Jose Mourinho said former club Manchester United are doing the right thing by sticking with coach Ruben Amorim despite their disappointing season.

Under Amorim, United ended 15th in the Premier League, their worst-ever finish. They also missed out qualification for the Champions League through the Europa League, losing 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in the final.

“From what I read the impact [of losing Europa League final] on Man United of course it is huge in the sense of how many years Man Utd is not involved in any European competition,” Mourinho, the last coach to guide United to a European title in 2017, told Sky Sports.

“But at the same time it looks like they are supporting Ruben. They are giving him time and conditions to go forward.”

Amorim, who left Sporting CP in November to guide United, apologised to the fans after the team’s worst-ever Premier League finish.

However, he said this week that missing out on European football would benefit his team as it looks to perform better next season. “I’ve read some quotes from him [Amorim] saying that he is happy that he came and had already these six months,” Mourinho said. Mourinho, in charge of Fenerbahce since last summer, says he can relate to what Amorim is going through.

“When I went to Porto the same happened to me,” he said. “I went in January [2002], I had a difficult six months. We were struggling even to qualify for UEFA Cup and then it happened, what happened.”

Mourinho would go onto guide FC Porto to a treble — Portuguese league, Portuguese Cup and UEFA Cup — in his first full season in charge before defending the Portuguese league title and adding the Champions League trophy in the 2003-04 campaign.