Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United keep falling over themselves in the league, but the league continues to give them chances, and now Sir Jim Ratcliffe has had his say.
There are no prizes for guessing that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos desperately want Ruben Amorim to be a success at Man Utd.
He’s their first major footballing pick, which is reflected in his treatment because no other Man Utd manager could have survived ending a calendar year with more losses than wins.
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However, there is a breaking point for everyone, and that point for Ratcliffe has now been reported, with the owner doubling down on the expectation he had from the club.
What Sir Jim Ratcliffe expects from Man Utd
Ineos have received some valid credit for getting the recruitment right at Old Trafford, but the results on the pitch have been dire, to put it politely.
A section of Man Utd fans could be forgiven for believing that another manager could have produced better results from this set of players.
Ratcliffe seems to think the same, as Ben Jacobs reports on United We Stand that the Ineos chief has gone on to ‘double down’ on his expectation.
At the start of the season, he thought that the squad was good enough to contend, and qualify for the Champions League.
Six months into the season, despite seeing United stutter and fumble their way through the league, he has doubled down on this stance.
He wants to see United in the Champions League next season, especially with co-efficient rankings making it a race for the top five instead of the top four.
That changes things for Amorim, who now faces more pressure than the fans first believed.
Ruben Amorim faces new pressure
When Amorim started the season, the common consensus among the fans was that this would be a steady rebuilding season.
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For a club that finished 15th in the league last season, expecting them to immediately compete at the top end of the table would be a step too far.
Therefore, a respectable fight to get back into Europe, even if only the Europa League, was widely thought of as a successful platform to build on further.
However, if Jacobs’ report is to be believed, Ratcliffe has higher aims than that, and he’s not completely wrong in believing so.
The league being wide open this year has spared Amorim’s blushes so far, because a semi-competent team of United’s quality should comfortably be in the top four otherwise.
That’s the new pressure Amorim faces now, because he’s received almost unconditional backing so far in the name of a reset.
The results and expectations need to match the backing at some point, and Ratcliffe is prepared to ensure that happens.
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