Manchester United fans will remember Erik ten Hag fondly, certainly more so than most of his predecessors. But how did the owners fudge this call twice?
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.
Fearing for F365
So Erik Ten Hag finally sacked, leaving a gaping hole in your editorial bucket. I look forward to your headlines in the coming weeks…”Ten Hag takes dog for a walk!”
“Why I always shop at M&S – Ten Hag”
“Pundit tells Ten Hag to replace his worn out toothbrush!”
Regards,
Eric.
Inevitable
Well there we go then. The “inevitable” sacking, considering our placement in the league. I’m not sad, not disappointed, and if anything probably relieved as I don’t have to read 427 daily articles about how his position is in the balance etc.
I’m bored of it all. Too bored to even care about “the next appointment has to be right”. I wasn’t bored of the team, or the manager, but I was certainly bored of seeing our players squandering the chances on repeat and the inevitable conversation after.
Will be watching to see how the players behave, though. If suddenly these same players are hitting the target with gusto, then we know they effectively downed tools, with the constant questions and speculation over the manager no doubt not helping.
INEOS screwed up badly. The only way to move forward from last year was to either sack or fully back the manager. No messing about, flirting with other managers.
And before you start with “but he was backed in the transfer market” that’s exactly not how the set up works. Players are bought for the system. And apparently someone in that system thought Zirklee was a striker. It sure wasn’t Ten Hag.
Whoever comes in next needs to be someone who will trust youth. Well, assuming they’re here for more than 2 years anyway.
Good luck in your next one Erik. You deserved better all round.
Badwolf
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It might actually be worse
So Erik’s luck has finally run out. The final nail hammered (see what I did there?) into his coffin by some terrible officiating. Fare thee well Erik, we’ll always have that Cup victory and you’ll be remembered far more fondly than quite a few of the other muppets who’ve been in charge recently.
There’s quite a bit of opprobrium being hurled in the direction of INEOS for spending money on Erik’s players then sacking him. If this is what they have done then yes this completely and utterly stupid and they’ll need to learn from it pretty bloody quickly or we’re no better off than we were before.
I hope though, that the signings we have made, were based on the needs of the club and the game model the technical staff should be looking to implement.
This is how it should be done.
Equally it’s possible that we did back Erik by signing his players and he could t implement the game model so we’re still badly run.
Worse, the game model is absolute rubbish it doesn’t exist. The next manager will give you a clue as to which of the above is true.
Ash Metcalfe
Time to go
The sack was decided a few games back (as GNev said) and they were just waiting for an embarrassing loss. With Ten Hag scraping up draws and a win, VAR had to get involved. Now if Ineos end up signing someone great, then Michael Oliver will rightly claim the best (pre-) assist from this weekend, over TAA and Cole Palmer.
Farewell Ten Hag, that FA cup win will be remembered.
Gaurav MUFC Amsterdam (heard SAF was also let go recently, maybe he’s up for the gig)
Beggar’s belief
What has changed for United and ten Hag since the international break? Seriously. They won a game they could have lost, lost a game they should have won, and drew in Europe. It’s literally par for the course. And now, in the midst of a game every three days – albeit with another international break far too soon – they decide to sack him?
The writing was on the wall before the October international break, but no, not then. It was on the bloody wall most of last season, including after the season ended, but no, not then. They have openly not backed their manager since they took over, openly looked for another manager, all the while extending the contract of ten Hag and spaffing a bunch of money on, admittedly young and good on paper, players for him, only to sack him before November?
At least any fears that INEOS would prove somewhat competent and bring United out of laughing stock territory and into relative competency have been firmly extinguished. Who will this club break next??
Neill, Ireland
Ten and out
Do you remember that time when your relationship was circling the drain and no matter what you or your partner tried, nothing worked. Therapy, a vacation, having a child (NEVER a good idea) or even seeing other people. Then one day you woke up and realized it was over. From that moment on you found an inner peace and could start preparing for the next phase of your life.
I think every MUFC fan probably also now feels the same way. But now what? Grow beards and learn to play the bongos? For now, RVN enables INEOS to not make a rash decision. Besides, if RVN can’t teach you to put the ball in the back of the net, there really isn’t any hope, is there? But longer term?
While the media are already lobbying/promoting “Mr. (British) Flavor Of The Month” or “Mr. Flavor Of Last Month”, I’d like to see us return to the MUFC style. I want the swashbuckling times of Best, Robson and Coppell. For those of you old enough to remember, we didn’t always win, but I’d happily accept a 3-4 loss after these years of Thatcher-like austerity. I want to be ENTERTAINED!
By definition then this excludes virtually every name currently being bandied about except two; Allegri and Simeone. You can’t argue with Allegri’s 7 Scudettos, but can you imagine Simeone putting up with these lazy SOBs? That “Never Say Die” attitude is what we used to be known for. As Gary Neville once said “we never lose, we just run out of time.” The “Red Devils” were an elite fighting force in WWII. I want to see the players grab some of that ethos and fight for the shirt like it means something.
Adidasmufc (Just watch us get the most “corporate” choice imaginable)
Super Kieran McKenna
Note to Man Utd – Please stay away from Super Kieran.
But for a ridiculous penalty (not that one) and a more unbelievable sending off (Harry got the bloody ball for goodness sake) we would have had our first win this weekend.
Tony Lennard (Hilton Head Tractor Boy.)
Where’s the passion?
Ok, so there’s no definite correlation between being a passionate manager and being a successful one. But passion is one thing shared by Ferguson, Mancini, Klopp, Arteta, Guardiola…..oh yes, and Mourinho, and their careers haven’t been too shabby. And passion, specifically passion from the touchline, has been missing from United for a long time now. Can you imagine Ferguson or Mourinho’s reaction to seeing Rashford trotting along, yet again, 20 yards behind the winger/wing back/full back he’s supposed to be tracking? It’s no use telling him where he’s going wrong in the post-match debrief – he and the rest of the squad need in-match touchline coaching. And they need it now.
Alan, York (don’t even think about tapping up Adam Hinshelwood Dan).
Sunshine, palm trees and farewells to Ten Hag
I’ve lived in Europe and in Asia, and traveled both extensively. I’ve been a tourist to the Middle East a half-dozen times. I’ve not been to Africa (just yet) but I’ve gone to Australia, twice. I don’t consider Canada too exotic but I’ve been about ten times. Also been to parts of South America but didn’t much enjoy what I saw. Probably won’t ever experience either of the poles. Anyway, I find Los Angeles, California to be one of the best places a person can choose to live. No single city is utopia of course, but honestly LA comes closer than anywhere else for now. It’s got the lot.
That said, you know what massive clusterf**k problem LA has that’s worse than anywhere else in the world ? Traffic. The sheer amount of vehicles, the gridlock in rush hour, the fact that nobody walks or takes the underground. No thank you, I’ll get in my car to drive twelve yards (to buy some okra water of course). Traffic is worse here than anywhere on the planet, and there are also some truly sh*te drivers in these here parts to boot.
Over the last international break (around the time England lost to Greece) I found myself traveling behind a sedan on a stretch of road difficult to overtake, but all fine as said sedan sped along at reasonable pace, stayed in its lane. No complaints there. What I did find curious was the sedan’s left turn signal, which was blinking mile after mile for an age. But we see this from time to time don’t we, and not just in LA… anybody might leave a left blinker going. All ok. So it was only when the road opened up and the sedan accelerated and veered hard right that I was stunned and bemused. This driver had decided that suddenly cutting across three right-hand lanes of moderately congested traffic with a left turn signal engaged was a cool idea. Thankfully nothing violent or injurious ensued that day, but maybe that driver is due a reprimand or a flat tire or worse yet, a collision… motoring karma and what not, who’s to really say.
Anyway that day it occurred to me the Karmic Comedy Blinky Sedan ahead of me could only be emblematic of one thing, and that one thing has just hogged the most recent headline rounds. But I digress. Oh, how I loved that proud sedan and its mystery captain. Signaling to the world with such adamant intent, hey look we are about to turn a corner now, any day now really, but while we also plow ahead into oblivion and maybe sometimes turn the other way too, or reverse a little bit, just for bantz ! We’ll be streets ahead on a path to nowhere, sir. It’s sunny out but we’ve got the wipers on. Wait, is that petrol leaking ? We’ve lost a tire, full steam ahead !!
Christ I knew that sedan wasn’t ever turning left. Come on. Haven’t we reached a point where we’ve all wisened up ? It doesn’t matter if Almorim or Frank is appointed. Or if Guardiola or Klopp spectacularly betrayed allegiances and sanity to rock up at Old Trafford (yeah right). It wouldn’t matter if Tuchel did an about-face and reneged the FA for Manchester. Ole back at that wheel or Ancelotti on a flyer and still the great big buffoonery machine that is this lurching Mancunian tank will continue to press on with no treads, no armament, no gps, only the utter conviction of its relentless, directionless drive. Ineos could bring in Einstein, Gandhi or the Pope but it’ll be Thursday night dross for the next and very long foreseeable. And just like beautiful sunny LA, I’ve the time for it. I’ll have it all day in fact, thank you so much.
Eric, Los Angeles CA
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The fun’s over, folks
Not sure if many of you saw the news today but it’s absolutely gutting. I’m personally quite devastated. The game won’t be the same again, in fact some may say it’s gone forever. What have we done to deserve this? Why has god abandoned us? These may be some of the questions crossing your minds today and it’s completely understandable. It will take an unbearably long time for football to recover from Ten Hag’s sacking.
Remember all those United fans who were crowing about Ten Hag having won two trophies to Arteta’s one? And those two trophies are the Carabao Mickey Mouse Boba Fett Official Pot Noodle Cup and the FA Cup which as all should know Arsenal has won more of than any other club, including four in the past 10 years and one under Arteta in 2020 when we were supposedly meant to be “finished” as a club. We’ve won plenty of FA Cups and we couldn’t give a toss about the Energy Drink Of The Week Cup. We’re clearly prioritising the league and the champions league and therefore we aren’t expecting ourselves to fly in the domestic cups.
The real measure of how well a manager is doing is fan satisfaction. Arsenal fans are generally content with where we are at the moment and our future prospects. Meanwhile United fans have been utterly miserable for most of Lamine Yamal’s life. No number of Caraboooooo Red Bull Pisswasser Cups could make you lot happy right now and that sums it up. Our club is in a far better state and we’re not aiming for the domestic cups anymore. Wake up and smell the coffee.
To cheer you all up here’s a fabulous list of the flops that United has shat money on: Falcao, Antony, di Maria, Sanchez, Martial, Lukaku, Sancho, Van de Beek, Maguire (a couple of good games against minnows at the world cup and domestic level won’t change this), Casemiro, De Ligt, Shaw, Lindelof…feel free to add anyone I’ve forgotten.
Vish (AFC), Nantes. P.S. Praying that Wayne Rooney gets the job which means god may not have totally abandoned us.
Spoiler alert
As this is now a time of great uncertainty for you United fans out there, I’d like to offer my support. I know you’re scared and don’t know what the future holds. Allow me to help.
Ruud will be appointed caretaker. He will win like, 2 of 5 and maybe draw the rest. He will then get the rest of the season and United will “make progress”, meaning you’ll finish between 6th and 10th. Ruud will get a five year contract, and you’ll sing about how he’s going to bring back the glory days. This is Manchester United©, you know. You will sign a past-his-best central defender, an injury-prone yet talented midfielder who is much more injury-prone than he is talented, and two dutch youngsters for too much money. Eventually the cream will rise to the top, or rather the turd(s) will start floating around in the toilet bowl, and Ruud will unravel and get sacked before May 2026 rolls around.
Hope this helps. Que sera, sera.
Tomer (you don’t have a cavity ladies and gentlemen, you need a whole new set of teeth), LFC.
