Sir Jim Ratcliffe delivers verdict on Erik ten Hag’s previous situation at Man United – sends ruthless message

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has delivered his verdict on Erik ten Hag’s situation at Manchester United before INEOS took control.

Ten Hag was appointed as United boss in the summer of 2022. He had a successful debut campaign at Old Trafford, finishing third in the Premier League and winning the Carabao Cup.

However, his second campaign in charge was not as smooth sailing. The Reds finished eighth in the league table but rescued the season with an FA Cup final triumph over rivals Manchester City.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS came into control earlier this year and quickly began to make changes behind the scenes. Ten Hag’s future was up in the air, but eventually, they decided to keep the Dutchman.

He now has a fresh-looking coaching unit with United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake joining as new assistant managers while Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag left the club.

Andreas Georgson has also been appointed as set-piece coach, and Jelle ten Rouwelaar has become the new goalkeeper coach.

Further away from the pitch, Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada and Christopher Vivell are among the appointments made to improve the overall structure that Ten Hag will be working with.

Ratcliffe has explained that Ten Hag’s previous problem at Old Trafford was that he was ‘doing too much’ – the British billionaire said this in a ruthless way in relation to the Glazers’ handling of the club’s stadium.

“Erik is a good guy and had been doing his best, but doing too much. He was trying to sort out the squad and fix leaks in the roof at the same time,” he told The Times.

“What happened is that Alex Ferguson and David Gill [the former managing director] left at the same time, 11 years ago.

“Up until that point, those two had been managing the sports side of the club, and the Glazer family had managed the commercial side very well. And then all of a sudden, there’s this vacuum.”

Ten Hag’s side will start their 2024/25 Premier League campaign on Friday evening against Fulham at Old Trafford.

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