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With the break from the league for international football, clubs have the opportunity to stop and take stock of the recent summer transfer window and the opening few games of the season. For Manchester United, this meant a board meeting in sunny Barcelona.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe assembled United’s senior directors and owners to attend the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup where Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Britannia was competing in sailing’s most prestigious competition, making the most of the situation to hold a board meeting in the luxurious setting.
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Ratcliffe was joined by Joel and Avram Glazer, as well as Sir Dave Brailsford, Jean-Claude Blanc, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox, with the group discussing United’s recent run of form under Erik ten Hag.
Three games into the season, United haven’t gotten off to the greatest start with a 1-0 win over Fulham, then losing 2-1 to Brighton and 3-0 to rivals Liverpool.
Unfortunately, the losses had more insult to injury with Joao Pedro’s winning goal for Brighton marking the sixth occasion a team has scored a winning goal after the 90-minute mark against Erik ten Hag’s side, more than in the previous thirty years combined.
With the Liverpool game, not only was it a significant loss to a bitter rival, but after the game, Arne Slot picked apart ten Hag’s play style, explaining in a matter of minutes how he exploited his fellow Dutchman’s tactics to get the win.
Manchester United hierarchy hold board meeting
Now, The Athletic have reported that people close to the situation have anonymously explained that some of the United officials are concerned around gaps in midfield being evident, especially in their loss to Liverpool.
However, the query is now arising as to whether this is down to the players or the system they’re being told to play.
The question has arisen as very similar issues were seen last season, with several United members of staff feeling a solution needs to be found in training at Carrington rather than in the transfer market.
Ten Hag was given a vote of confidence by Ratcliffe at the start of the summer, with his contract being extended by a year on the back of the FA Cup win, even being allowed to choose his new coaches, where he picked Rene Hake, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jelle ten Rouwelaar. However, United are still lacking in performance.
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The Red Devils are certainly pressing much better, and are currently fifth in the league for expected goals at 5.22, however are joint-second-lowest in the league for goals scored, showing a real issue with converting chances.
Whilst Ashworth has been focusing on transfers and recruitment throughout the summer, with the transfer window now closed, his attention is turning to the inner workings of United, overlooking the appointment of Sam Erith as the new performance director until the end of the season.
With the senior directors now able to have a clearer focus on the performance of the club, hopefully, the result will be seen with a series of better showings on the pitch, starting with their away match against Southampton this weekend.
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