Manchester United’s decision-makers are scheduled to meet in London within 48 hours of Sunday’s Premier League match away at Aston Villa as the scrutiny continues to grow on manager Erik ten Hag.
United’s executive committee have a long-standing meeting in the diary for Tuesday, which will bring together part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford, as well as recent appointees including chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox. United co-chairman Joel Glazer is also flying in from the United States to attend. There is scheduled to be a Manchester stop for meetings, too.
The executive committee also includes the club’s chief financial officer Roger Bell and chief operating officer Collette Roche. Since the INEOS investment, executives have aimed to meet once a month. It is not known at this stage whether the performance of the first team will be an item on the agenda for Tuesday.
The Athletic has previously reported that the club’s part-owner Ratcliffe will be at Villa Park on Sunday to watch the team in person for the first time since seeing United dismantled 3-0 by Liverpool.
Any ultimate call on Ten Hag’s future will come from the ownership, with Ratcliffe, co-chair Glazer and INEOS director of sport Brailsford forming a three-person committee. They would base their conclusions on recommendations from those on the ground, notably Berrada, Ashworth and technical director Wilcox.
Berrada (left) and Brailsford (right) are among the key decision-makers at Old Trafford (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Regardless, it is likely Ten Hag, whose team are 12th in the Premier League, having scored only five goals, and have failed to win either of their first two Europa League games, requires his team to show immediate improvement at Villa Park on Sunday to reassure supporters and the club’s hierarchy of his merits.
United gave major consideration to replacing Ten Hag at the end of last season, speaking to an array of potential replacements during a review process, before ultimately standing by the Dutchman following United’s unexpected victory in the FA Cup final against Manchester City. United opted to trigger an extension in Ten Hag’s contract, meaning he is signed to the club until the end of the 2025-26 season.
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United also backed Ten Hag substantially in the transfer market, signing his former Ajax defenders Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich, along with Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna, Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain and Leny Yoro from Lille. Ten Hag was also allowed to reshape his backroom staff, as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Andreas Georgson all arrived at the club.
Berrada and Ashworth gave public backing to Ten Hag in a media briefing on September 1 but also made clear that the decision to stand by the manager pre-dated their official time at the club, although it is unlikely they were not consulted. Since Berrada and Ashworth spoke out, United have failed to win five of seven games, beating only Southampton in the Premier League and Barnsley in the FA Cup, with two particularly devastating 3-0 home defeats by Liverpool and Tottenham suggesting many of the flaws of last season remain embedded in Ten Hag’s setup.
Ratcliffe, meanwhile, is enjoying success in his other main sporting passion at the moment, with INEOS Britannia reaching the America’s Cup finals, the first time a British team has competed for the trophy in 60 years.
Ratcliffe celebrated the America’s Cup win on Friday (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Skippered by Ben Ainslie, INEOS Britannia beat Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to reach the last two, with Ratcliffe watching the decisive race on Friday afternoon from a tracking boat and then celebrating with his team on the yacht’s hull afterwards. He raised the Louis Vuitton Cup with Ainslie and was sprayed with champagne.
Asked about Ten Hag’s future at the event by BBC Sport, Ratcliffe said: “I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day, it’s not my call.
“It’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.”
Ratcliffe added that Berrada and Ashworth have not long been in their roles and “need to take stock and make some sensible decisions”.
The last United executive meeting took place in Barcelona last month at the first stage of the America’s Cup, with Joel and Avram Glazer flying in to attend.
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(Top photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)