From a neutral perspective I would say he either got very lucky... or he actually did a pretty good number on Pep and Citeh in the Cup Final - I veer towards the latter ... partly because I thought beforehand that you'd likely get battered ... instead the tactic of soak it up, win ball then quick long diagonal passes looking to get Garnacho one on one with Gvardiol in Citeh's defensive third was brilliant - yes you had a slice of good fortune with the first goal defensive ****-up - but Citeh were wobbling every time ... Pep rarely come out second best tactically - but he and his team certainly were during that first half ...
Actually he has a tendency to panic sometimes in cup finals, he has done it a few times. Tuchel out foxed him tactically in the 2021 champions league final, and Pep also decided for that final NOT to start a defensive midfielder, which was his undoing.
Injuries - Not sure if we were the undisputed champs at that, but to finish behind an injury ravaged Newcastle, crippled by FFP, dog **** GK in the sticks for a large part of the season, horrific cup runs, CL group of death... MUCH worse starting point for squad quality and depth... He should have been sacked, then shot.
Indeed. yeah United had a ton of injuries, but he finished behind Chelsea and Newcastle, who were also heavily injury ravaged all season. We have a big squad, but for the most part, its ****.
not even remotely. If the removal of one player ****s up your entire team, thats a damning indictment of your managerial ability I think Peps better than that
By goal difference and three points, so what? His job is not defined by where we finish in relation to Newcastle and Chelsea. Records will show Chelsea won **** all, Newcastle won **** all, but United won the FA cup. Table wise, if we're not top two or three the positions is irrelevant to what we actually won, no one cares. Someone mentioned Ralph Milne last night ( @Diego was referring to him I think) and how **** we were in those days under Ferguson. Worse than now, trust me. It's probably true that Fergie would have been sacked in today's social media driven times, especially if the Glazers were owners, but he wasn't and we went on from there. We were worse as a team/squad/style then under Fergie than we are now under Ten hag. No manager has a magic wand.
I get the comparison, (unlike some). But I would generally accept that as the exception rather than the rule. Besides, didnt it take Fergie like 5 or 6 years to win something with United? You think in todays footballing world owners are gonna put up with that on the off chance that ETH is Fergie reborn? I am not saying they were wrong to keep him, necessarily, I just find the huge vote of confidence from a majority of the United fans strange. Probably because I support Chelsea and we bin our managers every 5 minutes, granted, but I just think it odd that Ineos took this course. Do you think they would have kept him if he hadnt won the FA Cup? Or do you think that swung it for the owners?
1, Most United support is worn out by the continued two ish year cycle of sacking managers and want to see some consistency. Pretty much all the candidates for the job are unemployed anyway (Tuchel, Potter, de Zerbi, Poch etc.), so it's not like they won't still be there ready for the job if things go wrong in the first few months of next season. 2, Yes, it would have swayed them, or stayed his execution. It wasn't just winning something, it was the nature of the performance and that he came up with a plan to beat City and it worked. Clearly, we can't play that way against all opponents so he needs other plans in place as well. But it showed promise. Maddeningly, Varane played and showed what a good partnership he and Martinez were, when both fit. He's gone though and never was fit so just a snap shot of what could be done. We'll just have to replace him, one of a couple of key signings we need to make.
Even at their current low, United are still winning trophies. ETH has delivered two, expect a clear out and some More of his players coming in and improvements.
Two trophies in two years! It will be cold day in Hell the day Man United fans live in the real world. ****s
