15 January 2024 , 13:47
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe should have known not to tempt fate with this current Manchester United side.
"We normally do well against Spurs," said a smiling Ratcliffe before Sunday's 2-2 draw, echoing Sir Alex Ferguson's infamously dismissive "lads, it's Tottenham " pre-match team talk. Yet when a team has lost almost half of its matches, you cannot take anything for granted, as Ratcliffe discovered at his first match since making his £1.25billion investment in United.
A couple of hours before kick-off at Old Trafford, Ratcliffe conducted a meet and greet with the media, although he was tight-lipped, citing the need for his investment to be ratified by the Premier League before he could speak candidly about the challenge ahead.
But over the course of the match, the 71-year-old boyhood United fan, sitting alongside Ferguson in the directors' box, saw first-hand the size of the task that awaits him when he is granted control of football operations in three to four weeks.
Ratcliffe saw what United fans have endured for too long this season - a side consistently inconsistent, one incapable of controlling games and with no discernible identity or style. Ange Postecoglou has been in charge of Spurs for a matter of months, but his players have bought into his philosophy and way of playing, the same as Unai Emery at Aston Villa. Erik ten Hag has been at United longer than both, yet his side remain a work in progress, a frustrating conundrum.
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Even with Spurs missing a host of key players in Son Heung-min, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma, they were still the dominant team, enjoying 64 per cent of possession and registering 16 efforts on goal to United's nine.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe watched Manchester United's 2-2 draw against Tottenham on Sunday (Getty Images)Do you think Sir Jim Ratcliffe will turn Manchester United's fortunes around? Let us know in the comments below!
Twice United led, only to relinquish that advantage, and you felt had Spurs been equipped with their full complement of attacking players - as Erik ten Hag's side were - they would have left victorious. Recruitment is one of the biggest single issues facing Ratcliffe and his team once they are able to start wielding influence at United. More than £1bn has been spent on players since Ferguson retired in 2013, yet United are further away than ever from mounting a credible title challenge.
Inflated fees have been paid for players with potential - £82million on Antony, £73m on Rasmus Hojlund - rather than those who are the finished product, while lucrative long-term contracts handed to those not worthy of them have fostered a culture of complacency, which has exacerbated United's demise.
"I don't blame the players [Antony and Hojlund], because those price tags are too high," said former United defender Gary Neville. They are £30-40m players who should be second or third choice behind an experienced forward line. You don't graduate from university and get a top job. Expect a young player to take the top job in world football - centre-forward at Manchester United? You don't ask that."
Ex-United captain Roy Keane echoed his former team-mate and said: "Hojlund should be learning his trade from the bench and Rashford's desire needs to change. He's been going through the motions a little bit, but was at it today."
Ratcliffe has a full in-tray to sort when he eventually gets the green light to get going at United, with restructuring the football side of the club, in terms of personnel and approach, his main task. But the INEOS chief is acutely aware that resurrecting the 20-time champions will be a lengthy process, one that will inevitably involve a lot of pain before yielding real gain.