Cristiano Ronaldo’s on-field performances continue to take the headlines although the drama of his long drawn-out summer transfer window with heavy speculation on his departure is over. Or at least for the time being.
The Portugal captain’s heroics were a large part of what Manchester United totally depended on last season which inadvertently ended up a complete catastrophe. Players were looking grossly inadequate and totally devoid of confidence they looked a pale shadow of themselves from the previous year under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who reached a Europa League final.
Ronaldo had at the beginning of last season arrived in spectacular fashion and was heralded as the grand focal point of the team. No doubt a seasoned campaigner and experienced serial winner was needed at Old Trafford and the entire spectacle surrounding his return took on a life of its own. Unfortnately the way the dice rolled out, Manchester United struggled massively and played shambolically as a team, due in no small part to accommodating Ronaldo, who no longer had the pace to press besides noticeably lacking his earlier years innate ability to win football matches single-handedly.
Manchester United fans put up with the Ronaldo circus over the past year because it was sorely needed at worst as a morale booster for their flagging egos. After all, it was already a disastrous season for them, and a campaign without him would again only mean the Red Devils would be battling for an embarrassing mid-table finish.
However, the arrival of Erik Ten Hag – who came bursting with new ideas and a proven sense of coaching nous and savvy – has since altered the course of events at Old Trafford quite radically, resulting directly in Ronaldo not being meted out with the gala treatment he is accustomed to.
Subsequently Ronaldo, miffed and smoldering, clamored for an immediate exit barely after the new season had just kicked off, citing reasons of Man United not involved in the Champions League for the current season. Obviously the crafty center forward already knew that way back in the spring, but had chosen to bide his time until just before pre-season to begin his shenanigans trying to avail himself to any club in Europe that could offer him Champions League opportunities. The Ronaldo circus had come to town.
Meanwhile, all this time life at Manchester United had not really been a blast for Ten Hag since his arrival as he also had to deal with questions about Ronaldo and his future on a continuous basis, whilst trying to shift players in and out of the team but invariably the erstwhile Dutch manager got through it and managed his first pre-season with an appreciable measure of success.
As for CR7, up until the last hours of the transfer window the Portugal skipper and his agent Jorge Mendes scrambled high and low looking for an exit strategy, knocking on every door they could. Multiple loan proposals were mentioned, but in truth no club in Europe would pay the extortionate wages that Manchester United gullibly are – which amounts to approximately £500,000 per week gross.
Ten Hag’s new style of play is clearly taking shape at Old Trafford and Ronaldo’s role has been pared down and obviously nowhere near as significant as it once was made to be. Understandably Ten Hag will still continue to involve him in certain games despite the ageing star’s inability to press from the front and the disintegration of his overall build-up play over the past 12 months.
The Dutch gaffer and strategist has seen to it that a more fluid front three is crystallising at Old Trafford with a rotation of Antony, signed in the summer by Ten Hag from AFC Ajax for £90 million, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. There is also the exciting prospect of young starlet Alejandro Garnarcho waiting with bated breath in the wings, with Antony Elanga also being another option.
Ten Hag has also made it apparent in the early period of the season that he wants his forward players to interchange with one another and press on a consistent basis. Ronaldo, at 37 going on 38 next February, is definitely not not able to offer that.
Granted the Portuguese star still has the knack of guaranteeing goals to a certain degree, and he will most likely score an assortment this season if played, but the trade-off for those short term goals is in no way worth having to pander to a massive ego and, most importantly, causing a delay in Ten Hag’s new philosophy setting in.
If the United top brass were smart or fully on board, they would not hesitate to cut ties with Ronaldo in January and quickly look to the European market to bring in a younger striker who can play the Portuguese’s bit-part role this season.