Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Why Jim Ratcliffe was ‘not happy at all’ with Dan Ashworth revealed, as Man Utd release sharp 41-word statement

Dan Ashworth, Sir Jim Ratcliffe urged to change Man Utd approach

Fabrizio Romano has explained why Sir Jim Ratcliffe was “not happy at all” with Dan Ashworth, while Manchester United have released a tellingly short statement confirming the executive’s exit.

David Ornstein exclusively broke news of Man Utd and Ashworth parting ways on Sunday morning. Ashworth was INEOS’ No 1 choice for the sporting director’s role and their pursuit of the former Newcastle man lasted longer than his stint at Old Trafford.

Ashworth’s exit was described as mutual, though came at the behest of the club who ‘instigated the separation.’ Amid dissatisfaction at how his spell at United has unfolded, Ashworth was happy to walk away.

Taking to X to offer his insight into the situation, trusted reporter Fabrizio Romano revealed co-owner Ratcliffe was “not happy at all with last summer strategy.”

Whether that relates to Man Utd unwisely choosing to stick with Erik ten Hag or relates to United’s summer transfer window was not specified.

However, Ornstein did reveal Ashworth was among those who pushed for Ten Hag to stay in the aftermath of the club’s FA Cup win.

Regarding transfers, only Noussair Mazraoui of the five players Ashworth signed for north of £180m can so far be considered a success. Leny Yoro has largely been injured, though Matthijs De Ligt, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee have all struggled.

Adding to suggestions Ratcliffe was unhappy with the recruitment side of things specifically, Ratcliffe was quoted by the United We Stand fanzine on Saturday as saying: “Manchester United must have the best recruitment in the world.

“You can’t just flick a light switch and sort out recruitment. It’s all about people and we need to find the right ones.”

In any case, what is clear is Ratcliffe was pivotal in pushing Ashworth out and the club’s short statement containing just two paragraphs suggested there is no love lost between Man Utd and Ashworth.

“Dan Ashworth will be leaving his role as Sporting Director of Manchester United by mutual agreement,” the statement began.

“We would like to thank Dan for his work and support during a transitional period for the club and wish him well for the future.”

Ruben Amorim another factor behind Dan Ashworth exit?

Ornstein subtly hinted at another reason behind Ashworth’s departure in his piece.

The reliable reporter made a point of mentioning Ashworth was quoted in Man Utd’s official announcement on Ten Hag signing a contract extension in July.

Furthermore, Ashworth was quoted in the confirmations of each of United’s five major signings in the summer.

However, there were ‘no words from any executives (Ashworth included) to accompany the appointment of Ruben Amorim, with [Omar] Berrada a driving force behind that appointment.’

Ashworth reported to Berrada who serves as Man Utd’s CEO. The intimation in Ornstein’s reporting is Ashworth may not have been on board with Amorim becoming Man Utd’s manager.

Latest Man Utd news – Gary Neville slams Ruben Amorim

In other news, Gary Neville has criticised Amorim for repeating the same mistakes Erin ten Hag made during his final days at Old Trafford.

“When you keep changing players, when you keep changing your back three and take five players off you’re basically saying to all of them – effectively because you’ve left them out at the start of the game – that you don’t trust them.

“Ten Hag kept doing that a few weeks ago. He kept changing the defenders and changing the midfielders and all of a sudden you’ve got a completely different system and completely different set of players on the pitch at the end of the game and you can never get consistency or stability.

“I think there’s an element of what [fellow pundit] Tim [Howard] just said. Just leave them on, they (the players) weren’t actually playing that bad in the first half.

“Obviously they were undermined by the set pieces (from Forest) but the football generally wasn’t that bad. Then you allow two mistakes that were made after half time within the first 10 minutes to undermine you, then you make changes and all of a sudden everything falls to pieces.

“It looked really scruffy, really scruffy, it looked a mess at the end for United with no real shape. In the first half they weren’t brilliant but at least they had a shape to them.”

Amorim elected to replace both Leny Yoro and Matthijs De Ligt with Noussair Mazraoui and Harry Maguire in the 65th minute against Forest.

Yoro’s substitution in particular should not be all that surprising given Amorim recently stated the young Frenchman is on a “time limit.”

In essence, Amorim was stating Yoro’s minutes will be closely managed after only just returning from four months out with a fractured metatarsal.

Against Arsenal last week Amorim replaced wing-back Tyrell Malacia at half-time (for Amad Diallo) before subbing Yoro on for Maguire in the 59th minute.

Two changes to the back five were made in the 56th minute against Everton, three changes in defence before the hour mark against Bodo/Glimt, and one change at the back (56th minute) against Ipswich Town.

As such, Amorim is yet to manage a match at Man Utd in which he’s not disrupted the back five with at least one substitution on or before the 65-minute mark.

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