Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has singled out Joshua Zirkzee for getting “knocked about” against Arsenal but backs the striker to come good.
The Red Devils have had a miserable season under Ruben Amorim after the Man Utd board made the decision to sack Erik ten Hag at the end of October.
Amorim has won just five of his 17 Premier League matches in charge of the Red Devils as his players struggle to get to grips with his style of play, philosophy and tactics.
Only five Premier League clubs have scored fewer goals than Man Utd this season with Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund coming in for a lot of criticism.
The duo have only scored five Premier League goals between them this season and Ratcliffe picked out Netherlands international Zirkzee for getting “knocked about” against Arsenal.
Man Utd co-owner Ratcliffe said in a wide-ranging interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap: “Look how Zirkzee got knocked about yesterday in the first-half, he really did get knocked about didn’t he?
“He wouldn’t have been used to that playing in the Italian league. It takes time for players to settle.”
When asked by Neville if he thought the summer signings like Zirkzee would ‘come good’ for the Red Devils, Ratcliffe replied: “Yes, yes I do.
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“But bear in mind we didn’t have the luxury of time to prepare for last summer. Jason [Wilcox, technical director] had been there three weeks, Omar [Berrada, CEO] three days.
“We had the problem with the coach [Erik ten Hag] – “Is it a yes or no? Are we involving the coach or not involving the coach?”.
“He didn’t sign [those players] but he did have a voice, which is why we [signed some] Dutch players.”
Ratcliffe went on to admit that the Man Utd decision-makers made a mistake by not choosing to sack Ten Hag in the summer.
The 72-year-old added: “It was the wrong decision. We made the wrong decision. It was an error. I suppose in that sense I regret it.
“It was quite difficult to extract in that season when we arrived, Erik’s performance from the structure around him. Difficult to see what environment Erik was operating in.
“Was it, in other words, was the erratic performance a function of Erik, or was it a function of the organisation? And we couldn’t really get to the bottom of answering that question with certainty, I suppose, so we gave Erik the benefit of the doubt.”
