Ratcliffe’s words will not save Amorim if he fails to remedy Manchester United’s flaws

The word from Manchester United insiders is that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s headline-hogging declaration that three years is an apt timescale to judge Ruben Amorim is merely Sir Jim being Sir Jim, the self-made billionaire showing his anti-PR, maverick streak.

While the debate rages on TV, radio, social media, and in drinking parlours about the sagacity of his words, what Ratclifffe did not say or allude to intrigues as much.

Because, like an anti-Rafael Benítez, Ratcliffe chose not to discuss the “facts” when assessing Amorim’s beleaguered incumbency, as the head coach’s tenure approaches the first anniversary early next month. Instead, United’s largest minority owner reached for the easy punchbag of the media to opt out of facing the hard truth of the team under Amorim.

Discussing the 40-year-old’s position, Ratcliffe said: “You can’t run a club like Manchester United on kneejerk reactions to some journalist who goes off on one every week.”

Fair enough, except Ratcliffe would struggle to name any football scribe who leads United’s training sessions, selects the XI and sticks to a rigid 3-4-3 that has drawn a desultory 20 wins and 21 losses from 50 games, as Amorim has.

Or who turned up for the opening fixture of the season against a serious title contender (Arsenal) in a pickle over who should be his No 1 goalkeeper despite signalling discontent last April with the incumbent (André Onana). Result: Altay Bayindir, in for the Cameroonian, was culpable for the Gunners’ winner at Old Trafford.

And, also, failed to recruit an elite No 6, leaving Casemiro’s ageing legs and Manuel Ugarte’s untrusted ones to service the United engine room until the winter window, at least.

Amorim is being scrutinised by the media, pundits, United fans and other enthusiasts because of his track record at United. What will influence Ratcliffe is the financial bottom line – the lingua franca of the Ineos billionaire and the six Glazer siblings who collectively are United’s majority owners.

So far, so bad. Defeat in May’s Europa League final by Tottenham meant no Champions League football this season and the loss of about £100m from competing in the blue-riband tournament. The all-time Premier League low finish of 15th yielded £136.2m from the cash-soaked competition, but that was a near £50m – or the best part of a Matheus Cunha – less than Liverpool’s £174.9m cash prize for taking the title.

If this trend of failure to claim a trophy and plunging league form continues the plug will surely be pulled on Amorim by Ratcliffe, the head of football policy, far sooner than three years.

After a summer net spend of about £170m (signing Cunha, Benjamin Sesko, Senne Lammens and Diego Léon) United were supposed to hit the ground running. Instead, three losses (to Arsenal, Manchester City and Brentford), three wins (against Burnley, Chelsea and Sunderland) and a draw at Fulham can be characterised as a faltering start, at best, and the 12-11 Carabao Cup penalty shootout loss to fourth-tier Grimsby was a farrago, the poorest/most unprofessional United display witnessed by these eyes in 13 years as the club correspondent.

On the back of all this, the question keeps coming: are there signs of a revival; of the odd green shoot that can be clung on to by Amorim, Ratcliffe and United supporters? The answer, politely, is: how can there be until two consecutive league matches, at least, are won under him for the first time? After beating Sunderland 2-0 before the international break, United go to Anfield. Do not bet the farm on him finally breaking that barrier against the champions, Liverpool.

Consider Amorim’s run in the league. In 34 top-flight outings, 37 points have been accrued. Amorim has won 10 matches.

In the same interview with The Business podcast, Ratcliffe said: “Football is not overnight. You look at [Mikel] Arteta at Arsenal. He had a miserable time over the first couple of years.”

The Spaniard did, but he had the FA Cup triumph of 2020 (his opening season) as ballast and he did not finish 15th then. Instead, the Gunners placed eighth and have since been eighth, fifth, second, second and second.

Ratcliffe is said to find piloting United “stressful”, an insight into how, while everyone expects him to have answers to every question, he is human too. Maybe the job’s stresses explain why he offered three years as a mark of when Amorim can be judged.

No one knows where Amorim will take the United train. But another annus horribilis – or even a poor next few weeks – and the head coach can surely not survive.

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