On Sunday, the ‘Red Devils’ travel to Liverpool for a historic clash that once sparked, but now looks heavily lopsided, with Manchester United trailing in fourteenth place in a Premier League table dominated by the Anfield club , which has an advantage of 23 points.
Staff reductions, supporters’ anger at ticket prices, erratic management strategies and disappointing sporting results: after a year together, billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and Manchester United are navigating turbulent waters.
Ratcliffe, who has a 29% stake and is responsible for football operations, considered Liverpool ‘the enemy’ when he arrived at Old Trafford. He has said he aims to compete with Manchester City, calling them a ‘noisy neighbor’, as well as Liverpool, who he sees as ‘the other neighbor’ within three years.
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However, the first year has not inspired optimism among supporters, who do not hide their disappointment with certain decisions of the septuagenarian, originally from the outskirts of Manchester.
The owner of the chemical group Ineos has increased ticket prices for season ticket holders during the season, eliminating discounts for children and pensioners.
“This has created a significant divide with our supporter base, and the club must act urgently to repair the damage,” the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust responded regarding the measure.
A month ago, protests even took place outside Old Trafford, the club’s ‘Theater of Dreams’, a nickname that is increasingly out of fashion.
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“Unpopular decisions”
Internally, the new management has eliminated around 250 positions, particularly among low-paid staff who had been there for years. She also canceled the staff Christmas party.
According to Sky News, funding for the club’s foundation has been cut, and support for the former players’ association has ceased, as reported by The Sun. None of this helps to increase the popularity of Ratcliffe, the richest man in England.
“We have to make difficult and unpopular decisions,” the businessman admitted in December to the United We Stand fanzine. The club has become ‘mediocre’ so you have to ‘save every pound’ to regain lost glory, he insisted, being a strong supporter of Brexit.
During the summer transfer market, almost 240 million euros ($247 million) was invested to sign players like Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee. However, the sporting results are far from what was hoped for until now.
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The additional 10 million euros paid in November for Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim also did not bear fruit.
The management of former coach Erik Ten Hag left a lot to be desired. The Dutch coach retained his job despite a disastrous 2023-24 season which saw the team finish in eighth place in the Premier League and secure just one win in six Champions League games. His July renewal came after winning the FA Cup, but he was eventually let go at the end of October.
Le fiasco Ashworth
More than two months after Ten Hag’s departure, the team, now led by Amorim, faced disappointments. Three consecutive league defeats at the end of 2024 left the team in fourteenth place.
The 39-year-old Portuguese manager implemented a new tactical system (4-3-3), which he excelled during his time at Lisbon, but which he has yet to successfully transfer to United .
Within the club’s management, the names are piling up, and many believe that there are too many heavyweights in the meeting room: Jim Ratcliffe, Dave Brailsford, Joel Glazer, Jean-Claude Blanc, Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox and Christopher Vivell.
Sporting director Dan Ashworth, who joined the club on July 1, left his role after just five months. It was a blow for Ratcliffe, who had decided to pay Newcastle several millions to secure his services.
