Brailsford feel current Man United boss Erik ten Hag has had far too much input on transfers since his arrival. Incoming club chiefs have lamented many poor and overpriced deals in the last two summers – including Antony’s arrival from Ajax for a reported £85million. Football Insider revealed in February that Ten Hag is not seen as a long-term Man United manager and questions regarding his long-term future at the club remain. McKenna’s Ipswich side sit top of the Championship ahead of Leeds and Leicester following a dramatic 3-2 win against Southampton on Monday (1 April). Man United have 'concrete' interest in appointing McKenna as next manager Unlikely.
Yup, managing Ipswich and managing a lumbering behemoth like United along with all its current issues are prospects of a different magnitude. Can't see it.
Don't care who replaces him, it'd be quite hard to find a guy as clueless as this prick is. You can't be giving away as many shots as we do, it's indicative that the clown has no idea on how to set up a defence and you'll never succeed if you can't defend.
This guy is a retarded clown too, but I highly doubt he's as incapable of organising a defence as ETH is. No team has conceded more shots on goal in the league this season than us, even for a team at the bottom of the league who had no hope of staying up that would be a sackable offence
Looking back at yesterday's farce, the whole thing was a disaster, but how much can you blame the manager for? Onana let another one in over/under a soft hand, Antony was harshly adjudged to have given away a penalty, Dalot gormlessly gave away the 2nd penalty and the whole team was asleep for the corner that led to the deflected winner. Experienced players like Dalot shouldn't be giving away spot kicks like he did, and experienced keepers shouldn't be allowing daisycutters to keep finding the net. I'd criticise ten Hag for his subs yet again, no idea why he took Garnacho off, but once again Rashford came on and looked disinterested and lethargic, and yet again the whole team dropped deep and tried to keep what they had when they got the 3rd goal, which again has to be because of coaching and/or instructions from the bench. I'm not one to bleat about injuries, but the defence is an absolute disaster, we lost 2 more centre halves last night, one about 20 minutes after coming on, and we're still having to play a right back at left back because it seems Shaw and Malacia don't actually play any more. Finally, yet another criticism of the medical team; Martinez came back after long term injury and lasted 20 minutes, Evans the same, Shaw came back and lasted less than 2 games, Lindelof came back and lasted not very long at all, and all with muscle injuries. WTF is going on?
Sorry I thought I had replied to this already, guess I hadn't clicked reply. Whilst individuals are doing stupid things I still thing a lot of the blame is due to the manager, when the structure of the team means we face 20+ shots every game, struggle to hold onto the ball for any significant period of time and are constantly exposing our defence to transition eventually stupid shit is going to happen. I don't think many of the players are good enough but at the same time I don't think they're as bad as they're showing this season. How is it that we've gone a whole season where we've had a half arsed press where only the front 3 and 2 8s press up without the fullbacks joining, meaning there's always an out ball for the opposition whilst also playing a medium/low defensive line (meaning we're not compact) and we've not changed this once all season despite it slaughtering us every game? The only game this season where I thought we've looked like a decent team is the game vs Copenhagen before Rashford's red where he had McTominay and Eriksen sitting in front of the defence, I have no idea why we've only seen such a midfield set up once and you'd think with how thoroughly unathletic both Casemiro and Mainoo are that whilst we're playing both of them he'd try it again, but nope we constantly leave Casemiro exposed in space and ask him to do build up which he's not good at whilst Mainoo is good at build up but isn't asked to do it. It's baffling His subs are awful and his in game management is beyond stupid, 3rd game in a row his suicidal subs have cost us, wtf is he doing subbing attacking players off for defensive ones? It sends such a bad message. I can only assume that he's taking Garnacho off because he's played a lot and works his socks off, but it's cost us every time and if he is going to make such a sub why not bring on Diallo? Well I think the medical team is almost certainly shit, but at the same time, are we really surprised we keep getting muscle injuries after he worked them into the ground last season and we're playing basketball football with no control? Maybe we'd have fewer injuries if we actually got on the ball and controlled it for parts of games to give the lads bits of rest instead of asking them to charge up and down the pitch for 90 minutes. 31 games in and we still have a negative goal difference and we're on track to concede 56 goals
Article in the MEN today pointing out the woeful disorganisation of United's midfield, and comparing it to the exact same issue when ten Hag managed Ajax: A debate involving Erik ten Hag and legendary former Dutch player Ruud Gullit from when the Manchester United manager was in charge of Ajax has gone viral on social media, and the footage is fascinating. Manchester United's performances have been disappointing this season, with pundits and fans alike questioning the chaotic style of play Ten Hag is responsible for. The space between the defensive line and midfield has regularly been exploited, and Casemiro's drop-off has contributed to the issue - but the problem is ultimately structural. Although United won 4-3 against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, there was a moment in the first half when Dominik Szoboszlai broke forward and was left in acres of space. The area Szoboszlai drove into was large enough for a double-decker bus to be parked. United's back four were around 40 yards away from their attacking teammates and the only reason that moment wasn't a prominent post-match talking point was because Liverpool lost. An image of that moment is below, and the most concerning aspect is those moments have happened throughout the campaign without Ten Hag addressing the problem. It has become far too easy for opponents to slice through United's midfield like a knife through butter, which explains why so many chances on goal have been conceded. United have conceded more shots (253) in 2024 than any other side in Europe's big-five leagues and that's clearly a problem, despite Ten Hag continuing to play it down. The midfield can seem non-existent, just like against Liverpool last weekend when aspects of United's display were likened to children playing in a schoolyard. Interestingly, similar tactical problems were identified during Ten Hag's successful stint as Ajax manager and footage from 2019 has provided insight into his philosophy. After Ajax's impressive win against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Champions League round-of-16, Ten Hag appeared on Dutch national TV station Ziggo Sport and discussed his tactics and approach, which legendary former player Gullit questioned. For context, Ajax had just progressed to the quarter-finals against Europe's biggest club, which was an outstanding achievement, but Gullit made valid observations. The following is the transcript of that conversation about Ajax's midfield: Ten Hag: "Frenkie [De Jong] is unbelievably important - undeniable. Especially in the first phase of our build-up and also interceptions, winning his duels." The presenter: "Ruud, you've played at a high level, do you recognise this about a team, where one moment you're thinking, 'we're unbeatable' and the next moment you think 'we're beatable by anyone'?" Gullit: "When things aren't going well, you still have to find a way to get the game over the line. That annoying part with Ajax is, when that's happening, what do you do next? "That's when they're vulnerable, especially in transition, and I've seen it against Bayern Munich [when Ajax played them] and many times before. At the moment, they're taking a lot of risks, especially in midfield and all of a sudden the opposition gets ridiculous counter-attacks. "It gets intercepted and they can just run straight through, but against Bayern, you also had moments like this when you think 'you're taking so much risk' because you want to press. "But you can run straight through the midfield. For example here, the ball is cleared and you can straight ahead. There always has to be one player in the middle who thinks 'what if?'" The presenter: "So basically you are saying someone like Fernandinho at City?" Gullit: "Yeah, he always secures the midfield. He always does it. That is someone you must have, thinking what if we lost the ball." Ten Hag: "The way we play, those are the risks already calculated, and I agree with you, we have to be positioned correctly. The first chance was simply the quality of Real Madrid. "And we didn't get countered, just look, we still outnumbered them in the end. In the second example, you're right, that was a big mistake, both midfielders were gone. "That can never happen and in the last example, it's the first phase of play and well, if you lose the ball there, every team gets killed." Gullit: "You say 'we take those high risks', but you're giving the opponents so many opportunities. It takes just one extra player [defensive midfielder] to secure the midfield." Ten Hag: "How we want to play is the most difficult and exactly, when it's not going well, you're extra vulnerable, but when it's going well, you're able to impose your will on the opponent and entertain the fans. "The criticism is always directed at the teams who make the play, whether it's Barcelona, who are vulnerable in transition, Manchester City or Bayern Munich." TRANSCRIPT ENDS Gullit's observations are eerily similar to what United fans have thought this season and it suggests the problems in midfield come attached with Ten Hag's tactics. Ten Hag's approach was successful at Ajax and he won multiple trophies in Amsterdam, but the Premier League is a different beast and his tactics aren't currently working. Ten Hag has gone viral for answering the question every Man United fan is asking
Having an actual Director of Football, and then bringing in more of a Head Coach, like Gareth Southgate, might improve things. There's nobody out there, who would realistically take the job, that would fill me with confidence, and we have tried pretty much everything else in terms of manager profile. I know most fans thinks England should be winning major tournaments, but we always overhype our national team, and rarely reach finals or even semi finals, which we have with Southgate. In an ideal world I wouldn't want him, but things are far from ideal at the moment.
