Awkward questions surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s supposedly ‘sensational’ return to Manchester United have begun creeping in not so surreptitiously following a rare drought of goals for the prolific scorer in the Premier League.
Despite having found the net in each of the Red Devils’ last three Champions League clashes, the fountain for domestic goals has gone a bit dry for the Portugal icon prior to his single goal in the latest league match against a totally withered Tottenham selection with a disillusioned Harry Kane failing miserably to find the net or packing them in as a snug fit with Son Heung-Min, unlike in the previous season when the pair rocked the charts with their sensational pairing and performances as a duo made in football heaven.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was visibly infuriated two Sundays back after having netted twice on his second United debut against Newcastle and again at West Ham, and the 36-year-old had failed subsequent to that to find the net in all five top-flight fixtures prior to the Tottenham encounter that finally came as a welcome respite for both him and his beleaguered team manager Solskjaer.
It had been CR7’s longest barren run in any league since 2009, one that had come amid a really desperate run of form for the United troupe of non-performing top talents.
Up until last weekend’s confident victory against a totally lackluster and uninspired Spurs, they’d failed to win their last four Premier League matches, with their most recent result against Liverpool a total 5-0 trouncing and humiliation at Old Trafford, which rocked all and sundry in the football world.
Many are harboring high expectations for United to mount a seriour challenge for the domestic honors after having splurged big time in the summer window to prise Ronaldo away from the supposed clutches of their bitter rivals at the Etihad, alongside other expensive acquisitions of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane to bulk up the squad in both attack and defense.
However, Sunderland legend and talkSPORT Manchester correspondent Micky Gray has unhesitant in suggesting that Ronaldo’s homecoming has only served to hinder the Red Devils.
“Solskjaer has got to pick an XI that he can rely on,” Gray said.
“I’m probably going full circle here, but I do question Ronaldo coming back for Man United now.
“We talk about going in a direction over the last few seasons for Ole, which was about bringing in young, fresh players, having a lot of energy at the club.
“Look, he’s a fantastic goalscorer and he’s been an incredible player in his career.
“But if you’re going in a direction with a football club and you want to get them to that next level, I don’t think bringing in Cristiano was the right thing to do.”
He added: “When they played against Aston Villa, Bruno Fernandes was on the edge of the 18-yard box with nobody around him. Last season, he would’ve taken that shot 100 times out of 100.
“But he played it out wide to Ronaldo, because Ronaldo’s presence on the pitch makes you feel like you have to pass the ball to him.
“They’ve got to forget about that, they’ve got to get back to winning ways. If you look at City, Liverpool and Chelsea, the way they set-up, their organisation, they set traps for everybody.
“Man United haven’t been doing that.”
The question has also been put forward whether Ronaldo’s individualism is having a negative impact that is growing on his United teammates?
However, in this respect, Gray insists the blame for United’s dismal run can’t be thrown totally at CR7’s direction and must be shared throughout the United side, particularly in defense as the Red Devils have sloppily conceded 12 goals in their last three matches, making numerous shoddy mistakes.
He added: “Watching Man United, it’s like the defense are playing for themselves, the forwards are asked to score goals, and the midfield are just asked to run around and keep the ball.
“None of that is happening at the moment.
“Yeah, they might be scoring a few goals. But that back four and the mistakes they were making at the weekend, it was worse than schoolboy. It was ridiculous.
“I love Fernandes, but when you’ve got him running around and trying to do things on his own, it leaves gaps. When you’re playing against a team like Liverpool, they’ll see that, rub their hands together, say thank you very much, and play round you.”
Next up for Solskjaer’s men after their life-saving victory against Tottenham is the Champions League match at Atalanta on Tuesday as Solskjaer continues to fight to save his job.