Sir Jim Ratcliffe is wrong – patience with Ruben Amorim may not be a virtue for Manchester United

If anyone in the Greater Manchester area wanted to know the source of the collective sigh that just went up around the city and its environs – well, around half of it, anyway – it was an interview given by Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to The Times’ Business podcast, during which he suggested that Ruben Amorim could get three years to sort things out at Old Trafford. It’s rather more time than many fans would give him.

"He has not had the best of seasons," said Ratcliffe. "Ruben needs to demonstrate he is a great coach over three years. That's where I would be."

To a certain extent, of course, Ratcliffe is only preaching the kind of patience that has often been called for in the media or in the stands when managers are sacked too hastily – but in this case, it comes across less as a reasonable take on his club’s situation than as a concerningly blinkered view on an experiment which has yet to bear any form of fruit.

Why Ruben Amorim hasn’t earned three years of grace at Manchester United

"The press, sometimes I don't understand," Ratcliffe went on. "They want overnight success. They think it's a light switch. You know, you flick a switch and it's all going to be roses tomorrow. You can't run a club like Manchester United on knee-jerk reactions to some journalist who goes off on one every week."

Quite where Ratcliffe has developed the idea that the media expected instant success from Amorim – especially given that he inherited a trainwreck from Erik ten Hag when he first took over – is unclear. Few in the nation’s press boxes expected an instant turnaround, or saw United as a light switch waiting to be turned on.

But what most pundits did anticipate, given the success that Amorim enjoyed at Sporting, was an improvement, and it would be a generous observer who suggested that we have seen anything of the sort. If anything, this is a team that has taken two steps back for any that it has taken forward.

Nor is anybody in the more sensible sections of the media suggesting that United should be in the business of hiring and firing managers on a bi-monthly basis like an extremely wealthy version of Watford. What has been suggested, not unreasonably, is that patience is only a virtue when there are signs of progress.

Had Amorim taken over, discovered that his preferred methods and tactics didn’t work as well as he had hoped, and then made adjustments, then it would have suggested an adaptable manager who might turn things around and crack a code that has largely eluded most United managers since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. Instead, Amorim has blindly persisted with an idea that simply isn’t working.

Just three weeks ago, Amorim told the media that “not even the Pope” could persuade him to change his tactics, despite the fact that they plainly don’t suit the players at his disposal. That isn’t the thought process of a manager whose plans are likely to bear fruit a year or two down the line. It’s barely a process at all – just a simple statement of the fact that Amorim only has one gear and won’t try to change it.

Patience is indeed a virtue, one forgotten far too often by Premier League teams desperate for immediate success. But knowing when and where to apply that patience – and when to cut bait – is just as important. If Amorim is unwilling to adapt his ideas to fit the situation, then what are the chances that they magically fit his team better in a year’s time, or in three years’ time?

Amorim may well be a “great coach” under the correct circumstances, and he did take some time to get things right at Sporting – but the floor in his early years in Lisbon was rather higher than it has been so far at United, there weren’t so many signs of despair in the dressing room (just take the body language exhibited during the EFL Cup defeat to Grimsby Town) and there were measurable signs of gradual progress. Sporting were given some reasons to be patient.

United, however, have not, and there are no appreciable signs of ‘greatness’ in their performances so far this season. Amorim has barely managed mediocrity.

Amorim isn’t solely to blame – Ineos need to rethink their own approach

Amorim is not, of course, the only problem at Old Trafford. Ineos’ decision-making has been pretty questionable ever since they came in, too. Ratcliffe’s thinking in standing by a manager who isn’t delivering results or evidence of progress may feel like patience to him, but looks more likely bloody-mindedness from the outside.

There may be a fine line between the two, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that the rather skewed thinking behind the idea of giving Amorim another couple of years is in line with much of the flawed thinking that has gone into, say, Manchester United’s business in the transfer market.

If Amorim was to succeed in his second season while still making use of his much-maligned 3-4-2-1 formation, then it was plain to see that he needed new midfielders. Those at his disposal in 2024/25 simply weren’t capable of covering the enormous amount of ground required by the system.

Ineos, however, did not buy any midfielders whatsoever. Instead, they spent almost their entire transfer budget on attacking players and now have three high-class attacking midfielders – Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha – to cover two positions, and that’s ignoring the existence of Mason Mount, Amad Diallo and others besides.

Manchester United’s summer business suggested a complete lack of joined-up thinking, the kind of planning which could provide a squad suited to Amorim’s needs. Amorim’s lack of adaptability may be the primary cause of his own problems, but few coaches would succeed when the transfers being made are almost working against them.

Ineos’ track record in both football and in cycling suggests that they simply aren’t especially good at this game. The broad direction of travel for their investments, at least in a purely sporting sense, has been downwards. Ratcliffe may know how to turn a profit, but he doesn’t seem to know how to build a strong sports team.

That only exculpates Amorim to a certain extent. He is not being supported in the way that he needs in order to thrive, but he is also laying the foundations for failure with a blinkered approach which doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast.

Still, it sounds as though United will stand by him for a while yet. Recent wins over Chelsea and Sunderland have made that stance a little more palatable, but it would be a stretch to say that the team has turned a corner just yet. It would also be a stretch to say that United seem likely to be a team that’s as strong as their bank balance any time soon given the way that they are being run.

Changing the manager wouldn’t be a magical cure-all. But there are, surely, coaches out there who could adjust their style of play to suit the United squad better, to get the best out of players who are struggling or simply being set aside under Amorim, and to move the team slowly in the right direction. Amorim, as it stands, doesn’t seem likely to move anything in any direction except down.