- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! With the Premier League likely securing five Champions League spots, are we rewarding mediocrity?
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe believes Ruben Amorim has done a really good job since taking charge of the team despite results being far from impressive.
Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal leaves the Red Devils 14th in the Premier League with 10 games remaining this season.
Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag in November but there has been no new manager bounce at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese has won just five of 17 top flight matches but Ratcliffe insists he is pleased with the job he is doing considering the circumstances.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Sport, he said: ‘If I actually look at the squad which is available to Ruben, I think he is doing a really good job to be honest.
‘I think Ruben is an outstanding young manager. I really do. He’s an excellent manager and I think he will be there for a long time.
Man United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe believes Ruben Amorim has done a really good job
Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal leaves the Red Devils 14th in the Premier League
‘You are beginning to see a glimpse of what Ruben can produce. I think you saw a glimpse of it against Arsenal. How many players against Arsenal on the bench did you recognise?
‘How many have ever worn a Manchester United shirt for [the first team]… as there’s no squad left. We are down to the last 10 or 11 men in the squad really, of proper first-team players. Ruben is doing a super job.’
And Ratcliffe is confident that United can win the title by the club’s 150th anniversary in 2028 with Amorim at the helm.
‘I don’t think it’s mission impossible,’ he said. ‘I think it’s good to have goals and objectives, Ratcliffe said.
‘If you look at Arsenal, if you look at Liverpool, if you look at the period of time it took them to get the house in order and get back to winning ways, that’s probably slightly on the short end of the spectrum. But it’s not impossible.’
‘We have to test ourselves don’t we?’ he said. ‘Liverpool is quite a good example on timing, where Jurgen Klopp arrived in 2015 and they had Michael Edwards and Ian Graham.
‘The process of rebuilding the squad in Liverpool started in the summer of ’15, they rebuilt the squad in ’15, ’16, ’17 and ’18 and then in the next three years they won everything.’
