Jamie Carragher points finger at Sir Jim Ratcliffe for Man Utd's poor form since Liverpool mauling

Jamie Carragher has not held back in his criticism of Manchester United's new owners, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos, following the club's less than stellar start to the season.

The Red Devils have only managed to secure three victories out of their nine matches across all competitions, with a particularly stinging 3-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool at Old Trafford last month.

Arne Slot's men breezed through to claim three points, courtesy of a double from Luis Diaz and a second-half goal from Mohamed Salah. This loss further intensified the scrutiny on beleaguered manager Erik ten Hag, and despite managing two consecutive wins after the international break, United haven't quite bounced back.

Indeed, United have failed to clinch a win in their last four games, including Thursday's 3-3 draw against Porto in the Europa League. While some fans have pointed fingers at Ten Hag, the Glazers, and years of subpar recruitment for the disappointing start to the season, ex-Liverpool defender Carragher has laid the blame elsewhere.

In his column for The Telegraph , Carragher stated: "Forget Erik ten Hag. Forget the Glazers. Forget the expensive signings. And forget the previous years of underperformance."

"If Manchester United fail to massively improve this season, the ultimate responsibility lies with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos. The latest mess is on their watch, with United already struggling to convince they are equipped to qualify for next year's Champions League.

"There is no point sugar-coating it. The new United hierarchy have made a deeply unimpressive start to their Old Trafford reign with one of their worst decisions being the most important any board can make. Above all, you must ensure you have the right manager. Retaining Ten Hag is proving the catalyst for another wasted campaign and possibly another £200million ($260m) down the drain."

The former Liverpool defender added that he was not motivated by a desire to criticize United, but rather by his understanding of the football industry. "I know whenever I talk or write about United, the immediate reaction is: 'this is just an ex-Liverpool player putting the boot in and taking pleasure from our problems'," he said.

"Let me assure you, my view on United is based solely on an understanding of how the football industry works. If Ineos was so certain it had the right man in charge, there would have been no approach to anyone else.

"It is obvious there were serious doubts about Ten Hag's ability to lead the rebuild. Those concerns were justified so whenever a board starts looking elsewhere, it is the beginning of the end of their relationship. It is not even that the trust has gone it was never really there to begin with."