The Manchester United owners, the Glazer family, cannot catch a break as the latest run of bad results at the club have been attributed to their handling of its affairs.
The Red Devils have suffered infrastructural and sporting issues for the better part of a decade and many believe the multiple marquee signings and the manager church rate is not going to save the club.
Many have called for the American billionaire family to sell the club which was considered in November 2022, when the Glazers called for a strategic review of the affairs of the club. A bidding war between a Qatari businessman simply known as Sheikh Jassim and the INEOS Group, led by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, began and when it looked like a decision was going to be made, the Glazers held on to the club.
They have spent more in the 2023 summer transfer window but the signings have failed to make any impact at the club. Dutch manager Erik ten Hag is currently facing scrutiny from a section of the club’s fans while a number of others believe that the Glazers must also be held responsible for the collapse of the football institution at the club.
Rio Ferdinand, who won multiple Premier League titles and was the captain of the side when they won their last UEFA Champions League title to date in 2008, joined his voice to those who blame the Glazers for the club’s current mess. He was speaking on his Vibe with Five podcast when he made these comments.
“I don’t think that any fan that watches football, not just Man United, but who watches football and sees what Brighton can do and sees Man United, walked into that stadium at the weekend and thought United would get three points,” Ferdinand said, referencing the club’s 3 – 1 home loss to Brighton and Hove Albion over the weekend.
“No chance. It’s crazy. People are looking for a scapegoat, that’s the way the media is right now people look for a scapegoat and go that’s the reason.”
“I see people saying [Marcus] Rashford isn’t working hard enough, or Bruno [Fernandes] is the captain. Ralf Rangnick’s comments when he left were along the lines of this doesn’t need medicine, this needs open heart surgery.”
“No one looked at that comment and thought ‘let me dig into that’. It shows you that not one individual is going to solve this problem. We had Cristiano Ronaldo, what he’s done in the game, and he can’t solve it.”
“We’ve had a load of managers come in with huge reputations and they haven’t sorted it out. Spent a lot of money and that hasn’t sorted it out. We’ve juggled the pack behind the scenes with recruitment teams and the structure and personnel and that isn’t going to change it.”
“There needs to be a unified approach for it to happen. One of the biggest problems is the ownership.”
