Man Utd’s Ronaldo hijacking saved Guardiola
Robin Bairner
- 5 Mar 2022 04:00 GMT
- 3 min read
Manchester United’s dramatic move to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from under the noses of Manchester City in August was one of the transfer stories of the summer.
Ronaldo’s return to Man Utd has been a mixed one. After a promising start to the season, he has endured a painful 2022 thus far, during which he has scored just a single goal against Brighton.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils have struggled to perform as expected. It was considered at the start of the season as they added Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Ronaldo to their ranks, that they had built a squad capable of challenging City for the title. In fact, they are still struggling to finish fourth.
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Ronaldo a poor fit for City
If Ronaldo’s addition has not transformed Man Utd’s fortunes, City might have been a very different team had the 37-year-old ended up at the Etihad – and not in a positive manner.
Although a fine individual player, it is hard to see how Pep Guardiola might have used Ronaldo.
City’s play is based on subtle movements of both ball and players, who are encouraged to work together to pass opponents into submission. It has worked perfectly this season.
Not only do the Sky Blues go into the weekend sitting six points clear at the top of the Premier League standings, albeit having played a game more than second-placed Liverpool, they are also favourites to finally break their duck and win the Champions League.
For all Ronaldo’s qualities, though, he simply does not fit into a team like this. Power trumps subtlety in his game, while he has an individualistic streak that has never been a hallmark of a Guardiola side before.
Indeed, he appears to be the antithesis of what the Catalan strives for.
Pep's Ibra experience
Of course, there has been an example of such a player working under Pep previously – and it did not go well. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s spell at Barcelona was not catastrophic in terms of numbers, but there can be little doubt that the Swede upset the balance of the team and looked wholly out of place.
Ronaldo would likely have had the same impact at Man City. It would not have sat well, for example, if the attacker had shown him the type of attitude he displayed when Ralf Rangnick subbed him off at Brentford.
Barcelona at that time were simply so good that Ibrahimovic, a player Guardiola later described as “immature” could be shoehorned in, but with the margins now so fine between City and Liverpool, the Portuguese might have had a devastating effect at the Etihad.
Man Utd pinching Ronaldo from City might have been the best thing that happened to Guardiola this season.
