Ronaldo not to blame for Ole’s failure to coach him
Cristiano ronaldo was on his way to Manchester City this summer. so what exactly were Manchester United supposed to do?
ronaldo, and the executives behind his switch to old trafford, are collecting plenty of heat now ole Gunnar solskjaer’s reign has ended in ruin, yet few address the alternative. ronaldo at City. ronaldo, scoring goals for a much better-balanced team.
United acted because that was a future too horrible to contemplate. What if he had succeeded down the road? if we think the atmosphere around United has been mutinous of late, imagine it then?
ronaldo isn’t the problem at United. there have been a heap of them and it has negated his ability to have an impact, but take his goals away and tonight’s game against Villarreal would be close to a dead rubber.
ronaldo’s interventions have been worth five points to Manchester United in Europe this season. Without them, United would be bottom of Group G, atalanta would be out of reach and Villarreal would need a point from their last two matches.
ronaldo (right) won a game with the latest European goal United have ever scored — excluding extra time, obviously — levelled another in stoppage time and won a third in the 81st minute.
United were drawing 1-1 when solskjaer took ronaldo off in the 72nd minute against Young Boys. they lost 2-1. How can this guy be the problem?
ronaldo, it is argued, does not suit United’s system. Perhaps, but then it needed a coach of greater wit than solskjaer to accommodate him. the late gift of a demanding centre forward may have been unexpected, but that is no excuse for not making best use of it. When United function well, as they did at tottenham, ronaldo fits in perfectly. in Europe, opponents plainly fear him. if United had the balance that City possess, this wouldn’t be an issue. it is why the prospect of ronaldo in blue caused such consternation. old friends intervened, including sir alex Ferguson, to tell him there was only one English club he could join. not too many worries about team shape there. not too many predictions of upset. Ferguson’s logic was not unreasonable. Get ronaldo on the field and figure out how best to serve him. Even on saturday at Watford, United’s only goal came from a sweetly-cushioned ronaldo header that left Donny van de Beek no option but to score. ronaldo’s domestic form has been the worst of it, but he’s still in the top 10 goalscorers in the Premier League this season and the top 20 for assists — albeit with considerable ties.
this is a failing, floundering United team. so think what impact he might have had at City, better served and better coached? What if he had scored the one goal they needed at home to southampton, or the third that was required against Liverpool?
WHat if he had propelled City to the top of the league? How would that have played across town? there would have been uproar.
United would have been damned for their inefficiency, again. What, Ed and the boys couldn’t get this one over the line? they let ronaldo — United’s ronaldo, the player who sees Ferguson as his surrogate father — sign for their big rivals? What are they doing?
after so much dithering of late, buying ronaldo was one of the few times when United acted
decisively. one minute he was
going to City, the next united were interested, the next the deal was done.
We can argue it was impulsive, that other areas of the team needed more urgent improvement but, on the day, united looked to have stolen a march on their rivals.
No rival was happy at the thought of ronaldo playing upfront for Manchester united. the failure is what has unfolded since — the inability of the coaches to make such a coup work.