Sir Jim Ratcliffe has branded Manchester United ‘mediocre’ as he doubles down on his plan to raise standards at the club.<\/p>\n
The INEOS owner became a minority shareholder of the Premier League giants earlier this year and has set about revamping numerous different areas of the club, including Old Trafford<\/a>, ticket pricing<\/a> and of course, their on-field performances.<\/p>\n 4<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> While Ruben Amorim<\/a>‘s start to life as United boss has been bright – two wins, a draw and a defeat to Arsenal<\/a> in four games – there is still a long way to go.<\/p>\n The Red Devils are currently rooted in a mid-table position and a long way from challenging for the top four or rekindling their title-winning heyday. <\/p>\n In order to get back to dominating domestic and European football like it was under Sir Alex Ferguson<\/a>, Ratcliffe didn’t hold back in assessing what needed to happen.<\/p>\n Speaking to United We Stand, he said: “To get Manchester United<\/a> to where we need to get it \u2014 it\u2019s a bit like the country.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions. If you shy away from the difficult decisions then nothing much is going to change. <\/p>\n “We won\u2019t get everything right and it won\u2019t happen overnight, but we haven\u2019t been sat on our hands for nine months. There has been a lot of change. Here at Carrington as you can see. <\/p>\n “We didn\u2019t waste any time to get Old Trafford on the agenda. Changes in the football and executive structure. New players. Ruben [Amorim] has arrived.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have a long way to go and we still have a number of difficult decisions to make but we have to do that for the better. The club has drifted for a long period of time, a decade or so. <\/p>\n “Manchester United has become mediocre. It\u2019s not elite and it is supposed to be one of the best football clubs in the world. That\u2019s what it used to be under Alex. <\/p>\n “There is major change to come to achieve elite status. There has already been huge change.”<\/p>\n 4<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> 4<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> A huge topic of frustration has been the club’s efforts in the transfer market, something that Ratcliffe didn’t shy away from addressing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve not been good enough at recruitment, you probably agree with that,\u201d says Ratcliffe.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd until we\u2019re as good as anyone in the world, then it\u2019s not good enough for Manchester United.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must have the best recruitment in the world. Data Analysis comes alongside recruitment. It doesn\u2019t really exist here. We\u2019re still in the last century on data analysis here.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an immense amount of useful data that we can get from data analysis and we\u2019re in the \u2018very poor\u2019 bracket with data analysis here. These things don\u2019t happen overnight. You can\u2019t just flick a light switch and sort out recruitment. It\u2019s all about people and we need to find the right people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other big one is we need to run the club efficiently and well. We need to sweat every pound so that we have more capacity for the investment in players. Those are the big-ticket items which take up time.<\/p>\n 4<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cThe other point here is how you grow the amount of money that you can spend on players. You can run the business more efficiently. And you can grow the top line.\u201d<\/p>\n Ratcliffe then added: \u201cI don\u2019t enjoy losing.<\/p>\n \u201cI find that very difficult. I quite like the picture of Pep Guardiola [with marks on his head]<\/a>. He does not like losing.<\/p>\n \u201cOur results have not been fantastic and I don\u2019t like where we are in the league. I like the challenge. It\u2019s one of the biggest challenges in the sporting world, taking United back to where the club should be. <\/p>\n “That\u2019s a very rewarding challenge if we get there, but it\u2019s a rocky road with ups and downs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Man](\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/12\/joshua-zirkzee-manchester-united-celebrates-953652164.jpg?strip=all&w=960\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"But](\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/08\/sir-jim-ratcliffe-owner-manchester-938780441.jpg?strip=all&w=960\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Ratcliffe](\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2176183594.jpg?strip=all&w=960\")
<\/a><\/p>\n