Cristiano Ronaldo: I hate to see Manchester United struggling and I know why they are

Cristiano Ronaldo admits it's "hard to see" his former team far from their best

CRISTIANO RONALDO admits it's difficult to see Manchester United going through a rough patch.

 

The Red Devils sit fourth in the league and only four points behind rivals Manchester City.

But it's United's style of play that has come under scrutiny in recent weeks that saw Paul Scholes blast Louis van Gaal's tactics.

Until Tuesday night's 1-0 victory over CSKA Moscow, United had gone 404 minutes without a goal.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure in 2013, United have struggled to find the same form. David Moyes lasted less than a year at the helm while Van Gaal is still struggling to convince supporters he is the right man for the job.

 

Louis van Gaal was booed by the crowd on Tuesday for his decision to sub Anthony Martial

And Ronaldo believes United have found it difficult to cope with the loss of Ferguson along with the famous Class of '92.

"It's different. I don't say that it's better or worse but it changed a lot," Ronaldo told BBC Sport of his old team's fortunes. 

"Manchester, it changed. Many great players retired. For example: [Rio] Ferdinand, [Ryan] Giggs, [Paul] Scholes, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, etc.

 

"I move to Real Madrid, Sir Alex Ferguson's gone... the structured changed, in my opinion. This is why Manchester is not the same Manchester of six years ago. This is a fact, it's true.

"For me it's hard to see that because it's a club I love and of course I want to see Manchester United in a level that it was in the past.

"I like to see the club that I like in the top - and I think Manchester, this season, is better but I think they still have work to do to be in [the] level of six, seven years ago."