- 10 hours ago
Ten Hag's first job at Man Utd must be to transfer Ronaldo
Martin Macdonald
- 15 Apr 2022 08:24 BST
- 4 min read
Erik ten Hag will soon be appointed as the new manager of Manchester United, and it is likely the Dutchman will undertake an overhaul of the playing squad at Old Trafford.
Ralf Rangnick replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in December, coming in on a temporary basis until the end of the season until a permanent boss could be found.
The likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Enrique and Brendan Rodgers have been among the names mentioned as candidates, but Ten Hag won over Man Utd after a series of impressive interviews.
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Ten Hag has his work cut out for him to galvanise an underperforming squad full of big names, and one of his first orders of business should be a statement of intent.
He must finally be the man in football to tell Cristiano Ronaldo that his time at the very top level is over.
Yes, Ten Hag must actively look to sell the Portuguese superstar to kick off his era at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo's decline
When Ronaldo was brought back to the club in the summer of 2021, some fans rejoiced at the homecoming of their superstar, while others questioned the logic in bringing back a 36-year-old on £450k per week.
In the first half of the season. Cristiano blew the doubters away and was particularly impactful in the Champions League, emerging as United's saviour in key matches against Villarreal and Atalanta.
However, as the season has progressed his goalscoring, which helped to hide his lack of overall involvement on the pitch, has declined.
When Ronaldo doesn't score, his lack of lack contribution to play is extremely noticeable.
He recently netted a great hat-trick against Tottenham, but apart from that he has only scored in one other match in his last 15 in all competitions for club and country.
Things are now boiling over into the absurd for Ronaldo at Man Utd, as he is now under investigation by the club for slapping the phone out of the hand of a young fan at Goodison Park in the club's recent loss against Everton.
Even when you take out of consideration the fact that Ten Hag will want to play fast, pressing, attacking football, which Ronaldo cannot do, the presence of the player will simply be a distraction that the new manager does not need.
With his goal return down since his outrageously brilliant heights, the baggage of keeping Ronaldo around is simply not worth it.
And, will the player himself even want to stay at Man Utd if they don't qualify for the Champions League?
Man Utd now ignoring Ronaldo's influence
The Manchester Evening News reports that the appointment of Ten Hag is set to be a relatively unpopular one in the squad as the majority of players wanted Pochettino to be appointed instead.
This is a clear change of tact and a signal from the board that player influence is set to be addressed - and that will of course impact Ronaldo.
Behind the scenes at the club, Ronaldo was not happy with Solskjaer during the Norwegian's tenure and used his agent Jorge Mendes to receive assurances the manager would be sacked.
Crucially, Ronaldo did not want Antonio Conte to be appointed when he was available and that opinion filtered into the board room.
By ignoring the players - and Ronald -, in the appointment of Ten Hag, the Dutchman has been given freedom to do as he pleases, and that could mean a departure for CR7.
