Agreed - I'd prefer to see our younger players given a chance to play the Ajax style over persisting with senior players who can't play it and changing his entire philosophy. If this current style is being drilled in training, the education of our younger players is at risk and their potential to ever play progressive football might be wasted.
Good point, I saw that with the U19 in the UEFA youth league. Copenhagen dominated possession. It looks like this style is trained down to the youth players, which is concerning
Under-performing players need dropped for the kids, the kids are hungry and will work and show the lazy entitled players what they need to do to get in the team again because they are not doing it.
As an Ajax fan i can tell you that our 2019 Ajax team was insane, United doesn’t have the same quality atm, maybe when the starting back 4 are fit. All our players where amazing in position, that’s the Ajax DNA. We also had the legs and talent to go for 90 mins. With all due respect, you think a coach at a club as United is going to play fantasy ball like this video? Come on now. Love ur videos tho, keep up!
Couldn't agree more. Especially players like Blind, De Ligt, De Jong, Mazraoui, that build up unit were so comfortable in possession, know their positions. Martinez, Varane, Shaw are maybe comparable in some ways, but none are fit. Evans and Maguire can not play like Blind and De Ligt. Mason Mount is maybe comparable to Schone, but United dont have a De Jong type player anywhere. Even in the wildest dreams that Kobbie Mainoo could be anything like that, he's been injured since pre-season. Dave, you're living in cuckoo land if you think he's going to play that lineup and half the players you put in the team have been injured or unavailable for most of the season.
Shaw is injured. What you are missing is the fact that Man United you don’t get time to experiment because a win is expected in every game. If Ten Hag fields a team with no centre backs and gets beaten then it’s P45 time.
100 percent. There’s no patience at the club and with pundits like Gary Neville and others they expect you to win every game and that limits the devolopment of many players.
@@martinx00x at the start it can and will happen but we have to improve game by game and be perfect eventually. The one thing i hate is getting hammered in a derby game
@@taliquemillerLindelof has been terrible so far this season. Maguire makes more sense. Casemiro is a DM, and has been incredible unintelligent, lazy, poor in possession, isn’t press resistant. Maguire is the best long passer in our team, still isn’t press resistant, is an actual CB, is much more intelligent, isn’t lazy. We DO have the players for this, but he complicated it so much for no reason, which is common for him tbh.
@@oscarjenkins7505 every one has been poor apart from rasmus and Dalot hasn’t been bad either apart from this last game. Everyone has been so bad that people are starting to think that Maguire is decent… evans has been our best defender and most consistent player this season and that tells u a lot. Casemiro at CB with any of these guys would be a death wish and you’d lose all of his good qualities that has made him such an important player
Shaw being injured all season has had a huge impact not only on our ability to play through our defense but with his crossing, set pieces, and his connection with Rashford. Rashford has looked so lost and has been terrible and I think that coincides with Luke Shaw not being there
I agree with you although that’s no excuse for rashford being lazy on defence in the first bunch of games. Not tracking your man is a decision making thing. All that said our boys and eth will turn it around when those donkeys who own us release a proper statement. From what I’ve heard in and around the club day to day is super shite and negative which is a shame but totally understandable.
Shaw is Like Rashord, has purple patches and his moments but no where near as good/consistent as United fans make him out to be. Was only 2 seasons ago they were demanding for him to be sold 😂
My response to that very strange comment from Ten Hag would be to ask, “Then why in the world have you spent so much money on bringing in 3 players from that Ajax team and attempting to bring in De Jong last year? Clearly you wanted to play that style at some point. I feel like this is Ten Hag giving up somewhat.
He wanted to play the Ajax style but the most important player in that team was Frankie De Jong and he thought he was going to get him. When he didn’t, I think that’s when he gave up the idea of being like Ajax
Also don't think that he want to play like Ajax entirely, but with players like Martinez, Hojland now, Anthony and FDJ, he would have had character in the squad which we are lacking on a massive scale all over tbh
Finally Dave you are talking sense 👏🏼 but he will never drop rashford and Bruno(not good enough) the club will not allow it it’s politics I’m a afraid. That team is young and experience together with energy and I like it. If ten hag had the balls to do it the fans will back him 100% he is under massive pressure bc fans have no patience and results is a must from the board. Send this video to ten hag. Let’s see what he does against Newcastle, if he still needs more players then January is almost here as a ball playing fast cb is a must anyway. The next three games are crucial for ten hag to send a message to these untouchables and bin them
@@StatmanDave What young lads? The United academy is an absolute joke and has been for decades. They can't perform in the youth leagues. How can they possibly be expected to take on the best teams in the world? Magic?
Keep up the good work Dave. 👍🏽 Your attention to detail is very commendable and educative. 👏🏽 I hope a top team recruits you someday (if that's part of your dreams) but until then, you're special. ❤
@@StatmanDaveWhile I agree with some but you have to remember if this happens and I believe he would love to do or 2 of these but the squad is already toxic as it is can you imagine what will happen. The problem is he won't be backed and supported by Arnold and the others cause they don't know how to handle a club. That's the only problem I see from this
Playing nearly everyone out of position and a bunch of kids with two games a week is a recipe for disaster. Particularly considering up until just recently Onana hasn't been on his best form. His two best attackers in Bruno and Rashford also do their best work on the break. Mainoo has been unfit until recently and Shaw is still out. For me the video kind of demonstrates ETH's point. Hopefully Sir Jim sorts out the recruitment this summer. I also don't know if that group is dominating possession anyway, they are all fine passers but none of them exceptional for their position apart from Onana. They're like a bunch of serviceable options.
As a Liverpool fan I genuinely hope that your lineup is the one we face in December at anfield, we will have a genuine chance of topping the 7-0! Ole has a great record against Liverpool and city? Bruh, we wrecked you 9-0 on aggregate in his last season lol.
I agree 100% that Ten Hag is completely wrong, and I agree that he needs to be much more creative, but I have no idea why you’ve complicated this so much. There’s no way you’re playing Casemiro CB. He’s not press resistant, he’s been terrible on the ball this season, he isn’t press resistant, he’s lazy. Maguire is right there. He’s still not press resistant, but he’s our best long passer, and that’s exactly what you wanted in that position. He’s also very aggressive, more intelligent than Casemiro, and he isn’t lazy. Obviously, once Martinez is back, him at CB is a given. Shaw at LB would then make sense, too. Blind regularly played LB under Ten Hag, thinking back to the 2021/22 season, I believe? With Blind LB (Shaw), Martinez LCB, Timber RCB, and Mazraoui RB (Dalot). Blind then often dropped in as a third CB, with Mazraoui pushing high up the pitch. Alvarez (Amrabat) would often drop between the CB’s, too. This honestly couldn’t be a more perfect fit for the players mentioned. They al suit these roles brilliantly. We also have Reguilon for while we are waiting for Martinez to get back. He’s different to Shaw, but then Dalot could drop into a back three, so Reguilon could push high up the pitch. Luckily, both Shaw and Dalot are very flexible players, so they’re easy to work around. Also, that front 4 is WAY too young and inexperienced. If Amrabat is our deepest midfielder, then Mount could push forward a bit. The 3rd midfielder would be experimental. Whoever works best. I’d guess Mainoo but Bruno, Casemiro, Hannibal, Gore, Eriksen, Scott, even Donny, are all options. Antony RW, as he was at Ajax, Rashford LW, as Garnacho is even more direct imo, and Hojlund up front. That’s a great team for a more possession based system, without over-complicating things. You could even play Martial LW, who slows the play down more. In comparison to 2021/22 Ajax side: Pasveer - Onana Blind - Shaw Martinez - Martinez Timber - Maguire/Varane Mazraoui - Dalot Alvarez - Amrabat Gravenberch - probably Mainoo Berghuis - Mount Tadic - Rashford/Martial Haller - Hojlund Antony - Antony All pretty much perfect fits except LW.
Don't disagree but I do wonder has he saw something in training that has made him think otherwise? Injuries haven't helped either. Would be nice to see some younger players getting more game time
I think eth is doing a pretty good job because the club is just too toxic. The new generation of fans that watch football for bet tickets, the hierarchy at the club, the intoxicated academy player like rushy mason, and the lot, the toxic opposition fans the TH-camrs who think football is won on a drawing board just too much toxic stuff for him or any manager to deal with. Even Pep knows how hard it is at least let's give some space.
Last season was probably more than what we all expected, my realistic expectations last year were to develop a style a play and give it a good go in the cups, seems like we've gone backwards and have no clue what we're trying to do on the pitch
Injuries without a doubt has a big impact on the poor start to the season. Look at City without Rodri and De Bruyne, lost games. Ten Hag misses 4-5-6-7 at times from his ideal starting 11. Without injuries, should be: Hojlund Rashford - Bruno - Mount Amrabat - Mainoo Shaw - Martinez - Varane - Wan Bissaka Onana The bench looking like this: Hannibal, Casemiro, McT, Malacia, Maguire, Dalot, Eriksen, Martial, Antony, Garnacho, Pellistri, Amad, Lindelof, Evans, Bayindir. The players would have more confidince, hence getting better results, all playing better football. But that is not the case, would love to see players injury free for a long period of time. Ten Hag made Old Trafford a fortress last season, too many first team players injuried this season is not normal. When the players are all injury free, Ten Hag will do wonders again. As you say, Ten Hag needs to be more creative with his team selection and gameplan, @statmandave your suggestion also looks very interesting and I believe it would work. I wish some MUFC decision makers watches the suggestions around many sensible youtubers.
Absolutely, there needs to be more judgement when he has his best eleven fit again but there's no reason we can't be dominating teams like Copenhagen, Burnley & Wolves. Even with all the injuries Man Utd can & should be better.
@@StatmanDave I love the Shaw and Casemiro pairing as CBs. When Martinez is back, even a Martinez/Casemiro pairing would be out of this world. But i love the whole 11 and tacticst suggestion, it would rock. Please please let it be so, Ten Hag. It´s my christmas wish.
In other words you are saying we are poor because of the absence of only 4 players- Mainoo , Shaw, Martinez and Wan Bissaka. Can you justify your thinking.
@@StatmanDave What about burnout ? People are attacking Bruno and Rashford who contributed to 70 percent of our goals last season but look at what happened to Liverpools players the season after they competed for the Quadruple plus we had a world cup that congested the fixtures even more . There was some calling for Klopps head around this time , that and injuries has to be a contributor , I've watched goals from last season and before Martinez injury , they had patterns and played some good football there's no way that coaching has disappeared
@@OmarHamisi-p1p Injuries without a doubt has a big impact on the poor start to the season. Look at City without Rodri and De Bruyne, lost games. Where would Tottenham be, if Maddison is injured long term? Look at Liverpool when Van Dijk and Matip was long term injured a couple of years ago. Where would Newcastle be, if the likes of Guimaraes and Schar was to be long term injured? A few very good players can impact a team in ways, hard to understand. It´s not only about skills but very much also about mentality, confidence.
Personally i feel the problem is that last season we had Licha who played line breaking passes and ensured that we could play a high line. This season with Maguire and Evans we're restricted from playing the same way. Also one of Rashford or Holjung need to adapt their game for both to fit into a system. Also by looking at United you would assume that the tactic is to build the play out wide more than centrally however with Shaw injured Rashford seems more isolated and has to stay more wide rather than cut in to the middle.
While I don't think that this exact line-up is the solution I fully agree we need to get players into the team who are able to pass and move, create space, keep the ball going and also keep possession. Watching how the whole City team was in permanent movement while we were static with only short bursts of energy was an eye-opener. Mount is such a player but he is lost if surrounded by others who might be individually brilliant at times but keep the ball for too long, run into blind alleys or don't look up. Unfortunately one player who would be great to play alongside Mount is Sancho but this chapter is probably closed. Also Martial is able to play that way.
We've been saying this since 2009 when we got destroyed by Pep. We should have done everything after Fergie left especially and LVG came in to do this style. If we had we'd be a good team now and have a plan / style implemented for the past few years.
Couldn’t agree with you more on the idea and i believe it would be a great success (at least in terms of style of play). But the most unfortunate and most frustrating thing is that, ETH would not have the balls to risk or even partially try this.
Really enjoyed this Dave! Appreciate that you're video is exploring solutions, not just piling on, which is all most people are doing. I'd love to see this lineup tomorrow against Newcastle. Who would you swap in for Amad and Shaw while they're injured?
I think people don't understand what Ten Hag was doing at Ajax. He brought directness to a club that has had a base of playing possession for decades. He has always been a pragmatist that builds on top on what is already there.
Managers at Ajax don’t really have to do anything. The philosophy is imbedded within the players from youth, and they all train passing and different positions.
My bro i think if im not mistaken Shaw is injured and we have already seen ETH play Shaw in that position many times so he knows... Nobody knows how ETH wants to play this season because he as not has his first 11 or even 14 fit and available.... and if you think manioo or mason is near the player that frenkie is, the ganja you smoking is some wild shit hence why ETH wanted to get frenkie for the entirety of a summer window
Totally agree with you Dave, the lineup would be maverick but id still like to see him stay true to his values and actually improvise rather then setup so badly, play so badly and keep losing. Even with what we do have, he should be able to grow some and drop some underperforming players. Lets see what he does tonite.
Imagine having Alphonso Davies and Frimpong as our starting LB and RB. That would be very very entertaining. Imagine how many goals Hojlund would score.
You lost me at Case at a ball playing Cb.. that's just pulling at strings now. He wanted frankie and got Case. For ten hag, the pivot is pivitol to the way he wanted to play. if we had someone like bissuma or rodri, we would absolutely play that way.Maino is the closest
Currently, especially with Casemiro's sluggishness in midfield & the defensive struggles, would you not like to see Ten Hag try something different? A pivot of Mainoo/Amrabat/Mount/Eriksen ahead of Casemiro + Varane/Maguire/Evans?
He played there last season once when Martinez got injured and he played great but ten decided to keep him in midfield as shaw was also performing in that position.
I agree with most of what your saying.... all im saying is imagine he does this next game agaisnt fulham.... and we loose 2-0 due to people not use to playing like this..... the pressure off of the media etc i think would finish his job. Next thing we know conte is at united and my brains are up the wall
I do agree he’s let the pressure build up so much that he now hasn’t got the option to play a team like that but that’s his fault. I’d like to think United fans would give him the benefit of the doubt having 2-3 academy players starting but who knows? However you’re right, the media would kill him.
The fact that we are clutching at straws in this way is depressing. I agree with everything you've said. Doesn't matter how many chances we concede, we're shite defensively anyway. May as well try to score some goals.
Making changes like this may not produce the best results. However it will help us to build an identity and help the recruitment team see what we’re trying to do and where we’re lacking. Great video 👌
He's going to be the next manager relieved of his very highly paid duties...... The thing is, perhaps Ten Hag needs to be reminded that the Eridivisie is not the Premier League and vice versa, its two completely different styles of football and a totally different quality of clubs and players from top to bottom of the league. The players at a club can be changed, the posiition they play, how they play etc..... Pep and Arteta are 2 managers who have done this to numerous players and it has been successful so it can be done, maybe Ten Hag just isn't a very inspirational manager, maybe he can't get players fired up or he can't get players to buy into what he wants. To be honest, from an outsider's point of view, it looks like he might have actually lost the dressing room and that is catastrophic for Man Utd.................. but awfully funny for the rest of us!!!!!!
To some extent, I think ETH was trying to send a message to the board and some deadwood in the squad, and with your analysis, I can accept that Rashy and MC maybe Bruno can't play his style because Bruno just have gpod work rate and and those Hollywood passes he can't retain possession unlike the like of Bernado Silva and KDB and Rashy like to play direct so I don't mind ìf ETH use the academy players and push out those big names costing him to pay his style of football I'm ready to have patient I don't know others. Thanks for always giving the fans hope and insight. I hope you get hired in the club technical department
I don't disagree with getting creative and thinking out of the box, but to be able to play attacking possession football, you still need a relatively decent back four that can be depended to keep the ball away from your defensive third so that the offensive players can do their thing. If your back four is going to allow opposing teams to not just regularly pressure them but also concede goals or allow many shots at goal, then your offensive players will be doing too much helping out the defence, spending too much time in your own half, and not seeing the ball enough for them to exert their influence on the game. Either that or they leave the defence on their own, and we get routed. That is United's problem at the moment. We also need a much higher work rate from all 11 players. Especially the front 5-6. The defence must push higher up to compress the pitch. But they don't have the self-confidence now to do it. Or maybe they lack to defensive abilities to defend high so they prefer to sit deeper. Sitting deeper means more space for opposing teams and more ground for our front 6 to cover, allowing opposing players more ease to negate the press. To press well, you need a lot of players in a tight space to be able to exert greater pressure and create more nervousness in the opposing team. If the defence is sitting deep, it's just a waste of energy trying to press. Once you can get the defensive side sorted out, then the front 6 just needs to up their work rate in order to execute the press well. To adopt a high line, you need a back 5 with a lot of self-belief, self-confidence, and trust in each other. The ones we have now, including those you propose, don't appear to have that at the moment.
This is what happens when you play too much FIFA and football manager!That team would be the shortest team in the league and I'd love to see them defend corners! Multifunctional players can survive in the Eredivise when your team is better than most!But in the Prem they will get found out! In an alternate universe after 5 losses,fans would turn on him because by then his team is 19th or 20th in the league! It would be intersting to see it though but I don't see any top club having to be that creative apart from through necessity! At a smaller club maybe you will get time to try this but not at United!
I think Dave is underestimating what it means to be a manager.. pep said it to the journalist as well when they questioned him about Erik “You think it’s easy? Because you’re a journalist.. it’s not easy”
100% - injuries are definitely part of the problem but Ten Hag can do more by thinking creatively like he did at Ajax. Even if it doesn't work at least it show that he's trying instead of making questionable comments that look like excuses
No offence you are just playing players out of position and we all see how players are caught out of position, because of not knowing position and 5 mins into the video - you have already changed 3 players out of position, and meinoo as a first time player like a lot..... I mean agree that there is not enough players, that's the sad truth Calm down dude, let ETH do what he want
the reason Erik ten Hag has said he cant play like he played at Ajax is because there is not player like Frenkie de Jong i think Mainoo could play a FdJ type role but then you need a midfielder next to him who kinda stay back but is also very good on the ball and even if this team works 1 injury and the whole team is f´d again because you have to play maguire or you have to play Wan-Bissaka who we all know are not good on the ball which means apart from Lisando Martinez and Shaw you dont have any depth in defence and in the pivots also Diallo is a very different type of player than Ziyech the same goes for Hannibal and Donny van de Beek and Hojlund is a striker Tadic was played as a false nine so it wont play the same as Ajax and unless EtH gets players who are good on the ball for both depth and first team players and for the people ssaying but Antony was a different type than Ziyech Ajax had Tadic ont he left who was the creative winger who doent need pace Unless EtH gets a Frenkie de Jong type of player (which means someone who you can pass the ball to and know he wont lose it and dribble past his men or give a good pass) and a good ball playing RCB i dont see him ever getting close tot the Ajax style
While at Ajax, Erik ten Hag wanted Malacia and Mason Mount. He has brought them in and also brought in Martinez, Antony, Onana who were at Ajax. Add Eriksen to that, who used to be at Ajax, and Amrabat who he had at Utrecht. Oh and Donny van de Beek who was already at United. That’s 8 players! He clearly doesn’t have his own unwavering football philosophy and just adjusted accordingly at Ajax. What was discussed in the job interview with Murtough & Arnold? What was the expectation outlined as far as playing style? I think we have a bigger problem when our “Football Director” cannot crystallize the fine details of the expected playing style when making decisions on the coach to hire.
Man dropped Rashford and Bruno. At this stage I would just be happy with that. If those two start against Newcastle and Fulham, I don’t know how long Erik lasts. It’s such a shame what’s happened - last season Erik seemed so full of ideas, but this season it’s just disappeared!
Dave, i am no expert at tactics but it seems to me that we never have a passing option in space for the most part and most phases. And most teams we play against seem to do this extremely easily. Do our players out of position be doing more?
Having to get that creative to get a poor version of Ajax is exactly the problem. 1 or 2 bold calls and players playing out of position is one thing but an entire back 6 out of their natural position is wild. Doing it because we can't get any worse is insane. This squad needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt properly with a director of football to oversee it. Anything else is a short term fix. We've gone through this cycle far too many times and have been screaming for a director of football for what feels like a decade now.
Onana, Martinez, Ambrabat, Eriksen, Mount, Höjlund, Antony are his players. That’s the base of an Ajax style team. He shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions on transfers anymore. His only role should be to manage the club and advise which players are surplus also request a certain type of player not a specific player. His recruitment is abysmal. In the summer messaged Richard Arnold and Co and stated that we needed a RW that can play LW, LB that can play LM or LW. LCB that can play LB and CM that can also play as a CM. Our injuries this year or were out due to drama were LB,CB,CM,RW and a striker. I wasn’t that far off. Ten Hag is capable. His philosophy is good. His tactics are underwhelming. He must improving his staff if he wants to continue as manager for Manchester United. If you injuries are your excuse. Why didn’t we focus on squad depth instead of buying 3 players for 200M. That’s not the correct approach to transcend your philosophy. He deserves a director of football that can focus on what United actually need. Doesn’t mean that person is Blanc, Mitchell etc. They need to look really hard.
@statmandave I like your out of the box thinking. I wish Ten Hag would try something like you suggested. This would also work, when Martinez is back, and put Shaw as left back? Pairing Casemiro and Martinez as CBs?
We have Donny Van De Beek and you are ignoring him and playing Mejbri Hannibal. Joker. He played in that Ajax team, and is currently being ignored and pundits are not putting enough pressure. Mason Mount doesn't play 2 games and all of a sudden its WW3. Donny is obviously tactically very good. Your team isn't good enough and would be beaten easily by Newcastle. We need Ericksen, Donny, Mason, all playing. I like the Amrabat move. But we need Casemiro playing in the middle, with Varane and Lindelof in the middle. Onana Amrabat Varane Lindelof Reguilon Casemiro Eriksen Mason Donny Garnacho Martial Honestly this team would be so technically good.
As much as I agree with you Dave, it's like the manager hasn't been allowed to experiment as much as he would want to.. And then there's the case of injuries, Mainoo just came back you can't be rushing into the PL. Lastly ManUtd isn't Ajax in shape and philosophy. We first need to agree that after Fergie there's been no particular style of football here unlike Ajax who do. You might want to say ETH upped the intensity and creativity but here he's starting from scratch. He needs time, most importantly footballing heads not Mort or Edward.
Even among the available players he is selecting mcsauce who doesn’t even receive the ball from defense over players like mejbri or vdb who are more technical . He is to blame for his player selection
This suggested line up reminds me of probably the most off the wall SAF lineup from the latter years against Arsenal. If I remember right, both da Silva brothers in midfield with I think O'Shea and a weird defense as well.
The thing with this is atleast 5 of those players have been out injured and only coming back so maybe that is what Ten Hag was getting at?? Great video btw
But how can ETH play a makeshift backline with 4 players out of preferred position. Shaw is out for long time. Why you put shaw in? And Mainoo is too young. Cannot do such experimentation with large clubs.
I ALWAYS say that I would prefer to try something different, rather than persist with something that doesn't work. So I would be happy to see ETH try more things like this. Having said that, that defence would indeed be slaughtered IMO 😕 A winger who is fast would destroy Amrabat, and one who is decent at dribbling would destroy Casemiro, and any crosses aimed at Shaw and Dalot would likely result in goals. If you want a high press, Rashford CANNOT play, which is unlikely given his status and wages, even though he deserves to be dropped. 😕 But yeah, I'd rather try ANYTHING than keeping playing the same way we are now
Dave! We simply didn't sign the players everyone knew we needed. I agree with midfield, but the defense could use Wan bissaka as a CB. You need a good one on one CB to make it work. You can't play Luke Shaw and Casemiro as CBs. Bruno has to be in the CAM position behind Rasmos. Anthony is a useless forward player. He loses the ball so many times and causes turn overs for the opposition. At best put him at left back and Diego at Right back. I'm still not sure if Mount is ready yet. So play McTomney instead in CDM with Cobi. As far as striker is concerned, either Rasmos or Martial should work. Although, I wish we had brought in a seasoned striker to alternate with Rasmos. Rashford just needs a good set up in midfield to get back in form. He's had no proper support. Finally, we need to by a RW, because we suck in that position. Greenwood was our guy for that position. So either bring him back or find someone else. Anthony should not be playing there at all.
PEP evolved, the way his team played in Spain had similarities but an adapted version I'm Germany and now in England he's evolved again, Ten HAG is forcing a style that doesn't work
I mostly agree with you Dave, but not this time. Man Utd don't have the capacity to replicate Ajax play right now with so many absentees due to injury. The back four that we have now simply lacks quality. ETH would have done all these changes you are speaking of of he saw the possibility of success in training.
How can you add players that aren't available , I don't think he meant it as in long term because he always talks about control and transitions so you can't take what he is saying at face value
Some good points tbf and the injuries have hurt us massively but once everyone's back I don't think our back 6-7 is the problem. Are defence was brilliant last season o think it's our creative 3 they need a re vamp or at least they need dropping. Try youngster for example I think our best youngster creative 3 is Garnacho Mejbri and pellistri or maybe without jus youngsters Garnacho mount and amad with ambrabat or casemero and Eriksson in the midfield but yea overall I agree we just need something different. So much potential
I think the shape is all wrong when possession is lost. Fergie's teams and the great 1970s Leeds teams all quickly got into two banks of four when losing possession. With United, there's a huge gap between the back four and the rest of the team when possession is lost. They're wide open!
Ten Hag has been told to play direct, transition football by the people above him because they've told him thats the united heritage (And probably to suit our current 'stars'). We are never going to play Ajax football, unfortunately.
The thing we signed players with high wages and agreed playing time , if these star players doesn't get time they agreed , again ten hag gonna scrutinized by the media,fans and their agents and the sacking cycle will continue.......
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Agreed - I'd prefer to see our younger players given a chance to play the Ajax style over persisting with senior players who can't play it and changing his entire philosophy. If this current style is being drilled in training, the education of our younger players is at risk and their potential to ever play progressive football might be wasted.
Good point, I saw that with the U19 in the UEFA youth league. Copenhagen dominated possession. It looks like this style is trained down to the youth players, which is concerning
I think playing and coaching the youth is the only way, write this season off, give the youth a chance see whose worthy to play for the shirt.
Under-performing players need dropped for the kids, the kids are hungry and will work and show the lazy entitled players what they need to do to get in the team again because they are not doing it.
Our youngsters are rubbish
As an Ajax fan i can tell you that our 2019 Ajax team was insane, United doesn’t have the same quality atm, maybe when the starting back 4 are fit. All our players where amazing in position, that’s the Ajax DNA. We also had the legs and talent to go for 90 mins. With all due respect, you think a coach at a club as United is going to play fantasy ball like this video? Come on now. Love ur videos tho, keep up!
Couldn't agree more. Especially players like Blind, De Ligt, De Jong, Mazraoui, that build up unit were so comfortable in possession, know their positions. Martinez, Varane, Shaw are maybe comparable in some ways, but none are fit. Evans and Maguire can not play like Blind and De Ligt. Mason Mount is maybe comparable to Schone, but United dont have a De Jong type player anywhere. Even in the wildest dreams that Kobbie Mainoo could be anything like that, he's been injured since pre-season.
Dave, you're living in cuckoo land if you think he's going to play that lineup and half the players you put in the team have been injured or unavailable for most of the season.
Ajacied in hart en nieren. I wrote about the same as you wrote. 👍
@@SkullSnax Pretty sure Maino has shown he can definitely be top quality..
@@lgdlacruzbeing top quality and learning to master a position and produce good results during the season are two different things.
@@leri7222 lmao
Shaw is injured. What you are missing is the fact that Man United you don’t get time to experiment because a win is expected in every game. If Ten Hag fields a team with no centre backs and gets beaten then it’s P45 time.
100 percent. There’s no patience at the club and with pundits like Gary Neville and others they expect you to win every game and that limits the devolopment of many players.
I don't care if we lose as long as we execute a clear pattern of play. But right now we are just lost. Lost more than ever 😢
you say that until you start getting blown out of the water like Brentford did to us when we tried to play that way...
@@martinx00x at the start it can and will happen but we have to improve game by game and be perfect eventually. The one thing i hate is getting hammered in a derby game
@@On_my_way_to_Nirvana-jx7ps 😂 you must be watching another Man Utd then
Funnily enough, the further Dave went on explaining his line up, the further I was getting closer to agreeing with Ten Hag.
That's what I was gonna say, shuffling players till 5 or 6 of them are out of position
Casemiro at Cb over lindelof is crackheadery.
@@taliquemillerLindelof has been terrible so far this season. Maguire makes more sense. Casemiro is a DM, and has been incredible unintelligent, lazy, poor in possession, isn’t press resistant. Maguire is the best long passer in our team, still isn’t press resistant, is an actual CB, is much more intelligent, isn’t lazy. We DO have the players for this, but he complicated it so much for no reason, which is common for him tbh.
And when we loose they will say he is playing players out of their position
@@oscarjenkins7505 every one has been poor apart from rasmus and Dalot hasn’t been bad either apart from this last game. Everyone has been so bad that people are starting to think that Maguire is decent… evans has been our best defender and most consistent player this season and that tells u a lot. Casemiro at CB with any of these guys would be a death wish and you’d lose all of his good qualities that has made him such an important player
Shaw being injured all season has had a huge impact not only on our ability to play through our defense but with his crossing, set pieces, and his connection with Rashford. Rashford has looked so lost and has been terrible and I think that coincides with Luke Shaw not being there
I agree with you although that’s no excuse for rashford being lazy on defence in the first bunch of games. Not tracking your man is a decision making thing.
All that said our boys and eth will turn it around when those donkeys who own us release a proper statement. From what I’ve heard in and around the club day to day is super shite and negative which is a shame but totally understandable.
Shaw is Like Rashord, has purple patches and his moments but no where near as good/consistent as United fans make him out to be. Was only 2 seasons ago they were demanding for him to be sold 😂
My response to that very strange comment from Ten Hag would be to ask, “Then why in the world have you spent so much money on bringing in 3 players from that Ajax team and attempting to bring in De Jong last year? Clearly you wanted to play that style at some point. I feel like this is Ten Hag giving up somewhat.
Actions & words are not matching up at the moment
The right kind of midfielder, especially a 10 and 6 allow you to do so much with your team.
@@StatmanDave Maybe he's sending a message to Ratcliffe and crew. Not sure if he's the kind of man to play 4D chess like that though.
@@StatmanDaveu have to ask tho is spending this much enough when we need to do more remember what ragnick said we need open heart surgery
It’s because the club have failed him.
He wanted to play the Ajax style but the most important player in that team was Frankie De Jong and he thought he was going to get him. When he didn’t, I think that’s when he gave up the idea of being like Ajax
Crazy right?
Also don't think that he want to play like Ajax entirely, but with players like Martinez, Hojland now, Anthony and FDJ, he would have had character in the squad which we are lacking on a massive scale all over tbh
So ajax didn't play like ajax under him after frenkie left?
@@sharifzahir5263 They didn’t get near to what they achieved in Europe when Frankie De Jong was there.
@@Eddie_theEagle They still played great football in the seasons after. Ten hag can still do it, no frenkie isn't an excuse
Finally Dave you are talking sense 👏🏼 but he will never drop rashford and Bruno(not good enough) the club will not allow it it’s politics I’m a afraid. That team is young and experience together with energy and I like it. If ten hag had the balls to do it the fans will back him 100% he is under massive pressure bc fans have no patience and results is a must from the board. Send this video to ten hag. Let’s see what he does against Newcastle, if he still needs more players then January is almost here as a ball playing fast cb is a must anyway. The next three games are crucial for ten hag to send a message to these untouchables and bin them
GET THE YOUNG LADS NOW.
@@StatmanDave What young lads? The United academy is an absolute joke and has been for decades. They can't perform in the youth leagues. How can they possibly be expected to take on the best teams in the world? Magic?
Superb man please send it to someone at united to reach ten hag
Keep up the good work Dave. 👍🏽
Your attention to detail is very commendable and educative. 👏🏽
I hope a top team recruits you someday (if that's part of your dreams) but until then, you're special. ❤
Thank you ❤
@@StatmanDaveWhile I agree with some but you have to remember if this happens and I believe he would love to do or 2 of these but the squad is already toxic as it is can you imagine what will happen. The problem is he won't be backed and supported by Arnold and the others cause they don't know how to handle a club. That's the only problem I see from this
@@jakeagius4678 yea fairs
Thanks Dave. Most uplifting reaction to the derby yet. I’m actually excited for the next game.
It was a good game
Playing nearly everyone out of position and a bunch of kids with two games a week is a recipe for disaster. Particularly considering up until just recently Onana hasn't been on his best form. His two best attackers in Bruno and Rashford also do their best work on the break. Mainoo has been unfit until recently and Shaw is still out. For me the video kind of demonstrates ETH's point. Hopefully Sir Jim sorts out the recruitment this summer.
I also don't know if that group is dominating possession anyway, they are all fine passers but none of them exceptional for their position apart from Onana. They're like a bunch of serviceable options.
As a Liverpool fan I genuinely hope that your lineup is the one we face in December at anfield, we will have a genuine chance of topping the 7-0!
Ole has a great record against Liverpool and city? Bruh, we wrecked you 9-0 on aggregate in his last season lol.
I agree 100% that Ten Hag is completely wrong, and I agree that he needs to be much more creative, but I have no idea why you’ve complicated this so much. There’s no way you’re playing Casemiro CB. He’s not press resistant, he’s been terrible on the ball this season, he isn’t press resistant, he’s lazy. Maguire is right there. He’s still not press resistant, but he’s our best long passer, and that’s exactly what you wanted in that position. He’s also very aggressive, more intelligent than Casemiro, and he isn’t lazy. Obviously, once Martinez is back, him at CB is a given. Shaw at LB would then make sense, too. Blind regularly played LB under Ten Hag, thinking back to the 2021/22 season, I believe? With Blind LB (Shaw), Martinez LCB, Timber RCB, and Mazraoui RB (Dalot). Blind then often dropped in as a third CB, with Mazraoui pushing high up the pitch. Alvarez (Amrabat) would often drop between the CB’s, too. This honestly couldn’t be a more perfect fit for the players mentioned. They al suit these roles brilliantly. We also have Reguilon for while we are waiting for Martinez to get back. He’s different to Shaw, but then Dalot could drop into a back three, so Reguilon could push high up the pitch. Luckily, both Shaw and Dalot are very flexible players, so they’re easy to work around.
Also, that front 4 is WAY too young and inexperienced. If Amrabat is our deepest midfielder, then Mount could push forward a bit. The 3rd midfielder would be experimental. Whoever works best. I’d guess Mainoo but Bruno, Casemiro, Hannibal, Gore, Eriksen, Scott, even Donny, are all options. Antony RW, as he was at Ajax, Rashford LW, as Garnacho is even more direct imo, and Hojlund up front. That’s a great team for a more possession based system, without over-complicating things. You could even play Martial LW, who slows the play down more.
In comparison to 2021/22 Ajax side:
Pasveer - Onana
Blind - Shaw
Martinez - Martinez
Timber - Maguire/Varane
Mazraoui - Dalot
Alvarez - Amrabat
Gravenberch - probably Mainoo
Berghuis - Mount
Tadic - Rashford/Martial
Haller - Hojlund
Antony - Antony
All pretty much perfect fits except LW.
I've been banging on about the mid and front line up for ages. I'm so glad you've come up with this analysis.
Don't disagree but I do wonder has he saw something in training that has made him think otherwise? Injuries haven't helped either. Would be nice to see some younger players getting more game time
I think eth is doing a pretty good job because the club is just too toxic. The new generation of fans that watch football for bet tickets, the hierarchy at the club, the intoxicated academy player like rushy mason, and the lot, the toxic opposition fans the TH-camrs who think football is won on a drawing board just too much toxic stuff for him or any manager to deal with. Even Pep knows how hard it is at least let's give some space.
everyone thinks they can be a manager now, its hilarious. no wonder why everyone says we united fans are delusional
Last season was probably more than what we all expected, my realistic expectations last year were to develop a style a play and give it a good go in the cups, seems like we've gone backwards and have no clue what we're trying to do on the pitch
ETH gotta play his own way. Bench the players that dont fit his system. Players need clarity too
Being a coach is far from being a football analyst
You were never at Ajax and you're not in man Utd
Injuries without a doubt has a big impact on the poor start to the season. Look at City without Rodri and De Bruyne, lost games.
Ten Hag misses 4-5-6-7 at times from his ideal starting 11.
Without injuries, should be:
Hojlund
Rashford - Bruno - Mount
Amrabat - Mainoo
Shaw - Martinez - Varane - Wan Bissaka
Onana
The bench looking like this:
Hannibal, Casemiro, McT, Malacia, Maguire, Dalot, Eriksen, Martial, Antony, Garnacho, Pellistri, Amad, Lindelof, Evans, Bayindir.
The players would have more confidince, hence getting better results, all playing better football.
But that is not the case, would love to see players injury free for a long period of time.
Ten Hag made Old Trafford a fortress last season, too many first team players injuried this season is not normal.
When the players are all injury free, Ten Hag will do wonders again.
As you say, Ten Hag needs to be more creative with his team selection and gameplan, @statmandave your suggestion also looks very interesting and I believe it would work. I wish some MUFC decision makers watches the suggestions around many sensible youtubers.
Absolutely, there needs to be more judgement when he has his best eleven fit again but there's no reason we can't be dominating teams like Copenhagen, Burnley & Wolves. Even with all the injuries Man Utd can & should be better.
@@StatmanDave I love the Shaw and Casemiro pairing as CBs. When Martinez is back, even a Martinez/Casemiro pairing would be out of this world. But i love the whole 11 and tacticst suggestion, it would rock. Please please let it be so, Ten Hag. It´s my christmas wish.
In other words you are saying we are poor because of the absence of only 4 players- Mainoo , Shaw, Martinez and Wan Bissaka. Can you justify your thinking.
@@StatmanDave What about burnout ? People are attacking Bruno and Rashford who contributed to 70 percent of our goals last season but look at what happened to Liverpools players the season after they competed for the Quadruple plus we had a world cup that congested the fixtures even more . There was some calling for Klopps head around this time , that and injuries has to be a contributor , I've watched goals from last season and before Martinez injury , they had patterns and played some good football there's no way that coaching has disappeared
@@OmarHamisi-p1p Injuries without a doubt has a big impact on the poor start to the season. Look at City without Rodri and De Bruyne, lost games. Where would Tottenham be, if Maddison is injured long term? Look at Liverpool when Van Dijk and Matip was long term injured a couple of years ago. Where would Newcastle be, if the likes of Guimaraes and Schar was to be long term injured? A few very good players can impact a team in ways, hard to understand. It´s not only about skills but very much also about mentality, confidence.
Wow man UTD should sign this guy as manager. He thinks so out of box that he can play injured players in his 11 get him in now
😂😂😂
Personally i feel the problem is that last season we had Licha who played line breaking passes and ensured that we could play a high line. This season with Maguire and Evans we're restricted from playing the same way. Also one of Rashford or Holjung need to adapt their game for both to fit into a system. Also by looking at United you would assume that the tactic is to build the play out wide more than centrally however with Shaw injured Rashford seems more isolated and has to stay more wide rather than cut in to the middle.
See it's pretty simple. Ajax players were able to pass and United players can't play a pass
The fact that in a starting 11 with almost everyone out of position you still had to use players that are actively injured says everything
While I don't think that this exact line-up is the solution I fully agree we need to get players into the team who are able to pass and move, create space, keep the ball going and also keep possession. Watching how the whole City team was in permanent movement while we were static with only short bursts of energy was an eye-opener.
Mount is such a player but he is lost if surrounded by others who might be individually brilliant at times but keep the ball for too long, run into blind alleys or don't look up. Unfortunately one player who would be great to play alongside Mount is Sancho but this chapter is probably closed. Also Martial is able to play that way.
We've been saying this since 2009 when we got destroyed by Pep. We should have done everything after Fergie left especially and LVG came in to do this style. If we had we'd be a good team now and have a plan / style implemented for the past few years.
Couldn’t agree with you more on the idea and i believe it would be a great success (at least in terms of style of play). But the most unfortunate and most frustrating thing is that, ETH would not have the balls to risk or even partially try this.
Statman Dave you give me hope! Not much but you still give me hope with ETH.
Really enjoyed this Dave! Appreciate that you're video is exploring solutions, not just piling on, which is all most people are doing. I'd love to see this lineup tomorrow against Newcastle. Who would you swap in for Amad and Shaw while they're injured?
I think people don't understand what Ten Hag was doing at Ajax. He brought directness to a club that has had a base of playing possession for decades. He has always been a pragmatist that builds on top on what is already there.
Managers at Ajax don’t really have to do anything. The philosophy is imbedded within the players from youth, and they all train passing and different positions.
My bro i think if im not mistaken Shaw is injured and we have already seen ETH play Shaw in that position many times so he knows... Nobody knows how ETH wants to play this season because he as not has his first 11 or even 14 fit and available.... and if you think manioo or mason is near the player that frenkie is, the ganja you smoking is some wild shit hence why ETH wanted to get frenkie for the entirety of a summer window
Totally agree with you Dave, the lineup would be maverick but id still like to see him stay true to his values and actually improvise rather then setup so badly, play so badly and keep losing. Even with what we do have, he should be able to grow some and drop some underperforming players.
Lets see what he does tonite.
Imagine having Alphonso Davies and Frimpong as our starting LB and RB. That would be very very entertaining. Imagine how many goals Hojlund would score.
You lost me at Case at a ball playing Cb.. that's just pulling at strings now. He wanted frankie and got Case. For ten hag, the pivot is pivitol to the way he wanted to play. if we had someone like bissuma or rodri, we would absolutely play that way.Maino is the closest
Currently, especially with Casemiro's sluggishness in midfield & the defensive struggles, would you not like to see Ten Hag try something different? A pivot of Mainoo/Amrabat/Mount/Eriksen ahead of Casemiro + Varane/Maguire/Evans?
He played there last season once when Martinez got injured and he played great but ten decided to keep him in midfield as shaw was also performing in that position.
Case would get rinsed at the back. He just doesn't have the speed or the legs to play there. He's slower than Maguire!@@StatmanDave
I agree with most of what your saying.... all im saying is imagine he does this next game agaisnt fulham.... and we loose 2-0 due to people not use to playing like this..... the pressure off of the media etc i think would finish his job.
Next thing we know conte is at united and my brains are up the wall
I do agree he’s let the pressure build up so much that he now hasn’t got the option to play a team like that but that’s his fault. I’d like to think United fans would give him the benefit of the doubt having 2-3 academy players starting but who knows? However you’re right, the media would kill him.
You earned my subscription just with this video. ETH needs to think outside the box. He can strength his défense with middle fielders.
❤
Same here. Top video.
The modern FB for all big teams is either a midfielder or a converted CB
The fact that we are clutching at straws in this way is depressing. I agree with everything you've said. Doesn't matter how many chances we concede, we're shite defensively anyway. May as well try to score some goals.
Making changes like this may not produce the best results. However it will help us to build an identity and help the recruitment team see what we’re trying to do and where we’re lacking. Great video 👌
He's going to be the next manager relieved of his very highly paid duties......
The thing is, perhaps Ten Hag needs to be reminded that the Eridivisie is not the Premier League and vice versa, its two completely different styles of football and a totally different quality of clubs and players from top to bottom of the league.
The players at a club can be changed, the posiition they play, how they play etc..... Pep and Arteta are 2 managers who have done this to numerous players and it has been successful so it can be done, maybe Ten Hag just isn't a very inspirational manager, maybe he can't get players fired up or he can't get players to buy into what he wants.
To be honest, from an outsider's point of view, it looks like he might have actually lost the dressing room and that is catastrophic for Man Utd.................. but awfully funny for the rest of us!!!!!!
To some extent, I think ETH was trying to send a message to the board and some deadwood in the squad, and with your analysis, I can accept that Rashy and MC maybe Bruno can't play his style because Bruno just have gpod work rate and and those Hollywood passes he can't retain possession unlike the like of Bernado Silva and KDB and Rashy like to play direct so I don't mind ìf ETH use the academy players and push out those big names costing him to pay his style of football I'm ready to have patient I don't know others. Thanks for always giving the fans hope and insight. I hope you get hired in the club technical department
I don't disagree with getting creative and thinking out of the box, but to be able to play attacking possession football, you still need a relatively decent back four that can be depended to keep the ball away from your defensive third so that the offensive players can do their thing. If your back four is going to allow opposing teams to not just regularly pressure them but also concede goals or allow many shots at goal, then your offensive players will be doing too much helping out the defence, spending too much time in your own half, and not seeing the ball enough for them to exert their influence on the game. Either that or they leave the defence on their own, and we get routed. That is United's problem at the moment.
We also need a much higher work rate from all 11 players. Especially the front 5-6. The defence must push higher up to compress the pitch. But they don't have the self-confidence now to do it. Or maybe they lack to defensive abilities to defend high so they prefer to sit deeper. Sitting deeper means more space for opposing teams and more ground for our front 6 to cover, allowing opposing players more ease to negate the press. To press well, you need a lot of players in a tight space to be able to exert greater pressure and create more nervousness in the opposing team. If the defence is sitting deep, it's just a waste of energy trying to press. Once you can get the defensive side sorted out, then the front 6 just needs to up their work rate in order to execute the press well. To adopt a high line, you need a back 5 with a lot of self-belief, self-confidence, and trust in each other. The ones we have now, including those you propose, don't appear to have that at the moment.
This is what happens when you play too much FIFA and football manager!That team would be the shortest team in the league and I'd love to see them defend corners!
Multifunctional players can survive in the Eredivise when your team is better than most!But in the Prem they will get found out!
In an alternate universe after 5 losses,fans would turn on him because by then his team is 19th or 20th in the league!
It would be intersting to see it though but I don't see any top club having to be that creative apart from through necessity!
At a smaller club maybe you will get time to try this but not at United!
I think Dave is underestimating what it means to be a manager.. pep said it to the journalist as well when they questioned him about Erik “You think it’s easy? Because you’re a journalist.. it’s not easy”
I still have hope he will figure it out, last season we controlled games, scored goals e.t.c
100% - injuries are definitely part of the problem but Ten Hag can do more by thinking creatively like he did at Ajax. Even if it doesn't work at least it show that he's trying instead of making questionable comments that look like excuses
Not sure about Casemiro in defence, he’s not the best when pressed. He’d be much better as an 8 next to Amrabat as a 6.
No offence you are just playing players out of position and we all see how players are caught out of position, because of not knowing position and 5 mins into the video - you have already changed 3 players out of position, and meinoo as a first time player like a lot..... I mean agree that there is not enough players, that's the sad truth
Calm down dude, let ETH do what he want
Shaw and Martinez being out had had more impact than most realize
the reason Erik ten Hag has said he cant play like he played at Ajax is because there is not player like Frenkie de Jong i think Mainoo could play a FdJ type role but then you need a midfielder next to him who kinda stay back but is also very good on the ball and even if this team works 1 injury and the whole team is f´d again because you have to play maguire or you have to play Wan-Bissaka who we all know are not good on the ball which means apart from Lisando Martinez and Shaw you dont have any depth in defence and in the pivots also Diallo is a very different type of player than Ziyech the same goes for Hannibal and Donny van de Beek and Hojlund is a striker Tadic was played as a false nine so it wont play the same as Ajax and unless EtH gets players who are good on the ball for both depth and first team players and for the people ssaying but Antony was a different type than Ziyech Ajax had Tadic ont he left who was the creative winger who doent need pace
Unless EtH gets a Frenkie de Jong type of player (which means someone who you can pass the ball to and know he wont lose it and dribble past his men or give a good pass) and a good ball playing RCB i dont see him ever getting close tot the Ajax style
What I love from this video is how you removed that "holy dou" 😅
Those guys need to be sat on the bench for at least 4 games for the time been
Five players injured - but that's the team you want to stick out at the weekend. Nice one
Dave you need praise. You’re lifting us United fans at the moment. Thanks so much 👊
While at Ajax, Erik ten Hag wanted Malacia and Mason Mount. He has brought them in and also brought in Martinez, Antony, Onana who were at Ajax. Add Eriksen to that, who used to be at Ajax, and Amrabat who he had at Utrecht. Oh and Donny van de Beek who was already at United. That’s 8 players! He clearly doesn’t have his own unwavering football philosophy and just adjusted accordingly at Ajax. What was discussed in the job interview with Murtough & Arnold? What was the expectation outlined as far as playing style? I think we have a bigger problem when our “Football Director” cannot crystallize the fine details of the expected playing style when making decisions on the coach to hire.
Man dropped Rashford and Bruno. At this stage I would just be happy with that. If those two start against Newcastle and Fulham, I don’t know how long Erik lasts. It’s such a shame what’s happened - last season Erik seemed so full of ideas, but this season it’s just disappeared!
I think ETH is running out of ideas as his players don’t respond to anything
Now he dropped them. And were still shit
Great analysis, very thought provoking!
Ironically 3 players his team outclassed that day is currently in Man Utd😂
Dave, i am no expert at tactics but it seems to me that we never have a passing option in space for the most part and most phases. And most teams we play against seem to do this extremely easily. Do our players out of position be doing more?
The absence of Shaw and Martinez has had an adverse effect on this team
Having to get that creative to get a poor version of Ajax is exactly the problem. 1 or 2 bold calls and players playing out of position is one thing but an entire back 6 out of their natural position is wild. Doing it because we can't get any worse is insane. This squad needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt properly with a director of football to oversee it. Anything else is a short term fix. We've gone through this cycle far too many times and have been screaming for a director of football for what feels like a decade now.
Great video Dave
Really illustrates how far we are from being able to play like Ajax 2019. That lineup is horrible.
Onana, Martinez, Ambrabat, Eriksen, Mount, Höjlund, Antony are his players. That’s the base of an Ajax style team.
He shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions on transfers anymore. His only role should be to manage the club and advise which players are surplus also request a certain type of player not a specific player. His recruitment is abysmal.
In the summer messaged Richard Arnold and Co and stated that we needed a RW that can play LW, LB that can play LM or LW. LCB that can play LB and CM that can also play as a CM. Our injuries this year or were out due to drama were LB,CB,CM,RW and a striker. I wasn’t that far off.
Ten Hag is capable. His philosophy is good. His tactics are underwhelming. He must improving his staff if he wants to continue as manager for Manchester United.
If you injuries are your excuse. Why didn’t we focus on squad depth instead of buying 3 players for 200M. That’s not the correct approach to transcend your philosophy.
He deserves a director of football that can focus on what United actually need. Doesn’t mean that person is Blanc, Mitchell etc. They need to look really hard.
@statmandave I like your out of the box thinking. I wish Ten Hag would try something like you suggested. This would also work, when Martinez is back, and put Shaw as left back? Pairing Casemiro and Martinez as CBs?
We have Donny Van De Beek and you are ignoring him and playing Mejbri Hannibal. Joker. He played in that Ajax team, and is currently being ignored and pundits are not putting enough pressure. Mason Mount doesn't play 2 games and all of a sudden its WW3. Donny is obviously tactically very good.
Your team isn't good enough and would be beaten easily by Newcastle.
We need Ericksen, Donny, Mason, all playing. I like the Amrabat move. But we need Casemiro playing in the middle, with Varane and Lindelof in the middle.
Onana
Amrabat Varane Lindelof Reguilon
Casemiro Eriksen
Mason Donny Garnacho
Martial
Honestly this team would be so technically good.
Great video Dave, completely agree with everything you've said. That team would run rings around the typical ones EtH is currently obsessed with.
If it's so simple why has 3 top managers failed?
As much as I agree with you Dave, it's like the manager hasn't been allowed to experiment as much as he would want to.. And then there's the case of injuries, Mainoo just came back you can't be rushing into the PL. Lastly ManUtd isn't Ajax in shape and philosophy. We first need to agree that after Fergie there's been no particular style of football here unlike Ajax who do. You might want to say ETH upped the intensity and creativity but here he's starting from scratch. He needs time, most importantly footballing heads not Mort or Edward.
Even among the available players he is selecting mcsauce who doesn’t even receive the ball from defense over players like mejbri or vdb who are more technical . He is to blame for his player selection
This suggested line up reminds me of probably the most off the wall SAF lineup from the latter years against Arsenal. If I remember right, both da Silva brothers in midfield with I think O'Shea and a weird defense as well.
thanks Dave.... once again, you're on point. we need to play possession based football.
In my opinion, you are the best football analyst on this platform. Should be working for Man Utd.
Does this guy knows that shaw is injured right
that team there is filth. absolute vibes, total football. i want to see it.
You guys are broken men.....lmfao
The thing with this is atleast 5 of those players have been out injured and only coming back so maybe that is what Ten Hag was getting at?? Great video btw
Did he just say teams all the prem aspire to be like City, Arsenal AND BRIGHTON.?
But how can ETH play a makeshift backline with 4 players out of preferred position. Shaw is out for long time. Why you put shaw in? And Mainoo is too young. Cannot do such experimentation with large clubs.
I ALWAYS say that I would prefer to try something different, rather than persist with something that doesn't work. So I would be happy to see ETH try more things like this.
Having said that, that defence would indeed be slaughtered IMO 😕 A winger who is fast would destroy Amrabat, and one who is decent at dribbling would destroy Casemiro, and any crosses aimed at Shaw and Dalot would likely result in goals.
If you want a high press, Rashford CANNOT play, which is unlikely given his status and wages, even though he deserves to be dropped. 😕
But yeah, I'd rather try ANYTHING than keeping playing the same way we are now
Dave! We simply didn't sign the players everyone knew we needed.
I agree with midfield, but the defense could use Wan bissaka as a CB. You need a good one on one CB to make it work. You can't play Luke Shaw and Casemiro as CBs. Bruno has to be in the CAM position behind Rasmos. Anthony is a useless forward player. He loses the ball so many times and causes turn overs for the opposition. At best put him at left back and Diego at Right back. I'm still not sure if Mount is ready yet. So play McTomney instead in CDM with Cobi.
As far as striker is concerned, either Rasmos or Martial should work. Although, I wish we had brought in a seasoned striker to alternate with Rasmos. Rashford just needs a good set up in midfield to get back in form. He's had no proper support.
Finally, we need to by a RW, because we suck in that position. Greenwood was our guy for that position. So either bring him back or find someone else. Anthony should not be playing there at all.
Great video. Agree to every second of it.
It can definitely get worst…would be ranked 20th for goals conceded with this lineup
statman dave you doing too much here lol. That defence alone is a joke.
PEP evolved, the way his team played in Spain had similarities but an adapted version I'm Germany and now in England he's evolved again, Ten HAG is forcing a style that doesn't work
Good video brother
I mostly agree with you Dave, but not this time. Man Utd don't have the capacity to replicate Ajax play right now with so many absentees due to injury. The back four that we have now simply lacks quality. ETH would have done all these changes you are speaking of of he saw the possibility of success in training.
Dave should try to make a team with whats available now. Shaw is injured, mainoo was injured. Otherwise this is not usful at all.
surely to do that he'd need to be given players capable of doing that. rather than hand picking who he thinks are capable
How did Ange get Spurs playing proactive football in less than 6 months without even Harry Kane ?
How can you add players that aren't available , I don't think he meant it as in long term because he always talks about control and transitions so you can't take what he is saying at face value
Some good points tbf and the injuries have hurt us massively but once everyone's back I don't think our back 6-7 is the problem. Are defence was brilliant last season o think it's our creative 3 they need a re vamp or at least they need dropping. Try youngster for example I think our best youngster creative 3 is Garnacho Mejbri and pellistri or maybe without jus youngsters Garnacho mount and amad with ambrabat or casemero and Eriksson in the midfield but yea overall I agree we just need something different. So much potential
We have all been sold a dream
I think players lack mentality as alluded by Ralf Rangnick
It’s funny cus I literally prolonged caemiro’s career on my fm by putting him CB he turned into a Thiago silva fine wine legend.
I would love to see him try this. Can’t get much worse than what it is now.
But some of these players miss football IQ, heart or legs
Bruno, Rashford and Mctominay are all tier 2 players, they can't even be starting if they were in City.
He’s clearly already said he doesn’t have the players. Which is clearly true…
I think the shape is all wrong when possession is lost. Fergie's teams and the great 1970s Leeds teams all quickly got into two banks of four when losing possession. With United, there's a huge gap between the back four and the rest of the team when possession is lost. They're wide open!
Ten Hag has been told to play direct, transition football by the people above him because they've told him thats the united heritage (And probably to suit our current 'stars'). We are never going to play Ajax football, unfortunately.
I understand your frustration Dave, but it looks good on paper doesn’t mean it will be good in games
The thing we signed players with high wages and agreed playing time , if these star players doesn't get time they agreed , again ten hag gonna scrutinized by the media,fans and their agents and the sacking cycle will continue.......