Jamie Carragher shares Ineos theory amid Man United Erik ten Hag sack pressure

Jamie Carragher has criticised Ineos' decision to keep Erik ten Hag in charge at Manchester United following last season's struggles.

The Dutchman is under pressure again at Old Trafford amid United's poor start to the 2024/25 campaign. The Reds sit 13th in the Premier League table after six games and are yet to win in Europe after squandering a two-goal lead against Porto on Thursday night.

United's struggles under Ten Hag follows last season's eighth-placed finish, their lowest since the 1989/90 campaign. The Manchester Evening News understands that the former Ajax boss is safe for now, but pressure is growing ahead of Sunday's trip to Aston Villa.

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And Carragher has shared his belief that the blame for United's struggles this season are down to co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos who run football operations at the club. "Forget Erik ten Hag. Forget the Glazers. Forget the expensive signings. And forget the previous years of underperformance," he wrote for the Telegraph.

"If Manchester United fail to massively improve this season, the ultimate responsibility lies with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos. The latest mess is on their watch, with United already struggling to convince they are equipped to qualify for next year’s Champions League.

"There is no point sugar-coating it. The new United hierarchy have made a deeply unimpressive start to their Old Trafford reign with one of their worst decisions being the most important any board can make. Above all, you must ensure you have the right manager. Retaining Ten Hag is proving the catalyst for another wasted campaign and possibly another £200 million down the drain.

Carragher also believes that the club's hierarchy froze when making a decision over Ten Hag following last season's FA Cup final win over Manchester City. The former Liverpool centre-back points out that Ineos' indecision after talking with potential replacements indicated that they were not sold on keeping him in charge.

He added: "At first, the noises around the head coach sounded like an astute way of securing a replacement in time for the next pre-season. By the time they decided to keep Ten Hag, it was revealed to be a fudge. Ineos froze after Ten Hag won the FA Cup and took the easy way out by giving him another chance.

"This is not retrospective wisdom. I know whenever I talk or write about United, the immediate reaction is, ‘this is just an ex-Liverpool player putting the boot in and taking pleasure from our problems’.

"Let me assure you, my view on United is based solely on an understanding of how the football industry works. If Ineos was so certain it had the right man in charge, there would have been no approach to anyone else.

"It is obvious there were serious doubts about Ten Hag’s ability to lead the rebuild. Those concerns were justified so whenever a board starts looking elsewhere, it is the beginning of the end of their relationship. It is not even that the trust has gone – it was never really there to begin with."

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