Manchester United fans will have to celebrate an unathomic Christmas after their team's recent humiliating defeats. This mood is in complete contrast to Christmas 2023, "Red Devils" fans were delighted when Sir Jim Ratcliffe officially took over the management of football-related activities at Man United.
However, things have not improved after a full year of the English billionaire managing the team. 2024 is even considered a turbulent year for the red half of Manchester. Ticket prices are still high, the ratio is in contrast to the players' performance. Up to 250 employees were notified of being sacked to reduce costs for the team. Meanwhile, the £220 million investment in the transfer market did not show the desired results.
In terms of expertise, Man United's leadership was heavily criticized when firing Erik ten Hag just 115 days after signing a new contract. This has resulted in the club being charged a contract compensation of up to 10.4 million pounds and having to spend an additional 11 million pounds to have the services of Ruben Amorim. However, after 9 matches, Man United players still played in a lack of cohesion and could not adapt to the playing style of the Portuguese strategist.
In addition, problems related to injuries, internal information leaks... are gradually becoming a normal thing at M.U as they occur more frequently. In the context of sporting director Dan Ashworth being fired after only 159 days of appointment, Marcus Rashford - the brightest star at Old Trafford also publicly expressed his intention to leave.
"Man United have become mediocre. We are no longer an elite team and are among the best clubs in the world. It's all the same as the old ball that we had under Alex Ferguson," Sir Jim Ratcliffe told United We Stand on December 7.
According to the British billionaire, Man United will need to make difficult decisions and not be popular with fans if they want to restore their position. According to the Telegraph, Man United's board of directors is expected to decide next summer whether to renovate Old Trafford or build a new 100,000-seat stadium on the adjacent land in southwest Manchester.
The cost of building the new stadium is expected to be around 2 - 2.3 billion pounds and will turn Man United's roof into "The Wembley of the North", raising the height and grandness. Not only that, the new stadium is expected to be inspired by Wembley Stadium, with a roof and a huge LED advertising space. This will help the team earn more from advertising and other services.
In addition, billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team are also actively reviewing all spending and looking for additional available sources of revenue. Man United have even consulted with legal opinions in preparation for the team's possible claim for compensation if Manchester City are found guilty of violating Premier League financial rules next year. These are considered efforts to fill the huge amount of spending in the transfer market but have not brought results.
According to statistics, Man Utd has spent a total of 1.98 billion pounds to recruit players, since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. However, in the last 11 seasons, the Red Devils' total points are still 254 points behind the Premier League champions. Similarly, The Red Devils are likely to continue to get into that car accident while struggling in 13th place, 17 points behind leaders Liverpool after 17 rounds.
The poor statistics have partly explained why the team's employees who lost their jobs and fans were so angry and disappointed. Therefore, billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe still has a lot of work to do in 2025 if he wants to revive a Man United squaded deep in crisis in 2024.
