Ten Hag problem is gone from Manchester United but who will sack INEOS and Ratcliffe?

Xavi has been tipped to replace Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager but the Spaniard is not ‘elite’. If only Jurgen Klopp had not taken the Red Bull.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

No conspiracy
If Michael Oliver really did have it in for Man U, surely he’d have done everything in his power to get them to keep Ten Hag, rather giving them the final piece of ammunition to sack him.
Mark Lewis (SWFC…..whispers….doing alright, actually)

ETH: WFH
So Sir Jim Ratcliffe has removed Erik Ten Hag from coaching duties, and thanks to offering him a contract extension in the summer, he’ll be paying him until 2026.

If there’s one role outside of the players where I’d have thought he’d have insisted on not working from home, it would be one that involves bibs and cones.
Uncle Albert (loving that losing to West Ham was seen as the last straw), Working From Home

ETH: WTF
WTF are they smoking over there at Old Trafford?  Don’t they know that Ten Hag has more points and trophies than Jurgen Klopp did at this stage?
James Outram, Wirral

Sack INEOS too
Sacking Erik ten Hag is not enough. Everyone involved in the post-season review that confirmed him as manager should all be sacked.

We wasted a whole summer (and millions of pounds) recruiting for a manager we were about to sack. And don’t say we didn’t know he would be sacked. It smacks of gross incompetence. We did a season review that looked at the manager and approved his stay. Jeez!!!!
Tunji, Lagos 

Good luck, Erik
So that’s that then. Erik joins the list of good/great coaches to have been chewed up and spat out by the big Man Utd machine of doom.

I had high hopes for him, read a lot about his tactics and background when he first joined and hoped he could get us moving in the right direction, based on high pressing & high possession football. To a certain extent he did – his first season was relatively successful, he wasn’t afraid to bring through younger players and of course he won a couple of trophies.

The second season wasn’t good enough and this season has not gone to plan at all. That said, the players have to take a large portion of blame. We have been awful at finishing this year for instance, but TH’s system has at least created a lot of chances, and defensively we have improved over last season (although that may not be hard).

There were of course some horrible results along the way, and let’s not forget the regime he was working under for most of his tenure wouldn’t have helped, but the most disappointing thing for me was an inability to get us playing the high pressing high possession game he had implemented at previous clubs. He was too pragmatic and tried to change his methods/system to suit the players, instead of saying “we are playing this way and it will take time and a number of windows to get us there”. It’s just the pressure of Utd, needing to be successful in the moment whilst also trying to build a team for future success.

I would have given him until the end of the season, because I don’t like the idea of changing midseason. But I don’t get paid to make the decisions and those that do better have a good replacement lined up. And not one recently unemployed ex-England manager please.

Good luck Erik, thanks for trophies and some good memories. Top 4 in first season, won League Cup, two domestic finals, and beating Barca in the EL was great too. The FA Cup run last year was something else. Shame the league results never hit similar heights and that is the most important mark of a United manager.

Let the games begin again, and let’s see if the next manager can get us to hit a barn door.
Garey Vance, MUFC

MORE ON THE MANCHESTER UNITED MESS FROM F365
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Hernandez are numbered
El Clásico often has wild swings one way or tuther. It’s as if it’s a hunt and the hounds sense blood and go on to a higher plain while the team behind, wilt somewhat. Doesn’t make Carletto an over the hill manager. Though it could be argued that the hierarchy made his job more difficult by insisting on Mbappe who has made the team and the dressing room less balanced.

Nevertheless, old Hansi has, without 2/3 of his duetch spine in Gundogan and Ter Stegen, made FCB a better team.

As with many others, I believe Xavi Hernandez has not proved himself an elite coach and hence, ought not to be in the running for the huge and flakey job that is the Manchester United manager.

That job needs a character as large as Jose Mourinho with the tactical nous of the Inter Milan coach Simone Inzhagi .

What’s more, although it’s clear ( and obvious ) that 14th leads to a sacking after 9 games from such a behemoth of a club, getting someone to leave a quarter of the way through the season is tough.

So Xavi has to be on the list along with other ‘between jobs ‘ coaches Max Allegri . G. Potter etc.

Jurgen sold out to a poison peddling profiteering, without a care in the world for human health , organisation so is not available, but he is the model answer to the question of which type of profile must we have.

Ultimately, keeping the interim and getting a suitable name in on the last day of the season would be the better plan .

I’d go – 1. S. Inzhagi . 2. Carletto. 3. Bielsa .
Peter. ( battering in the Bernabéu made me laugh . Ian Wright won’t be surprised at the racism from ‘middle class madrileños ) . Andalucia.

Told you so
Like most fellow United fans, I was very excited and optimistic when INEOS took over football operations at Man United. However, my excitement and optimism quickly disappeared when INEOS made their initial signings. I have, since then, repeatedly asserted via Football365 and other outlets that United would not be able to challenge the top clubs even under INEOS, if the practice and/or policy of signing 3rd and 4th tier, marginal, surplus to requirement players continue.

For about a decade, United have not been strategic and effective in signing excellent players and this is continuing unabated even today.  The results and the fact that United bring in players who sit on the bench corroborate and exonerate this position.  That INEOS have spent lots of money is not in question but sight should not be lost of the undeniable fact that we have not signed the right players.

This statement is further supported by the observation that we bring in players who sit on the bench. Why are they not fielded if they are better that the existing players? The competition, especially Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City, wisely sign players to improve the team and to create a squad comprising elite and up and coming players. I am not suggesting to United to establish a team of Galacticos but rather that they buy a few elite players to provide leadership and mentor the other players.

The question must be asked and answered to clear any doubts about my contention – With the exception of Onana, which of our current players will Arsenal, Liverpool or City field? Football is not just money but, more so, how money is used to improve the squad. I rest my case.
Professor (Dr) David Achanfuo Yeboah

Ten Hahahahahag
Being a Liverpool fan, I obviously was pleased to see Man Utd finally come off their perch (no-one knocked them off; they fell off).

Nowadays, it’s just no fun when they’re so bad. Playing them reminds me of ‘competitive dad’ from the Fast Show – a grown adult gleefully thrashing a child.

So I’m really hoping they get this next appointment right and start competing again (and surely… SURELY… they’ve thought about who might replace Ten Hag, despite having given him a brand new contract & team just in the summer?!).

I mean, I don’t want them to win titles – I want us to pip them to titles. Over & over again. Man Utd, please be good again. But not too good.
Will Graham

(if Michael Oliver really was biased against Man Utd, he would have done everything in his power to keep Ten Hag in a job)

READ NEXT: Who will replace Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager?

F365: part of the conspiracy
Good Day

I will preface this by saying that I am a United fan. Not the type of United fan that still has a chip on their shoulder and expects that the team to be treated like the greatest team in Europe scoring at the death every game, winning trophies etc. I realise you can’t be the best all the time and every team goes through phases. It sucks but it is what it is

That being said I have my own tinfoil hat theories that VAR is used to shape the league and sell controversy. Why wouldn’t they? In league oozing with money and is packaged into bite sized little story packages now they can change that narrative or fuel discussion until the next point of contention; it drives engagement and sells clicks. Now nobody can prove that but nobody could prove that billionaires were hoarding money offshore until the Paradise Papers came out. But it seems fishy when sports like rugby and cricket with a referral system seem to have gotten it bang on, why can’t Football?

But the real question here is why F365 seems oblivious to it? Is it simply that you hate United so much that you will absolutely ignore probably the worst decision of the season so far? Look I’ll make it easier for you, United lost because we don’t know what the rectangular bits on either end of the field are for so I’m not trying to excuse the loss. But how can you pass that off as “a controversial penalty”. That’s like saying the Falklands War was mostly a big misunderstanding; it’s a huge understatement. AND IT IS THE EASIEST ARTICLE EVER FOR F365.

I do not understand your complete lack of desire to talk about this? I mean it could be 1000 words on why VAR is fundamentally flawed and needs a rework. 750 Words on how Howard Webb needs to reshuffle his referees. Hell even a humorous 500 word piece on why Michael Oliver is the most inept person at his job since Liz Truss.

Seriously. You need to do better. Being this blinkered is embarrassing and you’re becoming no better than football Buzzfeed.

Regards
Disgruntled, SA

More on VAR and referees
90% of the mails I’ve written here have been the quality of refereeing in the premier league. I’ve never been a conspiracist, I don’t think there is any conspiracy to make city champions but at this point, you have to ask what does the premier league do about the quality of the refereeing in this league?

I watched the El-Classico on Saturday (this is probably the biggest game in the world right now). The pace, the intensity, the emotions and the ref was on top of it. Not once did it look like it was getting away from him. To do this without making yourself the focal point of the game is impressive. We’ve said it many times, the game is not about you. There was one time Yamal kicks the ball delaying the restart. There was no foolish letter of the law, no foolish interpretation of the rules. Just exceptional refereeing.

When I wrote in after the city game, I asked Dave Tickner one question. I gave 5 red card scenarios where we have not seen the same sending off ever again. It’s happened again with Van de Veen. I promise you, you will not see a red card for this incident again this season. No matter how many times it happens. Where is the consistency?

Let get one thing clear, I detest Manchester United but watching that sh*t show penalty incident yesterday was concerning. It happened at Stanford Bridge as well? Why has the EPL refused automated offside technology? Why was Martinelli not awarded a penalty when Konate wiped him out in the first half? Why did the ref no play out the “disallowed Jesus goal”. If you claim it’s a foul, my question to you would be why didn’t he stop the game immediately? He didn’t until the ball was well in the box and Havertz had won the challenge. Why was Arsenal not awarded a corner in the final minute after Tsimikas touched the ball not once but twice?

How are premier league referees appraised? In almost any other job in the world, you have appraisals that show your performance against what is expected of you. What are the expectations of premier league referees and what how are performances measured against it? What exactly is Howard Webb’s job description? What exactly does he do? Not much from the look of things.

For me, the solution is simple. If English referees are not competent enough to officiate the game (they aren’t), then hire foreign referees. Simple.
Damola AFC Bremen

Of course the West Ham penalty decision was wrong. No one unbiased is disagreeing with that. The question is why it keeps happening, and the answer is not conspiracy. Referees are humans and necessarily influenced by their pre-conceptions.

The inevitable in-game collapse of United has become a narrative that referees recognise and therefore instinctively follow, so they will (and do) always give key decisions against United, until we change that narrative by becoming a better side. If we were playing at City’s level, there’s no way a referee gives that penalty decision against us. That’s not to say they are ‘cheating’ or the EPL is rigged against us*. It’s just that referees are intimately involved in the game and know the narratives so well that they just don’t have the mental fortitude to exercise objectivity in their decision making.

Right now they know that United are the team that loses in the final moments of games against average sides, and they subconsciously adhere to that pre-conception. They find a way to persuade themselves that any incident in the box must be a penalty against United, because that is what they are expecting to happen.

The answer to this isn’t to whine about how unfair it is, but to become much better, and teach referees that we are not a side that capitulates every week. Once they believe that, their subconscious will follow and their decision making will improve. That’s in our hands.

Of course this phenomenon also worked in our favour back when we were a good side. We had the reptation of a team that always got a result. Referees imbibed this and as a result, decisions went our way more often than not.

Note that Arsenal must work hard to avoid being tarred with the ‘dark arts’ brush. Once referees subconsciously adopt that narrative, more harsh red cards will follow. It may already be too late….

* The exception is Michael Oliver, who is an actual cheat, as evidenced by his permanent bias against United and his financial ties to City.
RQT (MUFC)

Plenty of predictable, hysterical reactions to the West Ham penalty. I’d suggest that all these conspiracy theorists stick to the X-Files rather than the football.

Ash Metcafle makes a very odd observation that (presumably the ball) “Seems to hit Ings hand which automatically means a United free kick’. This is clearly not correct, just like a ball hitting a defenders hand in the penalty area does not automatically mean a penalty should be awarded.

Maybe making stuff up like this makes Ash feel better, but it’s better off kept to yourself.
A, LFC, Montreal

READ NEXT: Man Utd ‘could have to turn to’ Solskjaer as INEOS ‘could be restricted to free agents’