Man Utd owner Ratcliffe says club has become ‘mediocre’ and criticises ‘very poor’ data analysis | OneFootball

Manchester United’s minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says the club has become “mediocre” since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ratcliffe became a part owner of United last December with the club having undergone significant changes since then, including the appointment of a new manager, CEO and sporting director.

But speaking to Man Utd fanzine United We Stand, Ratcliffe says more change is still required.

“The club has drifted for a long period of time, a decade or so. Manchester United has become mediocre,” he said.

“It’s not elite and it is supposed to be one of the best football clubs in the world. That’s what it used to be under Alex.

“There is major change to come to achieve elite status. But already there has been huge change at this club.”

Ratcliffe highlighted the club’s recruitment as an area where big improvements are needed: “Until were are as good as anyone in the world, then it’s not good enough for Manchester United. We must have the best recruitment in the world.

“Data analysis comes alongside recruitment. It doesn’t really exist here. We’re still in the last century on data analysis here.

“There’s immense amount of useful data that we can get from data analysis and we’re in the “very poor” bracket with data analysis here. These things don’t happen overnight.

“You can’t just flick a light switch and sort out recruitment. It’s all about people and we need to find the right people.”