"Chickens first, or eggs first?" The United reconstruction suddenly turned into a philosophical debate. After two consecutive defeats in the opening season, everyone found that Manchester United players could not implement the tactics of manager Eric Tenhach, the goalkeeper and the defender could not organize the attack from the back, the core of the back lacked the character to turn to attack, the midfield was not systematic, the overall running was seriously insufficient, and the kicking up was not big from last season. Next, Eric Tenhach is faced with a headache for him, should he stick to his own path, or pragmatically "watch the dishes and eat"?
Coached by Jose Mourinho in the summer of 2016, United's football line has been low-post defence plus quick counter-attack. Even if Jose Mourinho was fired in 2018 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over, giving the players more freedom, he maintained this general direction until the summer of 2021. Manchester United has played this kind of football for 5 seasons, the whole team does not have to run too much, the defense depends on the number of people, the attack depends on space.
2021 is a critical year, Manchester United results seem to be good, get the league runner-up, but the tactics seem to be not advanced enough, can not catch up with the trend of high-level pressing and passing, if you want to go to a higher level, is it required to change? In April of that year, United's structure was also significantly changed, with the creation of a football director, who was promoted from within John Murtough. John Murtough has said he likes fast and varied attacking football.
From the 21/22 season, Manchester United entered a new era, not about the return of Ronaldo, but about the change in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tactics, the style of play has become more dominant, trying to press the front line and strengthen the pass control. But did the three major acquisitions of Ronaldo, Varane and Jayden Sancho fit that tactical change that summer? As a result, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could not handle this tactical evolution, and the results plummeted, and the mid-season eclipse was left.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's failure did not shake United's determination to change, and hired Lonnick, who is regarded as the "master of the robbery", as the interim manager. However, with the support of the January transfer window zero, Lonnick's high pressing was only successful for half a time, and soon returned to its original form, and by the end of the season, United and Ronnick had become a "rotten" state together. Lonnick said United had a six-year gap with Liverpool and would buy 10 players in the summer. Lonnick's implications are clear that existing players cannot support his football system.
Although Lonnick seemed to be full of plans, Manchester United did not pay much attention, recruiting Eric Tenhach did not ask much for his opinion, and Eric Tenhach was not too willing to cooperate with Lonnick, and finally Lonnick did not even do part-time consultants, focusing on teaching the Austrian national team.
In terms of tactical style, Eric Tenhach is similar to Lonnick, the former inheriting Guardiola's ideas and succeeding at Ajax. Eric Tenhach also noted United's problems last season, believing that the reason for the team's inability to play high was lack of physical fitness, so he started the season early and practiced physical fitness. He is also obsessed with training details, incubating his philosophy to players and encouraging forward passing.
After two rounds of the Premier League, it was found that a summer of pre-season preparation was still not enough to change the Manchester United players. Even if the cardiopulmonary function can keep up, the brain may not be able to. Neither against Brighton nor against Brentford, United could not play the football required by Eric Tenghach, but more like the chaos of last season's Runnick coaching, with panicking short passes at the back and many holes in the front.
The old man did not understand the new direction, the road to reinforcement is also difficult, Malaysia is only a left-back substitute, Lisandro Martinez is the most familiar with Eric Tenhach's new recruits, but he also has to adapt to the intensity of the Premier League, as for Christian Eriksen, who survived last year, he turned into a lifesaver, playing the striker and kicking the back. As for the rumored cassemuro, he is indeed a good back, but can he adapt to Eric Tenhach's football? Will it be the new part of the "Panic Buy" cycle? We'll see.
The Premier League was at a standstill, the players could not carry out the manager's tactics, and there were began calls for Eric Tenhach to bow to reality. What is reality? Manchester United are now struggling to play well in high-handed pass football. What is bowing your head? Go back to the old way, play low defense, don't have Maguire turn around, give B Fee room to make mistakes to pass threatening passes, and give Rashford room to run to play counter-attack.
However, if you want to play this kind of football, what is the significance of Eric Tenhach? Why did United hire him to coach?
If Eric Tenhach bows his head, he loses himself; If you don't bow your head, the results may be miserable. Isn't it okay to bow your head once and a half times? Surviving the difficulties and using your set again, is it not good to compromise? Compromise once, maybe it is equivalent to forever will be, and back and forth, playing for more than a year at a high position and turning, players are difficult to master a set of tactical styles, is not it the root of Manchester United's disease in the past 9 years?
I believe this struggle is not only in the heart of Eric Tenhach, but also in the heart of football director John Murtough. From solskjaer's change to the hiring of Lonnick and Eric Tenhach, it is believed that John Murtough meant that he wanted United's football to become different and get rid of the nightmare cycle.
A team that plays a pass-and-control soccer ball, is there a group of players who play this kind of football first, or does the team promote this style first? John Murtough and Manchester United have clearly opted for the latter. First establish a high position to press, and then walk on two legs, on the one hand, slowly let the existing players accept and get used to, on the other hand, gradually change blood, and add players who are suitable for this set of playing styles. For the time being, both legs didn't go well and United fell to the bottom of the table.
Remembering Guardiola's first time at the helm of Manchester City, although There were Pellegrini and Tiksić Begiristan paving the way for many years, the first transfer window also needed to increase troops, change the goalkeeper, the defensive speed could not support his system, and finally I don't know how many goalkeepers and defenders were changed, and only then did it establish the current winning division. There is no doubt about the use of people, Manchester City believe in Guardiola, believe in the end.
If United bow to reality, the ending has been written in the history of the past 9 years.
What if it's the scalp? The road ahead is unknown.
Probably swoop to the bottom, see you in the Championship next season. It is possible to cultivate positive results and achieve the desired goal.
People are always afraid of the unknown.
Did Eric Tenhach and John Murtough brave the unknown?