Cristiano Ronaldo believes Manchester United are in transition and 'need time to adapt'

Portuguese forward and his teammates welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford on Sunday

Powered by automated translation

Cristiano Ronaldo has called for patience and believes Manchester United need time to adapt as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's inconsistent side prepare to face in-form rivals Liverpool on Sunday.

United enter the match at Old Trafford without a win in their past three Premier League games. Their last league outing was a 4-2 thrashing at the hands of Leicester City.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are four points clear of their fierce rivals and are the division's only remaining unbeaten team. Jurgen Klopp's Reds crushed Watford 5-0 last weekend.

United's inconsistency was best demonstrated on Wednesday when they trailed Italian team Atalanta 2-0 at half-time in the Champions League, only to fight back to win 3-2, with Ronaldo scoring the later winner. Incidentally, Liverpool were also involved in their own European comeback win 24 hours earlier when they defeated Atletico Madrid by the same scoreline.

"We are in a moment in my opinion that Manchester [United] are going through a few changes," Ronaldo, 36, told Sky Sports. "The adaptation will take time, even the system of the game that we play, but I think step by step we have to put it in our mind that everything is possible."

Ronaldo's sensational return to Old Trafford, 12 years after leaving for Real Madrid in what then was a world record transfer, capped a successful summer of recruitment for United. The club also signed England winger Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and Ronaldo's former Real colleague, and France World Cup-winning defender, Raphael Varane.

Despite the wealth of talent, United are yet to gel as a unit but Ronaldo is confident that will come with time.

"Everyone should know their role. I know my role in the team, in the club - my role is to score goals, to help the team with my experience and knowhow to understand the game," the Portuguese striker said.

"If everyone is thinking like that, sacrifice for the team, I think we will be a better team."

Manchester United train for Liverpool clash

United's showdown with Liverpool will see Ronaldo come up against another of world football's finest forwards in Mohamed Salah.

The Egyptian, 29, has been in mesmerising form so far this season and is aiming to score for a 10th successive match in all competitions. His string of impressive performances prompted Klopp to describe Salah as "the best player in the world right now" and have strengthened his Ballon d'Or case.

"It sounds great to me but I think it's always opinion," Salah said. "I can't say I'm the best player in the world – some people agree, some people not.

"I'm just happy about my performance at the moment, but I would always say it's opinion.

"It's always the ambition to be the best player in the world. I don't have to lie. It's something that drives me to work really hard and just try to be the best version of myself.

"I'm just trying my best to help the team to win games, to win trophies. I like to win things with the club. I like the club here a lot, I love the club."

Updated: October 23, 2021, 11:27 AM