Sir Jim Ratcliffe Gives Honest Thoughts on Erik ten Hag & Ruben Amorim at Man Utd

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has spoken publicly for the first time about the sacking of former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and has addressed the future of current boss, Ruben Amorim. Ten Hag, who was handed a contract extension at Old Trafford following the FA Cup triumph over Manchester City, was relieved of his duties in October following a tough start to the 2024/25 campaign.

He was replaced by Amorim, who has faced some teething problems since his arrival as the squad has struggled to adjust to his 3-4-3 system. The club find themselves sitting 14th in the Premier League table and are no better off than they were under the previous regime, but Ratcliffe has explained the differences he sees between the two coaches.

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Ratcliffe Admits Mistake in Keeping ‘Erratic’ Ten Hag

The billionaire explained why the decision was made to initially keep the Dutchman

Speaking in an interview with Gary Neville on the Overlap YouTube channel, Ratcliffe admitted that it was a mistake in keeping Ten Hag at Old Trafford beyond the FA Cup win over Manchester City, but explained why the decision was made to initially stick with the Dutchman.

“It was too early for us to make a big decision in reality,” the 72-year-old detailed. “We hadn’t been together as a team for very long. It was just a matter of weeks and it’s quite a big decision, isn’t it? And also, it’s quite difficult. It was quite difficult to extract in that season when we arrived, Erik’s performance from the structure around him.

“It was quite difficult to see what environment Erik was operating in. Was it, in other words, was the erratic performance a function of Erik, or was it a function of the organisation? And we couldn’t really get to the bottom of answering that question with certainty, I suppose, so we gave Erik the benefit of the doubt.

“It was the wrong decision. We made the wrong decision. It was an error. So yeah, I suppose in that sense I regret it.”

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Ratcliffe Publicly Gives Backing to Amorim

The United co-owner also explained what is different about what he sees in the current manager

When pressed on what he sees differently in Amorim’s reign in comparison to Ten Hag’s, Ratcliffe stated that he could see clear progression under the Portuguese native, and underpinned the brilliant job he believed the 40-year-old was doing given the circumstances:

In a separate interview with the BBC, Ratcliffe also gave his backing to Amorim for the long-term, believing that the former Sporting CP head honcho will be at the Theatre of Dreams for years to come despite recent reports suggesting the club could be looking at managerial candidates elsewhere.

“I think Ruben is an outstanding young manager,” Ratcliffe reaffirmed. “He’s an excellent manager and I think he will be there for a long time.

“You are beginning to see a glimpse of what Ruben can produce. I think you saw a glimpse of it against Arsenal. How many players against Arsenal on the bench did you recognise?

“How many have ever worn a Manchester United shirt for [the first team]… as there’s no squad left. We are down to the last 10 or 11 men in the squad really, of proper first-team players. Ruben is doing a super job.”

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All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt – accurate as of 10/03/2025.