Manchester United to stick with Erik ten Hag for Porto and Aston Villa matches

When Ratcliffe purchased a stake in United last December, he assumed control of football operations.

The 71-year-old made clear after becoming minority owner that the club’s problems extended far beyond Ten Hag – or indeed any manager that had come before him since 2013.

“In the last 11 years, Manchester United have had a lot of coaches and nobody has been very successful in that environment,” Ratcliffe told BBC Sport in February.

“That says to me there is something wrong with the environment. It is not constructive for me to blame anyone, it’s just a fact. My focus is on how I change that environment to get the best out of the coach and squad.”

An end-of-season review saw United speak to a number of managers about replacing Ten Hag.

However, the club eventually decided to stick with the Dutchman following the FA Cup final victory against Manchester City in May.

Ten Hag was handed a new one-year deal to take him through to 2026, but the club changed his backroom staff as Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake joined to replace Steve McClaren, Benni McCarthy and Mitchell van der Gaag.

The former Ajax boss insisted after Sunday’s defeat that he had the board’s backing and both parties were aligned on how to move forward.

“We are all on one page together, the ownership, the leadership group, the staff and the players’ group as well. I don’t have that concern,” he said.

Ratcliffe, who was not present for the 3-0 defeat, has not spoken about Ten Hag’s position so far this season.

Berrada and Dan Ashworth, who joined as chief executive and sporting director respectively this summer, have both given their support to Ten Hag.

“I think Erik is the right coach for us, he has our full backing,” Berrada said before the 3-0 defeat by Liverpool in September.

However, both Ashworth and Berrada made it clear that they were not part of the end-of-season review which decided to retain Ten Hag.