Ineos have made sweeping changes at Man Utd in the 13 months they have had control of the club and not all of them have been popular.
Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot
Diogo Dalot celebrates with Bruno Fernandes during United's win against Real Sociedad
Diogo Dalot has told his under-fire teammates to prove why they were signed by Manchester United after co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe criticised some players this week.
In a series of interviews at the start of the week, Ratcliffe explained that United were still paying transfer fees for Antony, Casemiro, Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund, and Jadon Sancho. Asked if he was suggesting those players weren't good enough for the club, he said, "Some are not good enough, and some probably are over paid."
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Those comments haven't gone down well in the dressing room, and captain Bruno Fernandes hit back at Ratcliffe after United's Europa League win against Real Sociedad on Thursday night, a 4-1 success which Casemiro, Onana and Hojlund all started.
Dalot accepts United's disappointing league season leaves the squad open to criticism and acknowledges players must do more to lift the gloom around Old Trafford, urging his colleagues to change the narrative through performances.
“Ultimately, this club will progress through what we do on the pitch, so we are all responsible for the future and the momentum of the club," he said. “We know that we have that responsibility but we want to take it. The pressure is high but we are Manchester United players for a reason.
“We want to change things ourselves. It is clear that when you are 14th or 15th in the league we are not doing what we should, so we want to change that. If we want to put Manchester United back on top we need to do much better.”
Ratcliffe has made some controversial decisions since assuming control of football operations at United in February 2024, following his acquisition of just over 28% of the club.
That includes hiring and firing sporting director Dan Ashworth and backing Erik ten Hag before sacking him a few months later, while around 450 staff will have been made redundant in a year, with many more cutbacks across the board.
But the 72-year-old billionaire has introduced a new football structure at the club, led by a football-focused chief executive in Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox. Dalot believes there has been a clear change during the Ineos era.
“You can see this is a period of change, especially since INEOS have come in," he said. “You can see there’s a different approach in terms of building a new structure around the club.
“It’s clear. Everybody sees it and whether you like it or not, you can see some changes - and it’s something different that we haven’t seen before.
“So you can see that the club wants to go in a direction where they want to rebuild Man United and put Man United back on top, so I hope in the next couple off years we can go there.”
On the pitch, there have been tentative signs of improvement in recent weeks. United have lost only three of their last 16 games under Amorim and Thursday's 4-1 win against Real Sociedad, sealed with a goal from Dalot, built on the encouraging draw with Arsenal.
Dalot, 25, knows United must now keep the momentum going having begun to show more variety in Amorim's 3-4-2-1 system, and Sunday's trip to relegation-threatened Leicester City offers an ideal chance to do just that.
“I think it is clear. When we talk about needing time, we aren’t saying that just to buy time. I think it is something that is going to happen," he said.
“Obviously it is difficult when you play for a club like this because you must improve by always winning. The pressure is always high to win every game and when the results don’t come it is difficult to show progress.
“But I think in the last couple of games you have seen something different. There have been different styles of play, but overall we are improving, I think. It’s something everyone can see, but results will ultimately show our position.”
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Dalot has just passed 200 games for United, but he has to be versatile recently, first of all adapting from a full-back role under Ten Hag to playing wing-back under Amorim, and now swapping from right to left side regularly. But he is happy to keep on making those personal sacrifices for the good of the team.
“I think the history of this club is about sacrifice and fighting against the world," he said. “It’s about sacrificing yourself and each other every moment on the pitch and being together with the fans to create the energy we all feel in Old Trafford.
“This is the history of the club. If you want to be successful you have to have that desire to try to do everything on the pitch. Whether you like it or not, the attitude has to be there.”