Cristiano Ronaldo has repeatedly expressed his desire to leave Manchester United due to the club’s absence from the Champions League, in which the Portuguese would like to chase goalscoring records. But the fight for the services of the thirty-seven-year-old striker did not start, so the famous footballer remains at Old Trafford. And he shows his displeasure.
Manchester United fans are terrified. After the last botched season, there should have been a sweet hope for a better tomorrow, shielded by the arrival of the respected Dutch coach Erik ten Haga.
However, as the summer training period showed, the new coach has a real job in reconstructing the staff and in establishing simple order in the cabin.
At the same time, Ronaldo can play the role of a disruptor, the supporters of the Red Devils fear. The Portuguese does not behave according to Hague’s ideas. At the same time, he counted on the star footballer from the beginning and in the Premier League warm-up on Sunday, in the duel against Spanish Vallecano, he put him in the starting line-up.
He withdrew Ronaldo at halftime and replaced him with twenty-year-old Amad Diallo. And it was the offensive player from the Ivory Coast who scored just after two minutes. The match eventually ended in a 1-1 draw, but Ronaldo was absent at the final whistle.
Together with compatriot Diogo Dalot and several other footballers, he left the stadium before the end.
The fans’ fears were then confirmed by the Hag himself. “No, I didn’t allow anything like that. It’s unacceptable and that applies to everyone. I told them that this is not possible. We are one team, we should stay until the end,” said the surprised coach.
At the same time, the Dutchman received a recommendation from the club to try to get along with Ronaldo, to involve him in the process and, if possible, to get him excited about the newly born Manchester project.
Chris Armas, assistant to the previous coach Ralf Rangnick, even advised Haga how to deal with Ronaldo. According to him, the most important thing is to talk to Ronaldo face to face, one on one.
“It’s a hands-on approach. Talking to him, bringing him into the office, asking him questions so he’s part of the solution and part of the success,” Armas told Sky Sports.
“It was my job to figure out how to get all that fire, experience and talent out of him. He has a lot to offer, wins, goals and an unusual type of leadership,” he added, but on the other hand hinted that getting the best out of Ronaldo is not at this stage his career nothing simple.
Although the Portuguese became United’s top scorer last year, the famous club’s season ended in failure and Ronaldo did not convince football progressives.
Especially after his arrival, Manchester United became a non-compact team that could not compete with the best Premier League teams.
According to some, the Red Devils would be even worse off without him, but according to others, it was his work that destroyed the team spirit at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese drew a lot of attention to himself, often scolding his teammates theatrically during setbacks, as if to indicate: I’m doing everything I can, but others are ruining it for me.
In addition to his problematic behavior, the experts blamed him for a lack of work commitment during the press. Even the renowned German strategist Rangnick was at a loss. He sometimes hinted with his moves that he could imagine the starting line-up without Ronaldo, but in the end he did not find enough courage or quality player material.
