General Premier League Thread 2023-24 Mod Note in op 27/6/23 And 21/05/24

Wonder if Van Tall Cemetery still reckons he should get another season? The level of delusion from Utd fans for this fellah was wild altogether

Any reason why?

There's a few.

1 - up until now ETH had been working with the absolute shambles of a football structure the Glaziers had installed at the club. People in positions that had no business being in those roles and that was reflected in the performances on and off the pitch.
We have been going into summer transfer windows with a "we'll wait and see what comes up" approach that has seen us flither money away like there is no tomorrow.

Other teams have identified their summer targets and have backup plans if they can't get their main target to be able to move to another player with a similar profile to get that squad position filled and thus creating a stronger team overall. And a cohesive team that complements each other player profile.

Until that part is sorted. It won't matter what man is in the dugout - he is on a hiding to nothing.

ETH had this structure at Ajax and it worked but we signed him and didn't offer this structure and then expected something different

2 - the options being mentioned to replace ETH make little to no sense if we are looking to build something longer-term. Southgate, Potter, Tuchel so on… None of them in any shape look like the correct man for the job. We would be resetting the clock for the sake of it and then back at a similar place again in 18 months time.

The manager market looks very poor at the moment. There isn't a man sitting there I would be screaming yes he is the one to lead the change.

3- The main issue at the club is (and has been for years before ETH) the playing staff. We reward bang average with bumper new deals. We have a squad that was built on the ideas of 3 different managers who share very little in common philosophy wise. We have a mismatch of players who can't play together because their profiles suit different setups.
The best example of this in the squad is our 1st choice CB vs our 2nd choice CB. Martinez vs Maguire.
One is small so less effective in the air but excellent on the ball. Press resistant. Allows the team to sit further up the pitch and compress the space between midfield and defence.
The other is good in the air but slow. Not press resistant, drops the defensive line as he cannot cover the space in behind and helps create a lot of space between midfield and defence.

The team falls apart once there are a few injuries or players out of form as we have nothing close to the level of squad overall needed.
We seen last year ETH played a lot of the same players each week and the team done well for a period of time. Tailed off at the end of the season but there were signs there with the correct personnel that he could build something. Top 4 and a cup coming off the back of our worst every PL points tally is progress.

We got to the summer and once again had no actual plan. Signed some lads who we could. Ran into an injury crisis and the team fell apart.

It could be prime Fergie in the dugout - that squad of players aren't getting the club back to the top.

The only players in the squad we have to keep are Hojlund, Garnacho, Mainoo, Martinez and maybe Onana (but I would want him replaced eventually). Everyone else needs an upgrade or to be replaced now. That isn't going to happen overnight.

Now on ETH - he has made mistakes, massive mistakes. He could have changed things tactically more to grind out results perhaps to get over the line more this season. His record in the transfer market is shaky at best.

BUT, He needs support that he would get at every other top club in Europe. Utd need to come into the modern era. Once we have that side sorted we can start to judge the manager.

I don't know if ETH will turn it around or if he is the right man long-term. But I do feel we seen enough last season when he had the player profiles on the pitch that we can build something with the correct support around him.

Edit -
What I do know for certain is hitting reset every 18-24 months on the manager and allowing the players a "fresh slate" again under a new setup 100% does not work.
It resets the clock and fails to ignore the root cause of the issue so we are destined to once again end up back here.

But…. EtH demanded, contractually, control over transfers.

Antony was his call.
Onana was his call.
Amrabat was his call.
Martinez was his call.
He wanted Kane but is it any coincidence that Hojlund joined the SEG agency before signing for United?
I'd say Mount was as much a club signing, but EtH 100% signed off on it, cause if he didn't he would not have been signed. I reckon the same for Casemiro.
Malacia was his call.

Antony was called out, prior to signing, as a massive gamble based on needing to add a lot to his game. has been reported that the United scouting dept. rated him as a 20-30million player.

EtH, rightly or wrongly (wrongly imo…..) had ultimate authority over transfers, so the buck stops with him for the players we signed. Even after the INEOS deal went through EtH made a point, in press conferences, of stating he knows what is in his contract (regarding control over transfers). He doesn't want to give that up despite being rubbish at it.

As for Antony being deployed as a winger and not a wide forward… if only the manager who had him at Ajax was the guy at United… like c'mon.

What is it with Brazilian players going off the boil post 30? Casameiro another one by the looks who’s cooked.

And i know Eriksens injury last season was due to a bad tackle, but I will always wonder why he was starting yet another game, at home to Reading, in the cup. His lack of squad utilization, throughout his time, has been terrible and part of the problem.

I don't see why the one year left thing is a negative at all.

I'd leave him there and clear out as many players as possible over the next season. Next season is transitional no matter what happens, so why not let him stay and take the hit for the some of the dirty work needed.

As noted, its not like there is any great candidate waiting in the wings. And a nice side effect is that the players don't get to sack yet another manager.

If he does well next season then grand, negotiate a new contract. If he doesn't, then off he goes with no big pay off to worry about. By then there may be a better candidate lined up and a lot of the necessary groundwork firmly in place for the real rebuild to begin.

Sacking him now in the hope that a miracle happens next season would be somewhat delusional to my mind, may as well let him have the final year.

Some people are talking Martinez like he’s VVD or Rio. He played when Utd lost 7-0 to Liverpool. He’s a losss when you have to play Evans or Varane. But he wouldn’t get into any of the top teams back lines.