Cristiano Ronaldo made a stellar return to Manchester United from Juventus in August, and although he was expected to bring back a lot of the glory days to Old Trafford, things have not worked out the way fans expected. Former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was eventually sacked, and United went for a rebuilding maestro in Ralf Rangnick for an interim and consultancy role.
The German has been in charge for just over a month now, and it is increasingly evident that there is a much deep-rooted problem at the club, which won’t change with a managerial appointment. Known as the godfather of gegenpressing, the current United interim boss has found it difficult to implement his ideas fully and is already under pressure to turn things around.
Manchester United fans have not been impressed with the quality of football that they have seen since Rangnick took charge and are demanding palpable progress. After a 0-1 defeat to Wolverhampton at Old Trafford, the club narrowly won the game against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round (1-0), a game that could easily have gone the other way if the Birmingham side had taken their chances.
Addressing the frustrated Red Devils, Ronaldo mentioned that the club should not be aiming for anything less than a top three. He also added that to create some new things, you have to destroy the old stuff and the current crop of players are capable of turning things around.
He also spoke at length about Rangnick, and said that he tweaked a lot of things since arriving in Manchester. He added that the tactician would require some time to truly implement his ideas and make the players play the way he wishes to see.
“Since he arrived five weeks ago he has changed many things. But he needs time to put his ideas across to the players. It takes time but I believe that he is going to do a good job. We know we aren’t playing the best football but we have many games to improve.
“Since he arrived I think in some ways we are better, but he needs time. It’s not that easy to change the mentality of players and the way they play, the culture, the system like that. I believe that he is going to do a good job,”
Ronaldo stated.
The 36-year-old also mentioned that too many managerial changes in a short space of time did not bode well with the players and they found it difficult to adapt. After sacking Solskjaer, United had Michael Carrick in charge for three tricky fixtures, which included league games against Chelsea and Arsenal, and a Champions League away game against Villarreal.Acknowledging the fact that the club are facing a crisis situation, the 37-year-old highlighted that everyone in the team is keen on upgrading themselves and providing the best possible results for the fans.
United have another round of tricky fixtures in the coming weeks, which starts with a couple of away trips to Aston Villa and Brentford. After that, they will host West Ham the league and Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round. United would not want to take the FA Cup for granted, having not won any trophies since winning the Europa League in 2016/17.
They are also in the round of 16 in the Champions League, but things don’t get easy in that competition, and they will be facing Atletico Madrid in the final week of February.
