Man Utd’s biggest problem ISN’T Ruben Amorim

Robin Bairner

• 28 Aug 2025 08:45 BST
• 6 min read

Analysis

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is gaining the brunt of the criticism for the club’s embarrassing Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby Town on penalties, yet owners INEOS need to front up to their responsibilities at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils hit a new low on Wednesday as they were dumped out of the competition by League Two opponents on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

The manner of the loss was as alarming as the outcome. For long periods, United were outplayed by an opponent much further down the ladder.

It is a defeat that has left Amorim facing the very real prospect of being sacked, with the Portuguese appearing dejected when he spoke to Sky Sports after the game.

But while this defeat falls onto the shoulders of the coach, key owners INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe must also shoulder their share of the blame.

Man Utd’s biggest problem isn’t in the dugout – it’s in the boardroom

United have been a PR shambles since the petrochemical company took over. Between sacking dinner ladies, cancelling Christmas and a dire on-field performance, Man Utd have rarely looked so low.

But this should have been expected when INEOS took over. The company’s track record in football has been dire, and Man Utd were given warnings even before Ratcliffe had transferred his millions to complete an initial 27.7% purchase of the club.

The minority owners now hold a monopoly over United’s sporting performance, and it’s not turning out well.

Mistakes that were made with Lausanne and Nice are being played out on the world stage, with Ineos apparently oblivious to the reputational damage they are doing to the institution.

INEOS’ history of broken promises

Nice’s experience with Ineos has been especially frustrating.

Speaking two years ago, veteran centre-back Dante complained about Ineos failing to back up their promises.

“They said in two years that we would always be in the Champions League. It doesn’t work like that. Ligue 1 is very difficult. We lost 10 players, 10 arrived. The teams in semi-finals of big competitions play together for three, four years. We changed everything last summer. There is a lack of coherence somewhere,” the former Bayern Munich centre-back said.

“At some point you have to be clear in what you're saying. Speak less about your objectives and work in silence because the expectations rise and afterwards fans get frustrated.

“There are people well placed to make decisions. But if someone wants my opinion, the sooner we organise, the better.”

Outspoken pundit Jerome Rothen criticised the INEOS approach on RMC in May last year.

“Between not putting in the billions you promised and just putting in a few million, there is no problem but you can at least commit to the long term, create stability because that is the path to success in football,” he complained.

"The more stable you are, the more chance the team has of progressing...but everything is up for sale!”

INEOS out!

Ironically, Nice actually qualified for the Champions League playoffs in Ligue 1 last season when INEOS were forced to take a backseat as Man Utd were competing against them in the Europa League.

Now that they’re back involved with United out of Europe, there has been more disgruntlement around the Allianz Riviera, where fans have started an ‘INEOS Out’ campaign.

“We were all in favour of Ineos' arrival in 2019,” supporter Loris De Gregorio told France Bleu. “There were some good things at the start, but today, there is no more direction, no more investment. Since the acquisition of Manchester United in 2023, we see that Jim Ratcliffe doesn't care about OGC Nice. When he declared in March that he doesn't watch the matches, it was disrespectful and worrying.”

History is slowly repeating itself at Man Utd, where INEOS’ lack of strategy led the club to their worst-ever Premier League finish last season and threatens to lead them to new lows in 2025/26.

Amorim is only a symptom of the problems at Old Trafford, not the cause.

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