Luis Enrique is going to be absolutely perfect for them. But they aren’t in a position to get him. Even if he gets fired by PSG
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Gut feel says it’s Rashford who’s the leak.
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Would you mind posting the prime bits? Goal.com appears to have some kind of redirect to The Sporting News here, so the links never work and I cannot find that story.
Man Utd are worse than ever under Erik ten Hag - but another managerial change won’t fix toxic dressing room culture
22-Sept-2023 11:30+05:3029
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OpinionManchester UnitedUEFA Champions LeaguePremier LeagueE. ten HagFEATURESBurnley vs Manchester United
The Dutch coach already appears to be on borrowed time, but the Red Devils’ most glaring problems are deep-rooted
Manchester United are in crisis - again. Erik ten Hag’s side just about managed to avoid humiliation against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, but their weaknesses across the pitch were laid bare once again during the 4-3 defeat at Allianz Arena.
The Red Devils have now lost four of their opening six matches in 2023-24, which marks their worst start to a campaign across all competitions in 36 years. They’ve also conceded three or more goals in three consecutive games for the first time since 1978, and 14 overall - more than any other Premier League side.
Ten Hag’s first season at Old Trafford was deemed a success after United followed up winning the Carabao Cup by finishing third in the league, but they have gone backwards since then, despite spending over £200 million ($246m) in the summer transfer window.
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It is a continuation of the vicious cycle that no manager has been able to break in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, with temporary waves of optimism quickly giving way to despair and frustration. Ten Hag certainly deserves the same level of criticism that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and David Moyes received after recent results, but he has also been fighting a losing battle in the dressing room.
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‘No good culture’
Ten Hag has done his best to stamp his authority on the United squad since arriving at the club, dropping Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho when they failed to meet his high standards.
“It is my job to control the standards,” the Dutchman said of his hard-line approach last week. “Strict lines is what the club asked me because there was no good culture before I entered last season. Of course, it is never someone only makes one mistake, it is a whole process before you come to a certain outcome about strict lines. If staff or players or whoever, there is a structure to cross lines so you have to be strong.”
The problem is, it no longer appears to be working. Ten Hag’s comments came on the back of a public row with Sancho, who has been exiled from the squad for the second time in the past year for his supposed underperformance in training.
The rest of the players failed to react in a positive manner, losing 3-1 at home to a Brighton side that cost a fraction of the malfunctioning one assembled by Ten Hag. That result was no more of a surprise than United’s latest defeat at the hands of Bayern.
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Too easy to play against
United did at least go down with a fight against Bayern, but the Bundesliga champions were far from at their best. They scored four goals - and could have added at least one or two more - without ever really getting out of second gear.
Ten Hag’s team are simply too easy to play against. The former Ajax boss said as much after a 2-0 loss away at Tottenham on August 19, telling reporters: “They [Spurs] were nowhere, nothing, and then things happened in the game, then they got distracted, not doing their jobs anymore. They didn’t run. Or they run in the wrong moment, too late. Especially the front [players] didn’t recover.”
That lack of running was also one of the main reasons for United’s downfall at the Allianz Arena, and indeed against Brighton last weekend. Their defensive discipline has gone out the window.
It’s painfully evident that the players are no longer giving their all for Ten Hag. Bad luck with injuries has played a part in United’s poor form, but that is no excuse for anyone to be downing tools.
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‘Bugs in the dressing room’
There have been regular reports of discontent behind the scenes at Old Trafford in recent years, leading to question marks over whether certain players have been guilty of leaking information to the press. The likes of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard were accused of being dressing room moles amid Ralf Rangnick’s ill-fated spell as interim manager, but the leaks have persisted since their respective departures from the club last year.
Indeed, after United’s latest Premier League loss to Brighton, The S*n reported that four players were involved in a heated bust-up. It was said that Bruno Fernandes confronted Scott McTominay, while defensive duo Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof pointed the finger of blame at each other over defensive errors.
The club has reportedly denied these claims, but United legend Gary Neville is worried that the situation will only get worse. He appeared to suggest that Ten Hag might have inadvertently brought it on himself, too, with his handling of Sancho and Maguire - who was stripped of his captaincy duties in July.
“How popular are Sancho and Maguire in the dressing room?” Neville said in his latest podcast for Sky Sports. "He’s got some bugs in there that we don’t know from the outside, what discomfort and uncertainty is being created on the inside.
"You’ve got a player at the moment who is probably changing in the first-team dressing room but obviously over with the academy. You’ve got Maguire, who has been captain of these players 12 months ago, now almost alienated as third, fourth, fifth centre-half. He’s got some situations in there I don’t know the damage that’s having.
“I don’t think Ten Hag will change. What I’m hoping at the moment is it’s just a difficult start to the season and it’s not a repeat of what we’ve seen previously. We’ve seen it becoming challenging for Jose Mourinho, for Louis van Gaal, for David Moyes, for obviously Ralf Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. So I hope it is not the beginning of that.”
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Didn’t intend to do that. But somehow didn’t let me paste the bits I wanted.
If the “leak” is the same guy who’s mates with Pogba and lingard, leaves only rashford.
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Why does it have to only be 1 leak?
For all we know, it could be all 25 of the squad pissing in the wind moaning about how shit the club is
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Well, I for one am glad to see these poor players standing up for themselves against this bald fraud. Just because they’re professional footballers doesn’t mean they deserve to get treated like dogs.
ETH should be forced to play the likes of Maguire, McTominay, and Sancho every match from henceforth. The cunt.
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You just like seeing Alice whine. Admit it.
Credit where credit is due, De Gea is not interested in going to Saudi Arabia.
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he ripped off United long enough.
Nobody forced manure to keep offering him contracts. Also, single handidly stopped them being a lower mid table team.
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Yeah, de Gea was immense for them on the whole.
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Which is kind of an interesting turn, because after the last 5 or 6 years years you think he’d be comfortable getting paid a fortune that he didn’t earn.
De Gea is a good goalkeeper, but not well rounded. Without him over the years, United would have been more fucked.
De Gea left United after a supremely successful 12 years in which he won the Premier League, FA Cup, two League Cups and the Europa League. He was twice a Premier League Golden Glove winner, including last season, was selected for the PFA team of the year five times and claimed United’s Sir Matt Busby player of the year award, voted for by fans, in a record three consecutive seasons and four times in total.
Obviously, keepers being players of the year is usually an indication of things going badly, he did his bit.
De Gea was prone to errors, and Onana is a better fit for how Erik wants to play. Issue for United is that Onana’s prone to errors himself - comical ones too.
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Rubbish?
There was definitely a period where that was true, but I think he lived on reputation for a LONG time there. I think post FaxGate I dont think he had many of those seasons where he significantly dug them out.
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He’s waiting on a phone call from Man Utd asking him to come back
