Man Utd’s fresh start turns sour on Ratcliffe’s watch

Manchester United fans began 2024 buoyed at the prospect of a new dawn but the winds of change at Old Trafford under Jim Ratcliffe have so far only hastened the demise of the English giants.

Twelve months on, United travel to bitter rivals Liverpool on Sunday, fearing another humiliation on the back of four consecutive defeats that have left new manager Ruben Amorim stressing his side are in a Premier League relegation battle.

AFP Sports looks at what has gone wrong on and off the field since British billionaire Ratcliffe bought a $1.6 billion (£1.25 billion) minority stake in the club and took control of the club’s football operations.

– “Mediocre” and muddled thinking –

United enjoyed one day in the Wembley sun over the past year by beating Manchester City to lift the FA Cup in May.

Yet, even that success proved a pyrrhic victory as it resulted in a new contract and a second chance for coach Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman oversaw an eighth place finish — United’s worst in the Premier League era — last season and seemed set for the sack prior to shocking Pep Guardiola’s men.

Instead, Ten Hag limped on until October after an internal club review decided to keep him in place.

After he won just three of the opening nine games of the new Premier League season, United cut their losses and paid a 10 million euro (£8.3 million, $10.3 million) buyout clause to bring Amorim in from Sporting Lisbon.

But there has been no new manager bounce. Amorim himself has won just two of eight league games to leave United 14th at the start of the new year and just seven points above the bottom three.

The Portuguese coach has bemoaned the lack of time on the training field to implement his 3-4-3 system, a process that could have been eased by acting