Cristiano Ronaldo deserves better than miserable Man Utd
Robin Bairner
- 13 Aug 2022 20:28 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag may need to revisit the statement regarding Cristiano Ronaldo he made on the eve of his side’s historic 4-0 Premier League loss against Brentford.
Prior to see his side plummeting to the foot of the standings in England’s top flight, the Dutchman claimed that Ronaldo had never asked to leave the club, despite persistent rumours over his future.
Following the staggering defeat in the capital on Saturday, there seems approximately the same chance of Man Utd going on to win the Premier League as Ronaldo being content with playing with a side in this state.
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After all, the Portuguese has been a born winner throughout his playing career. He is not someone who takes defeat readily, and if there was to be a 4-0 scoreline at the Brentford Community Stadium on Saturday, he would surely have expected to be on the right end of it.
Indeed, Saturday’s result surely rates as the most embarrassing league result of the 37-year-old’s career.
Ronaldo cut a disenchanted figure at the forefront of Man Utd’s attack; hardly backing up the manager’s implication from 24 hours earlier that he remains committed to the club.
But while the Portuguese must shoulder some of the blame for the defeat, just as he must be given credit when they are successful, is it little wonder that he is fed up.
Man Utd are going backwards
Ronaldo has had to stand back and watch rank incompetence from his employers for the duration of the summer. During the transfer window, he has watched them struggle to persuade Tyrell Malacia to turn down mid-table Ligue 1 side Lyon and move to Old Trafford, he has seen them toil to convince Christian Eriksen that he was better to leave Brentford and switch to United, and he has been present as they paid over the odds for Lisandro Martinez.
This is not a team that is going forwards – if anything, they are stuck in reserves, with the same old problems haunting them.
He finds himself a born winner in a side of rank mediocrity – and the worst part about it is that the hierarchy of the club either don’t care or are too incompetent to notice.
Ronaldo is too historic a figure for such a team to undermine his legend, but he deserves better than propping up the Premier League table, even if the season is only two games old.
If there was any sense that he was starting to settle at the club, make no mistake, agent Jorge Mendes will be back on the phones in the days ahead seeking a solution to Ronaldo’s plight because right now, Manchester United are a mess.
