Edwin van der Saar has sent INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe a strong warning surrounding their restructuring of Manchester United across all levels.
Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe acquired 27.7% of Manchester United in December 2023, the club has undergone significant changes across all departments.
As well as new signings being brought through such as Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt, the club have also seen new high-level appointments like CEO Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox installed.
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Dan Ashworth was also nabbed from Newcastle United to become the new sporting director, although he has since left his post after just five months.
Although there was initial optimism, the poor start to the season, combined with Ashworth’s sacking, has brought questions – although new head coach Rúben Amorim is a cause for hope at Old Trafford.
Van der Saar’s warning
Former United goalkeeper and club legend Edwin van der Saar knows a thing or two about running a football club, having occupied the position of CEO of Dutch side AFC Ajax during one of their most successful periods in recent history.
Although he stepped away from his role last year, he is still pointed to as one of the wisest men across modern football, and in a new interview with Sky Sports, he was asked about his current thoughts about United’s restructure.
He responded with a warning to Ratcliffe and his INEOS crew. The 54-year-old has explained that if United’s new ownership cannot keep everything connected, they could have big problems in the future.
“It’s of utmost importance that all things are connected,” the Dutchman explained. “I experienced at Ajax also when one radar, one little thing is not working, it can have an effect down the line.
“I think that happened also at United. I think the structure has been quite clear, with the Glazers as the ownership. I think the football structure and the CEO position has been changed also a few times.
I” think what I feel, what I hear, what I read, I think they’ve all been signed in a certain way that they can back each other up. Unfortunately for Erik ten Hag, the results didn’t work.
“I think now, let’s say, the people who should appoint a manager have appointed their manager, so that would probably work better than the situation a couple of months ago.”
INEOS learning as they go
It seems pretty clear to all that INEOS are learning as they go along with respect to their ownership of United.
When they joined a year ago, the club were a mess, and although they have made steps to improve this, there is still plenty left to achieve.
While a replacement for Dan Ashworth is yet to be finalised, they have already replaced former manager Ten Hag with Amorim, as well as multiple high level people.
So far, much of the club’s focus has been on cutting costs, which has led to around 250 people losing their jobs at United. With some describing the mood at United as very low, INEOS better make sure they can turn their actions into success soon.
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