Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a ‘dinosaur’ and ‘asset-stripper’ pulling Man Utd apart…

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Man Utd continue to get pelters as Liverpool’s luck with injuries is debated.

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Manchester United = USA
I see a lot of similarities between Manchester United and the United States right now. Sir Jim acts a dinosaur and leads through fear and intimidation and reprisals. Employees sitting around waiting for the next bit of bad news instead of doing the work that for years was good enough and now probably just needs a bit of coaching to update. Surely modern men like Klopp and Pep suggest the better way is to inspire and lift up and improve together.

A previous Mailboxer mentioned that good leadership takes the pressure off the performers, and I couldn’t agree more. I used to think it was a baby boomer thing expressing negative traits and calling it leadership, but now I’ve seen a younger generation emerging without empathy or kindness and calling ignorance a virtue. I think Manchester United are in for a long spell in the wilderness, and I fear the rest of us are in for one longer.
Niall, Annapolis

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…Not to be putting the boot into Dave, Manchester, but care needs to be taken when taking anything a big dick billionaire says at face value. A common myth is that whatever they say is golden. The balance of power is so far weighted in their favour, where any minion will be immediately sacked for speaking out, belittled or both. So the big dick Billionaire can say whatever they want and have it be taken as ‘gospel truth.’

A recent example would be Musk belittling the US retirement data storage at a presser in the Oval Office, specifically citing that the info is stored in a disused mine with only one elevator and when that elevator stops working – no one can retire. Hahahaha. He’s such a clever big dick Billionaire. Except, there is no elevator. Sure, it’s a mine, but it isn’t one of those deep mines; it’s one you drive vehicles into – under a large hill. But I’ll bet most people only take away what Musk said – and parrot it and use it in a negative way.

So, the same goes for Ratcliffe. Are the staff really just ordering whatever they want, whenever they want? Being profligate with United’s money? We only hear the big dick Billionaire spin on it all. By making these things all sound reasonable, implying the staff are essentially ‘stealing’ food or printer paper or something, there is an attempt to get everyone onside. Just like making the staff pay for their trip to watch the final – while Ratcliffe and his cronies used limos. Do you think they paid for that out of their own pocket? But let’s focus on those money-freebie-grubbing minions. Look, they don’t work hard and just work here for the freebies – even if we are paying them less than market rate.

Ratcliffe made his billions essentially as an asset stripper. He didn’t ‘grow’ businesses organically but took over stressed assets and stripped them down, selling off parts and making what was left more profitable. His actions show he sees United as a stressed asset to be stripped bare. Usually, one only does that to sell off the asset later at a slight profit. It’s never about organic growth.

Ratcliffe might have publicly used Brailsford’s ‘marginal gains’ idea when talking about the sports side. However, everything at United is closer to marginal losses, more akin to how he made his money in business. This doesn’t bode well for all the United minions or the club itself.
Paul McDevitt

Defending Ratcliffe again (ish)
I appreciate the responses to my earlier letter on United spending cuts but all of them seemed to follow the same thread summed up by Will’s closing remark “If INEOS weren’t f**king up so badly they wouldn’t need to cut 450 jobs…”.

This is simply naïve. The spending cuts would have happened under every scenario after INEOS came in because any business with debt more than five times its annual revenue has to spend less.

However, even if United didn’t have that debt, hadn’t over paid for bad players, and were in fact top of the Premier League the cuts still happen. Its been reported that INEOS expect these measures to save £30m per year. No successful business identifies that much wasteful spending (15% of revenue) and decides to carry on wasting it. Its terrible that ‘wasteful spending’ is people just trying to earn a living who did nothing wrong, but that’s the reality.

I thought I’d been clear enough but for the avoidance of doubt I know Ratcliffe is the bad guy! I’m not ignorant to the bad decisions he’s made or how utterly awful and depressing it is watching him do these things to my club. He is evil but for the time being he’s a necessary one.

United are teetering on the edge of PSR compliance even after INEOS pumped £280m into the club. If Ratcliffe decided today to invest another £500m of his own cash and wipe half the debt it would likely not help because the Glazers still actually control the club and could, if they wanted to, then take another £500m loan against the club and pocket the full lot.

If you look at United’s finances, look how the Glazers continued to add debt, continued to refinance at higher interest rates, see the steady decline in revenue and recognise how this will accelerate in the coming years, you’ll see the path to administration, to the end of Man United. The only reason they’ve sold part of the club to Ratcliffe is because they’re not capable of fixing it and their gravy train was going to end.
Dave, Manchester

Serious toxicity incoming at Man Utd
United fans are rightfully looking on with dismay at the way events are unfolding under Ratcliffe’s stewardship. And it really does leave everyone exasperated at the penny-pinching around the lowest echelon of staff members, while shelling out millions on desperately bad (and avoidable) decisions like EtH and a good percentage of the recruitment since he took over.

BUT … the Gordon Gekko-esque largess of the Ed Woodward regime is what put United in this position, ergo The Glazers.

Ratcliffe can’t buy out the Glazers, and he can’t pay back the hideous mortgage they put on the club, but he is at least trying to get some semblance of financial management around those limitations put in place, before things get much worse (which it looks like they could).

I know it has always been about ‘let’s see what the summer brings’ for countless seasons now, but I do think that unless Ratcliffe does what he says, and puts the savings they have been making into improving the team, then we could have some serious toxicity (is that a word?) at United next season.

It doesn’t look as though anyone is going to back-heel us into relegation, and there are two opportunities for silverware, and related European competition. Even this shambles of a team have it in them to raise their game when it matters, so all is not yet lost.

But the legendary patience of United fans is being worn seriously thin…
ET King (MUFC)

Liverpool and injuries? Really?
Lee, you seem to be making our point for us.

‘Take away your best players and you’d be nothing’ is that is exactly what has happened to Arsenal. We could well be without Saka and Martinelli for at least another month and Havertz and Jesus lost for the season.

Imagine you cloned your current Liverpool team, put them in the same place as Arsenal points wise, took out Salah, Gakpo, Diaz and Nunez for the rest of the season and asked them to compete with original Liverpool? You think they’d catch up?

Add in Saka’s injury earlier this season and Odegaard’s and we’ve been without those ‘crucial’ players in a way that Liverpool haven’t.

Now, losing Alisson and Konate might have hurt in very competitive season and this isn’t to not give credit to Liverpool for managing through them (your squad depth is very very good, you have the best back-up GK in the league that 15 other teams would probably take as a starter) but it has come in a season when your two closest rivals over the last 2 seasons have lost essential fulcrums of their teams and suffered horrendous total unit injury crises.

Yes there’s a case for ‘you make your own luck, you should have more depth’ but ultimately, even Liverpool with the best depth in forward positions in the league would still struggle with 4 of their best forwards missing long term – you simply can’t account for such an acute situation even with the smartest squad building.
Tom, (it will be interesting to see how this season is remembered in posterity) Leyton

…I just can’t let the mail from Lee the Liverpool fan yesterday slide when he said Liverpool have had loads of injuries too this season. I feel like the mailbox needs a fact checking service. A handy page on transfermarkt shows the actual absences and playing time of the entire Liverpool squad. Don’t just look at appearances because that ignores when players are fully fit and rested/rotated due to the luxury of a fully fit squad or when they are suspended.

Some highlights from these stats

Players to be available for every league game this season:
Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Dias, Endo

Players to be available for all but 1 league game this season:
Trent, Szobaszlai, Gakpo, Nunez

So 9 of Liverpool’s best 11 have played 231 of the 234 matches available to them. That’s a staggering, unprecedented level of availability.
The injuries to back up players aren’t major in any case and crucially when they have been out they haven’t suffered cluster injuries in the same position.

Liverpool have clearly been the best team this year but the season has also coincided with their 2 main rivals having their worst injury hit seasons for a long time. fans can argue for a long time if injuries are luck or good training and load management, when you’re team is full of injuries you curse luck, the opposite you praise your fitness team – that’s the same for any set of fans.

Of course if Arsenal and City had fully fit squads Liverpool may still be out in front, they have been almost unstoppable this season but to try to paint Liverpool as having suffered bad injuries is just plain wrong. Not only wrong but In terms of first 11 availability it’s been an all time great prem season so far.

Congratulations on the season and almost certain title but context is important but almost always lacking in any discussion on football nowadays.
Rich, AFC

Arne Slot does deserve credit
There was some Man Utd fan here the other day suggesting Slot should not receive any credit for winning the title. He also went on to suggest that ETH WINS THE LEAGUE WITH THIS LIVERPOOL TEAM. Seriously? You need mental therapy buddy and no wonder you are looking at sour grapes (Entitled United fans).

ETH got sacked because he couldn’t string two wins in a row. So here’s the thing – Slot does deserve the credit for taking a team – making almost no changes to it in pre-season and still winning the league and bossing the UCL. His tactics, his analysis of coming to a new country and new league is phenomenal. Heck, I will say he’s better than Klopp in terms of managing a game and controlling it to win ugly which Klopp always struggled with. Two different ways of playing but I like the Slot way. Imagine what he can do putting in his own players who will play his way next season – with or without salah and VVD I’m optimistic about his squad.

So coming back to our mental therapy patient – pray that your beloved 3-4-3 manager saves your doomed minnow club from relegation first before considering whether a manager who is currently no #1 in the league and UCL deserves the credit or not.

Because you ask any one in the KOP – we are made up for SLOT. He 200% deserves the credit for managing this set of players and guiding them to the league.

And not f%$^&ing things up – isn’t that every manager strives to do to win? Amorim does that a lot more then others. 😁
Tejas (We gonna win the league!)

…I always love it when supporters of other clubs who don’t watch teams week in and week out try to come across as experts on other teams. I don’t pretend to know as much about United or City based on my casual watching of their matches so I don’t try to deeply infer too much about their situations.

His assertions that Slot deserves no credit for Liverpool’s push towards the title is an embarrassing take. Those of us who pay attention understood the assignment that FSG was tasked with when looking to replace Klopp. They wanted similarities, somebody who could come in and push forward a project that Klopp left in good shape without needing a lot of massive changes or overhauls. They gave (or at least the media would have you believe) a serious look at Amorim before moving on from him, not because Amorim is a bad manager, but his style would be very different than what the club had been using.

They ‘settled’ on Slot because he played a similar style, was happy coaching and developing younger players and a lot of the analytics the football side of the operation love pointed to Slot as somebody who could drive the team.

In the summer with a lot of the big guns gone, those of us paying attention saw what Slot was doing. They played well in preseason (not always a precursor to success but a positive sign) and you could see the differences in how Klopp and Slot played. It wasn’t major, but it was different.

This season, Slot has managed his team well. The biggest difference between Klopp and Slot is the pace in which the play and the consistency the more controlled Slot’s tactics seem to have Liverpool looking fresh for the fight in February. It’s not a revolution, but it’s small changes. He also, especially in the first half of the season seemed to get his subs right most weeks and his tactical adjustments correct.

Here is where things get dicey. I absolutely LOATH when people say “Well you only win because player X is playing amazing and you’d be Y points behind if Player X wasn’t around”. It’s such a wasted statement. When you have an elite player who makes your team better, odds are you’re going to get better results. Mo Salah is playing out of his mind and it’s not unfair to say without his contributions that Liverpool might not be in such a strong position. But he is a part of the team and Slot’s tactics are giving him that freedom to do what he does. With that being said, if he does leave in the summer (or in a few summers considering he’s 32) I have faith that Slot is going kick on.

The key takeaway here for Aman, who seems to be projecting his frustration around United’s continued post Fergie failure is that Liverpool have approached succession planning a lot better than United both from a structural and on field mind set. trying to rationalize it away. Ultimately when you can’t accept a result you always try to rationalize it away, dumb luck, player playing above his level, everybody else’s failures. At the end of the day, Slot has come in, over delivered on the mandate he was given and in a position to win the league. All the rest is noise.
Mark LFC

…I know why you do it F365. I know you moan about the click-led media these days, and then put posts from Aman front and centre in the mailbox in a bid to get some yourself.

But! I’m not gonna rise.

No sirree Bob.

Okay, Aman, if you feel better by having to do those mental gymnastics in your head to make yourself feel better, then go for it buddy.

I can’t wait to see our one man team and average manager lift the Premier league trophy. I’ll be feeling grand, and I’m sure you will be too.
David (Has Stewie not written in?! Or have I missed it?) Molby, Shrewsbury

Where was Ted’s VAR?
Ted, LFC’s email on Tuesday morning was almost spot on. I too have stepped in for junior games when appointed referees have failed to turn up/not been available and it is indeed a thankless difficult task for all the reasons stated, although the “screaming 8 year olds” was a little difficult to accept.

I always handled abuse/heckling with a simple “I can only give what I see, would you like to take over”, the offer was almost unanimously declined save for one notable exception but that’s another story. I have sent off one of my own players! I can admit to not giving a goal (it was a friendly) and although I didn’t see the ball cross the line, I knew from the goalie’s reaction and look, that it had. In all honesty (?), I again said “I didn’t see it cross the line, so I can’t give it”!

So I do and have said on many occasions, accept that a referees job is very difficult. However, two things, firstly these guys do this for a living, they are trained to be in the best position, they have experience and presumably are the best (god help the rest) in their field. Quite how they get so many, and not just major, decisions wrong is baffling. Obviously I accept that “they can only give what they see”, but somehow, inexplicably, they manage to see something entirely different to what is often the majority of the watching thousands see on a regular basis.

And then there is the second, most obvious and unfathomable issue, the same guys acting as the VAR. Their interpretation of the laws, which they claim to know better than us mere mortals, and their refusal to “see” what is now obvious to MILLIONS watching is baffling. Their understanding of the game is almost non-existent despite their daily involvement. All this with the aid of technolgy and it’s slo-mo, multiple angles facilities.

Their understanding of physics is non-existent, arms come up and usually away from the body if attempting to jump as high as possible. Their seemingly willingness to look for something that isn’t there (see the Beto goal) whilst ignoring the obvious (see Cucurella’s drag back) is astounding, as is the attitude of former officials and those in charge of the PGMOL and their gymnastics to “verify” that the correct decision has been made.

So Ted, whilst you may express sympathy for the on field official, spare non for the same people when demonstrating their complete incompetence, if that is what it is.
Howard (my goalie was having a bad day and I didn’t want to make it worse) Jones

Bin VAR
I’m watching Palace & Villa right now. Rodgers has just scored.

VAR has decided to take a look and by any measure, this is not a clear and obvious error. They’ve decided to mark it offside. If you can’t decide within ten seconds, newsflash, it’s NOT clear and obvious.

Unreal really. Simply not fit for the purpose.

Bin VAR. Bin it now before it does irreparable harm to the game.
TX Bill, EFC