Sir Jim Ratcliffe has watched just 90 minutes of Manchester United at Old Trafford since his INEOS group paid £1.3 billion to take control of the club’s football operations. Given the state of affairs on the field for Erik ten Hag’s team this season, a 2-2 draw against Tottenham on Sunday was a reasonable afternoon’s work.
However, Mail Sport columnist Chris Sutton has decided he has seen enough and believes Ratcliffe should waste no time in getting rid of the manager who led United to the Champions League places in his debut season last time out.
Former Premier League and golden boot winner Sutton told our It’s All Kicking Off podcast on Monday that Ten Hag has set United too far back in the past five and a half months to get any more time. In doing so, he became the first of Mail Sport’s team of experts to call on Ratcliffe to make a change.
Sutton said: “Jim Ratcliffe will look at everything within the club. He is going to fix the leaks in the roof. He will try to make improvements on the training pitch.
“But what can he improve and improve now? I think he really needs to take a closer look at Erik ten Hag and I suspect he is thinking about a change.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (L) attended his first match since his £1.3 billion investment was announced as he watched Man United draw 2-2 with Spurs
Mail Sport columnist Chris Sutton believes Ratcliffe should fire Erik ten Hag immediately
United have had a difficult time under Ten Hag this season and have already lost fourteen games
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‘I think it’s safe to make the change in the summer and give yourself time. “But if he evaluates Manchester United this season and goes back and looks at their results and the way they are playing, I think he has to make the change now.”
In Sunday’s draw against Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham, United shared the goals but were dominated in all other relevant statistics such as possession, shots, shots on target and corners. This has been a pattern since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager 11 years ago. The United States managers who followed have all struggled with these metrics.
But as Ferguson sat next to Ratcliffe – whose investment is expected to be approved by the Premier League next month – in the Old Trafford directors’ box, Sutton believes both men were watching a failing football team that shows no signs of improving under their Dutch coach become. .
“Sir Alex Ferguson’s team wasn’t just dealt a blow,” Sutton continued.
‘They were ruthless. It was blow after blow after blow. Total devotion, total domination.
“If you look at the team this season I think you see a team that is being bullied in the bottom half. At home against teams from the bottom half, they dominated possession.
‘But against half-decent teams at Old Trafford, Manchester United allowed themselves to be dominated. And this is a manager who has been here for eighteen months.
‘Manchester United is going backwards at the moment. And now they are small consolations. Rasmus Hojlund scores, good for him. I’m happy for him. Marcus Rashford, like I said, rocking. Alejandro Garnacho has moments. But that’s all they are.
‘And Ten Hag can talk about a return of injured players. But as a whole, Manchester United, as far as I can tell, won’t change the way they play this season.
Sutton claims Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou (left) would transform United’s fortunes overnight
Tottenham were the better team at Old Trafford on Sunday, but could only leave with a point
Sutton said Ratcliffe’s arrival should herald a new era at Old Trafford, including a new manager
But It’s All Kicking Off co-host Ian Ladyman said the calls for Ten Hag’s head were ‘extraordinary’
“That 20-year period under Sir Alex Ferguson must certainly be what Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to come back to. So how is he going to do it? Is there a better option as a manager?
‘I think there are at the moment. So I think it’s time for a change. The Radcliffe Revolution. New era, new manager needed.’
Sutton and fellow IAKO presenter, Mail Sport Football Editor Ian Ladyman, supported Ten Hag during the early part of the season. Both feel he has handled the problems with Jadon Sancho and Dutch winger Antony impressively, while also dealing with injuries and the loan departure of talented striker Mason Greenwood.
Ladyman has also expressed reservations about the United manager in recent weeks, but insisted to IAKO that he should still be given more time.
“I think what you’re saying is extraordinary,” Ladyman told Sutton.
‘Our vision of Ten Hag in the course of this season runs almost parallel. It started with very strong support. Props to the way he dealt with some of the problems at the club we know. Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo last season, for example.
“And then we’ve seen how the team has gone backwards this season and it’s gone backwards. And we have started to look at the team and wonder how well it is coached and how well Ten Hag manages to get his messages across, whether he improves players, whether he improves a team. That’s why we started asking questions about him.
“I guess what I’m suggesting, though, is that Jim Ratcliffe, whose takeover hasn’t even been fully ratified by the League, comes in, walks into his office, sits down at his desk, picks up the phone and immediately throws the manager in the bin. I think it is a remarkable call.
‘We both think that players like (football director) John Murtough and (technical director) Darren Fletcher probably won’t stay at the football club for much longer, so there will be more people coming, I’m sure.
‘Those people, those experts, as far as I’m concerned, should give themselves the time to look at the football club and decide where the fault lies and decide whether some of those players are beyond help or whether it’s down to recruitment and/or Ten Hag has his fingerprints on there, which we think he has, and how much of it is on the coach.
Ten Hag is praised in certain circles for the way he has handled cases such as Jadon Sancho
‘And I don’t think Jim Ratcliffe can make that decision, or that it would be wise to make that decision on an afternoon next to Alex Ferguson. It is too early.’
There are examples elsewhere in the Premier League of new managers having a transformative effect on teams. Unai Emery at Aston Villa and Postecoglou at Spurs are good examples.
Asked if he thought a coach like Postecoglou could transform the current United team overnight, Sutton said: “Absolutely. 100%.
‘Are there better people who can do their work more effectively than Ten Hag? I think there are, and I think if it’s a revolution, you have to come in and make your mark.
“Jim Ratcliffe is not the owner, but he runs the football department.”