Asked if United can win this season's Champions League, interim manager Ronnick smiled. On Tuesday, United will continue to face the powerhouses at Old Trafford, and only one of them and La Liga powerhouse Atletico Madrid can remain in the Champions League.
"That's what I love about this club, Manchester United." Lonnick smiled in response to United's Chances of winning the Champions League, "Last Sunday, I almost felt like we were at a funeral and United were dead. I feel like Manchester United is the worst team I've ever coached. Then after the 3-2 win over Tottenham, you talked about our chances of winning the Champions League! When we reach the final, we'll ask me that question, and there's no point in discussing it now."
Lonnick has learned that coaching Manchester United is like a roller coaster, winning is your hero, losing is a bear, even if it is one of the best players in football history like Ronaldo, it is difficult to avoid the violent fluctuations of Manchester United.
A week earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo had missed the Manchester City derby with injury, and people said he was getting old, dragging down Manchester United; a week later, he returned with his 59th hat-trick of his career to top the fifa all-time top scorer with 807 goals.
A world wave, a pie in front of goal and a header to the top show the comprehensiveness of Ronaldo's shooting. But this is only his second goal in 2022, and his performances in many games have been rather mediocre, with the Daily Mail saying Lonnick still has a headache about how to manage the superstar.
Lonnick wouldn't think he'd found the answer to Ronaldo's conundrum, with the United boss admitting managing Portugal's superstar is challenging. In fact, this is a difficult task, including this summer's stay, which has put United in a dilemma.
"He decides to win or lose, but after doing well, now is not the right time to talk about what might happen in the next 15 or 16 months." Lonnick said: "What is important to me is the next two months, the results of Manchester United at the end of May. He can be a leader with that kind of performance, which is what I've been stressing to him since he took charge, that he can be one of the engines of the team, but we have a lot of other players who can do that. He did prove he was capable of doing it, but we also have to admit that in the last few weeks or even months he hasn't always been like that."
But Lonnick's specific list of United's other "core" players is somewhat unconvincing: "Fred, Maguire, Varane, Lindelof and so on, and even Cavani."
Tottenham coach Conte made it clear that the difference between Manchester United and Tottenham hotspur in this game is Cristiano Ronaldo, and no one has any objections. Still, if Spurs win two make-up games against Brighton and West Ham in the coming week, they will still overtake Manchester United by one point. At that time, the outcome of United's matchup with Atletico in the Champions League will also be already determined, and no one knows whether the Red Devils will be closer to glory or more depressed.
Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2, basically relying on Ronaldo's personal ability. Opta data shows that the expected number of goals for Cristiano Ronaldo in that match was only 0.85. This mainly comes from Sancho's second goal assist, C Ronaldo's long-range shot and header goal, are not absolute opportunities. It wasn't that United's attack was so good that it helped Cristiano Ronaldo score three goals in a row.
Former teammate Gary Neville said: "The goal stemmed from Ronaldo's own beliefs, he has reached the twilight of his career, but he is still an absolute superstar, the best scorer in history."
Tottenham's defensive oversight also gave C Ronaldo more room to play. The team's goalkeeper Lowry said: "We know that in Premier League-level games, everything depends on the details. Cristiano Ronaldo is at his best, aggressive in the penalty area, and it's hard to control him. But we lost the game because of a corner and the defense must have made a mistake. For the second goal, our defence should have been better, rather than raising our hands to signal offside. His first goal, we gave him too much space, with his ability to make it possible to score."