“The minute a single player thinks he’s bigger than Manchester United, he has to go.
The legendary Scottish manager Sir Alex Ferguson the comment has come up several times in the past week when discussing the Premier League and football.
With that comment in 2013, Ferguson justified why United grew and became a football icon David Beckham was allowed to leave the club.
Now, the barely ten-year-old quote has hit the headlines again with the actions of another superstar.
Manchester United, which has gone through difficult years, beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Premier League on Wednesday. The win was important for the Manchester club both in terms of the series situation and self-confidence. It was also an indication that in his first season managing United Erik ten Hag the game demands start to hit the players.
When the rest of the team rushed to the field after the match to celebrate the victory, one of the players in the red shirts had already left the stadium.
Cristiano Ronaldo left a minute before full time for Old Trafford, and instead of marching to his team’s locker room, he headed out of the stadium.
Ten Hag later told the press that Ronaldo had also refused to come on the field as a substitute during the match. Ronaldo was again frustrated at not being in the starting line-up for the match and given the responsibility he felt he deserved.
Even though Ronaldo didn’t get the playing time he wanted, he got something else, as he hoped.
Attention.
United’s victory was suddenly a secondary topic of conversation, as people’s attention was focused on the tantrum of one of the greatest footballers of all time.
Salary withholding of more than 1.1 million euros
However, Ten Hag did not give up.
Ronaldo had already set a record once before this year by leaving in the middle of the match, in the summer training match against Rayo Vallecano. At that time, he was replaced from the field at halftime, and he did not stay to watch the match until the end. In addition to Ronaldo, others also left Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial and Diogo Dalot.
The Dutch manager no longer looked favorably on Ronaldo’s second solution. Ten Hag dropped him from the group traveling to Saturday’s Chelsea game. In addition, Ronaldo will have to train alone for three days and will lose two weeks’ salary as a fine for his behavior.
Ronaldo’s weekly salary has been rumored to be worth about 480,000 pounds, or at the current rate a little over 550,000 euros. The Portuguese would therefore pay more than 1.1 million euros for his stay.
– His decision has consequences. It is important for our group’s attitude and values. Removing him from the lineup affects our entire team as well, ten Hag commented at United’s press conference.
Ten Hag’s decision was mainly praised by ManU supporters. That was exactly one of the reasons why the previously mentioned Sir Alex Ferguson’s comment was brought into the discussion. Those following United considered the decision similar to what the respected “The Boss” himself would have done in a similar position.
“Cristiano Ronaldo Paradox”
There is something understandable about Cristiano Ronaldo’s attention seeking, but at the same time it is an indication of a kind of swan song of a great soccer player.
Ronaldo is an extremely competitive athlete who has been able to turn matches single-handedly in his career. Last season, he scored a total of 24 goals for United in the Premier League and Champions League. It is understandable that the ambitious Ronaldo wants to play a lot and score more goals.
At the same time, last season he collected a lot of criticism from both the club’s supporters and experts. Ronaldo was mainly considered to weaken United’s wholeness and game, especially due to his self-centered decisions and his reluctance to press.
This could be called the “Cristiano Ronaldo paradox”. The Portuguese scores goals, but at the same time teams have to adapt to his game, not Ronaldo to the team’s play. When all roads in attack lead only to Ronaldo, a lot of potential remains untapped.
The lack of desire and ability to press is Ronaldo’s biggest weakness. Last season, the FBRef football statistics website recorded 6.7 completed presses per match for Ronaldo. That was the fewest of any United forward or midfielder. The reading was one of the worst in the entire Premier League.
For example, in the victorious Tottenham match, the high uniform press of Manchester United’s attackers was one key to the victory. After the match, Ten Hag praised the collective nature of his team and the division of responsibility for attacking play.
Who would want a superstar?
The 37-year-old Ronaldo is not good at internalizing the fact that not all teams need him to win. When playing time doesn’t dwindle, he doesn’t hesitate to publicly show his disappointment.
That too has its own comprehensible side. For nearly two decades, Ronaldo has been one of the biggest names in the sports world, who has always ended up being the first choice of his coaches when drawing up the starting line-up. He is used to being the best and biggest star of all.
That’s why the journey from the stars to sitting on United’s bench is particularly long. It sure isn’t easy for Cristiano Ronaldo to feel mortal. That’s why his completely unnecessary tantrum seems even more embarrassing.
Like the former top goalscorer and English legend Alan Shearer states in his text on The Athletic (you will switch to another service)Ronaldo is no longer able to be the kind of player that, for example, the top English clubs want in his game, especially in terms of press.
And neither do the other big clubs around Europe. When Ronaldo announced in the summer that he wanted to leave United, his back team immediately looked for a new club for him. Among others, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona said “no” to him. Ronaldo is too expensive a player for what he currently brings to the team.
Ronaldo did get an offer, albeit from Saudi Arabia. The transfer didn’t happen, but the superstar stayed in Manchester. He is still at a dead end and has no other way out than to accept the role that ten Hag has set for him in the team.
Erik ten Hag has been adamant that he wants Ronaldo to be part of his team throughout the season. Even so, it now seems strongly that the striker who shook the football world over the years will no longer march into the Old Trafford dressing room after January.
If someone else wants him, that is.
Manchester United will face Chelsea in the English Premier League on Saturday at 19:00. Follow the results of the Premier League here and you can see the standings here.
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