Cristiano Ronaldo, who spent two varyingly successful tenures at Manchester United, has broken down the club’s problems after they suffered their worst-ever Premier League finish in the 2023/24 season, falling to eighth place in the table.
In his first spell with the Red Devils, which lasted six years, he won three Premier League titles, the Champions League, two League Cups and an FA Cup. However, his last return was less successful and his contract was terminated by mutual consent midway through the second season following a falling out with Erik ten Hag.
However, Ronaldo believes he knows the key to United’s lack of success and has detailed how the club should be rebuilt to regain its place among the best in Europe.
“Manchester [United] have to rebuild everything in my opinion,” he told his former teammate Rio Ferdinand in the latest episode of ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents’. “The coach says they can’t compete for the league and the Champions League. As the coach of Manchester United you can’t say you won’t fight for the league or the Champions League.”
“You have to say to yourself mentally: ‘Listen, maybe we don’t have the potential to do this, but I can [den Spielern] We’re going to try.’ You have to try. This club needs time to rebuild itself because it’s still one of the best clubs in the world, but it has to change.”
“They understand that. That’s the only way. That’s why they start changing the structure of the club, the president, the infrastructures and everything else. The owners of the club.”
“I believe the future will be bright. I believe in it, but it does not depend only on the talent. It is about more than that. It is about the whole club, not just the players, but the whole club, everything as a unit, united. They have to rebuild the team from scratch. If not, they cannot compete. It will be impossible.”
“They can do good things, yes, they can win the Carabao Cup, yes. But I’m talking about the Champions League or Europa League or Premier League, difficult, in my opinion. And I wish I’m wrong, I wish I am, but it will be difficult.”
Ronaldo also addressed his relationship with ten Hag, claiming that although he does not respect the Dutchman, he ultimately has love for United.
“I have no respect for him because he has no respect for me,” he continued. “I’m not happy with the way this all happened, but in the same way, sometimes we can’t control some points in our lives.”
“But to be honest, what I want for Manchester is what I want for myself. The best they can do, the best team they can do again and I love this club. I’m not the kind of guy who forgets the past.”
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