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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said that INEOS will ultimately decide Manchester United’s style of play and then plan around that.
This season, Erik ten Hag has come under pressure for United’s poor displays.
Despite getting results at times, fans have been left questioning performances and how sustainable they are in the long run.
It’s almost impossible to decipher whether the Red Devils are a pressing team or they want to sit back and hit opponents on the break.
At times, it has all been very disorganized and frantic.
In truth, this has been the case since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. From having a possession-based manager like Louis van Gaal to then hiring a pragmatic coach in Jose Mourinho. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also favoured transition football while the Norwegian’s successor, Ten Hag, is from the mould of managers who favour ball retention and control.
The result of that has been having a squad full of players with mixed attributes that have prevented United from being a cohesive and organized unit.
In a comprehensive interview, Ratcliffe addressed these concerns and admitted that it’s something he’s eager to solve as soon as possible.
He addressed supporters for the first time since official confirmation that he has completed his partial investment into the club.
When asked what type of players he wants to bring in, the 71-year-old said, “We’re probably still debating what precisely is the style of football we want to play. If you look at Manchester City, they know precisely what the style of football is they want to play and all 11 teams at the club play the same formula.”
“We need to do that, but I think in terms of the nature of the players, you want Manchester United types of players… attacking football, exciting football, bringing the youth through. You want players that are committed. You want players that play 90 minutes – those are the types of players you want playing for Manchester United.”
“The academy is really really important for us. It’s probably the most successful academy in football in terms of number of players that have come through.”
He added about United’s football philosophy, “We’ll decide that style, plus the CEO, sporting director, probably the recruitment guys, what the style of football is and that will be the Manchester United style of football, and the coach will have to play that style.”
“We’re not going to oscillate from a Mourinho style to Guardiola style. That’s not the way we’ll run the club. Otherwise you’re changing everything all the time, you change your coach, you’ve got the wrong squad we won’t do that. In modern football you need to decide what’s your path and stick to your path.”
Ratcliffe’s stance is likely to put him on a collision course with Ten Hag in case the Dutchman does not favour whatever style of play INEOS decide to push forward with.
