Erik ten Hag (EtH) is taking absolute pelters again, but for 70 minutes, Manchester United were well in control of the FA Cup semi-final match against Coventry.
I fully understand some supporters’ frustration with taking off the likes of Mainoo and Garnacho. Both are still teenagers and maybe EtH was just trying to manage their minutes whilst demanding more of the senior players to take responsibility?
The substitution of two teenagers should not result in the capitulation of an entire team especially against Championship opposition. I accept there is an argument that EtH might not just be managing their minutes and is blind to the performances of players such as Rashford, McTominay, Bruno and others but as results and performances continue to suffer he will eventually have to face the consequences of these decisions.
Rashford and McTominay both hobbled off injured and I’d much prefer Mainoo and Garnacho playing against Sheffield United in mid-week, so well intended or not, in my opinion the more important players should be fit for our next fixtures and we scraped through by the skin of our teeth. Extremely slim pickings, but positive nonetheless.
Tactically, I think we need another player in midfield and I must question if we actually need to play with a traditional CF?! Poor Rasmus Hojlund gets absolutely no service. This must be so demoralising for a young player.
To be honest, we’ve said for years there has been a lack of service for our CF, this is not exclusively an Etsy problem, with inverted wingers more interested in cutting inside to shoot and wanting to score for themselves rather than creating for the CF.
The full backs have also been poor in attacking situations and have become even less effective now EtH often asks them to play inverted.
Last season, Casemiro and Eriksen improved the midfield, but they still got regularly over run especially away from home. This was not addressed in the summer and it’s even worse this season with EtH transitioning to a more man for man coverage in midfield and wanting the team to press higher and more aggressively.
Whilst I really like Hojlund and think he’s a very promising young player, I do question if he was the right type / profile of CF considering we don’t look to create chances for our CF. Maybe more of a false 9, link type player would have been better to help us retain the ball better and give us an extra man in midfield?
My concerns regarding EtH are what direction are we going? If he wants us to press and play a higher defensive line, then players like Maguire, Lindelof and Evans should be moved on and faster, more mobile and dynamic CBs should be purchased.
We need more energy in midfield, therefore Casemiro and Eriksen should be replaced and what’s the plan upfront with players that just don’t create chances for a CF? Is it to win balls higher, then transition quicker, looking to feed Hojlund in behind? I don’t know?
Last season EtH was more pragmatic, which suited more players in this squad. We didn’t really press too aggressively, deployed more of a mid-defensive block and were essentially still more of a counter attacking team. The signing of Martinez enabled us to progress the ball better, whilst Casemiro and Eriksen definitely gave us more control in midfield. We were better.
The biggest change came in pre season when EtH openly stated he wanted us to become the best transitional team in the world. Surely we needed faster CBs and more energy in midfield to achieve this and we didn’t really address any of this in the transfer market? Is this solely down to EtH or yet just more evidence of incompetence in the transfer market? Murtough and Arnold have both been removed.
This season EtH seems to be utilising tactics that just aren’t suitable for most of the players in his squad? It’s confusing and maybe he’s guilty of trying to change things too quickly when he just hasn’t got the players to do so.
Is he trying to prove these players can’t do the job? I don’t know, I just worry that sacking another manager without a proper plan in place first might just cause more harm than good. Let’s see what happens.
Written by DLIB April 22 2024 18:04:58
