Jamie Carragher blames Sir Jim Ratcliffe for Man Utd crisis after 'obvious' failure

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag finds himself under pressure after a tough start to the season, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been told he needs to take some of the blame

Jamie Carragher has taken aim at Manchester United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, arguing he got his "first big decision" wrong at Old Trafford by retaining Erik ten Hag.

United boss Ten Hag finds himself under pressure after a tough start to the 2024-25 season. Seven points from six Premier League games leave the team in the bottom half of the table, while they have thrown away leads to draw with Twente and Porto in Europe.

After last season's eighth-place finish, Ratcliffe and his team weighed up the prospect of replacing their manager. Ultimately, though, Ten Hag was kept on board and given a contract extension as a show of trust.

The former Ajax manager was also backed in the transfer market to the tune of £200m. However, after witnessing yet more struggles, pundit and former Liverpool star Carragher has suggested Ratcliffe needs to take responsibility for the latest failings.

"If Manchester United fail to massively improve this season, the ultimate responsibility lies with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos," Carragher wrote for The Telegraph. "The latest mess is on their watch, with United already struggling to convince they are equipped to qualify for next year’s Champions League.

"There is no point sugar-coating it. The new United hierarchy have made a deeply unimpressive start to their Old Trafford reign with one of their worst decisions being the most important any board can make. Above all, you must ensure you have the right manager. Retaining Ten Hag is proving the catalyst for another wasted campaign and possibly another £200 million down the drain."

United explored alternatives to Ten Hag during the summer, with Thomas Tuchel considered, before ultimately keeping their current man. Carragher accused Ratcliffe of taking the "easy way out", adding: "It is obvious there were serious doubts about Ten Hag’s ability to lead the rebuild."

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Image: UEFA via Getty Images) UEFA via Getty Images)

Ratcliffe is expected to be in attendance at Villa Park on Sunday as Ten Hag's team chase a vital win against Aston Villa. They did the double over Unai Emery's side last term, but the Midlands side are coming off the high of a Champions League win at home to Bayern Munich.

United looked to be set for victory themselves when they took on Porto on Thursday, opening up a 2-0 lead only for one goal from Pepe and two from Samu Omorodion to put the hosts in charge. Harry Maguire came off the bench to rescue a late point, and the centre-back argued Ten Hag wasn't to blame for the latest collapse.

"It's more probably a mental issue," Maguire told TNT Sports. "I think it's something that we've got to overcome. It probably starts with belief. When we go 2-0 up and concede does the belief go a little bit between the boys that we can go on and win the game here?

"It's something that we need to be aware on and something we need to focus on. We need to make sure that when we do concede we get together, we regroup and stick together, because that's part of football and something we need to do better."

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