Man Utd's fresh start turns sour on Ratcliffe's watch

Manchester United fans began 2024 buoyed at the prospect of a new dawn but the winds of change at Old Trafford under Jim Ratcliffe have so far only hastened the demise of the English giants.

Twelve months on, United travel to bitter rivals Liverpool on Sunday fearing another humiliation on the back of four consecutive defeats that have left new manager Ruben Amorim stressing his side are in a Premier League relegation battle.

AFP Sports looks at what has gone wrong on and off the field since British billionaire Ratcliffe bought a $1.6 billion (£1.25 billion) minority stake in the club and took control of the club's football operations.

"Mediocre" and muddled thinking

United enjoyed one day in the Wembley sun over the past year by beating Manchester City to lift the FA Cup in May.

Yet, even that success proved a pyrrhic victory as it resulted in a new contract and a second chance for coach Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman oversaw an eighth place finish -- United's worst in the Premier League era -- last season and seemed set for the sack prior to shocking Pep Guardiola's men.

Instead, Ten Hag limped on until October after an internal club review decided to keep him in place.

After he won just three of the opening nine games of the new Premier League season, United cut their losses and paid a 10 million euro (£8.3 million, $10.3 million) buyout clause to bring Amorim in from Sporting Lisbon.

But there has been no new manager bounce. Amorim himself has won just two of eight league games to leave United 14th at the start of the new year and just seven points above the bottom three.

The Portuguese coach has bemoaned the lack of time on the training field to implement his 3-4-3 system, a process that could have been eased by acting earlier to give his ideas a pre-season to bed in.

Moreover, his preferred formation appears ill-fitted to the personnel of United's squad.

Star wingers Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho have been sidelined by the new boss, who has also questioned the pair's attitude.

"Manchester United has become mediocre," Ratcliffe said last month. "There is major change to come to achieve elite status. There has already been huge change."

The 72-year-old, who made his fortune as founder of petrochemicals giant INEOS, has implemented sweeping changes in the club's sporting structure.

'Unpopular decisions'

Omar Berrada was poached from Manchester City as CEO, Jason Wilcox appointed as technical director and Dan Ashworth implemented as sporting director after a long stand-off with Newcastle over compensation.

However, Ashworth lasted just five months in the role as tensions mounted with Ratcliffe over the lack of return on investment from a near £200 million spending spree in the summer transfer window on Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee.

Ratcliffe's arrival was greeted with glee in large part due to the United supporters' distaste for the Glazer family, who still own a majority stake in the club.

However, Ratcliffe's penny pinching has also quickly made him an unpopular figure.

There were protests ahead of last month's home match against Everton over the decision to raise ticket prices to £66 per game, with no concessions for children or pensioners.

"It has created a significant rift with the fanbase, and the club must act urgently to repair the damage," said the Manchester United Supporters' Trust on the price hikes.

A redundancy programme has cut about 250 jobs, while legendary former manager Alex Ferguson's ambassadorial role has also been axed.

Recently Sky News reported that funding to the club's foundation is also being slashed, while The Sun revealed an association set up to help former players is facing cuts.

"We have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions," said Ratcliffe. "If you shy away from the difficult decisions then nothing much is going to change."

But it is the lack of change in the club's fortunes on the field that matters most to supporters as a decline, that set in with Ferguson's departure in 2013, shows no sign of abating.

© Agence France-Presse