Sir Jim Ratcliffe backs Man Utd flop to come good despite getting ‘knocked about by Arsenal’ | Football

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is convinced a struggling Manchester United star will ‘come good’ eventually despite a difficult start to life in the Premier League.

United are enduring one of the worst seasons in their history, languishing down in 14th in the table, with the Europa League their only chance of winning silverware or qualifying for Europe.

This is also the first full season since Ratcliffe and INEOS’ minority takeover of the club, which has come under much scrutiny from fans and pundits.

The recruitment on the pitch has been underwhelming to say the least, with over £200million spent on seven signings including Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte and Patrick Dorgu.

Perhaps the most heavily criticised purchase is centre-forward Joshua Zirkzee, who cost £36m from Bologna and has scored just six goals in 42 appearances.

The 23-year-old’s poor form saw him left out of the latest Netherlands squad and he endured another difficult game on Sunday as United drew 1-1 with Arsenal.

It has even been speculated that he could make a swift return to a club in Serie A, but in an interview with Gary Neville for Sky Sports, Ratfcliffe insisted the forward’s time would come at Old Trafford.

‘Look how Zirkzee got knocked about yesterday in the first-half, he really did get knocked about didn’t he?’, the 72-year-old said.

‘He wouldn’t have been used to that playing in the Italian league. It takes time for players to settle.’

Asked by Neville if he thought those signed last summer like Zirkzee would ‘come good’ for the Red Devils, Ratcliffe replied: ‘Yes, yes I do.

‘But bear in mind we didn’t have the luxury of time to prepare for last summer. Jason [Wilcox, technical director] had been there three weeks, Omar [Berrada, CEO] three days.

‘We had the problem with the coach [Erik ten Hag] – “Is it a yes or no? Are we involving the coach or not involving the coach?”.

‘He didn’t sign [those players] but he did have a voice, which is why we [signed some] Dutch players.’

Ratcliffe would go onto admit he had made a ‘mistake’ by not sacking Ten Hag following the FA Cup final win last season, with the Dutch manager dismissed last October but only after he had been handed a new contract.

‘It was the wrong decision. We made the wrong decision. It was an error. I suppose in that sense I regret it,’ he added.

‘It was quite difficult to extract in that season when we arrived, Erik’s performance from the structure around him. Difficult to see what environment Erik was operating in.

‘Was it, in other words, was the erratic performance a function of Erik, or was it a function of the organisation? And we couldn’t really get to the bottom of answering that question with certainty, I suppose, so we gave Erik the benefit of the doubt.’

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