According to the British media outlet The Independent, a coach who interviewed for the Manchester United managerial position in 2024 recounted that the interview process with the Manchester United management was extremely complicated, requiring multiple rounds and facing numerous "decision-makers." His final meeting with Ratcliffe was postponed for three days because Ratcliffe was "riding a bicycle."
The report states that while poor performance played a role in Amorin's dismissal, the immediate trigger was a heated argument he had with Football Director Wilcox at an internal meeting, one of the focal points being the use of a three-defender formation. This exposed a fundamental problem within the club: a lack of a unified and clear team-building strategy and playing style.
After Ratcliffe took over, he was supposed to provide Manchester United with a clear direction, but his management style exacerbated the club's chaos. Multiple sources described Ratcliffe as "interfering in every little detail" and "overly micromanaging," and his confidence as a billionaire often led him to overstep his authority and directly express his opinions on professional football matters. This atmosphere made it difficult for professionals in the football management team to function effectively, and the departure of former Football Director Ashworth was related to this.
An anonymous coach's interview experience vividly illustrates this chaotic culture. His interview was divided into four stages, with more senior officials joining at each subsequent round, and "everyone seemed to be a 'decision-maker'," with the entire process described as "reading from a script." When a meeting with the ultimate decision-maker, Ratcliffe, was finally expected, it was postponed for three days because the owner was "riding a bicycle." This detail, perhaps slightly exaggerated, sharply reflects the club's lack of efficiency and professionalism in decision-making.
Manchester United's current predicament lies in their apparent preference for imitating external success models—whether copying Manchester City's structure or imitating Brighton's data analytics team—while failing to establish their own clear football philosophy. Although Ratcliffe's management has built a modern management framework comprised of figures like Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox, he has not fundamentally abandoned excessive interference in club decisions. Furthermore, the lack of a unified football philosophy as a core guiding principle has led to uncertainty in every aspect of Manchester United, from tactical style to player recruitment.
The report concludes with a satirical comment from a coach, vividly summarizing this predicament: when he heard Manchester United talking about building a world-class training facility, he felt it was completely "putting the cart before the horse"—"They haven't even figured out what the building will look like, they haven't even dealt with the old buildings, and they're already rushing to pick interior designers."
This perfectly encapsulates Manchester United's current situation: before chasing any glamorous facade, what they need most is a clear and unwavering blueprint regarding "what kind of team we really want to be."