Cristiano Ronaldo has declared that he won’t ‘accept’ Man Utd finishing below third place in the Premier League this season.
Ronaldo won three Premier League titles in six seasons during his first spell at the club and never experienced a finish lower than third.
This time around, however, things have been more challenging. United have largely struggled to perform, even since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lost his job in November, and defeat to Wolves last time out left them in seventh position. It won’t get any easier against Aston Villa on Saturday either.
It was widely reported in November that Ronaldo has been surprised by the drop in standards at United, compared to the club he previously knew between 2003 and 2009.
Now, he insists that he won’t stand for it but is adamant that changes can be made, even if it means ‘destroying’ a few things in the process – you can perhaps guess what he means by that.
“In my heart, I don’t accept that our mentality be less than being in the top three [Premier League clubs],” Ronaldo told Sky Sports.
“I think to build up good things, sometimes you have to destroy a few things. So why not – new year, new life and I hope that Manchester [United] can be the level that the fans want. They deserve that.
“We are capable of changing things now. I know the way but I’m not going to mention it here because I don’t think it’s ethical on my part to say that. What I can say is we can do better – all of us. Manchester [United] belongs to important things, so we have to change that.
“I don’t want to be here to be in sixth place, or seventh place, or fifth place. I’m here to try to win, to compete. I think we compete but we are not yet in our best level. But we have a long way to improve and I believe if we change our mind, we can achieve big things.”
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