Keeping Erik ten Hag last summer ‘looks increasingly ridiculous’ but giving him any transfer input after Antony was ‘madness’. Man Utd are an absolute mess.
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Spiderman meme
Anyone else reckon that Ange’s team talk today was “Lads, it’s United”?
Dave (LFC), Galway
Overheard from Old Trafford away changing rooms around 4.25pm today: “Lads, it’s Man Utd.
Mate.”
Chris Bridgeman, Kingston upon Thames
Lads, it’s Tottenham.
Eoin (who’s getting the Utd job?) Ireland
“Lads, it’s Tottenham”.
Anon
Leaked WhatsApp
‘Hi Gareth. It’s Jim. Do you and Steve fancy doing a bit of cash in hand?
Scholes’ Ballsack (not as ugly as Ten Haag’s football)
MORE ON YET ANOTHER MAN UTD DEFEAT
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👉 Wasteful Tottenham still left laughing at Manchester United’s humiliation in Old Trafford rout
👉 Gary Neville calls for Man Utd inquisition after ‘absolutely disgusting’ defeat to Tottenham
Football is dead
Well let’s preface the rest of this by saying that Man Utd are sh*t. Absolute dross. You’ve probably got to say it’s the manager but there are a few players there that are stealing a living. Is the new ownership any better? Well that’s a longer term thing but sticking with a Ten Hag looks increasingly ridiculous – and I was very much in the #ETHIN camp before the season started.
Maybe when all the new signings gel and the young players mature he’ll turn out to be the second coming of Fergie. It looks increasingly unlikely though, and the odds were small to begin with.
Anyway, the point is that it’s very hard to watch your team get battered at home (lads – it’s f**king SPURS?!) but it just becomes pointless and futile when you give a red card like that. A foul? A yellow? Of course, it was cynical. A red? Not a cat in hells chance was that a red card if it happened the other way round. There’s too many games now that are getting spoiled by the refs and if anything this referee’s call stuff is making worse. Who’d have thought that sticking with the opinions of people who objectively don’t know what they’re doing was a bad idea? Remember when Havertz was strangled on the pitch and the player didn’t get sent off? Then how on earth was that a red card today. They’re making it up as they go along.
I will not be watching any more premier league football until PGMOL are binned off, they’re ruining the sport. Them and UEFA with their ridiculous European Super Leagues (WTAF). And FIFA with their corruption and obsession with footballers playing millions of games at all times of the year. And the Saudis and 115 Abu Dhabi City battling out a bore draw on a Saturday morning. It’s all sh*te.
And don’t think I’m sat here thinking Man Utd would have got back into the game if Bruno had still been on the pitch (how is it a red?!). Spurs already had the beating of Man Utd before then albeit without any ability to finish their chances. What the red card did was rob us of the chance to see Spurs embarrass Man Utd 11v11 and provide a legitimate excuse for Ten Hag.
Utter sh*te.
Ash Metcalfe
Yes we were poor in first half and Spurs could have been 3 up but 1-0 at halftime and anything could have happened. But no, officials ruin the game again as a spineless Mr Magoo in the VAR room doesn’t correct the horrific mistake made by the ref.
Anything that happens after the red card is irrelevant. Having said that, Bruno can do with a stint on the bench and a kick up the ass as he has been abject for most of this season.
Arsenal for the league to even out these injustices.
Garey Vance, MUFC
I’ve made a huge mistake
Man U fluking the FA cup last season is the worst thing that could have happened to them. Forced them to stick with ETH.
Stuck with a manager who doesn’t seem to acknowledge any of his faults. They are gonna come 6th at most this year. ETH gonna use injuries again as an excuse.
The only thing that could be funnier is if they sack ETH and hire Southgathe. He might actually end up being better but the short term immediate meltdown will be hilarious.
ABU since 98
Anon
Two 3-0 defeats at home in a row. Have Man Utd ever done that before in their history?
Unless I miscounted, Solskjaer (who had to go) lost by 3 goals or more five times over three years. We’ve only started Ten Hag’s third year and that was his tenth defeat by 3 goals or more as Man Utd manager. Six of those were at home, all 3-0 and to teams including Newcastle, Bournemouth and f**king Spurs. Also Liverpool twice in a row. Then there’s the likes of 4-0 at Palace and 3-0 at Sevilla.
Remember when everyone said the 7-0 to Liverpool was a freak result? It wasn’t.
Keeping him on after the FA Cup was just like giving Ole the job permanently because of the PSG game. Letting him have any input into signings after Antony is madness but they signed two more of his Ajax lads summer just gone anyway. I don’t see much difference between ineos and the last crowd at the moment.
Eamonn, Dublin
READ NEXT: Man Utd’s most humiliating Premier League defeats: Liverpool, Balotelli, Keane evisceration, Palace thumping
This is karma for 20 years of believing they would be the best team in the world forever.
And we’re all loving it.
Roll on manager no 7 to continue this gloriously expensive mediocrity.
rojapy
Keane learner
This shouldn’t need explaining but I assume it does to a Mailbox full of Arsenal fans this morning.
Man United being absolutely crap with 10 men (and also with 11 men), does not mean that Roy Keane was wrong to voice his opinion that Arsenal could have or should have been a bit more ambitious with 10 men.
One has nothing to do with the other.
Slightly hilarious, mind.
James, MUFC
Ugarte be kidding
Not a great day for you on Sunday, Man Utd fans.
You could analyse a number of things about it but that first goal, I mean Van der Ven, he just ran straight through that hole in the heart of your midfield, that really shouldn’t happen but it just keeps happening doesn’t it. Dear me.
But on the bright side, it’s just as well you’ve got that Ugarte bloke coming in – as you all keep saying, he’ll sort out that particular problem for you. An upgrade on Casemiro, for sure.
Oh no, wait. Hang on…..
– Andy H, Swansea
Ten Hag lacks emotional quotient
Trying to put my finger on the core of the issues after that non-performance from Man Utd. There are so many candidates for the foundational errors. Bruno Fernandes’s form and frustrations, Rashford’s continuing to flatter to deceive, the continued switching off, of the defence. 7 games in and a goal difference of minus 3 doesn’t augur well for the season. And the most damning thing is that man for man, you’d think Man Utd have a better team than Spurs.
I think Ten Hag’s problem is a bit like Rangnik’s issue as well. He knows the right thing to do, and has tactical ideas. He probably is a good analyst as well. But he’s just not getting into the heads and hearts of his players. Collectively the Man Utd players are switched off. Every action takes half a second to register. Players think of what to do after receiving the ball. Or are on their heels when being played through. Or are running the wrong way relative to the pass. Rangnik also consistently threw the players under the bus, which ETH doesn’t do. But he’s clearly unable to get them fired up. And this is with a core of players that he has managed before. Good managers have to manage both the analytical and emotional / mental side of the game. Having defended ETH all this time, I have to conclude that he is not able to get the players fired up. You can argue that managers shouldn’t need to at this level, but it’s always a key part of the game. At this point, There are at least half a dozen managers at so called smaller clubs in the Premier League who should be able to do a better job.
Bruno got a little unlucky with the red card but I suspect he’s running on fumes, having played himself into the ground for club and country for 2 years now. A couple of games out might actually be good for him. Zirkzee can play in his place. Meanwhile nobody has picked up that Rashford and Garnacho conspired to lose the ball from a position of good advantage for the first goal and Rashford just gave up after losing the ball.
Ved Sen (MUFC)
Hotspurred
Seventy five minutes gone, it’s clear to me that a top four place is beyond the reach of Erik’s abilities. Villa ( by a mile ), Chelsea, Newcastle and Hotspurs are a cut above.
When Sir Alex left, I stated to my United supporting boss, welcome to a new manager every 2 or 3 years. And here we are.
Uff, a third. Great for the travelling fans .
Perhaps Graham Potter might be interested. Looking for an Atleti win in the derby .
Peter. (Barca let in 4 , Ter Stegen being injured is a disaster)
Sunny & warm Andalucia.
MORE ON YET ANOTHER MAN UTD DEFEAT
👉 16 Conclusions on Man Utd 0-3 Tottenham: Ten Hag sack, Ugarte nightmare, Kulusevski dazzles
👉 Wasteful Tottenham still left laughing at Manchester United’s humiliation in Old Trafford rout
👉 Gary Neville calls for Man Utd inquisition after ‘absolutely disgusting’ defeat to Tottenham
All things must pass
Getting in there early, (writing in at 52 mins) but I think our perfect moment is ending, hence another musician title for my email.
Even Calvino and Garey Vance can’t justify this performance (though I am praying that they will somehow as, like most none Utd fans, I am desperate for ETH to stay).
‘Fred, AWB, Scott McT aren’t good enough for Utd, he’s getting rid of the deadwood’ but he’s replacing them with worse players.
It really is that simple.
Anyway, ETH, thanks for the memories. I can take solace that the FA Cup win saved your job and you managed to bring even more of your own players for the next manager to have to get rid of.
David (The fat lady is bellowing) Molby, Shrewsbury
📣TO THE COMMENTS! Should Man Utd sack Erik ten Hag? Join the debate here
Banter club
See, now what Bruno’s red card does is it gives Ten Hag (as well as Man Utd fans) a handy excuse and deflection point as to why they’ll have lost a game they were always meant to, even if they had twelve on the pitch today. Little doubt there will be many letters in tomorrow’s mailbox bemoaning the red as “controversy” but don’t let the deluge nor the deluded fool you, Spurs were winning this fixture from the off.
On Spurs though, I found the recent sentiments from someone who strangely referred to him- or herself as an AI fan (though if I were a supporter of The Tottenham, perhaps I’d also beg anonymity) rather lacking in any awareness or rationale. This person thought it strange Dave Tickner didn’t follow up with an effusive 16 conclusions on Spurs’ midweek Qarabag heroics. Two things here: 1) I actually always thought Tickner was a Spurs fan, but I don’t really know; and, 2) I actually watched much of that game and Qarabag was one of the worst sides I’ve ever seen (truly, and not hyperbole), yet they definitely had their chances and might’ve gotten a result on another day, despite the one-sided scoreline.
AI fans or not, why is it that Spurs supporters believe so piously in the elitism and superiority of their club when any and every factual evidence points so completely to the contrary. This has always mystified me. Is it due to their shoe-horning themselves behind the Big Six moniker ? Too easily I can think of at least five clubs with worthier credentials for their spot in a Big Six, and it’s such a stupid construct to begin with.
Here’s two shouts if I were to don an ill-fitting USA cap for a hot minute: the Los Angeles Clippers are the Tottenham Hotspur of the NBA. The Los Angeles Chargers are the Tottenham Hotspur of the NFL. Both these franchises play in the city in which I reside, and both are definitive banter franchises of the region and of their sport, who’ve long ago traded any chance of winning pedigree with perennial laughingstock status. But occasionally both the Clippers and Chargers will notch a big win somewhere, because such is sport. The unfortunate thing is, an occasional apex moment against a Qarabag yesterday or a crap Man Utd today will not suddenly undo a legacy of long-held, historic sporting failure.
Spurs could win a Carabao, FA Cup and Europa League treble this season and this combination of treble would be the most befitting of themselves. But I honestly don’t think it would move the needle much in terms of removing their deeply steeped premier banter-club status… it’s just been way too long now in the making.
Eric, Los Angeles CA (For a very long time Liverpool were linked with Timo Werner. And for a very long time I’ve said we’ve dodged the bluntest of Bavarian bullets there.)
A couple of things
Two issues to discuss for me after this weekend.
Erik may suck as a coach, but no one on this planet would whip that nightmare of a squad into shape. At the current state you’re far more likely to ruin [enter new player’s name] than he’s likely to fix your problems. You need a purge, and you need it soon.
Tomer, LFC (dark arts, winning ugly yada yada…)
Infamy, infamy
Not looking forward to Monday’s mailbox at all.
All those conspiracy theory emails all over again.
What’s that? Arsenal scored a goal when the ref didn’t give a free kick against them? An Arsenal player wasn’t sent off for a clear 2nd yellow card when the game was 2-2?
Who cares if they had 432 shots, 99.99% possession and 87 corners, it’s the decisions incorrectly given in your favour which have a bigger bearing on the result.
Apologies in the comments or by return please.
Howard (they’re yet to have a 90+ points season) Jones
Unconscious bias and Arsenal
With regards to Tom Leyton’s Mail on Sunday.
I agree with many of his points regarding the dysfunction in the PGMOL and the ‘mates club’ vibe it gives off.
However firstly, when yellow cards can be given for a multitude of one off reasons and accumulative fouling, a yellow card/foul ratio is a pretty poor set of data to base conclusions from. A team that is gobby towards the ref and kicking the ball away may accumulate more yellows despite fouling less. Less unconscious bias more idiotic players.
Secondly, if you are aware of unconscious bias and are concerned about its effects then surely you can weaponise this too? Notice that Villa (like very team) have had contentious decisions that have cost us points yet not once has Emery even mentioned them. Brian Clough told his players to be unquestionably polite to referees for exactly the same reason. Unconsciously, the referee may look forward to taking charge of your matches instead of worrying about your players/fans/managers hysterical reactions. Given the ego on some of these referees do you not think, unconsciously, you are bringing it upon yourselves?
To finish, the defence that everyone else gets away with it does not wash in primary schools or the justice system. It is not the high moral ground many people think it is.
Funstar (how about the arsenal fella that should have get a second yellow yesterday… unconscious bias or conspiracy?) Andy
Corner shop
Further to Ron Jeremias mail published on Sunday, and other previous missives about Arsenal corners, I’ll come straight out and admit I haven’t read actual rules (which would make me no different to most pundits to be fair).
But, surely if it isn’t against the rules to prevent the goalkeeper from leaving his line in order to catch or punch the ball it really should be. Regardless of whether the blocking players move or stand still, they are preventing the goalkeeper from making a legitimate defensive action, which is an obstruction, right?
If Arsenal are doing nothing wrong according to the current rules, then fair play to them as what they are doing, they are doing well. If no offence is being committed then it’s up to their opponents to come up with some other way to counter it.
Adam, LFC, Montreal.
Chelsea’s plan
Sometimes I think what if Chelsea’s plan all along was to sign a load of talented young players on long contracts, throw them in at the deep end during the chaos of the post Abramovic culture change and see which players could handle it. To forge a group of young players in adversity and then see which ones stick together and grow together. To create the bonds and resiliance that will be needed as this squad continues its journey from car crashing into a burning train wreck to the Champions League. What if they are waiting for the new team to fully form before they add a lethal #9? What if they move to Wembley for 5 years while they rebuild Stamford Bridge and sell the extra 7.5 million tickets and boxes for £1 billion?
Then I remember they made Frank Lampard manager and realise I must be dreaming.
Ben
Gordon the diver?
Wrong from whoever in Newcastle.
Everyone else on the BBC updates did it for me.
I have accepted that he’s the league’s biggest cheat, maybe you should too.
Fat Man (+Everton won so a little more sanguine than normal)
Proxy war
After watching the City and Newcastle game the other day I realized I was just watching two oil states engage in a proxy war. Is the future of football, just nation states buying teams to compete against each other? If so this could start to heat up a bit. Could a particular nasty injury to a star player kick off an international incident? I think it would make the premier league a bit more exciting knowing that a last minute winner headed in from Dan Burns could trigger WW3.
Conor Maximus, LFC
An article request
You did one about Potter going to Everton who have no wins.
Everton go on to win over the weekend.
Can you guys please write one about Wolves this week ( we are getting desperate).