Do you have faith in Erik ten Hag? Sir Jim Ratcliffe: ‘I don’t want to answer that question’

Ratcliffe will be at Villa Park on Sunday to watch what could be a defining match for Man Utd manager

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has failed to back Erik ten Hag to continue as Manchester United manager, saying “it’s not my call”.
Ten Hag is under huge pressure after a poor start to the season, with the Dutchman facing a vital game at Aston Villa on Sunday.
Ratcliffe, who controls sporting operations at the club, decided to stick with Ten Hag in the summer after United produced a huge shock to beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final, creating a groundswell of fan support behind the Dutchman
However, the Ineos chairman has spoken publicly about Ten Hag’s position to the BBC and sidestepped a question when asked if he still had faith in him, saying it would not be his final decision whether to stick with the manager.
“I don’t want to answer that question…I like Erik,” said Ratcliffe, who was speaking after his Ineos Britannia, skippered by Ben Ainslie, became the first British boat to win through to the America’s Cup in 60 years.
“I think he’s a very good coach but, at the end of the day, it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“But that team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April – [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [sporting director] Dan Ashworth – they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there…you can count it in weeks almost – they’ve not been there a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
“Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously – that’s very clear.”
Earlier in the day, Ten Hag had urged his players to “step up” against Villa.
With Ratcliffe due to be watching from the directors’ box, Ten Hag will go in search of a first win in five games after a torrid start to his third season in charge at Old Trafford.
The United co-owner will be watching from the directors’ box at Villa Park as Ten Hag goes in search of a first win in five games after a torrid start to his third season in charge at Old Trafford.
Four days after being thumped 3-0 at home by Spurs, Harry Maguire questioned United’s mentality after his stoppage-time goal secured a last-gasp 3-3 draw against Porto in the Europa League and spared Ten Hag more humiliation after his side had thrown away a two-goal lead.
Ten Hag insists he retains the backing of the United hierarchy but admitted his side must improve as they prepare to take on Unai Emery’s in-form team, who beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Asked if there was the patience among the ownership and fans to see him through this period, Ten Hag said: “I’m not thinking about such issues because that is not a topic. We are in there together: the ownership, the leadership, the team, the staff.
“I appointed new staff. We bought again new young players and we have to integrate them.
“There is a range, a spectrum of topics and you have to address it right. So, this team has the belief that they don’t give up.
“So, they have that range of mentality and they have a strong mentality. But in some other parts, they have to step up. And if you want to win trophies, definitely. In some areas, you have to improve.”
United have now conceded at least three times in games on 24 occasions under Ten Hag, the worst record of any Premier League team since the Dutchman took charge in May 2022.
Ten Hag has faced frequent accusations that his side lack organisation, structure and defensive discipline. The manager disputed there was indiscipline in the team but accepted in other areas they had to get better.
“On other part, we have to improve, for sure,” he said. “But also, we can say we are very disciplined, for instance, in the first 25 minutes (against Porto) in our positioning and how we created the chances in the right moment. We speeded up the game.
“So, I would not only address it as undisciplined, but definitely we can improve. And we have to improve if we want to make it a success. We can only achieve – like the last two seasons – and win trophies when we improve. So, yeah, we will work on this, definitely.”
Marcus Rashford was United’s best player in a first half in which he had scored and terrorised the right side of the Porto defence only to be withdrawn at half-time, with Ten Hag bizarrely putting the England striker’s substitution down to “rotation” and his desire to give Alejandro Garnacho some playing time.
Ten Hag was unhappy with United’s defending down their left side and said Rashford “also played a part in this” but insisted his decision was down to wanting to introduce Garnacho and “nothing against Rashy”. The situation comes after Rashford was strangely omitted from the starting line-up against Crystal Palace, despite having scored three goals in his previous two games. Ten Hag reacted angrily to suggestions something “untoward” had happened between the pair.
Rashford is still likely to start against Villa but Ten Hag has some other big selection decisions, not least whether to stick by Matthijs de Ligt, who endured a nightmare against Porto and Spurs, or bring in Maguire and whether to restore Manuel Ugarte to the starting XI. Ugarte was dropped after his struggles against Spurs on his first Premier League start but Casemiro was poor against Porto. Ten Hag admitted Ugarte – a £50.4 million deadline day signing from Paris Saint Germain – would need time to settle in. Kobbie Mainoo faces a late fitness test after missing the Porto game through injury.
“So the No 6 position was absolutely one of the positions we want to sign a player for this season, but he (Ugarte) needs time to integrate,” Ten Hag said.
“I know in top football you don’t get time, they have to perform immediately, but that’s not always realistic. He has to get used to our game model, he has to get used to his teammates, he has to get used to the intensity of the Premier League. So it needs time.”
Ten Hag said Ugarte was not the only player who needed time to bed in. Rasmus Hojlund scored against Porto in his first start after two months out with a hamstring injury but Ten Hag insisted it would take longer for the Denmark striker to get fully up to speed.
“We have more positions where we need time,” he said. “I’m very pleased with the return of Rasmus. I think he had a good return but we couldn’t play him in the first two months of the season. Hopefully he is now fit.
“He keeps improving in his fitness levels and if he also has a consistently fit season that will help us. There are more areas where we will improve, definitely, and then this team can grow and improve. And then we will see where we will end in the end of the season.”
On Mainoo, Ten Hag added: “He didn’t make it (against Porto), it was too big a risk. We have to wait and we have to see if he can play on Sunday, if he’s fit enough to start or be on the bench.”