Cristiano Ronaldo is not the problem for Man Utd – but he isn’t the solution either
Nine goals in 11 games, five in the Champions League. Whatever the problems are at Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo is not among them.
The goals he scored to save the day in Bergamo mirrored his contribution in the home games against Atalanta and Villarreal, which resulted in wins United did not deserve. He even put United in front against Young Boys before they imploded with 10 men.
Yet there are some who would have Ronaldo’s return as a determining feature of United’s feckless rhythms. Were they not watching a year ago when United lost three and drew one of the opening four Premier League matches at Old Trafford, including shipping six to Spurs and three to Crystal Palace? Had Ronaldo been on the teamsheet in the Europa League final it might not have gone to penalties.
It is an odd critique that identifies a goal scorer as a structural issue when Paul Pogba surrenders possession with even greater frequency than Ronaldo scores. United’s problem under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has always been the failure to reconcile the fey charms of their most expensive signing to the disciplines required to run a game from the centre of the park.
Pogba was abysmal against Atalanta and hooked on the hour. Solskjaer solved his midfield malfunction by reinforcing it with full-backs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Pogba was mercifully suspended and United ran into an outfit even more fickle than them. His temporary return in Bergamo was a consequence of Solskjaer’s unwillingness to accept that Pogba really isn’t the player either of them thinks he is.
Pogba was dire against Atalanta and hooked after an hour (Photo: Reuters)
System-shaming Ronaldo as a player hard to accommodate within a particular orientation is a popular meme that grew legs during his Juventus period under Maurizio Sarri. Legend has it that Ronaldo refused the disciplines required of the false nine Sarri wanted him to be. The answer to that is to imagine how Pep Guardiola would have accommodated Ronaldo at City. Ye gods, they would have been unstoppable with Ronaldo in sky blue.
Juve were in the same boat as United, endlessly in transition following a phase of absolute power, filling in with unsuitable transfers and incoherent managerial appointments. For Donny van de Beek and Jadon Sancho read Blaise Matuidi and Emre Can. For Jose Mourinho and Solskjaer read Sarri, who couldn’t get his goalkeeper off the pitch as Chelsea manager, and fan-favourite Andrea Pirlo. In his three seasons in Serie A, Ronaldo pouched 101 goals in 134 games.
The question is not how much did he destabilise Juventus, but where would they have been without him?
The same question is equally applicable at Old Trafford, where Ronaldo continues to paper over the cracks of a failing regime. The look on the face of Paul Scholes in the BT studio when Ronaldo popped the injury-time equaliser in Bergamo was the same salty visage presented a fortnight ago following the miracle recovery against Atalanta at home. Scholes wasn’t having it. Jurgen Klopp, he argued, would be rubbing his hands at the prospect of sending out Liverpool to face the rabble that were United in the first half. How right he proved to be.
Scholes, Ferdinand and Aluko on ‘lacklustre’, ‘one-man band’ United
Despite Ronaldo’s heroics in Bergamo there was dismay in the BT Sport studio from former United players Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes and ex-Chelsea and Juve star Eniola Aluko at the display from Solskjaer’s men, who salvaged a 2-2 draw after trailing twice.
Scholes: “If it wasn’t for that [Ronaldo] goal, it was a mess. The second half was a mess. Bruno Fernandes at times was taking throw-ins at the right-back area.”
Ferdinand: “We looked at it at times and were saying: ‘what formation are they playing?’ It was disarray. It was just hope. And then again it comes down to an individual, a moment of brilliance from that man, Cristiano Ronaldo and you go: ‘He’s saved them in that second half.’”
Aluko: “When you look at those other teams [big rivals], Chelsea have played tonight with new players. Lukaku’s out, Werner’s out. You look at Man United and as amazing and as brilliant as that is, Ronaldo stepping up every time, it looks like a one-man band. He keeps saving them and you wonder what else can Man United do to get the results? It’s a great result tonight because they didn’t perform well but Ronaldo can’t keep bailing them out.”
Scholes is in the same swell of foreboding ahead of the visit of City on Saturday after another disjointed performance rescued by moments of splendour with Ronaldo at their centre. Scholes was not alone in hoovering the mood. Twitter was awash with a United diaspora exhausted by the Solskjaer period, fed up with mediocrity being passed off as method.
If there is a negative aspect to Ronaldo’s dramatic reappearance in a red shirt it is the ad-hoc nature of his arrival, which reflected the absence of a plan in the first place. Solskjaer was supposed to represent the antithesis of short-termism, yet his most effective player is the very definition of the knee-jerk punt, the necessary reaction of a club failing to grasp the fundamental failure of leadership from dugout to boardroom.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3BExUQF
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