Having Cristiano Ronaldo in your team is a blessing, and a curse at the same time. The Portuguese is arguably one of the best footballers ever, and with him on the team, you are guaranteed at least 20 goals per season, full commitment, top shape, agility and a desire to win. But you are also guaranteed media circus, angry reactions after being substituted, or after a loss, demands that you should play like this or like that, almost no defensive work during games…and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows that. The Norwegian certainly wasn’t the final person to sanction Ronaldo’s arrival at the club (although he agreed that it would be a good transfer), but we’ll never know if deep down, he really wanted the Portuguese in his team. The pressure was a mild one before Ronaldo came, and how it’s very high. Solskjaer’s job would be under thread if he didn’t deliver any trophies by the end of the season, but with Ronaldo in the team, he might get sacked even before May, if things don’t work out. So, is the Portuguese a part of the solution, or a burden? Sir Alex slams Ole for benching Ronaldo: ”You should always start your best players”It all started a bit when an unexpected loss occurred at home against Aston Villa. Ronaldo was visible annoyed by the mistakes from this teammates and what’s worse, he was overlooked as Fernandes took the penalty and missed. He was then benched for the Everton game, and played only 30 minutes, not enough to prevent a 1-1 draw with the injury depleted Toffies. At the final whistle, the Portuguese star looked visibly angry as he walked straight back to the dressing room muttering to himself and shaking his head. After failing to win four of their last seven games in all competitions, Ronaldo’s behavior in front of everybody is the last thing Solskjaer needs right now, and his former teammate Garry Neville has pointed that out nicely. „I watched him walk off and I can’t say I like it. He walked off the pitch muttering to himself, which throws the questions up in the air – what’s he saying? Who is he annoyed with? It can only come back to the manager. Actions like that – and Cristiano is smart enough to know this – will bring real pressure on the manager, more pressure than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is already under. I think that is something that just has to be managed in the next couple of months. Cristiano is not always going to score, he’s maybe not going to play every single game. But I think if he walks off like that, it’s going to put immense pressure on Solskjaer. There’s no doubt the talk after the game was about the manager“ explained Neville to Sky Sports. The former Red Devil’s defender added that he thinks that eventually, Solskjar will find the way to handle the Portuguese, just as he did with Paul Pogba, after a rough start. (1.15) ENGLAND (9.00) HUNGARY (22.0)Then, there is a problem with his defensive work and pressure during the game, or to be precise, lack of it. He is the striker and he is 36 years old, so others have to work for him. Dutch legend Danny Blind even thinks that this is the main reason why United has struggled recently.„Normally, the striker runs from one central defender to the other. This caused a lot of miscommunication. Now, they are not playing in their familiar pattern. When the ball was deflected, you saw Paul Pogba coaching that they had to put all the pressure on. Ronaldo did not do that, he is not like that. He only thinks about goals and hopes others will conquer the ball“ said the former Netherlands international. Ronaldo wants the ball more in his feet… What else is new?And Gary Neville also talked about that element, reminding people that it was the same situation in Manchester in 2008, when everybody had to work for the Portuguese. Ronaldo doesn’t do defense, somebody else has to be ’the soldier’ and work hardly for the ’general’. „The other thing I would say is Cristiano Ronaldo needs players around him who are going to work really hard defensively. In 2008, Ji-Sung Park, Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, they all worked like trojans to make up for Cristiano in terms of what he was doing. You’re almost carrying a player when you’re out of possession. That’s why I had a career at Manchester United. That’s why Darren Fletcher, Nicky Butt, Ji-sung Park, Owen Hargreaves and players of that ilk had careers at Manchester United because you need soldiers alongside the generals that you have got. Man United have a lot of generals but unless those generals are going to start working hard, they ain’t going to win anything and then Ole will be in trouble“ he said on The Gary Neville Podcast. Again, 100% accurate assessment. So, after a relatively easy schedule for Manchester, the Red Devils will come out of the international break with less points than expected, and with a series of important matches against more serious opponents coming up: Leicester, Atalanta, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City. After those games, maybe the dilemma from the beginning of this article will be clearer.
