Ruben Amorim admits Manchester United future still in doubt despite owner’s backing

Ruben Amorim admitted he is not guaranteed to get three years to turn Manchester United around – despite co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s vote of confidence last week.

The Ineos billionaire came out in support of the Portuguese by saying he needed three years at Old Trafford to prove he is a great coach and Amorim believes it will help United fans understand the difficulty of the job he faces.

But while Amorim has heard such messages privately from Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox, he believes he needs results to secure his position.

Amorim takes United to Anfield on Sunday looking for back-to-back league wins for the first time in his reign and after getting just 37 points from his 34 top-flight games in charge.

He has nevertheless retained Ratcliffe’s backing and he said: “He tells me all the time sometimes with a message after games but you know, I know and Jim knows that football is not like that. The most important thing is the next game. You cannot control even with owners the next day in football.

“I know that [Ratcliffe backs him] but it is really good to hear that. But also because of the noise but he and Omar and Jason tell me that all the time.”

Amorim said the demands he puts on himself are greater than anything from United’s powerbrokers or outsiders as he said that, while his is a long-term task, he is impatient to bring success sooner.

“Sometimes the pressure I put on the team and on myself is so much bigger than them,” he explained. “I know it is going to take a while but I don’t want to think like that. But again, it is really good to hear that. I think it helps our fans to understand that the leadership understand it is going to take a while.

“But at the same moment I don’t like that because it will give a feeling that we have time to work things out. I don’t want that feeling here in our club. The most important thing is the next game. It is good to feel the support but we need to feel in football and especially in big games that every week we are ready to win games.”

United will be without Lisandro Martinez for the game against Liverpool while Noussair Mazraoui is a doubt.