Transfer Rumours Let's ignore the big ****ing elephant and blame the latest manager, again. Are we nearly there yet?

I actually don't think EtH is as fixated on de Jong as we may have been led to believe. Martinez seems destined to play in HM's slot - whether that means a partnership with HM playing on the right or with Varane remains to be seen, or he can play in front of the back four. Add to the mix young Malacia and the improved form of Dalot, we seem to be sorted in defence. Eriksen will complement Fernandes with either Fred/McTominay in midfield so the absence of de Jong isn't such a blow. I'm really looking forward to this season

 

I'm not sure we can rely on Eriksen to play every game tbh.

Even expecting him to play 40-45 games this season and probably in a world cup in the middle seems a bit much.

 

As I said, Eriksen gives us the opportunity to add to the McFred monopoly in midfield. Yes he won't play every game, but his insight and experience will make him an extremely useful alterative/impact sub in midfield

 

I don’t know if I like the idea of Fred and McTominay playing together. I don’t understand why they need to continue to start together when they both offer very little to playmaking.

Maybe ETH tactics can change that.

 

@glazerfodder Are you still insisting that Barca won’t be able to play all these players that they are signing? Then why would they be making all the signings? And why would elite players join them knowing that they won’t be able to play?

 

Fred offers a fair bit to play making when moved further forward, what we need is a real DM with the game smart to track play and cut moves short or at least hold it up so the defence can get back.

 

And more to the point, why haven't they registered them yet

 

OK, as of today none of the Barca signings (Lewandowski etc etc) can be registered to play for the club in the 2022/3 season. Barca have so far failed to meet the La Liga FFP requirements that would convince La Liga that they can pay for transfers and pay promised wages for any and all of these signings. If you look closely at the press releases they all say 'have reached agreement in principal' or similar - but not one of them can play for the club as they are not registered with La Liga.

Barca are desperate to move players on to release the log jam - for example Depay needs to be sold in order for them to get the €17m to pay off de Jong - the club really are living hand to mouth at the moment, but many of the players they want to move on are also on deferred contract terms and are owed substantial sums.
By the way, while the ****storm focus is on Barca, RM aren't in a much better position either.

 

@glazerfodder thank you, sir!

These are words from ETH:
‘What I can say is we’re looking for a player who can play in the holding midfield position, but it has to be the right one,’ Ten Hag said.

‘There are not many in that position capable of the level we demand. When we can’t find him, we have to deal with the players in our squad now and we will develop one in that position.

‘I will not comment on a certain player. We need the right player. We have a list and we qualify as the player who has the competence to play that role. We will strike the moment the player is available.’

This exactly what we should do. Develop a player within to play the position. Or give West Ham whatever is needed for Declan Rice. Probably won’t be more than £25m more than we are being asked for Barca and I’d rather take him than De Jong anytime any day because of his PL experience.

 

Another good pre-season result 3-1 against Palace. Our first team played for the first hour and some of them were exceptional - Sancho in particular who is in great form together with Rashford and martial who both seem reborn under EtH and all three were on the scoresheet, Sancho's effort being the best by far. Malachia showed great skill and Bruno was on form too as well as Fred - the only problems (again) are with Lindelof and Maguire, both of whom seem lost in a much more dynamic side. The pressing was excellent as was the off the ball movement all over the pitch - very encouraging.
The kids came on for the last 30 minutes and the raft of changes affected the dynamic of the game but they still gave a good account of themselves but Fish was sent off with a straight red for a rash challenge on the edge of the box. Next up Villa at the weekend which should prove a much sterner test

EDIT - Yes Maguire was booed - WTF is that all about - some so called fans are fkcn morons

 

Great summary, GF! I need to watch the replay.

As you mentioned, I have not been filled with confidence watching us defend in the previous two matches before Crystal Palace. We still seemed very messy there with the goalie still forced into making saves. I think that you’re right that it is the personnel at the back as opposed to the system.

 

I watched it later on MUTV. I know it's only pre-season but our attacking play is a marked improvement. The way we passed it in the final third to create the chances we did was great to see.

 

I only watched the highlights so the conclusions should be limited. And of course these are pre season matches. One thing is immediately apparent though. There is more dynamism than Rangnick’s team (of course it couldn’t be worse!). And there is definitely more physicality without the ball and there seems to be quicker and more forward movement of the ball when in possession. There is less of the tiresome sideways movement looking for an opening.

But we have to take into account the caveats above and the opposition had several of their key players missing. Encouraging nonetheless.

 

I have said on another thread that the one touch passing (and anticipation of the pass) has developed rapidly.
Going forward we look dynamic, fluid and cohesive. It means nothing if we bottle it in real competition though.

 

18 months ago every game I was talking about the tiresome sideways and backwards movement looking for an opening but very few agreed. Now apparently that's improved? Go figure.

OK I'll stop. I promise

 

Tbf these tiresome plays did not start 18 months ago they were most prominent with LVG. So may be we got more used to them than we should

 

Ironically in the first 4/5 months of Ole's tenure they weren't. The football was very good.

 

It has looked to be the mantra of our last few managers, don't lose and win the possession stats.
Now (hopefully and with a bit of luck and some real decision making) we have a manager who's mantra is "go and win".

 

Some great football under Ole to start with but we just had no defence (or mid field).

 

I believe that the biggest thing that we will have this season is a change in mentality and become more resilient. This has been the biggest downfall for us in recent years.

As much as everyone hates LvG, he was the strongest when it came to mentality to operate under pressure. But his methods became difficult for players to grasp.

Mourinho did a decent job but he subsequently lost the dressing room because of his mentality in the face of adversity.

I believe Ole initially benefited from the relief bounce from Jose’s era which ended on a very toxic note. It gave the whole team a lift by having the nicest guy and the legend in charge. But it was only a matter of time for it to become clear that the team needed innovative ideas to become better. This ultimately never came because Ole didn’t have it. Then to top it off, Ole’s mentality of being too nice led to the team lacking sense of direction that would have come from a strong manager with precise demand.

Enter Rangnick! There was the initial promise of a shift toward progressive football when Rangnick took over. But ultimately, the season was already dead in the water and he never even had a leverage as an interim manager amongst the egos within the team. Further, the lack of signings to shore up a sht egocentric team in January showed that the club had by then given up on the season and had started planning for the next.

There were still talks toward the end of the season that the club should have gone for Conte. Even in hindsight, I think that it was wise of the club to pass on Conte given the complex dynamics at the club. Conte’s siege is not the team needs. What we needed was get a manager that wasn’t an emotional choice nor one dictated by the media as an “obvious” choice.

It is still early days to even talk about how things will go for the team under Ten Hag. But one thing that is definitively clear is that he is clear in his vision and he communicates that vision effectively. He is also fairly hands-on with implementing a system from the training sessions that we’ve seen so far. But most importantly, he is strictly result-driven.

In the preseason games so far, it is also clear that he knows that this is work in progress. He has not provided any hints of celebrating what are largely meaningless games. Watching him on the touch lines, you almost get the sensation that he wants far more from the players. Biggest test will be when the chips are down. But I believe ETH has the right tools to pick up the team when all is lost.

In close, I see ETH as the perfect manager for our current predicament. The club did the right thing to wait until the end of the season to get him in as opposed to trying to stop the bleed midway through last season. There wouldn’t have been enough time for any manager to work with that mess, or at best even a better manager would have only made the team marginally better as opposed to a full 180 turnaround.