ETH surveillance 22/23

It’s game management lads. We can’t manage games of football. It’s just too chaotic, too much space and everyone in our team seems to be constantly caught on the back foot.

I’ve never seen a supposed top team at this level play like we do. The amount of goals we’ve let in this season where players just skip into our area and have free shots is mind blowing- it almost doesn’t look real.

We need cynicism, organisation and mental resilience. We’re getting the complete opposite. The team can’t even build confidence in a game because the minute we score someone mentally switches off and we concede.

The way we play is very high risk and it’s difficult enough when you’re playing well but at the moment with injuries and confidence on the floor - we are setting ourselves up to get battered.

Originally Posted by armchair

I'm loath to criticise ten hag but most managers on the run we're on would've just tightened up the back and hoped we had good enough players to grab the odd winner. We look more open than ever. Stabilise.

And when the inevitable shit defence concedes , it would have been “ why did he not go for the jugular”. Hindsight’s a bastard.

Originally Posted by Bunker Buster

Amrabat lost us the game FFS.....

I know he's out of position but his lazy ball and positioning at times was a disgrace

I like him but I've never seen a guy try to deliberately handball on the ground so often. At least 5 or 6 times now.

Reeks of the end of Ole’s time when players just began making inexplicable individual errors to undermine the performance time and again. Dalot does the most basic of defending and we win comfortably. It’s £#%&!ing stupid.

Originally Posted by armchair

I like him but I've never seen a guy try to deliberately handball on the ground so often. At least 5 or 6 times now.

I thought he was stopping the ball because it was a foul.

Originally Posted by marlo

I thought he was stopping the ball because it was a foul.

He's hoping it's a foul but he's trying to stop the play and then he'll pretend he thought it was a foul. I've never seen someone on the floor attempt to grab the ball so often.

He'll be done for it soon. People aren't going to believe he always thinks it's a foul.

30 goals conceded in the last 10 games against the 4 teams closest to us last season as well as the Champions League fixtures this year.

Starting to look like a systemic problem.

Having nothing like our back 4 for most of this season is obviously something you can't overlook. AwB/Martinez/Varane/Shaw - 3 out for £#%&! knows when and the other looks terrified playing with Linda.

Postage on X

https://x.com/rsilvamufc/status/1709326000746598833?s=46&t=V_rEHns4n2KM8_MGvd9NWg

Originally Posted by magic_cantona

Having nothing like our back 4 for most of this season is obviously something you can't overlook. AwB/Martinez/Varane/Shaw - 3 out for £#%&! knows when and the other looks terrified playing with Linda.

We can’t make excuses

We are not the only team with injuries

Originally Posted by My Name is Heath

We can’t make excuses

We are not the only team with injuries

This is true . But our back ups are shit due to poor recruitment over the years.

We are probably are the only team playing a 4th choice LB (5th choice if you count having the option of having to move dalot over to the left)

Confidence is down and the squad is full of players who know they have no future at the club. Must be having an impact behind the scenes. The likes of slab and The Scottish Player they’re shit, but you can’t even bring them on because you know the won’t put in the effort.

Mistakes have been made of course. But the biggest mistakes are coming right from the very top.

Otherwise it’s rinse and repeat time and in 18 months we will be complaining about de zerbi or whichever poor £#%&!er is destined for the impossible job.


Even when he is trying to set standards in training the players are undermining him and some “fans” are following the players like sheep. How can you ever build a winning, tough mentality foundation when fans feel sorry for players , who by his own admission has admitted before at Dortmund he needs to be doing more in training ?

The same players are on 300k a week contracts who then are difficult to shift. All breeds a toxic dressing room culture.

Bald can get things wrong and has , he is human. But Bald can’t expect to turn it all around if he isn’t given the right tools and backing to implement strict standards by some groups of his own fans.

I worry because of the past ten years. He can’t keep losing and hope to keep his job. It’s that simple. He’s got all the right attributes and has brought some optimism back into the club, but I just can’t see the club having the patience to let things carry on like this.

I don't see why, given the crisis, he hasn't made us a bit more of a negative side just to try get through this. Keep it tight and hope one of our attackers get something. Basically, play how a lot of sides play against us. It mightn't be popular but you need a solid foundation. Pretty sure Fergie did it initially and fans complained.

Originally Posted by shenwen

I worry because of the past ten years. He can’t keep losing and hope to keep his job. It’s that simple. He’s got all the right attributes and has brought some optimism back into the club, but I just can’t see the club having the patience to let things carry on like this.

The lack of viable replacement might just be enough to buy him some time. What I think would drain the life out of me if they do get rid of him (hope they don’t) and then have an interim till the summer and just be in limbo for 8-9 months.

I hope he is given time. Might just need to get back to basics , defend in numbers and counter . Just to get some form and results

Blaming the Glazers is a false flag.

The players in the teams so far this season should be able to beat Brighton, Palace, Galatassaray, etc...

I've seen enough to feel that patience will be rewarded but...

The main issue is that we haven't got any good defenders.

Originally Posted by armchair

I don't see why, given the crisis, he hasn't made us a bit more of a negative side just to try get through this. Keep it tight and hope one of our attackers get something. Basically, play how a lot of sides play against us. It mightn't be popular but you need a solid foundation. Pretty sure Fergie did it initially and fans complained.

because ten hag is an Ideologue manager

he manages to his way and that's it. the players adapt or die.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

because ten hag is an Ideologue manager

he manages to his way and that's it. the players adapt or die.

He changed very quickly early on last season.

Originally Posted by armchair

I don't see why, given the crisis, he hasn't made us a bit more of a negative side just to try get through this. Keep it tight and hope one of our attackers get something. Basically, play how a lot of sides play against us. It mightn't be popular but you need a solid foundation. Pretty sure Fergie did it initially and fans complained.

This is where he concerns me tbh. It’s his seeming complete lack of pragmatism. He should have set up for 1-0 last night imo.

It’s all a bit Ole end of days esque at the moment. Setting up naively game after game while confidence is in the gutter. After Brentford cuffed us last season he opted for the more conservative approach and it paid off. I can’t believe he’s trying it now.

Also hate to say it, but Maguire probably deserves a game now.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

because ten hag is an Ideologue manager

he manages to his way and that's it. the players adapt or die.

Tbf the most successful managers in recent times come from the same ilk.

Guardiola, klopp, tuchel.

It doesn’t help when every summer a position you thought you had sewn up needs addressing.

For e.g signed varane two years ago, if he carries on as is we will need to replace him in the summer. This is ontop of positions we haven’t filled from previous summers like a RB or CM (Amrabats on loan)

Same with Casemiro , hopefully we can get 2-3 more seasons at the top level but at the wrong side of 30 physically he isn’t the same as he was 5 years ago. There is little thought in what they’re doing . Hojlund is a good start but before him our striker signings were Ronaldo , cavani, ighalo , Ibrahimovic , lukaku.

Some good players like Ibrahimovic but bar lukaku you wernt getting 3-4-5 seasons out of any of them based on their age. Not saying everyone should be a youngster , but the older signings would be nice when we have a foundation to build upon.

Originally Posted by Stickman

This is where he concerns me tbh. It’s his seeming complete lack of pragmatism. He should have set up for 1-0 last night imo.

It’s all a bit Ole end of days esque at the moment. Setting up naively game after game while confidence is in the gutter. After Brentford cuffed us last season he opted for the more conservative approach and it paid off. I can’t believe he’s trying it now.

Also hate to say it, but Maguire probably deserves a game now.

Shit @#%&!s always seem better when they aren’t playing . He probably will start him but don’t expect much change

Originally Posted by Dasilvatwins

Shit @#%&!s always seem better when they aren’t playing . He probably will start him but don’t expect much change

Nah I suspect he’d put in a couple of passable performances before reverting to type. Trouble is Varane and Lindelof deserve a shoeing at present.