Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has taken aim at the club's critics and defended manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær in an address to staff at Old Trafford.
It has been a difficult season so far for the Premier League club and with Liverpool next up, the challenges are set to keep on coming.
With much speculation about the club's structures and recruitment process, Woodward explained that this is merely the starting point.
"No one is bigger than the club. The changes we saw over the summer have resulted in a very young squad. But it's also a squad, with the players and the culture, that provides a base camp for us to build and grow from as we start our new journey."
"The reality of Manchester United is we are a club in two parts," he said.
First of all, we are an incredible 141-year footballing institution with all that history, all that legacy, all that tradition and that tradition of success. That can never, ever change. We need to keep that protected.
Then, like other football clubs, our commercial business allows us to reinvest in the football side. It's how these two interact with each other at Manchester United that results in us having a competitive advantage in this area. What's important is the commercial side is never allowed to take priority over the football side.
As for the making of football decisions, Woodward explained this is the responsibility of a specific unit.
"There is a myth that we have non-football people making football decisions, and I think it's insulting to the brilliant people who work on the football side in this club, many of the senior staff on the football side of the club have been in their roles for over 10 years."
The club currently stand in 12th place on nine points from eight games.
