'Give Ruben a break!' - Sir Jim Ratcliffe leaps to defence of Amorim and says Man Utd boss is doing a great job despite having 'half the squad missing'

Despite languishing down in 14th in the Premier League, minority United owner Ratcliffe has called on Amorim's critics to "give Ruben a break" and pointed out that he has a very depleted squad at present.

He told The Telegraph: “Frankly, with the squad that he’s had available and the fact he came in mid-season, I think he’s done a great job. Everybody expects miracles overnight. It’s not real life in my view. I thought, a really impressive performance [in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday]. They could not have worked harder. They couldn’t have been more committed.

“If you looked at the names on the bench, there weren’t many you recognised. Half the squad’s missing for Ruben. If you look at the top eight players in terms of salaries in Manchester United, 50 per cent of those are not available to Ruben. And if you had the same at Manchester City or Liverpool, it would be a very different case for them. If you look at our top eight, you’ve got Mason Mount, and Luke Shaw who’ve been injured. Rashford’s gone and Sancho [too]. Four of our top eight players in terms of salaries. He’s got a bunch of other injuries … Kobbie Mainoo and [Lisandro] Martínez.”

Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford in November but their fortunes haven't improved much since his arrival. They are out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, are struggling in the Premier League and their last hope of silverware is in the Europa League. This also comes at a time when fans are growing increasingly restless with Ratcliffe and the majority owners, the Glazers. However, they are without the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo, Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez and more, which is not helping the Red Devils' cause.

United face a crucial Europa League last-16 second leg clash at home to Real Sociedad on Thursday, with the tie evenly poised at 1-1.