88 RISEOFRONALDO
MANCHESTERUNITED
W
hateverelse youcan
sayaboutManchester
United’s leadership,they
doclearlyunderstand
thevaluethe supportersplace on
formerheroes.
It’shardtoimagineanymanager
otherthana popularformerplayer
beingundersolittlepressureasOle
GunnarSolskjaeraftertwo-and-a-half
seasonsofinconsistentperformances,
whilethe arrivalofCristiano Ronaldo
inthe transferwindowhasgenerated
a clearspikeinpositivity.
Toanextentthat’sunderstandable,
especiallywhenthealternativeseemed
tobeRonaldoturningoutfor“noisy
neighbours”ManchesterCity. Evenif
hehadbeena failure there– andit’s
hardto seehowhe couldhavefitted
comfortablyinto a Pep Guardiolaside
- it wouldhavetarnishedthememories
ofhissixseasons at OldTrafford,when
hehelpedUnitedtothreeleague titles
anda ChampionsLeague.
Butthereis surelyamajor warning
inJuventus’willingnesstoletal
theysigned fora feeof€ 100 mill
leaveforjust€ 15 million.Cityseemingly
recognisedsucha desireto offload
himthattheythoughtitpossiblethey
mightbeabletogetRonaldofor free.
AsMassimilianoAllegrireturnedto
Juventus,there wasa recognitionthat
Ronaldowas preventingthesquad
evolving tacticallyinthewayhebelieves
theyneedto,whilealsodrainingthe
budgettorestricttransferspending–
anissuethathasbeenheightenedby
theeconomicdifficultiescausedby
theCOVID-19pandemic.
Ultimately, forallthathescored 81
leaguegoalsinthree seasons,Ronaldo’s
movetoJuventusmust be judgeda
failure.Hewasbroughtintoaddthe
goalsthatwouldbringthe Champions
Leagueafter twodefeats in thefinalin
thepreviousfouryears,butinsteadJuve
lostin thequarter-final to Ajaxandthe
last 1 6 to LyonandPorto.Evenworse
thanthat,lastseasontheysurrendered
theleaguetitleafternineyears.It’strue
right for United
Cardboard...fanstake
acut-outofRonaldo
totheWolvesgame
inexperiencedcoachinAndreaPirlo,
butina sensetheappointmentofPirlo
andthe signingofRonaldostemfrom
thesamesource:a board’s beliefthat
celebritycanbea short-cuttosuccess.
IfRonaldoseemsa betterfitfor
UnitedthanCity, it is onlybecausetheir
styleislessdefined.Hewillscoregoals.
Ronaldoremainsbrilliantatcreating
andconvertingchancesandisarguably
thebestattackingheaderofthe ball in
theworld.Thestats suggest that,inhis
final seasonatJuventus, he didbeginto
dropdeeperagain,andbecomeslightly
morethanjust a penalty-boxstriker, but
still,Ronaldo’scontributiontotheplay
asa wholeislimited.Thatshouldbea
majorworry;given thatUnited’smajor
problemunderSolskjaerhasbeen
coherentmidfieldplay.
Inaddition, Ronaldodoesn’tpress.
Heneverreallyhas,butthetendency
hasbecomestarkerrecently. Lastseason
hewas in thebottomoneper centof
Ronaldo is n
Inspite of themasseuphora surroun
Ronaldo’s remarkable return o Manch
United,JonathanWilsonquetions ho
’