Giggs warns Ratcliffe ‘nobody knows the answer’ at Man Utd as he suggests full reboot

Ryan Giggs, October 2020

Ryan Giggs has told Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe that he has to change things that “nobody knows the answer” to, and the club “have to start again,” beginning with recruitment.

United legend Giggs played in the most successful era at the club. He made over 900 appearances for the Red Devils, winning the Premier League on 13 occasions – more than any player in history – alongside two Champions League medals.

He retired in 2013/14 – a year after United’s last Premier League title. United have finished second twice since then, but have largely failed to get anywhere near their previous heights.

Giggs has admitted it’s been hard to watch the downfall of the once great club.

“Like everyone else, it’s frustrating and has been for the last six or seven years,” he told The Telegraph.

However, the Glazer family finally relinquishing control, with Ratcliffe to take 25 per cent of the club as well as controlling footballing operations, represents a potential watershed moment, with the chance to get back to the top.

Giggs feels the best way Ratcliffe can make that happen is a complete reboot, as the problems at the club are unexplainable, so the answer is to get strip everything away and build back up from the bottom.

“Nobody knows the answer and you have to start again,” Giggs said.

“It starts from the top. We’re just so inconsistent and you just never know what you get.”

Giggs suggests that getting players through the door who genuinely want to play for the club is key.

“That is the number one thing we have to change. The culture of the club. To get players in who want to play for United and will do anything to win a game for United. That is something in the medium-term, we have to get those players in,” he added.

The assumption would be that anybody who has walked through the door at Old Trafford of late wants to play for the club, but it’s easy to see how some performances suggest otherwise.

When Giggs was starring for United, a high volume of the big players came through the academy, so while it might take a while for the success to return, surely that path would not be a bad one to follow.

Alejandro Garnacho has been one of United’s most impressive players this season, and he clearly wants to give back to the club, having likely dreamt about making it in the first team during his time in the academy.