âUnderperformingâ Man Utd can âchange Ratcliffeâs mindâ

Ruben Amorim was appointed at Manchester United in November
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Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says it is up to him and his players to âchangeâ Sir Jim Ratcliffeâs opinion on the team.
Ratcliffe, 72, told BBC Sport this week that some players in Unitedâs squad were ânot good enoughâ and âoverpaidâ, though he did not specify which players.
At a separate point in the interview, Ratcliffe namechecked Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund, Casemiro, Antony and Jadon Sancho as transfer deals that Ineos had âinheritedâ at the club and are yet to pay off.
Asked about Ratcliffeâs comments, Amorim said: âI think if we are being honest in this moment, everybody â me, the players â are underperforming this season.
âI include myself in the underperforming.
âYou are talking about players like Casemiro that won everything and we know these players can play so much better.
âHe (Ratcliffe) was honest in that. The focus is to change his mind and everybodyâs.â
Amorim, who Ratcliffe described as an âoutstanding young managerâ, says he has a good relationship the United board.
âI think we are really blunt and honest with each other, we are quite similar in that,â said Amorim, ahead of his sideâs Europa League match against Real Sociedad.
âI always felt the support of the board, especially Sir Jim.â
What did Ratcliffe say about âinheritingâ players?
In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Sport earlier this week, Ratcliffe spoke about the difficulties that Ineos have encountered since their investment in the club.
Asked whether he understood the frustration of supporters following the fansâ protests before Sundayâs match against Arsenal, Ratcliffe said change took time and cited an example of âinheritingâ transfer deals that the club are yet to pay off.
âI sympathise with them because Manchester United is not where itâs expected to be. We are expected to be winning the Premier League and challenging for the Champions League and we are not there at the moment,â he said. âBut I think we need to get the house back in order before we can get back to our winning ways.
âItâs not a light switch. Iâll give you an example, if you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didnât buy, we are buying Antony, we are buying Casemiro, we are buying Andre Onana, we are buying Rasmus Hojlund, we are buying Jadon Sancho.
âThese are all things from the past but whether we like it or not we have inherited those things and we have to sort it out. For Sancho, who obviously now plays for Chelsea â and we pay half his wages â we are paying ÂŁ17m to buy him in the summer. So it takes time for us to move away from the past into a new place in the future.â
Asked later in the interview about âinheritingâ players, Ratcliffe said the club had â in some situations â spent too much on players that are not good enough but did not specify any players.
âSome are not good enough, some are probably overpaid,â said Ratcliffe.
âBut for us to mould a squad, that we are fully responsible for and accountable for, will take time. Weâve got this period where we will move from the past to the future and we are in the middle of that period.
âThere are some great players in the squad as we know. The captain is a fabulous footballer. We definitely need Bruno [Fernandes]. Without him it would be really tough.â
Ugarte returns, Yoro out for Sociedad second leg
Amorim confirmed midfielder Manuel Ugarte would return to the squad for the Europa League last-16 second leg against Real Sociedad on Thursday (20:00 GMT).
The Uruguayan missed Sundayâs 1-1 draw against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
However, Leny Yoro â who came off at half-time against the Gunners â is unavailable.
Mason Mount, whose last appearance came in a 2-1 win against Manchester City on 15 December, has returned to training but will not be available for selection against Sociedad.
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Published26 July 2022
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