'Doing too much' - Sir Jim Ratcliffe voices his opinion on Erik ten Hag after manager narrowly escaped Man Utd sacking as INEOS chief explains how club 'lost its way' under Glazer ownership after sir Alex Ferguson's departure

United's minority owner Ratcliffe has spoken about how "good guy" Ten Hag was concerning himself with too many things, as the Dutchman just about held onto his job earlier this summer. The INEOS owner also said the high turnover of managers since the departure of Alex Ferguson in 2013 suggests the club's problems also lay at a senior level. Moreover, the Scot's exit, along with former managing director David Gill, left a "vacuum" underneath the Glazer family.

He told The Times: “Erik is a good guy and had been doing his best, but doing too much. He was trying to sort out the squad and fix leaks in the roof at the same time.”

On the club's downfall, he said: “What happened is that Alex Ferguson and David Gill left at the same time, 11 years ago. Up until that point, those two had been managing the sports side of the club and the Glazer family had managed the commercial side very well. And then all of a sudden there’s this vacuum.”

He added the club had "Clearly lost its way. I mean, the results speak for themselves. In the last ten or eleven years, it should have been a contender for the Premier League and Champions League [trophies] every year and it hasn’t at all. It is a big responsibility to return the club to where it should be. It should be performing at least in the top eight in Europe. Now if we can’t do that then we won’t have been successful.”

Ratcliffe certainly seems intent on restoring United to their former glory but there is a long way to go before achieving that goal. They have tried to be aggressive in the transfer market, while not paying above what they want for players such as Joao Neves and Manuel Ugarte. Red Devils fans will certainly be happy there is a more active figurehead in place, rather than the somewhat aloof and distant Glazer family owners.

Next up for United - who lost on penalties to Manchester City in the Community Shield on Saturday - is the start of the Premier League season, with Ten Hag's side taking on Fulham at Old Trafford on Friday night.