RONALDO RIDDLE
He’s one of the greats, but superstar is a pressing problem for Ole
MANCHESTER UNITED re-signing Cristiano Ronaldo was romantic. After all that time apart, the heart-throb was back where he belonged. But it’s been looking less Sleepless in Seattle and more Meandering in Manchester. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after Wednesday’s win over Atalanta that anyone questioning Ronaldo’s work-rate should watch the performance he’d just put in. Sorry, I’m not buying it and you shouldn’t, either. I, like any Premier League fan, was excited by the return of Ronaldo. But I had my reservations about how it would work. I wrote a column in this newspaper on August 28 saying it would either be a success or a sideshow, and that Solskjaer would struggle to handle his new signing’s ego. No one can doubt his ability. No one can dispute his numbers. Ronaldo equals goals and he’s popped up with a couple of important ones. But the game has evolved in the sense that the world’s top coaches do not tolerate carrying luxury players. If you don’t run, you don’t play for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City or Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea or Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. This was a signing forced on United’s manager and, behind all those smiles for the cameras, he must have been thinking, ‘How the hell am I going to handle him?’ Would Solskjaer dare sit
Ronaldo down in his office at Carrington and tell him, in no uncertain terms, ‘If you don’t press, you don’t play?’ I’d be surprised. Once Ronaldo gets going in a full sprint, he’s a blur. It’s like he’s got itching powder in his boots. Despite his defence of his striker in public, I’m willing to bet Solskjaer would love it if his 36-year-old forward applied some of that rapidness into pressuring opposing players. But the statistics show he doesn’t do that. He’s in light jog mode more often than not. Of the 50 forwards who have played 360-plus minutes in the Premier League this season, Ronaldo averages the fewest pressures per 90. He’s at the bottom of the pile. United made a major signing in the summer. Commercially, it was monumental, considering this is the planet’s most