Ten Hag out? Liverpool and Man Utd fans unite in their opinion on the Dutchman’s exit
Ten Hag out? Nonsense, say Liverpool and Man Utd fans, for slightly different reasons. Plus, more on Spurs and their title punt.
Send your views on these and all other subjects to theeditor@football365.com. Nothing from Newcastle fans? Funny that.
This is our moment…this is our perfect moment
As a Liverpool fan, it’s rare that I celebrate with a Utd fan (hoping they beat Citeh this weekend however), but Onana saving that penalty had me hollering with the rest of them.
We are at that perfect junction that Ole navigated for a while (hoping ETH can prolong it as well, and everything so far is pointing at yes) where ETH will win the right amount of games not to be sacked whilst still, quite clearly, taking the team nowhere.
It’s brilliant. It’s rare. Let’s all enjoy this whilst we can.
David (Here’s hoping they can qualify to the knockouts and meet Madrid or Citeh early on) Molby
Howe would he cope at Man Utd?
So Chris C suggests he is glad his club (Newcastle) got Eddie Howe instead of Ten Hag.
Newsflash Chris, as a United supporter I’m glad too. Eddie Howe is doing a decent job at the moment with Newcastle but he wouldn’t stand a chance at United. No offence intended here but Newcastle is a dwarf compared to United, which is a monster in comparison, whereby Howe has been allowed to go about his business with much less pressure than Ten Hag.
It will be interesting to see if Howe can actually take Newcastle to the next level or if he will be replaced (Mark Hughes at City style) by someone who is more capable of doing so in the eyes of your owners.
United has been a basket case for years, this is well-known and reflected by the number of great/good/ok managers we have worked our way through. We are slowly turning things around off the pitch and (seemingly) on the pitch, but we’d swallow Howe whole and spit out the carcass of another flavour-of-the-month manager who works well as a medium sized fish in a small pond (see Potter at Chelsea for an example of a large basket case club hiring a journeyman manager).
To work in those conditions at a club the size of United takes a manager who is big enough to handle that pressure and expectancy; Ten Hag has proved this, albeit to a lesser degree, at Ajax where the expectancy and pressure is relatively high.
Don’t get me wrong, Howe has surprised me with how well he has got Newcastle playing at times with some fantastic football and it’s good to see as I have a lot of time for the Newcastle fans who seem a great bunch of supporters; but I don’t let that cloud the reality of the situation. We handed you your asses in the League Cup final last year, finished above you in the league even though you had no European distractions, and Ten Hag’s win rate at United (64%) is much better than Howe’s is at Newcastle (51%). It’s only late October, calm down.
Garey (RIP Sir Bobby Charlton) Vance, MUFC
READ: Below-par Newcastle cruelly woken from Champions League dream
Let Ten Hag build his team before we judge him
Quick one on United and Ten Hag. So that’s three scraped wins on the bounce (following some unfortunate losses) so I guess it’s fair to say we’re sailing far too close to the win/loss wind in our performances; pretty much each game could go either way, and that’s an uncomfortable place to be.
However, while some quarters are muttering TenHagOut it’s still not as though we have our full team in place. We haven’t yet this season. That we’re having to rely on Maguire who fair play to the lad hasn’t been terrible last couple of games but is still a liability waiting to happen (why oh why does he feel the need to shove people out the way – it’s not the 90s any more) is alarming enough. (Honestly, I’ve never watched a player make me more nervous.) We still don’t have our preferred centre backs. We still don’t have our left back. Our preferred right back is only just coming back. (If you can’t do the maths, that’s the entire back-line out.) We are bending and stretching to cover people playing out of position, while trying to incorporate new players and a system.
Is it a surprise it’s not flowing as smoothly as hoped? It shouldn’t be. If you want to judge the manager wait until he actually has his team in place. (Reminder that the beloved Klopp came 8th, 4th and 4th in his first three seasons, and didn’t come close to winning until he’d assembled his entire new team.) I will also remind you of the grace given when Liverpool lost some of their defence. We are still in this position, the players aren’t actually back yet.
So yes, it’s not pretty at the moment, but considering our injuries and the changes, it’s not so terrible. Just breathe and remember that no matter what happens, Arsenal and Chelsea will drop a bollock at some point, while Spurs and Liverpool fans are getting giddy. And it’s still October.
Badwolf
READ: Man Utd form dip ranking features 2) Casemiro as Garnacho makes top five
That Man Utd midfield in detail
If you’re a football manager fan, you surely know the various midfield roles the game defines. As you’d agree, midfield is the most important area of the pitch, and having a well-balanced midfield can elevate an average team. So much so, that certain bald men have won league titles with a team of midfielders.
Now, let’s have a wee look at the ones at Man United.
1) Casemiro
Role – Box to box midfielder/Ball winning midfielder/deep lying playmaker
Positive – Still the best midfielder at the club, even while he’s woefully out of form. Good in the air and scores the odd goal.
Negatives – As has been rightly pointed out, he seems to have aged a decade over the summer. He’s so painfully slow it physically hurts.
2. Eriksen
Role – Deep-lying playmaker
Positive – No one in the team can do what he does, that is, actually give the team some control in midfield. In every game this season when he’s substituted on, United instantly look better (though that’s not saying much). The best passer in the team, by a country mile. Can also take a mean dead ball.
Negative – So hopeless out of possession it can actually feel like we’re down to ten men when we’re under the cosh. Can’t tackle and rarely intercepts. Low stamina and heading ability. Offers little else except good technique.
3. Amrabat
Role – Anchorman/box to box
Positives – They call him the ground pounder. Plenty of stamina and tackling skills.
Negatives – Useless in possession. The dude makes you long for Fred. Such little technique on the ball. The complete opposite of Eriksen.
4. McTominay
Role – Box to box
Positives – Combative, has a good engine, has a good eye for goal.
Negatives – Offers no real midfield dynamism, in and out of possession. Just occupies space.
5. Mount
Role – Box to box / Carrilero
Positives – Supports (or at least supposed to) the wingers from midfield. Great energy and decent technique, in addition to being a pressing monster.
Negatives – If Mount is the answer, what’s the question? A 55 million pound enigma.
6. Hannibal / Mainoo – N/A
Now, of these 5 guys who could theoretically play between midfield and defence, which two are the best combination to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and exert control? For my money, that’d still be Casemiro and Eriksen, but we’d need better players if we intend to win anything important anytime soon.
Olu
Spurs to win the league? Sure
The latest Spurs365 article by Spurs fan Dave Tickner about why Spurs won’t win the league touches on the Liverpool game and why we can’t learn anything about Spurs because of the refereeing of the game. It is a shame really because it would be good to see a new Premier League winner if it can’t be my Liverpool but I just can’t buy into it.
What we’ve learnt from Spurs this year is that they can beat teams in the bottom half including Man United and they had a derby away draw. We also know that they couldn’t win a league cup game and they couldn’t go toe to toe against a still bedding in new Liverpool side with 11 or even 10 players at home.
Stats suggest that if they lost Son or Maddison it will all fall apart. We’ll see how much fuss is kicked up when Son misses a 12.30 ko when he hasn’t flown back in time after an international. Spurs365 says Liverpool should just play a different player when it happens to them, and it happens to them 3 times more than any other team. The crabs in the bucket in full effect. Spurs fan Dave Tickner saying that F365 loves Spurs player Richarlison is interesting as the lad has been nigh on useless for them so far.
In their case the league table does lie because they probably wouldn’t have got 3 points against Liverpool based on how that game was going. It totally undermines all these many, many articles on F365 in my eyes which is shame because I like for Spurs to do well.
But if City can carry on having Pep’s joint worse run of *checks notes* 2 losses and if Spurs only play newly promoted sides and keep having goals and players wrongly struck off against them then yeah, f**k it, why can’t they win the league?
Alex, South London
Well done Ange
I’m a Chelsea fan but can’t help being impressed with Spurs at the moment.
I think the Greek/Australian mate had a number of challenges and so far has found a solution for each of them:
– life without Kane: resolved by using Son’s great abilities as a proper striker
– life without Lloris: say what you want about Lloris, and his performances were degrading quite a bit by the end, but he had been a mainstay of this Spurs side for about 10 years, and changing to a new keeper is not easy. But Vicario has slotted in without fuss, and the defence has adapted to their new keeper.
– speaking of defence, 2 new fullbacks, and very good defensive performances. Ange’s high energy game helps, but still – both Udogie and Porro look like they do all the basics of defending very well. That’s something they’ve got over Chelsea’s and Arsenal’s fullbacks for example.
– use of Maddison – clearly identified as a playmaker, and plays him as such. Simple but when you look at 10Hag, Pep or Arteta sometimes trying to fit square pegs in round holes, you just appreciate when a manager plays someone to their strengths rather than to force-fit them into ‘a system’.
– Sarr also has slotted in quite well.
So congrats Ange mate, looking good so far. I’ve got Spurs-supporting friends, and without them falling into Barry Foxesque giddiness, they are loving life, excited by their team, and isn’t it the point as a football fan? For the record I am reasonably excited with Poch, and I think he’ll take us places eventually, but it’s a slow slog back up to the top. Looks like Spurs have stumbled into a bit of a shortcut, good for them.
Mike, CFC
It’s always about Arsenal
I genuinely applaud Graham Simons ability to make absolutely everything about Arsenal. Again.
Barry Fox writes the most Barry Fox email ever and Graham decides to ignore the fact we all know it’s parody and make it about Stewie and Arsenal.
Last week there was some bizarre fact about the amount of London teams in the Premier League. Sorry! I think he says”The capital”. Which is another of his constant refrains. Arsenal being the top team in the capital was a source of much pride last year.
Seriously Graham. If trophies were awarded for some of the shite you seem to think noteworthy then Arsenal would need a new museum
Unfortunately, tapping your Arsenal lapel badge and nodding sagely in agreement with the driver who thinks Arteta can win the lot as you exit a taxi outside the Emirates does not a win you entry to the CWC.
Your problem with Stewie is simple. He’s right. He might be mental and overly emotional sometimes but he’s f**king right. Arsenal have been 2nd rate since RVP left.
Arsenal fans like Graham would have the rest of us believe that last year’s run to ultimately fail to win the league was some kind of second coming of Christ. The hubris was confusing at first. That was before I found out that being a club from the capital meant more.
Actually, I’m not sure who’s more parody at this stage. Graham or Barry?
Brian Morrissey. Waterford
The Mailbox ghouls
In response to Graham Simons, I just got in front of the mirror and said Xof Yrrab five times. Sadly, Stewie G didn’t appear. It was only Ed, who spent the next half hour reciting bullet points about Crystal Palace in the most monotonous voice I’ve ever heard. Maybe I pronounced Xof wrongly?
Tom K