Premier League
The nine major strategic blunders Ineos have made at Man United that prove they cannot be trusted to choose Michael Carrick's replacement
Michael Carrick looks set to pay for Manchester United’s miserable start to the season with his job this week. Carrick took more points than any other Premier League manager between his arrival as Ruben Amorim's interim replacement in January and the end of last season. He was rewarded with the job on a permanent basis but the Carrick era has quickly unravelled and United entered the November international break 18th in the Premier League, out of the Carabao Cup at the first hurdle and middling at best in the Champions League. Carrick's dismissal is the latest shameful episode for the group that took control of football decisions in February 2024 when Sir Jim Ratcliffe came on board as a minority owner. CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox still retain Ratcliffe's backing despite being the subject of fan chants calling for their dismissal at recent matches.
Erik ten Hag looked to be on thin ice from the moment Ineos walked through the doors at Carrington. One of his first conversations with the new hierarchy saw the Dutchman offer to put together a plan to overhaul United’s failing data department, but the offer was rejected. Ten Hag said, ‘I offered my knowledge and abilities to Ineos to help them to construct, but they were of the opinion that they already knew everything.’ He added, ‘They were convinced of, say, the philosophy, the strategy, the work methods. But they came from petrochemicals, from Formula One, from cycling. Top football demands something totally different.’
That summer, Ineos were caught on the hop by the groundswell of support to keep Ten Hag after United beat rivals City in the FA Cup final, when all indications were they had been ready to sack him. They still openly flirted with other managers just days after United’s Wembley victory, with future England boss Thomas Tuchel meeting with Ratcliffe in Monaco before he dropped out of the race. Gareth Southgate, Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Frank and Roberto De Zerbi were considered as Ten Hag remained in limbo. In the end, an Ineos delegation flew to Ibiza to interrupt Ten Hag’s holiday and agreed to extend his contract by a year, make changes to his coaching staff, as well as make promises for the upcoming transfer market.
Ten Hag explained, ‘They promised me loyalty, they promised me backing, they promised communication, that we get aligned. We spoke about the issues. But the promises, they didn’t keep.’ According to Ten Hag, Ineos went back on their word having said they would not sell Scott McTominay, who joined Napoli that summer, and the manager was sacked 116 days after his deal was extended with another £200m splurged in the transfer window. By the time Ten Hag was finally dismissed, with a compensation package for him and his coaching staff, Ineos had wasted close to a quarter of a billion through indecision.
Ratcliffe relentlessly pursued Dan Ashworth as he sought an elite sporting director to lead the new sporting structure, believing him to be ‘clearly one of the top sporting directors in the world’ and ‘a very capable person’. Ashworth spent five months on gardening leave after United eventually agreed a compensation package with Newcastle United to get him, only to be gone after five months in the North West. Ratcliffe would go on to blame Ashworth for the decision to stick with Ten Hag and there was a sense that Ashworth was not on board with the move to bring Ruben Amorim in. It all culminated in his shock exit after a 3-2 home defeat by Nottingham Forest in which he was escorted through the press room at Old Trafford with his head bowed en route to a meeting where he was sacked.
United’s push for World Cup‑winning Argentine could oust Carrick