03 Sep 2024 13:32:55
Hopefully Ugarte can get at least 60 plus minutes across the 2 friendly games for Uruguay. Hopefully he can play two full games, although I'm not sure if it is feasible, given his lack of match fitness.
03 Sep 2024 14:12:07
Only just saw that he actually played (and excelled) at CB in the Copa semi-final. Another square peg, but good to know, you never know what will be required during matches (ie Fernandes also filling in at CB! ) .
03 Sep 2024 14:48:40
Pretty sure Ten Haag’s comments about Ugarte’s fitness were just so that he can justify saving him for the Carabao Cup game against Barnsley. got to make it three trophies in three seasons, and his best chance of doing that is with the Mickey Mouse cup.
03 Sep 2024 18:30:33
3 in 3 would be a decent return with the crap that we have had, and continue to have at our disposal.
03 Sep 2024 20:55:43
Second best team in the country over the last 2 seasons according to Erik.
04 Sep 2024 02:28:35
Jimbobred. You could argue that Bruno and Martinez would get into just about every other starting eleven the world over and Casemiro was one of the best CDMs in the world when we signed him. Varane was also one of the best in his position (when fit), and let’s not even get started on Ronaldo. When properly motivated, Rashford has shown that he has the potential to be a 30+ goals a season player too, and in Mainoo and Garnacho, we have two of the brightest young players in world football.
Are these players crap, or is it the coaching?
As for the rest of the squad, we’re at a point where most of the players ETH has at his disposal are ones that he’s signed (Onana, Evans, Antony, Erickson, Malacia, De Ligt, Ugarte, Mazroui, Zirkzee, Hoijlund) or opted to retain. The club has spent an insane amount of money bringing in players for this guy, so if the squad is “crap”, he only has himself to blame.
Off the top of my head, the only players who are still at the club who haven’t been offered new deals in the two years since Ten Haag came in are Lindelof, Shaw and Maguire, and we’ve brought in four new CBs at a cost of over £150m (Martinez, Evans, De Ligt, and Yoro) and two left backs (albeit, one on loan) during that time to replace them.
04 Sep 2024 09:59:16
Redseven,
I disgaree with most of what you said, I don't thing Bruno gets into the top clubs starting 11. most don't even play a number 10 . Martinez is good but he has started the games where we conceded 6 against brighton, 4 against brighton, 7 against Liverpool and again 3 against liverpool he is the best we have but I don't think he makes the top clubs starting 11 either. Varane certainly wasn't one of the best center back in the world when we signed him he was carried by ramos most of hus career who was the actual world class center back next to varane. Casimero was one of the best DMs in the world but he had modric and kroos to pass the football for him and he was in decline a good 18 months prior to us signing him as madrid tried to replace him twice prior to us signing him. Rashford only plays well 12 months before his contract is up for renewal as per his last 2 good seasons was before 12/ 18 months before his contract expires. Garnacho is overrated busy player but lacks the final touch and quality he started over 30 games last season and hit 3 goals if he didn't already play for us we wouldn't be rushing to sign him. ronaldo was over the hill for the premier league. I would say the players are crap and the coaching is also crap.
04 Sep 2024 12:06:12
Ronaldo was the third highest scorer in the league the season before Ten Haag came in despite playing in a side that suffered what was then our worst ever league finish. Past his best, most definitely, but still one of the best finishers in the league and a whole lot better than any of our other strikers then or now.
Martinez isn’t quite on the same level as Van Dijk, Saliba, or Diaz, but he players alongside them in a back two at their respective clubs, and stat wise, Bruno is up there with the main creative players at Liverpool, Arsenal, and City despite playing in a poorly performing (and poorly coached) team.
Varane was absolutely a world class center back. You don’t last as long as he did at Real Madrid without that being the case. Ramos certainly helped to cover for some of his limitations, but the opposite was also true. He also won a World Cup with France and was runner up in the last one. Last time I checked, Ramos wasn’t playing alongside him there.
I take your point about Mainoo and Garnacho and do think that we as fans and the British press have over-hyped them a little, but there’s clearly a lot of potential there. Certainly as much as there is at some of the other big clubs in the league, anyway; if not more so (there weren’t many clubs with two players in the race for the Golden Boy award last season, I’m sure) .
Our squad still has issues (both when it comes to depth and the quality of some of the players who are still on the books), but this idea that Ten Haag has over-achieved with the players he has at his disposal really baffles me, because when it comes to both league position and performances on the pitch, he has clearly failed to deliver.
Even if you want to argue that the squad is “crap”, whose fault is that exactly? Most of the current squad were either signed by Ten Haag or given new deals during his tenure, so any deficiencies should fall squarely on him.
04 Sep 2024 20:00:40
People keep referring to certain players were eth players because they were signed during his tenure. Do you know if they actually were his choice or were they given to him.
Also, players like Maguire, Lindelof, Eriksen etc have done and will continue to hamstring us. Yet. he has 2 from 2, and you wouldn't bet against him getting 3 from 3.
Assuming that happens, and he stays another season and then ends up 5 from 4, when do the haters stop hating and start supporting?
05 Sep 2024 02:33:29
It’s crazy the lengths that some people will go to to make excuses for this man. Next you’ll be telling me he’s only bald because somebody at the club chose his hairstyle for him.
Fans would start to get behind Ten Haag if he could imprint some sort of recognizable style of play on the team that he’s now spent more than half a billion pounds assembling and start taking accountability for some of his many failings. Sadly, he’d rather brag about finishing eighth in the league and winning the FA Cup thanks to a dodgy VAR decision against Coventry and then laugh in the face of anybody who points out that our performances on the pitch just aren’t good enough.