Bruno Fernandes admits Manchester United are ‘not ready’ to win the Premier League this season.
Erik ten Hag‘s side slumped to a 3-0 defeat at home to Liverpool on Sunday, leaving them with just three points from their opening three Premier League games following a win over a Fulham and a loss to Brighton last month.
The result means United are already six points behind Manchester City and Liverpool, who have both both their first three games in the Premier League this season.
United spent just over £205 million on new signings in the summer transfer window as the club attempt to bridge the gap following an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League last term.
However, Fernandes believes United are still incapable of winning the Premier League title and says a top-four finish is the ‘minimum’ target.
Erik ten Hag is already under pressure after two defeats in three Premier League games this season (EPA)
‘We don’t have to look at the results. What I said and the renewal was a long-term thing,’ Fernandes told DAZN.
‘I am perfectly aware that United is not ready, at this moment, to win the championship. We are fighting for it.
‘The minimum objective is to finish in the top four, which guarantees us the Champions League.
‘But we are aware that we still have a lot of things to improve in order to be able to dream of this bigger objective, which is what I and all of us want, which is to win the championship.’
In a separate interview with Sky Sports, Fernandes also defended Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo as their mistakes in midfield sparked the attack for all three of Liverpool’s goals at Old Trafford.
‘We started the game really well and got more chances. We have to be more clinical, this happened against Fulham too. They were clinical,’ Fernandes said.
‘The goals are always self-inflicted. You need to commit a mistake to give them the goal. We don’t need to be pointing fingers at everyone. that won’t help us now. When you concede a goal you can’t just point at one mistake. What’s the point in saying Casemiro lost the ball or Kobbie lost the ball? They lost the ball because they wanted to be brave. It’s part of football. Don’t make it individual.
‘Casemiro is more experienced than me. I don’t need to tell him anything, he knows what football is about. He’s played for the two best clubs in the world. Kobbie is an excellent kid. I want him to try more and do this because it’s part of his game. They are huge players for us and will keep being.
‘We don’t have to look at the past. We just have to make it different. We lost the game, congratulations to Liverpool, they were more clinical. I don’t look at the stats but the game was tight.’
