There has been a change in fortune since the turn of the year, with the club picking up some vital points.
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It has been nothing short of a disappointing campaign for Manchester United. The Red Devils failed to build from last season’s positing outing and have struggled for consistency for most parts of the current term. Despite being the defending champions, United experienced early elimination from the Carabao Cup. They suffered a similar fate in the Champions League by exiting the competition in the group stage.
On top of it, Manchester United are far behind in the race to finish in top four of the Premier League. However, there has been a change in fortune since the turn of the year, with the club picking up some vital points. That good run has helped them reach the semi-final of the FA Cup at the expense of Liverpool. United captain Bruno Fernandes, who has been a key part of Erik ten Hag’s setup, accepted that the current season has been below expectation, as he wants the team to be “competitive.”
“I’ve always told the club that I don’t want them to promise me that we’re going to be champions. Because, for any club I go to, I don’t expect them to promise me something that they can’t fulfil at the outset. What I have always asked, and want from the club, is for us to be competitive. This year, we weren’t, and we don’t have to hide it. The season has been below our expectations, below what my expectations are, at least,” he told A Bola.
He added: “And I believe that for the club too because it is not used to being in this position. I want to be competitive. I want to compete. I want to win. I’ve already had a meeting with the new owners. They want to meet with the players and have already done so individually, and that was exactly the message I sent.”
Fernandes, who is currently with Portugal for national team duty, expressed his intention to stay at the club and wants to compete with the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. “I want to stay here. I want to be part of a project that has feet, legs, body and head, everything that is needed so that we can compete with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, who are the clubs that have been in the best shape. City and Liverpool above all, and Arsenal, who, in the last two or three years, have also been growing,” he explained.
While Fernandes is happy with the team’s performance last season, he concedes that there is no “continuity” from that campaign to the current one. “After last year, when I think we had a good season for the expectations that existed and for my expectations, [because] I was aware that we weren’t going to be at the same level as Liverpool and City,” he elaborated.
The midfielder added: “I was aware of that but I was also aware that we could compete or be closer, and we were closer to competing with them. We reached two finals, we won one, we lost another. We reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League. But, from last season to this one, there wasn’t that continuity that, should there have been, would have made us even more competitive, a team more in line to be in the top places.”
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