Mixed Man Utd messages amid Ten Hag sack talk as one Chelsea ‘disappointment’ identified

Manchester United lost a game of football so the Erik ten Hag sack talk rages on in the Mailbox. He has until 2025 to prove he is the right man for the job.

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Thank you, Ryan Baldi
Thank you Ryan Baldi. I had completely forgotten about Mia Hamm. I have just spent the last hour looking at youtube videos and reading up on her and just wow. A true inspiration. She might have just shot up to number 3 of my favorite 90s players. No one replaces Batigol and Stoichkov though.
Zdravko

Sven at Liverpool
As a Man U fan and football lover, can I just point out how classy it was of Liverpool (and Klopp I believe?) to make sure that SGE got to manage a game at the club he supported.

It was cool at the time, but today seems so much more important.
Andreas (some people had issues with his way of life, but boy must he have had fun) Brussels

Losers yes, miserable no
I have no issue with us being in the losers section this week, we did lose after all. I do, however, have an issue with the Fulham win being deemed lucky, and Saturday’s loss called a miserable performance.

But for some poor finishing from Bruno and Mount, we would have won that Fulham game by 3 or 4. The stats were heavily in our favour, including 3 clear cut chances to 0. Let’s not rewrite history here – there was nothing lucky about that win, if anything we were unlucky not to have finished off Fulham earlier.

As for the Brighton game, it was a disappointing ending but a draw would have been a fair result and we could have easily nicked the win. Two extremely close offside calls (the second was remarkably unlucky) went against us and two poor moments in defence cost us dearly. The stats were fairly even with 2 clear cut chances each, similar shots on target and equal number of corners. We actually created less at the end of last season at the Amex and ended up winning 2-0. It was an ok performance, somewhat unlucky, but hardly miserable.

It’s a small evidence base, but the first two games have seen us defend better as a team compared to last season. We have been conceding fewer chances from open play (7 vs 12 on average) and look a harder team to break down. The system we are playing has helped and we hopefully have a DM en route before the window closes. Maguire should have cleared for their first on Saturday and their second was a poor goal to concede from the second phase of a set-piece. Mistakes we can work on and fix.

The positives were our pressing, higher possession (52% as opposed to 45% in the same fixture last year) and we are at least creating decent chances. Our finishing is still not good enough and we need to be more clinical, get that right and iron out individual defensive mistakes and we’ll kick on this season. It would be good to start putting that right on Sunday.
Garey Vance, MUFC

Give Ten Hag until 2025 
Just wanted to point out that both the goals conceded against Brighton from United’s perspective was unacceptable, the fact that there were two men unmarked at the back post in the 95th minute of the game is just bizarre. Even if Joao Pedro wasn’t there, there was another Brighton player then to head/tap it in.

Anyways what’s done is done, and all United can do is learn from it. But is Ten Haag actually going to conduct some improvement in the defending department, or only concentrate on improving play on the ball and not off the ball. Let’s be clear, the positioning and awareness of the team when they are off the ball is bloody pants. The amount of space between the midfield and defence half the time is very worrying. United desperately needs a CDM to replace Casemiro. He simply is past it, and he gives the ball away a lot of the time as well, rushing his decisions on what to do with the ball. He would be good against the lower half teams in the league at best, forget playing him in games against Spurs, Arsenal, City etc.

I do think there has been an overreaction to the defeat against Brighton, United fans either think we are going to win the league or finished 12th, no in-between. United played reasonably well for spells of the game, and if Zirksee was 5 yards further back and didn’t get in the way of Garnacho’s shot, United would have most likely won the game, or lets be honest, knowing United conceded in the last minute and the game would have finished 2-2. However a draw wouldn’t have been a bad result right?

But, its the manner of how United lost, we saw this happen 2 years ago against Brighton in the 2022/2023 season when Shaw handballed it in the last minute, so are United actually learning from their mistakes? They are just way too vulnerable at the back and in midfield at times, I could bring up several other games as well where United have bottled a lead or lost in the last minute (Fulham, Galatasaray & Copenhagen last season).

This is where I think Ten Haag is a deluded & ignorant manager in general, he keeps saying in his interviews we need to improve, but doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it in training and properly managing his coaches and team. Its the equivalent of a finance manager experiencing cash-flow issues struggling to pay salaries and rent on time, but assuring his team that everything is perfectly fine.

If United aren’t in the Top 4/5 by January, I would get rid of Ten Haag, and bring in a Tuchel maybe even someone like Van Nistelrooy would get the job as interim, perhaps that’s the strategy in promoting him as senior manager sooner or later.

Ten Haag has been backed very well financially over the last two years, and been able to bring in his own players, 5-6 of which used to be Ajax players. So if things don’t improve, what leg does he have to stand on? I think its 500 Million spend in the time he has been here, and you can argue no real improvement has been made, apart from a couple of fortunate cup runs.

Liverpool next week at Old Trafford will be an interesting one, but if it results in another loss, I think its only a matter of time for Ten Haag. He seems to just about be doing enough to keep his job, and the FA Cup win last May certainly saved his bacon, but he needs to start getting the best out of some of the players and fast.

Oh, and United should have sold Rashford this summer, it’s clear he is just there for a paycheck and doesn’t actually want to play to the best of his abilities, looks like he is playing at 60% capacity ALL the time. Start Garnacho and Amad on the wings, and actually start Zirksee upfront next game with Bruno just behind.
Rami, Dubai

More on Man Utd
I see your doom and gloom and raise you some clutched straws…

2 games in and some utd ‘fans’ have lost it already. We don’t exactly have the best record against Brighton of late, they are the team that epitomises what we haven’t been for a long time, organised.

Man Utd signs of improvement already:

We are not conceding 20 shots a game

We seem to have much more control of the game than we did last season

We actually look like we have a plan to how we intend to play and players look like they know what that is

Things that have a long way to go:

Brighton were there for the taking, a little more positivity and we could have sewn that game up by the 70 min mark. Unfortunately Brighton saw the same in our negativity, with little threat on their goal we gave them the green light to go for the win which they duly accepted – fair play to them, a well deserved win.

Rashford is still a good player and actually a microcosm of our whole attacking ethos. He is an attacking player who feeds off confidence and who likes to run at defenders and get a shot away. If you’re not going to play to wingers strengths then you may as well just select 2 full backs on either side of the pitch and pass it back and forth like we did.

Did I mention the negative play? We win the ball high up the pitch with half the opposition on the wrong side of the ball and then we pass it back to our defence. WTF?

Further reason for hope:

Zirkee and Mazraoui have already looked kind of useful. We have Yoro, De Ligt and now Ugarte (I think) to come in. We have Shaw and Hojlund to come back. We potentially have a much better squad than last season (it can’t be any worse).

And until E10H proves that his negative style is the problem I will be supporting him and the team to make bigger improvements as the season wears on. I’ll suppress my thoughts at the back of my head that tell me Ole got more out of a much worse squad than this…
Jon, Cape Town (Not sure if Liverpool next up is a good or a bad thing, time will tell…)

Give it Half A Season Before Anointing the New Kings.
Reading fan reactions and often punditry as well, I’m often reminded of this joke, the airline captain turns to his dud co-pilot and says ‘is  the blinker working?’ To which the co-pilot says “yes it is… no it isn’t … yes it is … no it isn’t… “ We get this on the fan pages and call ins after every game, and to be fair, its far worse when so called pundits and experts fall prey to this. Every individual data point is treated as a trend. Last week Zirkzee was a saviour. This week we’re convinced all he can do is get in the way! Chelsea are crap! Oh wait, no they’re brilliant! I’m going to propose 2 perspectives I think we could all use.

First, it takes time for any new manager’s model to show through. Right now LFC fans are justifiably ecstatic that the Klopp-Slot transition has been seamless. It might well be that Slot keeps the winning machine going but I’d just warn folks that what you’re seeing now is simply the muscle memory of Klopp’s methods on a team that’s unchanged coupled with the need to impress the new manager.

Just as Brighton are still largely playing the way De Zerbi coached them to. When Roberto Martinez took over at Everton their results improved greatly because they had all of Moyes’ rigour and discipline coupled with the freedom in attack promoted by Martinez. But over time the defensive wheels came off because Martinez simply doesn’t know how to coach a defence. Please don’t take this analogy literally. I’m not directly comparing Hurzeler or Slot to Martinez. I’m simply saying what you’re seeing now is not their teams or their football.

I’d wait till half a season has passed and then judge the managers. I can see people falling over themselves to find the links between Klopp’s style and Slot’s approach. Even Maresca – who has taken over the circus that is Chelsea is being judged game to game. Just give it some time before you convince yourself about ‘the answer’.

Second, we tend to assume that teams will simply take off from where they left off. Wolves were great last season, Man United were porous. Everton were defensively solid. But small tweaks and changes can have big impacts. You might be surprised. Maybe Wolves’s poor start points to something deeper. And maybe all of last years great teams won’t continue their great runs through this year.

And to all my fellow Man United fans, I’d say have faith, and don’t expect miracles. Clearly there’s a lot going right at the club – and if Ten Hag is not the answer, that’s fine, the current management seem to know what they’re doing and will find the right manager. And if Rashford doesn’t come good, that’s okay, we’ll get the right players in.

Nobody has a divine right to long term success or even winning a single football match. But last year, the football was sh*t and the results sometimes belied the quality of play. You knew it was all going to go down in flames soon. This season the football across 90 minutes has improved significantly. Yes, we need to be better at both ends of the pitch but this time it’s the actual opposite – the results will come if we keep playing this better brand of football.

Take a step back, look at the big picture. Take a deep breath. And of course, CTFD. And read Matt and Hunter’s post for further clarification.
Ved Sen (MUFC)

Chelsea hungry like the Wolves
I must admit, I was surprised by the lack of talk this morning after Chelsea’s 6-2 victory over Wolves. So, let me offer my take on the match.

First, Noni Madueke delivered a standout performance. After making a bold statement about Wolverhampton, who knew he was referring to their defensive frailties? His hat trick was spectacular, silencing any critics and undoubtedly securing his place in Chelsea’s starting lineup for the foreseeable future.

Then there’s Cole Palmer, who was equally impressive. With a hat trick of assists and a stunning goal, he showcased why Manchester City might think twice before selling another academy player to Chelsea again.

There were plenty of other positives, particularly from Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, and Joao Felix, all contributing to a strong second-half display.

However, the one disappointment was Mykhailo Mudryk, who once again failed to make an impact. At this point, it’s hard to see him fulfilling his potential at Chelsea. His performances increasingly make it seem as though the club signed him more to frustrate Arsenal than to develop him as a player. And with Arsenal acquiring Trossard, it’s clear who got the better end of that deal.
The Admin @ At The Bridge Pod