Hag says that he doesn’t have the players to play the Ajax way.
Okay, it doesn’t even have to be necessarily the Ajax way, but Erik… who is also signing or at least agreeing to sign those players lately? You are. Look no further than the complete lack of balance in midfield. Having either too offensive players or too defensive players. Plus a few who are not good enough.
I sort of felt, given their unresolved situation upstairs with the potential sale and everything, that it might push them back again a little bit. He probably hoped it would be done by the start of summer.
My hopes looking at the final table last season was that we would improve, Newcastle would find it difficult to combine CL football with the league and United’s unresolved situation would give us the chance to overtake at least one if not both of them.
Playing the Ajax-way is the usual BS like they invited something I have hearing for 50 years .
Ten Hag let that team taking early pressure when they lost the ball. Geezzzzz who did that years before Ten Hag dit that, it starts with an K and ends with a p …
We didn’t need to improve to be better than United and sandcastle this season. We played below par last year. Even a return to previous standards would leave us competing for the title
It is not a particularly novel point, but Carra’s comments this week really get to the core issue. A big team can be excused wobbles as they go through an evolution if you can see what they are trying to do and you see enough evidence of it coming through. This was always the central stupidity to the “Klopp has been no more successful than Rodgers” arguments we saw during his first couple of years. He knew what he wanted us to do. We knew he wanted them to do. But he just didnt quite have the players for it, but he implemented his vision, never wavered even when things were tough and it was clear what was happening. Then over 3 years he methodically retooled his side with that specific purpose in mind. At United every player they have brought in has been met with questions over their fit as much as their quality, and that was because no one knew what ideology/shape/style they were trying to fit their new players into and the identity of their targets did not illuminate that one bit. We now see a side that seems to be trying to do the opposite of what EtH said he expected of his football when he came in and now he’s making these claims.
Yes his signings have been underwhelming, many of whom seem to have been specifically identified by him, but you cannot just wing it at this level by pulling together any collection of players and expecting a tune to come out of it. If you dont know what you’re trying to accomplish, what holes youre trying to fill and then go about that with a singular focus you’re going to up in a situation where Bruno Fernandes is your captain and playing RW in a counter attacking side.
I cannot imagine too many serious people doubted what Ralf said last year about open heart surgery being needed, but a philosophy for football had to be put in place first. I hope he thinks every day about that press conference and the shit he got for it and smiles to himself.
Trust man United to fluke one decision (hiring Ralf ) correct , the broken clock is right twice a day rule… And then not make use of him properly.
Rangnick had stopped being a football manager by then. His real value was in his contacts and his idea of what attacking football should be (as a DoF) which isn’t far off what klopp’s idea is.
Yeah, the hiring made no sense. It was not even that they decided not to give him the DoF afterwards as many suggested he was brought in to fill. That was never on the cards because they had a recently appointed DoF who was already in the role and so Ralf’s appointment always seemed like a conflict that could not end well.
Carrick seems to be a serious guy going about the business of learning the craft of being a football manager, but this would really set him up to fail and probably hurt his career in the long-term. So you have to think he will be top of the list.