01 Aug 2022 08:07:50
I really like some of the less spoken about things of the new EtH reign.
Simple things like him taking charge of training, the way he prowls the touchline coaching and encouraging his players during a game, his refreshing honesty in interviews and the way he handles the media.
However one of the under the radar things I like most is his choice of coaches.
Mitchell Van Der Gaag, Steve McClaren and now Benni McCarthy have all been managers in their own right at a top division club at varying levels.
I like how he has a backroom team who are all confident to lead a team, have that experience.
It doesn't feel like he's surrounded himself with yes men who'll just nod and agree to everything he says. But people who'll speak up, have their own opinions and who will contribute more than sticking out some cones and observing some training drills.
We haven't just got a proper coach as our manager, but a whole team of proper coaches, leaders and former managers.
The confidence that EtH must have to hire his former boss to work in a role beneath him shows he has a strong sense of conviction of his own mind, yet suggests he is still open to learn and take in other people's ideas.
For the first time in a long time it feels like we have a serious bunch of professionals taking hold of this squad of players, and that excites me.
Really looking forward to this season, even if I don't have huge expectations of what we will achieve. Just looking forward to top class football professionals getting this team to play good football, with fight and passion.
It's only the start of the journey and there will be plenty of twists and turns, even the occasional bump in the road ahead, but it's a journey I am happy we are heading out on.
01 Aug 2022 08:36:51
Agreed, Shappy.
Some strong leaders on the touchline now - just need a few out on the pitch!
01 Aug 2022 10:34:15
"Less spoken", not a phrase you are usually familiar with Shaps. ?.
01 Aug 2022 11:51:22
I laughed at the way Ronaldo reacted yesterday to instructions as if instructions from a coach are beneath Ronaldo. He just did not even care, not sure anyone has told him what to do in many years and don't think he liked it at all.
01 Aug 2022 11:54:20
Yes things look really rosy today.
We did have a decent pre-season under LVG as well.
The right time to decide things will be when he loses maybe 4-1 to Liverpool or gets a 4-4 draw with a team like aston villa.
Does ETH actually drop players like fred, mctom, Maguire, Lindelof after a heavy defeat? Does he still believe in the same philosophy even if the team concedes lot of goals.
Previous managers like LVG or Ole went to anti-football after heavy defeats.
I realise there will be odd games, where our backline will be exposed and we might even be 7th or 8th placed until the winter before the players start to gel better.
I just hope the idea of attacking football and the philosophy doesn't revert back to let's grind a result by trying not to lose. It hasn't worked for 10 years, it still wont.
01 Aug 2022 12:45:31
Do you think Kev? Looked like he nodded to me. Does everything Ronaldo does have to be scrutinised within an inch of its life?
01 Aug 2022 13:02:47
Gds2. Ronaldo left before full time.
Is he more special than everyone else.
01 Aug 2022 13:24:42
No Leahy, ten Hag himself said after that players aren't expected to hang around if they get subbed during a friendly and he wasn't the only one who left.
01 Aug 2022 13:36:17
Agreed. As I've said, unlike the doomsayers who think nothing has changed, I believe there's been a dramatic internal review and acceptance that a complete reboot was in order. The problems at United have had more than a decade to fester. They started before SAF retired. I realize that RVP brought us a title but the fact that we were resorting to a 30 year old with a history of injuries to achieve it while failing to address the startling decline in midfield always seemed an exercise in short term papering over the cracks. "Rei"naldo was just the final manifestation of that short-termism. Who have City acquired? Haaland, 22. Liverpool? Nunez, 23. Excellent young players with years of football in front of them.
We may not be too successful this coming season. We still have a legacy of players we should either never have bought or sold long ago, but I am hopeful that at least we are creating a proper structure from which success in the future can be built, albeit from a much reduced financial and reputational base. The Woodward era is over, thank goodness. Patience.
01 Aug 2022 14:45:01
Players should stay and support their team mates, especially if they were playing in the flipping team. If that was not an expectation on the players then the expectation is wrong. Sets a horrible tone for the squad in my opinion. Why on earth would players not want to see the game they played to the very end? Is is mind boggling and send an awful message to the other players.
01 Aug 2022 18:45:02
No, a few left, he did what he was told by the manager. Are we going to have this with every little thing he does? It’s embarrassing, my main reason for why he should leave, it’s all about him and not about the club. I guess if he left someone else would get it though.