Man Utd dressing room chat that’s causing problems for Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Sir Jim Ratcliffe Man United have regressed this season after a promising debut campaign under Erik ten Hag in 2022/23
“We have faced a terrible season, for me, personally, and as a group as well. I don’t think my teammates are happy with the situation we are facing. I know them, they are all winners, everyone wants to win, before the season we spoke about fighting for every single title.”
Andre Onana pulled no punches when asked to reflect on Manchester United’s dismal campaign this week.
The Reds can officially no longer qualify for the Champions League next season, though in truth their aspirations of dining at Europe’s top table next term have been over for some time.
Thursday night football is set to return to Old Trafford after a year away, with the Europa League the best United can hope for. Having finished third in the Premier League in Erik ten Hag’s first year in charge and with the Carabao Cup secured to end a six-year trophy drought, it’s understandable the United squad would be hoping to push on this season, especially given the £179.2m spent on Mason Mount, Rasmus Hojlund and Onana.
But to head into the season with the aim of challenging for every title seems optimistic at best. Granted, it would have been even more bizarre had Onana conceded United had no plans to challenge for a particular piece of silverware, but to reveal the squad genuinely discussed challenging for everything before the season kicked off is a bold move given how the season has unfolded.
‘We are Manchester United’ has been a phrase regularly carted out this season, yet history counts for nothing when European places are dished out at the end of the year.
The Sir Jim Ratcliffe era at Old Trafford is already well underway and wholesale changes are expected at the club over the coming months. While on-the-pitch changes will have to wait until the summer, the shake-up at boardroom level has already seen a number of incoming and outgoings, with Ineos director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford playing a key role.
Brailsford is a pioneer of the marginal gains philosophy, and so the leap from Carabao Cup winners and the third-best team in the Premier League to a side who believed they were capable of fighting for every title on offer will likely have raised a few eyebrows in the Ineos camp.
Realistically, nobody expected United to be challenging on all four fronts this season. A good run into the latter rounds of the Champions League alongside another top-four finish and a cup win would likely have been seen as progress by a lot of United fans. United made it to the quarter-finals of the Europa League last term but the Champions League is a whole different ball game and so a solid showing back in the competition would have represented progress.
United aren’t going to get back to the summit of English football in one summer. Marginal gains are needed, and that’s something Ratcliffe and his Ineos team realise.
A change in culture is needed at United and Ratcliffe can be the man to drive that change.
However, Andre Onana has been talking lately by asking……
Did i make the right choice – Manchester United star asks himself
Manchester United’s goalkeeper, Andre Onana, has opened up about the challenges he and his teammates have faced during their dismal season.
The Cameroonian shot-stopper, who arrived at Old Trafford from Inter Milan for a hefty £44 million fee last summer, has endured a difficult debut in the top-flight of English football.
Despite high hopes after an outstanding campaign for in Serie A, Onana’s debut campaign has been marred by disappointing performances, with the team conceding a staggering 75 goals across all competitions and managing just 12 clean sheets.
This statistic mirrors Manchester United’s broader downturn in fortunes, culminating in an eighth-place position in the Premier League and an ignominious exit from the Champions League after finishing bottom of their group.
Reflecting on his turbulent year, Onana admitted to initial doubts about his decision to join the Red Devils. “Yeah, it was really hard [to start off with] but it’s the first time I faced such a situation. Now I know the league, I know the people, I know the country, I know Manchester,” he remarked to the Mirror.
“But in the beginning I was like, ‘Wow, did I make the right choice?’ But I’m definitely 100 per cent sure I made the right choice because Manchester United is the bigger club in this country, it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world.”
Andre Onana has been poor for Manchester United.
Andre Onana confident for the future of Manchester United
Looking ahead, Onana exudes confidence that the upcoming summer break will provide an opportunity for the team to regroup and come back stronger next season. While there are still four Premier League fixtures and an FA Cup final left to play this term, the goalkeeper’s focus has already shifted towards the future, where he anticipates a marked improvement for the club.
It has been a far from convincing debut campaign for Andre Onana, but one cannot forget the broader issues at Manchester United. The team have been forced into chopping and changing their back four all season due to injuries, which of course can only disrupt the man between the sticks.
The supporters should give him the benefit of the doubt until he has a settled and more sturdy defence in front of him.
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