Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says Ruben Amorim needs three years to prove himself a "great coach" at Manchester United.
Amorim, who is approaching his first anniversary at Old Trafford on 1 November, has endured a difficult year, winning only 19 of his 50 matches in charge in all competitions, and taking 37 points from his 34 Premier League games.
But Ratcliffe intends to give the Portuguese time, as Arsenal did with Mikel Arteta, who finished eighth in both of his first two seasons but has since overseen title challenges and second-placed finishes in three of the last four campaigns.
Speaking to The Business podcast, produced by The Times and The Sunday Times, Ratcliffe said: “We have to be patient. We have a long-term plan, it isn't a light switch.
"You can’t run a club like Manchester United on knee-jerk reactions to some journalist who goes off on one every week. Amorim is a good guy. I would say Ruben needs to demonstrate that he's a great coach over three years."
Asked if Amorim would be given those three years, Ratcliffe said: "Yes, that's where I would be because football is not overnight. You look at Arteta at Arsenal. He had a miserable time over the first couple of years."
Amorim, who has failed to record back-to-back Premier League wins since replacing Erik ten Hag as head coach, led United to a 2-0 home win over promoted Sunderland last time out.
The Red Devils are next in Premier League action on Sunday 19 October when they visit champions Liverpool, themselves suffering a mini-blip with three consecutive defeats across all competitions.