Forget Erik ten Hag. Forget the Glazers. Forget the expensive signings. And forget the previous years of underperformance.
If Manchester United fail to massively improve this season, the ultimate responsibility lies with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos. The latest mess is on their watch, with United already struggling to convince they are equipped to qualify for next year’s Champions League.
There is no point sugar-coating it. The new United hierarchy have made a deeply unimpressive start to their Old Trafford reign with one of their worst decisions being the most important any board can make. Above all, you must ensure you have the right manager. Retaining Ten Hag is proving the catalyst for another wasted campaign and possibly another £200 million down the drain.
Upon taking over United before the end of last season, Ratcliffe and Ineos gave themselves the necessary time to assess what had gone wrong since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and make the necessary changes.
There did not seem to be a week which passed before a new executive was headhunted, all the messaging suggesting the best in class would be appointed as they poached chief executive Omar Berrada from Manchester City, sporting director Dan Ashworth from Newcastle United and technical director Jason Wilcox from Southampton. A new broom was sweeping through the boardroom alongside plans to make 250 staff redundant, the spin being it was important to get the infrastructure in place to get the most from the coach and the team.
**Ten Hag came into this season with his standing weakened**
At first, the noises around the head coach sounded like an astute way of securing a replacement in time for the next pre-season. By the time they decided to keep Ten Hag, it was revealed to be a fudge. Ineos froze after Ten Hag won the FA Cup and took the easy way out by giving him another chance.
This is not retrospective wisdom.
I know whenever I talk or write about United, the immediate reaction is, ‘this is just an ex-Liverpool player putting the boot in and taking pleasure from our problems’.
Let me assure you, my view on United is based solely on an understanding of how the football industry works.
If Ineos was so certain it had the right man in charge, there would have been no approach to anyone else.
It is obvious there were serious doubts about Ten Hag’s ability to lead the rebuild. Those concerns were justified so whenever a board starts looking elsewhere, it is the beginning of the end of their relationship. It is not even that the trust has gone – it was never really there to begin with.
It would be naive to think this does not happen across the game when a manager is struggling and a contingency plan is needed, but if a club sounds out one or two candidates they can keep it in-house. It is more unusual for such a broad recruitment process to be undertaken with at least five managers under consideration. With so many names discussed or interviewed, that information was bound to leak.
It meant Ten Hag came into this season with his standing weakened, the idea that he only stayed because ‘the owners could not find anyone better’ reflecting as poorly on Ineos as the Dutch coach. The suggestion there was no stand-out candidate who would have been the right fit for United is extraordinary.
ReallyDevil on
Why are people down voting this post ? Carragher is just stating things most of us already known about
ace_lw on
Oh! I didn’t know Jamie Carragher knew how to write! Big lol
BrowzinJ on
If INEOS got rid of him in the summer they’d just cause a different kind of uproar with many using rose tinted glasses to say how Ten Hag got us two trophies in two seasons and got sacked for it, it was worth seeing if he could do anything with his players back following some major injuries, he couldn’t, so now he will get the justifiable sack with pretty much everyone in the fanbase on side.
Just easy bait for Carragher
PunkDrunk777 on
They haven’t fudged it, they made a decision and stuck by it.
Rightly or wrongly, that’s what they did
Then_Aioli_4815 on
Is that to say the players bought are totally no good and won’t be useful at all post ETH? Also is he taking into account how the finances will be affected by firing the existing coaching staff?
Electric_feel0412 on
United fans giving this scouse cunt their attention is one of the worst things to happen post fergie. He always does this to create friction between United’s fans, players, managers and owners. Genuinely United fans should have some shame to not read/listen to whatever this cunt has to say about the club.
cheesyvoetjes on
They didn’t waste 200 million. Mazraoui already proved to be an asset. The potential of Zirkzee is obvious. De Ligt has not been super convincing yet but I’m confident he will turn out good for us. The next manager should be able to use these players. Same with earlier ten Hag signings like Hojlund or Martinez. Hopefully we can get rid of Antony and Casemiro and some others that aren’t good enough. But I don’t feel like we wasted money on every player.
MikeAAStorm on
A lot of fans wanted him to stay back then. Statements like these only work in hindsight
dratsz on
Kicking a man when he’s down Scouse style
elodie_pdf on
Someone should tell Carra that players can play under multiple managers
Danielsaurr on
This feels like pure shite to me, I agree retaining ten hag will cost them, but the signings we made this season are good players who will work in most systems. De Ligt is a great centre back, Yorro the same. Mazraouri was a steal. I think the actual players aren’t as bad as people think. They look lost on the pitch, halfway between just trying to implement things to just save face against teams. I think Antony and Mount are the only ten hag signings that will be seen as bad overall. The others are young and can be moulded into a system. I guess I just don’t think the club is in such a bad state, if ten hag gets the sack and the team go on a massive unbeaten streak then people won’t really remember the bad start without it being ten hags fault. I could be wrong though, will see what they go with.
ragecndy on
I actually think for the first time in years we have a pretty stacked squad (other than left back but even that when Shaw and Malacia come back both are good)
alexblueuk on
Worth noting that Berrada and Ashworth had nothing to do with the decision to keep ETH (officially anyway).
It would be interesting to know what options they would’ve put forward.
KAKYBAC on
Bollux article. Cheap and nasty. Ineos opted for a dose of stability in a world where managers are easily dumped left right and centre. After ETH delivered an impressive FA CUP final win, it would have been criticised to drop him then. Instead they did everything else but drop ETH. Even establishing Ruud feels like a good contingency.
This is a manager who brought through Mainoo and dealt with Sancho, Greenwood and Ronaldo. Has won a cup per season. It would have been wrong to sack him then. Hindsight is only ever 20:20.
darthmeister on
Piss off Jamie.
sarthakmahajan610 on
They haven’t fudged anything. We haven’t signed a single player this season that is limited to a single style of play. Even if Ten Hag was sacked earlier, the transfers we made wouldn’t be too different from what they were.
With or without Ten Hag, this squad needed another CB, fullback, defensive mid and another striker, which we did.
EdWoodwardsPA on
Remember when ever they say we’re irrelevant that United is the only thing that gets them clicks.
United had more column inches written about them after winning a carabao cup over citeh’s treble.
We’ll move on players, manager etc and they’ll keep chatting bollix.
TheWeirdDude-247 on
Gerrard final game at Villa vs Fulham in October 2022 vs Emery last game on weekend ( PL only) there’s 7 possibility 8 players that are still there, 5 of them started vs Ipswich Town on Sunday.
So it’s not money wasted as get right guy in, you can definitely work with it, everyone was happy with squad bar a player or two now suddenly its not? Have a day off.
There’s also 6 players who’s contracts end in 2025, Harry, Victor, Amad, Eriksen, Evans and Heaton, I’ll boldly assume only Amad stays.
Basically a nonsense article by an ex Lpool player.
Fligflag on
Even if the manager is wrong, don’t think the signings have been that bad. If we want to play a similar style of football (which is what ineos wants) then I think they all fit into it.
I’m sure a new man would have favourites, but can’t see any of this summers signings being unwanted.
AnakinAni on
Look there’s enough negativity already. We have tough fixture coming up before the international break.
No point stoking the fire. Support the manager till he’s here. He certainly needs to fix his tactics as the team is being easily exposed. But as long as he’s here I feel we all should back him to turn things around.
He’s won us two cups, he’s brought in youngsters, he certainly is capable of setting up the team to beat strong competitors.
At this point I’d honestly just take a clean sheet and solid defence. He’s been naive in his set up and needs to realise only foolish people would try the same thing over and over again without changing anything to fix the issues.
Whatever worked for your Ajax team 5 years ago won’t work now. It was the same tactics that knocked Ajax out in the semis at the hand of Tottenham.
Hope he can change, turn things around & start with consistent performances 🤞🏼
CrossXFir3 on
Why would we bother posting shit by Carragher? Every time he talks about Utd he either states the obvious or he talks utter shite.
BlackHorse944 on
Explain how they wasted £200m. None of the players outside of , maybe Ugarte, were specifically tailored to ETH ball.
All the players we bought were selected by our new football heirarchy, not ETH. All of those players can play in various systems.
Isserley_ on
mellifluousmark on
Saying that the players we bought might be ‘200m down the drain’ is brainless stuff. It’s not like they’ll disappear after Ten Hag. We’d have signed some of them even if we’d sacked him.
Carragher is incapable of having a semi-coherent thought about United without smearing it in shit before he spits it at you.
Thin_Macintash on
ETH is shaping up to be our Unai Emery, i’m sure he’ll do well in a another team but it’s honestly not working out
Geralt2077 on
Are there still pundits who provide actual insight instead of scoring a good soundbite or headline?
I think all of our transfers this summer could be useful for the next manager. And we haven’t even seen Yoro yet.
When we’re playing an afwul system that makes every player look worse it’s hard to judge players individually.
Mackerdaymia on
Typical Carragher nonsense. He’s just desperate for what he’s saying to be true and desperate for United to be shit for another decade. It’s going to take a while, but Ratcliffe has brought in best-in-class and they’re all here and assessing their options. They will act. It will be a few games too late, but I genuinely believe Ten Hag is gone by the November international break b the very latest.
So buying 200 million worth of squad additions with potential is wasted money, just because Ten Hag’s contract was extended? What a load of gobby rubbish. We all know there has been a clear change in strategy, All the signings are young, we drove a much harder bargain, most were opportunistic. They’re bolstering the squad regardless of the manager, not signing players willy nilly that he likes. If that’d been the case, we would’ve spent 3 months chasing De Jong again.
Certain-Possible-280 on
United is directly and indirectly contributing to many jobs created in UK and carragher was one of them benefiting.
mnclick45 on
Ian Graham’s comments about Brailsford’s marginal gains theory in his new book make for interesting reading. He believes it is a deeply flawed system. Hindsight has shown us Brailsford’s methods leant heavily on PEDs.
I’d be concerned about Ineos if I was a Utd fan.
Thevanillafalcon on
I think it’s case of the players are quite good it’s just so obviously an issue with the system and the manager.
If we recruit the next manager smartly we can build on what we have
32 Comments
Piss off Carragher
**Article :**
Forget Erik ten Hag. Forget the Glazers. Forget the expensive signings. And forget the previous years of underperformance.
If Manchester United fail to massively improve this season, the ultimate responsibility lies with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos. The latest mess is on their watch, with United already struggling to convince they are equipped to qualify for next year’s Champions League.
There is no point sugar-coating it. The new United hierarchy have made a deeply unimpressive start to their Old Trafford reign with one of their worst decisions being the most important any board can make. Above all, you must ensure you have the right manager. Retaining Ten Hag is proving the catalyst for another wasted campaign and possibly another £200 million down the drain.
Upon taking over United before the end of last season, Ratcliffe and Ineos gave themselves the necessary time to assess what had gone wrong since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and make the necessary changes.
There did not seem to be a week which passed before a new executive was headhunted, all the messaging suggesting the best in class would be appointed as they poached chief executive Omar Berrada from Manchester City, sporting director Dan Ashworth from Newcastle United and technical director Jason Wilcox from Southampton. A new broom was sweeping through the boardroom alongside plans to make 250 staff redundant, the spin being it was important to get the infrastructure in place to get the most from the coach and the team.
**Ten Hag came into this season with his standing weakened**
At first, the noises around the head coach sounded like an astute way of securing a replacement in time for the next pre-season. By the time they decided to keep Ten Hag, it was revealed to be a fudge. Ineos froze after Ten Hag won the FA Cup and took the easy way out by giving him another chance.
This is not retrospective wisdom.
I know whenever I talk or write about United, the immediate reaction is, ‘this is just an ex-Liverpool player putting the boot in and taking pleasure from our problems’.
Let me assure you, my view on United is based solely on an understanding of how the football industry works.
If Ineos was so certain it had the right man in charge, there would have been no approach to anyone else.
It is obvious there were serious doubts about Ten Hag’s ability to lead the rebuild. Those concerns were justified so whenever a board starts looking elsewhere, it is the beginning of the end of their relationship. It is not even that the trust has gone – it was never really there to begin with.
It would be naive to think this does not happen across the game when a manager is struggling and a contingency plan is needed, but if a club sounds out one or two candidates they can keep it in-house. It is more unusual for such a broad recruitment process to be undertaken with at least five managers under consideration. With so many names discussed or interviewed, that information was bound to leak.
It meant Ten Hag came into this season with his standing weakened, the idea that he only stayed because ‘the owners could not find anyone better’ reflecting as poorly on Ineos as the Dutch coach. The suggestion there was no stand-out candidate who would have been the right fit for United is extraordinary.
Why are people down voting this post ? Carragher is just stating things most of us already known about
Oh! I didn’t know Jamie Carragher knew how to write! Big lol
If INEOS got rid of him in the summer they’d just cause a different kind of uproar with many using rose tinted glasses to say how Ten Hag got us two trophies in two seasons and got sacked for it, it was worth seeing if he could do anything with his players back following some major injuries, he couldn’t, so now he will get the justifiable sack with pretty much everyone in the fanbase on side.
Just easy bait for Carragher
They haven’t fudged it, they made a decision and stuck by it.
Rightly or wrongly, that’s what they did
Is that to say the players bought are totally no good and won’t be useful at all post ETH? Also is he taking into account how the finances will be affected by firing the existing coaching staff?
United fans giving this scouse cunt their attention is one of the worst things to happen post fergie. He always does this to create friction between United’s fans, players, managers and owners. Genuinely United fans should have some shame to not read/listen to whatever this cunt has to say about the club.
They didn’t waste 200 million. Mazraoui already proved to be an asset. The potential of Zirkzee is obvious. De Ligt has not been super convincing yet but I’m confident he will turn out good for us. The next manager should be able to use these players. Same with earlier ten Hag signings like Hojlund or Martinez. Hopefully we can get rid of Antony and Casemiro and some others that aren’t good enough. But I don’t feel like we wasted money on every player.
A lot of fans wanted him to stay back then. Statements like these only work in hindsight
Kicking a man when he’s down Scouse style
Someone should tell Carra that players can play under multiple managers
This feels like pure shite to me, I agree retaining ten hag will cost them, but the signings we made this season are good players who will work in most systems. De Ligt is a great centre back, Yorro the same. Mazraouri was a steal. I think the actual players aren’t as bad as people think. They look lost on the pitch, halfway between just trying to implement things to just save face against teams. I think Antony and Mount are the only ten hag signings that will be seen as bad overall. The others are young and can be moulded into a system. I guess I just don’t think the club is in such a bad state, if ten hag gets the sack and the team go on a massive unbeaten streak then people won’t really remember the bad start without it being ten hags fault. I could be wrong though, will see what they go with.
I actually think for the first time in years we have a pretty stacked squad (other than left back but even that when Shaw and Malacia come back both are good)
Worth noting that Berrada and Ashworth had nothing to do with the decision to keep ETH (officially anyway).
It would be interesting to know what options they would’ve put forward.
Bollux article. Cheap and nasty. Ineos opted for a dose of stability in a world where managers are easily dumped left right and centre. After ETH delivered an impressive FA CUP final win, it would have been criticised to drop him then. Instead they did everything else but drop ETH. Even establishing Ruud feels like a good contingency.
This is a manager who brought through Mainoo and dealt with Sancho, Greenwood and Ronaldo. Has won a cup per season. It would have been wrong to sack him then. Hindsight is only ever 20:20.
Piss off Jamie.
They haven’t fudged anything. We haven’t signed a single player this season that is limited to a single style of play. Even if Ten Hag was sacked earlier, the transfers we made wouldn’t be too different from what they were.
With or without Ten Hag, this squad needed another CB, fullback, defensive mid and another striker, which we did.
Remember when ever they say we’re irrelevant that United is the only thing that gets them clicks.
United had more column inches written about them after winning a carabao cup over citeh’s treble.
We’ll move on players, manager etc and they’ll keep chatting bollix.
Gerrard final game at Villa vs Fulham in October 2022 vs Emery last game on weekend ( PL only) there’s 7 possibility 8 players that are still there, 5 of them started vs Ipswich Town on Sunday.
So it’s not money wasted as get right guy in, you can definitely work with it, everyone was happy with squad bar a player or two now suddenly its not? Have a day off.
There’s also 6 players who’s contracts end in 2025, Harry, Victor, Amad, Eriksen, Evans and Heaton, I’ll boldly assume only Amad stays.
Basically a nonsense article by an ex Lpool player.
Even if the manager is wrong, don’t think the signings have been that bad. If we want to play a similar style of football (which is what ineos wants) then I think they all fit into it.
I’m sure a new man would have favourites, but can’t see any of this summers signings being unwanted.
Look there’s enough negativity already. We have tough fixture coming up before the international break.
No point stoking the fire. Support the manager till he’s here. He certainly needs to fix his tactics as the team is being easily exposed. But as long as he’s here I feel we all should back him to turn things around.
He’s won us two cups, he’s brought in youngsters, he certainly is capable of setting up the team to beat strong competitors.
At this point I’d honestly just take a clean sheet and solid defence. He’s been naive in his set up and needs to realise only foolish people would try the same thing over and over again without changing anything to fix the issues.
Whatever worked for your Ajax team 5 years ago won’t work now. It was the same tactics that knocked Ajax out in the semis at the hand of Tottenham.
Hope he can change, turn things around & start with consistent performances 🤞🏼
Why would we bother posting shit by Carragher? Every time he talks about Utd he either states the obvious or he talks utter shite.
Explain how they wasted £200m. None of the players outside of , maybe Ugarte, were specifically tailored to ETH ball.
All the players we bought were selected by our new football heirarchy, not ETH. All of those players can play in various systems.
Saying that the players we bought might be ‘200m down the drain’ is brainless stuff. It’s not like they’ll disappear after Ten Hag. We’d have signed some of them even if we’d sacked him.
Carragher is incapable of having a semi-coherent thought about United without smearing it in shit before he spits it at you.
ETH is shaping up to be our Unai Emery, i’m sure he’ll do well in a another team but it’s honestly not working out
Are there still pundits who provide actual insight instead of scoring a good soundbite or headline?
I think all of our transfers this summer could be useful for the next manager. And we haven’t even seen Yoro yet.
When we’re playing an afwul system that makes every player look worse it’s hard to judge players individually.
Typical Carragher nonsense. He’s just desperate for what he’s saying to be true and desperate for United to be shit for another decade. It’s going to take a while, but Ratcliffe has brought in best-in-class and they’re all here and assessing their options. They will act. It will be a few games too late, but I genuinely believe Ten Hag is gone by the November international break b the very latest.
So buying 200 million worth of squad additions with potential is wasted money, just because Ten Hag’s contract was extended? What a load of gobby rubbish. We all know there has been a clear change in strategy, All the signings are young, we drove a much harder bargain, most were opportunistic. They’re bolstering the squad regardless of the manager, not signing players willy nilly that he likes. If that’d been the case, we would’ve spent 3 months chasing De Jong again.
United is directly and indirectly contributing to many jobs created in UK and carragher was one of them benefiting.
Ian Graham’s comments about Brailsford’s marginal gains theory in his new book make for interesting reading. He believes it is a deeply flawed system. Hindsight has shown us Brailsford’s methods leant heavily on PEDs.
I’d be concerned about Ineos if I was a Utd fan.
I think it’s case of the players are quite good it’s just so obviously an issue with the system and the manager.
If we recruit the next manager smartly we can build on what we have