Manchester United players have got away with too much for too long, and a pattern of behaviour is being repeated.

Erik ten Hag has his work cut out trying to snap Manchester United’s players out of a culture of leaks and snide behaviour on social media.

We have seen that manifest itself this week with Alejandro Garnacho ‘liking’ tweets critical of the manager, and whispers of players wanting to delay decisions on their future in expectation the manager could be fired.

Player power has done for Manchester United managers in recent years, where we have seen them effectively down tools. Nobody wants to see a repeat, including Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘angry’

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is unimpressed with the way Manchester United players have conducted themselves, going back to the Jadon Sancho incident earlier this season.

Graeme Bailey reports for HITC: “One aspect at the club that Ratcliffe is ‘angry’ about is the constant leaks emerging from the club, and also the use of social media to criticise the club.

“Ratcliffe will not get personally involved in club discipline, but he has already made it known that he backed Ten Hag over the Sancho situation and going forward he will not put up with further indiscipline at any level of the club with particular focus on the players.”

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The report adds Ratcliffe’s preference on Ten Hag’s future is to make a decision only when Dan Ashworth is in place, although, results may end up speeding the process along.

Strong ownership at Manchester United needed

Club owners the Glazers have been conspicuous by their ongoing absence throughout their tenure at Manchester United.

As soon as Sir Alex Ferguson stepped away, there has been a sharp decline in standards on and off the pitch. One manager who tried to rule with an iron fist was Jose Mourinho – and when challenged, the Glazers backed the players instead.

Leaks and poor behaviour eventually undermined Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and made Ralf Rangnick‘s life impossible at the club, and Erik ten Hag has tried to take on a very strict approach with his players, which naturally won’t be to everybody’s liking.

What matters most to Manchester United are results on the pitch, but Ten Hag has always insisted everything comes back to one word, ‘Standards’.

The minute the standards begin to crumble, so do performances, and there is a feeling that the wheels are beginning to fall off at Manchester United for Erik ten Hag.

That’s why this report concerning Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s stance is so important. He is running football operations at the club, and is intent on ensuring there is proper leadership from the top down.

Manchester United need Ratcliffe to be strong, forceful, and make clear to players that there will be consequences for ‘indiscipline’.

Whatever happens with Ten Hag, Ineos need to weed out the leaks, and make clear that any new manager must be backed 100 per cent by the players, and urge them to get off social media after bad results.

If Ten Hag does go, there are a few players who should be heading out the door with him.

For the first time in a long time, Manchester United have a man at the top who genuinely seems to care, and is irritated by the same things as supporters are. This makes a real difference, compared to the Glazers, who simply don’t care about anything except making a profit.