Manchester United are not expected to make imminent changes involving chief executive Omar Berrada or director of football Jason Wilcox despite increasing scrutiny of the club’s senior leadership, according to David Ornstein. Speaking on the 22 September episode of The Athletic FC Podcast, Ornstein addressed questions about what is happening at executive level at Old Trafford as criticism surrounding United’s difficult start increasingly moves beyond Michael Carrick.
Ornstein’s current understanding is that another shake-up involving Berrada or Wilcox is not imminent. That should not be interpreted as either executive receiving a formal guarantee over his position, however, because Ornstein was discussing the situation as he currently understands it rather than reporting an official commitment from INEOS.
The distinction is important because United’s hierarchy is facing increasing scrutiny alongside Carrick. Questions are being asked about recruitment, the wider football strategy and whether the club addressed enough of its weaknesses during the summer.
Berrada and Wilcox have played central roles in the football structure established following INEOS’s arrival at United. Berrada oversees the club as chief executive, while Wilcox has responsibility for the football operation as director of football.
That structure is inevitably receiving greater attention as results deteriorate. Carrick has won only one of United’s opening five Premier League matches, while questions have also been raised about recruitment, the balance of the squad and the physical performance of the team.
Ornstein’s broader argument is that another round of executive change would need to have a clear purpose. If INEOS continues to believe it appointed the right people to run the club, repeatedly changing the leadership structure risks creating more instability rather than solving the problems United are attempting to address.
The alternative would be for INEOS to conclude that there are fundamental problems with the executives it appointed. There is currently no indication from Ornstein’s assessment that United have reached that point.
That makes the situation different from the increasingly intense discussion surrounding Carrick. A poor sequence of results can rapidly change the position of a manager, but the executives above him are responsible for a much longer-term project involving recruitment, football strategy and the structure of the club.
It also means responsibility for United’s performance cannot be considered solely through the manager. Carrick works within a football operation constructed by the people above him, and continued poor results will inevitably increase scrutiny of the decisions that produced the current squad.
For now, however, Ornstein does not expect that scrutiny to produce another executive reset. Berrada and Wilcox remain under pressure to demonstrate that United’s football structure is moving in the right direction, but the current expectation is continuity rather than another round of upheaval at Old Trafford.
