Ratcliffe backs him up
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Rúben Amorim has been manager of Manchester United for 50 games and has the worst points average since 1958. Nevertheless, co-owner Jim Ratcliffe has supported the 40-year-old Portuguese. “Rúben has to prove over three years that he is a great coach. That would be my opinion. Three years, because football is not an overnight thing,” said the 72-year-old in the “Times” podcast “The Business”.
In November 2024, Amorim took over the coaching position at the Red Devils and ended the season in 15th place – the worst ranking since relegation to the Second Division in 1974. The season could have been saved with a triumph in the Europa League, but Man United lost 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in the final. After seven matchdays, Amorim’s team is in tenth place in the Premier League with ten points in the new season. In addition, Man United lost on penalties against fourth division Grimsby Town in the EFL Cup, which is why the critics are not silent.
“I remember the calls for Alex Ferguson to be sacked in his first two years. Look at Arteta at Arsenal. He had a miserable time in the first few years. Ultimately we are results-oriented but we have to be patient and wait for the results. I think there are a lot of good things at Manchester United. We have to be patient and have a long-term plan,” explained Ratcliffe. The last coach who had a worse points average than Amorim was the Welshman Jimmy Murphy (0.83), who had to leave in 1958 after just 18 games. Amorim’s contract runs until 2027.
Ratcliffe: “Manchester United will be the most profitable club in the world”
There is criticism not only of Amorim, but also of Ratcliffe, who made the decision to cut jobs and eliminate free lunches for employees in order to save money. “The costs were just too high. There are some fantastic people at Manchester United, but there was also a level of mediocrity that was bloated. I got a lot of criticism for the free lunches, but no one has ever given me a free lunch,” said the founder of chemical company Ineos, which has owned 30 percent of Man United since December 2023.
However, Man United has made no attempt to save costs on the transfer market in recent years. In the summer, Benjamin Sesko (76.5 million euros, Leipzig), Bryan Mbeumo (75 million euros, Brentford), Matheus Cunha (74.2 million euros, Wolves), among others, were new additions for 250 million euros. This compares to revenues of just 74 million euros. It is the fourth season in a row that the Red Devils have broken the €200 million mark in transfer spending – only Chelsea invested more worldwide during this period.
“The more money you have, the better you can build your team,” Ratcliffe said. Recently, a lot of money was spent on players like Antony (95 million euros, Ajax), Rasmus Højlund (77.8 million euros, Atalanta) and Mason Mount (67.7 million euros, Chelsea), but they were unable to meet the high expectations associated with the transfer fee. “The better your team is, the better the football should be. That’s why we spent a lot of time in the first year to put the club on a sustainable, healthy basis.”
Despite the difficult sporting situation, Ratcliffe is not worried about his club in the long term, quite the opposite. “If you look at our results for last year, we had the highest revenue ever. (…) These numbers will improve. Manchester United, in my opinion, will become the most profitable football club in the world and from this, I hope, a long-term, sustainable and high level of football will emerge.”