Take Arteta as a role model

At Old Trafford, there is talk of patience again. Not the vague kind of patience sung when the team loses, but faith measured in years and hundreds of millions of pounds.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe , co-owner of MU, believes that Ruben Amorim is still the right person to revive the "Red Devils". He did not hesitate to use Mikel Arteta as an example: "I will give him 3 years" .

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Sir Ratcliffe defends Ruben Amorim. Photo: Imago

On November 1, Amorim will have been in the hot seat at Old Trafford for a year – nearly 365 days of disappointment, negative feelings that overshadowed confidence, many humiliating defeats, and huge contracts that did not bring commensurate value.

But Ratcliffe still chose the long-term path. “People were calling for Sir Alex Ferguson to be sacked in the first two years,” Britain’s richest billionaire said on The Times’s The Business podcast.

Sir Ratcliffe stressed: “Look at Arteta – he also survived the dark days at Arsenal. Football is governed by results, but we have to look further. Ruben needed three years to prove he was really good.”

Asked if he was really that patient, Ratcliffe did not hesitate: “Yes. Football cannot be successful overnight. A club like MU cannot act impulsively just because a few critics write every week.”

Ruben Amorim arrives in Manchester in November 2024, on a two-and-a-half-year contract with a huge compensation clause: £12m if he is sacked before the first anniversary.

Despite owning only 27.7% of the shares, Sir Ratcliffe still has full control over the club's sporting side. From firing Erik ten Hag to appointing Ruben Amorim, it was all in his hands.

However, Amorim's numbers have not convinced Manchester people. Since he took over the team, only Tottenham and West Ham have won fewer points than MU among the clubs that have stayed in the Premier League consecutively: 37 points, a worrying number.

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Ruben Amorim has not yet created stability. Photo: Imago

In the last 8 months, the Old Trafford team has won only 6 Premier League matches – and all of them have a small note: winning 2 relegated teams (Ipswich, Leicester), 2 teams playing with less players (Aston Villa, Chelsea), and 2 new players (Burnley, Sunderland).

After 34 Premier League matches, they have won only 10 and lost 17 (41-53) – the lowest ratio for an official MU coach since World War II.

Amorim also missed the chance to salvage the 2024/25 season when they lost to Tottenham in the Europa League final – a defeat that cost them European football.

Long-term ambition

Ratcliffe did not shy away from criticism, arguing that a radical change in culture was needed at Old Trafford: “The costs have gone beyond the limit. There are some fantastic people here, but there is also mediocrity.”

He argued: “ I was criticized for cutting free meals, but no one ever offered me free meals. A football club has two parts: business and sport. The more financial potential you have, the stronger the team you can build.”

The founder of INEOS Group has a long-term goal. “It’s like an F1 car – the better the car, the faster it goes. The better the squad, the better the football. We are building a solid foundation for MU to return to the top, long-term and stable” .

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Last summer, MU invested for the long-term future. Photo: MUFC

In the summer of 2025, MU spent more than 200 million pounds to buy Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Senne Lammens. However, the team still ranked 10th with only 10 points after 7 Premier League rounds.

They were also eliminated early in the League Cup by a Fourth Division side, a run of mediocre results that continued from last season. A haunting statistic: for more than a year, MU has not won 5 consecutive matches in all competitions.

Manchester United fans are probably used to waiting. Ratcliffe wants to turn that waiting into a philosophy. Just like Arsenal endured Arteta's first two turbulent years, before finding their identity again.

The question remains: Can Amorim become the new Arteta of MU? Other opinions contradict: the Spanish strategist has not won any major titles with Arsenal, except for 1 FA Cup and 2 Community Shields.

Ratcliffe—who believes in a three-year plan—seems to be on the side of time, not public opinion. Yet if he keeps losing, public opinion could make it impossible for him to protect Amorim.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/sir-ratcliffe-cam-ket-ruben-amorim-mu-mo-mikel-arteta-moi-2451056.html