Jim Ratcliffe insists Manchester United cannot expect to win trophies if their squad is not good enough. The Red Devils co-owner drew a parallel between football and sailing after watching INEOS Britannia lose against Emirates Team New Zealand in the Americas Cup.
INEOS are approaching a year since their purchase of 27.7 per cent of United. Despite winning the FA Cup in May, the club's form has been poor and head coach Erik ten Hag was sacked last week.
United's first summer transfer window under the new sporting operation put in place by INEOS has come under scrutiny. Some signings, such as Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt, have struggled for form in their early United careers. Incoming boss Ruben Amorim has plenty of work to do when he arrives from Sporting Lisbon.
Ratcliffe has now implied that he is not entirely happy with the squad. He argued that United cannot expect to win trophies if the squad is not capable of achieving success.
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Asked if he could take anything from sailing into his work with United, the 72-year-old billionaire took a sharp intake of breath before responding: “No... I think there’s one little crossover, which is that you cannot win the Americas Cup if you arrive at the Americas Cup with a boat that ‘could’ win the Americas Cup.
“Same in Formula One. Max Verstappen in a Williams, he’s not going to win the Formula One [World Drivers'] Championship. With football it’s the same with the squad in a way. That’s the parallel for me - you can’t win anything in football if your squad isn’t good enough to win something.
“The quality of the squad is a bit like the speed of the boat. That’s the only parallel [between football and sailing].”
United confirmed the appointment of Amorim on Friday and the highly-rated Portuguese tactician will take charge on November 11. The Red Devils paid £840,000 on top of the 39-year-old's £8.3m release clause to seal an early release from his 30-day notice period.
Amorim's first game in charge will be a visit to Ipswich after the international break. United icon Ruud van Nistelrooy will be caretaker boss in the interim, overseeing today's Premier League clash with Chelsea, in addition to matches against PAOK and Leicester.
The Dutchman sealed a 5-2 victory over the Foxes in the Carabao Cup in his first game.
