Fairytales are not real.There is no ‘me, myself and I’ in any team sport.Those two facts are sacred, but we tend – from time to time – to forget its importance and give up ourselves to the moment, the hype and media-fueled euphoria. That’s the case with Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo, too. Upon his return to Old Trafford, there was not a single article of concern about how will the 36-year-old maverick fit into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. The season was already underway, and one of the worlds finest players ever was having a bumpy ride with Juventus. The voices of his egoism and toxic relationship with both the coach and the rest of the squad were becoming louder, but it seemed like the Glazer family and Ed Woodward weren’t the least worried about it. They were sure CR7 will instantly pour in the necessary experience and winning mentality into a team that blatantly lacked both of them. Ronaldo scores a brace against Newcastle in his Manchester debutMoreover, the United boardroom also took into account the possible income coming from the popularity and visibility the star of that level brings to the club. Fans were thrilled to see back their old hero, teaming up with his former teammate, Ole, now in the Red Devils dugout. Cavani even stepped aside and lend him his ‘7’ to show gratitude. Ronaldo tops shirts sales list, almost twice as better than MessiFor all the wrong reasons, in August it seemed like a return made in heaven. However, it was anything but that.Fast forward to November 2021 – that’s just like three months after his arrival – and we see that a wishful scenario is nowhere near its fulfilment. Quite the contrary, Cristiano has fallen into despair; he assimilated with United’s low-spirited locker room and added a couple of more enemies among the teammates onto the already long list.Some British journos are eager to criticize him for not engaging too much, or at all, in the defensive roles which – in their opinion – puts even more pressure on the already vulnerable defence. Albeit we could agree with that standpoint, it’s fair to say there’s not a single human being or a mercurial footballer who could make the axis Van Bissaka – Lindelof – Maguire – Shaw look praiseworthy. Their flaws, incompetence and shortcomings are so visible that no one, Ronaldo included, could help them or make them formidable when they are basically anything but that despite millions of net worth. However, the underachievers mentioned above are not an excuse for the Portuguese forward to neglect his obligations going beyond scoring goals. And he netted quite a few times and saved Ole’s lacklustre slot (Atalanta and Villareal ties, just to mention a few), but he wasn’t brought at the first place just to be a Golden boot striker.Cristiano Ronaldo: a part of the solution for Man. United, or a burden?Due to his personality and outstanding footballing skills, he always demands a team gathers around him and not the other way around. And it brings quite a lot of headaches. Just check out Sarri’s and Allegri’s Juve, or the Portuguese national team. Despite having dozen of exquisite players in the lineup, the former European champions were run down on their soil by Serbia, whose most lethal striker Mitrovic is playing in the English second tier. If you pay closer attention to those games, you’ll probably see Ronaldo somehow suffocating his teammates and the entire tactics for his own sake, which brings us back to the very beginning of this peace.Ronaldo wants the ball more in his feet… What else is new?There is no ‘me, myself and I’ in any team sport. No matter how outstanding names you have in the starting XI, the level of the team’s performance is what makes the difference at the end of the day. And that’s precisely what the Norwegian boss never pulled off during his three-year-long tenure at Old Trafford – he never built a Team in a true sense of the word.Is Cristiano the one to blame for it? Of course not. You can wave him at one point – or at least sideline him a bit – but you won’t hear any ‘Eureka!’ of the relief in the aftermath. Because without him in the lineup, you’ll end up having Martial, Sancho, Lingard, or Mata (omg, the guy’s still alive?!) in the same place and are you honestly willing to bet they’ll deliver more than Cristiano? Just like we thought.##NAJAVA_MECA_5990736##Therefore, United’s future looks cloudy with or without the ‘7’. Whoever accepts the interim role – and we’ve heard Steve Bruce sees himself as the right man for it, to add a pinch of good old British humour to all this – will have to face tons of problems.Steve Bruce would be very keen on the interim role, and believes he could help stabilise the dressing room [@TheAthleticUK] pic.twitter.com/DQsc0eEknc— United Zone (@ManUnitedZone_) November 22, 2021 Zidane, Pochettino, Ten Haag or let’s just call him Ole’s successor, no matter his name, firstly need to solve Ronaldo’s issue. Find him a proper role, attach him firmly to the rest of the side and make them believe the guy is a true leader and not an egomaniac in vain. Something a coach of Ole’s ilk never managed to deal with.And that’s a reason more he was rightfully kicked out of Old Trafford, despite being Man Utd legend for his early works. That’s the lesson CR7 should pick up instantly.By: Bojan Babic
