When Cristiano Ronaldo scored his two goals against Newcastle in September 2021, there was euphoria around Old Trafford as Ronaldo announced his homecoming in spectacular fashion.
What. A. Moment. pic.twitter.com/XObaGzcNUO
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 11, 2021
However, fast forward just over a year, with United improving, the story around Ronaldo is remarkably different as he is no longer the main man at the Theatre of Dreams, and this piece will explore what happens next after Ronaldo’s explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
"I feel betrayed."
EXCLUSIVE: Cristiano Ronaldo tells Piers Morgan he feels like he's being forced out of Manchester United in an explosive interview.
90 Minutes with Ronaldo. Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm on TalkTV.@cristiano | @piersmorgan | @TalkTV | #PMU pic.twitter.com/nqp4mcXHB0
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) November 13, 2022
Amidst all the chaos surrounding the interview between Piers Morgan and Cristiano Ronaldo, I think it is best for both parties to part ways and move on.
One of the reasons as to why I think it is best to move on from Ronaldo is because it will allow Erik ten Hag to fully focus on achieving the aims and objectives that United have this season, as well as developing a culture that can deliver sustainable success.
Many elite sports teams have shown that if you want to be a team that wins over a long period of time, then it is vital that your culture and environment is right because to get over the line in big games and major tournaments, you need an element of togetherness and fighting spirit when things get difficult.
The word ‘togetherness’ is something that has come up regularly during Erik ten Hag’s media conferences this season and after the last-minute winner over Fulham, he again made reference to the team showing ‘togetherness’, which is something that must remain throughout the season as United aim to go deeper into the latter stages of all four competitions.
“It’s good and I think we came from far this season with the fans, with this team, with this club, the togetherness – now it’s back and we have to keep that”.
What. A. Moment! 😍🔊 pic.twitter.com/3a5PkVvH33
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 13, 2022
Unfortunately, by keeping Ronaldo, it will only cause issues in the dressing room, and this is something that Erik ten Hag is desperate to avoid as he aims to get United back at the top table again and competing for major honours.
Last season, we saw how cliques started to form within the dressing room, which were quickly shut down by the players at the time, but Gary Neville speaking to Sky after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saying that “the United dressing room looks broken”.
The Athletic reported that cliques started to emerge as Ronaldo along with Raphael Varane, Paul Pogba set up a chat with the United then-manager, Ralf Rangnick to demand certain team changes, however captain Harry Maguire was not in attendance, which the German branded the discussion as ‘inappropriate’.
Another reason as to why I think it is best to move on from the Portugal captain is because of his age, and the fact that he is on the decline. This is further evident by the fact that Ronaldo has scored one Premier League goal all season and he does not allow United to play the pressing and intense game that ten Hag demands because a statistic from Sky Sports showed that United run further when Ronaldo is not in the team.
#mufc with and without Cristiano Ronaldo in the Premier League this season [sky] pic.twitter.com/fQ39T1GBXB
— utdreport (@utdreport) October 20, 2022
If United want to be a team that competes for Premier League titles, then they cannot afford to carry any players as no game in the Premier League is easy as we saw with Brentford’s 2-1 win over Manchester City, so therefore, all eleven players will need to be at it from the get-go.
It is obvious that Ronaldo does not want to play for United, and to be fair to him, he made this clear in July, but with United losing Edison Cavani in the summer and due to the situation surrounding Mason Greenwood, they needed Ronaldo to stay as Erik ten Hag only had Anthony Martial and Ronaldo as his main strikers, even though Marcus Rashford can play there too.
Had Ronaldo told United in April that he wanted to move on, this would have allowed the manager time to scout the striker market and see who is out there that would suit his style of play.
However, as Ronaldo should be moved on, a decision on which striker United should go for should be made in either the winter or summer transfer window as United cannot have another situation like this summer.
