Man Utd are giving Cristiano Ronaldo every reason to leave
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 8 Aug 2022 08:13 CDT
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo watched Manchester United’s 2-1 Premier League defeat to Brighton on Sunday from the bench, apparently with stunned disbelief in terms of what was going on.
The Portuguese was a spectator for 53 minutes before being introduced to try to bring some life to Erik ten Hag’s lacklustre team.
He did so, but only to a limited extent, and not sufficiently to drag them back into a game that they already trailed 2-0 in.
Regardless of the right or wrong in terms of the approach Ronaldo has taken in a bid to force his exit from Man Utd, if the club is to have genuine ambitions of competing at the top level this season, they must be able to do so without him – certainly against mid-table opponents like Brighton.
Indeed, what Ronaldo watched at Old Trafford at the weekend justified every conception he has about where the club is going wrong.
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Why Ronaldo wants to leave Man Utd
First and foremost was the lack of immediate competitiveness of Man Utd. It wasn’t just that they were beaten by Brighton, it was the fact that they were deservedly beaten by them. They were outplayed in the first half and only really came back into the match when their opponents got nervy in the closing quarter of the game.
Secondly was the issue of a lack of support. Ronaldo does not want to play every match but rather wants his minutes managed so he can be at the peak of his game for as long as possible. Fielding Christian Eriksen as a false 9 because Anthony Martial missed out because of injury will only have cemented his feeling that he has to carry the entire offensive burden of the team.
Finally, and related to the previous point, it only served to highlight the transfer market failures of the team in the summer window. The Man Utd team against Brighton boasted only two new faces in the form of Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez, and predictably enough, it was not sufficient to boost their level in a significant manner.
Whether or not Ronaldo can and will find a way out of Man Utd this summer is one thing, but it’s clear why he is pushing for a transfer.
