“A suggestion of tensions”: Ineos playing with fire as schisms appear with key club department

Manchester United’s new owners and the academy system are believed to be at odds with each other over certain decisions being taken.

Ineos have invested heavily in the academy, signing exciting prospects such as Chido Obi, Sekou Kone and Diego Leon.

The under 18s have also been incredible, winning the treble last year and winning all 10 of their league matches this season.

However, not all appears so rosy behind the scenes according to a report by The Manchester Evening News.

The outlet claims that “there has been a suggestion of tensions between Jason Wilcox and some staff, and they are believed to be under added pressure to produce results.”

“Coaches at different age groups are feeling more scrutiny to win games, whereas in the past, the focus would solely be on youth development and not particularly the outcome of a fixture.”

Due to the fine results of the under 18s this doesn’t seem to be major problem but the under 21s sit 6th in the league, nine points behind Manchester City, so this could potentially become an issue for the new owners.

In addition, due to the cost-cutting policies implemented by the Ineos group at the club, “some highly skilled staff were lost in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s club-wide restructure” and there have been significant doubts about some of the hires that Ineos have made.

“Simon Wiles from Salford City, who left his position as a first-team coach to become the Under-14 coach” has raised some eyebrows, for example.

The scale of change has also been a surprise to many at the club as “it initially appeared that Ineos’ changes to the academy would be minimal”.

Nonetheless, it has become clear that they are aiming to make significantly deeper, longer-lasting alterations to how United go about things at youth level.

It is a fine balance for Ineos to find as of course they want to do things their way, but arguably the youth system is one element of the club that does not need a huge amount of upheaval when you consider the success of the teams and quality of players recruited long before Ineos arrived on the scene.

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