Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox have been working overtime at their Carrington base ahead of the game against Porto to fully prepare United manager Jens Ten Hagar, according to the Manchester Evening News. The two executives have been busy at the Carrington base since the beginning of the week, aiming to ensure that Ten Hagar has the best possible tactics and personnel for the upcoming game.
Not only that, Manchester United senior management also flew to Portugal together on Wednesday local time, and Porto officials to have dinner, to further discuss matters related to the game. This move reflects the importance that United's senior management attaches to the team's matches and the positive attitude of preparation.
Since becoming co-owner of Manchester United in February, Sir Ratcliffe has put in place a new soccer structure for the club. Should the team continue to underperform, they will make a decision on Ten Hagar's future. However, in his pre-match press conference in Portugal, Ten Hagar said he was in constant communication with the hierarchy and emphasized that they were a team.
Said Ten Hagar: "We communicate every day. We are a league and made that commitment over the summer. We updated our staff, I named my assistant coaches and some other staff. At the same time, we renewed the squad. This club wants to get back to the top and that's a long-term goal. We are talking every day about how we can improve this club, this team, including improving processes, procedures and contacts."
Ten Hagar also said there is no need for the brass to give him extra confidence because they are discussing how to improve and enhance the team every day. "We are assessing and reviewing the process on a daily basis and making decisions where necessary." He said.
It's worth noting that Ratcliffe said in an interview in June that Ten Hagar was not at the heart of United's problems. "The coach is not the core problem at United." He said, "It's a sports club, it needs to be competitive, it needs a degree of intensity, but it also needs a supportive side because you're dealing with relatively young players."
