Jose Mourinho gives verdict on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Manchester United set-up

Jose Mourinho has detailed what he thinks of the style of setup that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is installing at Manchester United.

Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s 27.7% acquisition of Manchester United, a wealth of changes have been made. Numerous new appointments in high-up positions, such as Omar Berrada as CEO and Jason Wilcox as technical director, have been made, and Dan Ashworth‘s installation as sporting director is set to follow.

INEOS‘ biggest decision yet, whether Erik ten Hag will take charge of the squad next season, has yet to be announced by the club, but enough changes have been made for many to assess whether they think the new future at Old Trafford could be a success.

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Jose Mourinho, legendary manager and former United boss, has previously expressed his views on a club structure in which a manager has less responsibility.

“We are not any more in a time when the coach by himself is powerful enough to cope,” he said in 2019. “The coach nowadays needs a structure; he needs a club organised in a certain way.

“The club must have an owner or a president, a CEO or executive director, a football director and then the manager. This is the structure that can cope with all the problems modernity is bringing all of us.

“A club must be very well organised to cope with all these kinds of situations where the manager is only the manager and not the man that is trying to keep the discipline or is trying to educate the players.”

This is very much the type of setup that Ratcliffe is aiming for at United. Speaking to TNT Sports after Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph on Saturday evening, Mourinho praised the system at Los Blancos, which is similar to the aforementioned system.

“The club is such a simple structure,” he told TNT Sports.

“The structure? Florentino Perez (president), Jose Angel Sanchez (CEO) and the chief scout – and the coach. Simplicity is genius.” Asked why other newer roles at clubs have started appearing in recent years, Mourinho responded: “Because it’s trendy.”