In the current Manchester United team, Ronaldo is the only player who knows how bad a superstar will end up in the Old Trafford dressing room: in November 2005, veteran captain Roy Keane terminated his contract with Manchester United because he and the team's assistant Queiroz were already incompatible; Six months later, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who often bumped into Ferguson, followed in Keane's footsteps and never returned when he last stormed out of the Old Trafford dressing room. After those two dressing room storms, Ronaldo, who was only in his 20s at the time, breathed a long sigh of relief like other young teammates, but who would have thought that 17 years later he would also become a "powder keg" in Manchester United's dressing room...
United won 2-0 at home in midweek against Tottenham, but the joy of victory was quickly replaced by nervousness and uneasiness. Because he never got a chance to play in the game, in the 89th minute of the game, an angry Cristiano Ronaldo went straight back to the dressing room. According to ESPN, in the 87th minute of the game, Ten Hag had planned to make Cristiano Ronaldo come off the bench, but he refused to play in "garbage time". Afterwards, Manchester United punished Cristiano Ronaldo with a suspension and suspension, he will train alone for three days, and has been excluded from the squad for weekend games against Chelsea.
In fact, in the pre-season match between Manchester United and Rayo Vallecano in August, Ronaldo, who played only 45 minutes, had an "early retirement", which was Ten Hag's first home appearance after taking charge of Manchester United, and the "president" somewhat gave the manager a sense of dismounting. At that time, for Ronaldo's actions, Ten Hag made a big deal and turned it into a small matter, "unacceptable, but he was not the only one who left early." But now, something similar is happening again.
On social media, Ronaldo responded that he left the field because of "impulse" and would continue to focus on training and helping his teammates. The incident also sparked various discussions in international football about Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United. A faction represented by veteran captain Roy Keane believes that Ten Hag putting the world's greatest player on the bench and not even letting him come off the bench is extremely disrespectful to Manchester United's top scorer last season, not to mention that Ronaldo is charging for the upcoming World Cup; The faction, represented by Lineker, believes that even if Ronaldo is a great player with a widely acclaimed professional experience, his behavior is unacceptable. Of course, whether Ronaldo's supporters or opponents have a common conclusion - Ronaldo and Manchester United are no longer compatible and it is time to "break up".
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United last season, and Old Trafford scored twice in the limelight on his debut. That season, Ronaldo scored 24 goals in 37 appearances for Manchester United and was the team's top scorer. But unfortunately, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's departure, Ronaldo's status is declining in both Rangnick and Ten Hag's tactical system. Although Ronaldo previously scored the winning goal against Everton to unlock United's 700-goal milestone, the position of the central striker in the team still belongs to Marcus Rashford.
Ten Hag praised Marcus Rashford for his "energy, speed, energy, work ethic and attacking threat", in fact, Ronaldo is well aware that even if he is in his prime, he is not the kind of "B to B" center who can attack and defend and maintain high energy throughout the game, not to mention that he is now 37 years old. But for the proud five-time Golden Globe Awarde, Ten Hag's words seem to be "pointing at Sang and scolding locust" and are a humiliation for himself.
When Ronaldo is not on the court this season, the team has averaged 108,500 meters per game and scored 2.25 points per game; When Ronaldo played, the team averaged 98,500 meters per game and scored 0.5 points per game. (Image source: Sky Sports)
Of course, United are never soft when it comes to "problem players". In his final months at Manchester United, Ruud van Nistelrooy was still a prolific centre-forward, but did not hesitate to sell him to Real Madrid when he felt he had ruined the atmosphere in the dressing room and dragged down the team. It is worth noting that with the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy, United have built a whole new line of attack around Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney and Saha. Almost overnight, Ronaldo began to grow into a world-class striker and gradually became one of the greatest players in world football. Now, Ronaldo is following the path of Ruud van Nistelrooy, and it would be unwise if he really challenged Ten Hag's authority, because no Manchester United manager has ever had the absolute authority of Manchester United like Ten Hag since the old man Alex Alex Ferguson.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand said that this summer Ten Hag let Cristiano Ronaldo stay, but then failed to really accept him, the Dutch is digging a hole for himself. But in fact, in the late summer window, Ten Hag gradually realized that reintegrating a declining superstar into the team would be extremely challenging, both in terms of tactical execution and personnel management, and he was willing to release Cristiano Ronaldo.
But at that time, Manchester United's top brass were worried about losing such a commercially valuable player, and during that period, Ronaldo's agent Mendes was busy trying to contact Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and even Atletic Lisbon, but the only real question came from Saudi champion Al Hilal. It is true that Ronaldo wants to play in the Champions League and leave Manchester United, but it is also true that the target team he wants to go to either cannot afford the transfer fee or does not want to break the existing tactical framework for him. Where is Ronaldo going this summer? During the release of the farce, the most memorable thing is that when Real Madrid President Florentino met with Real Madrid fans in the hotel, Lafayette asked contemptuously about the fans' request to sign back Cristiano Ronaldo, "Say it again?" He is 38 years old. ”
In fact, Lafayette is well aware that age is never the only measure of superstar form on the pitch, otherwise Real Madrid would not be so dependent on the 37-year-old Modric. But Modric is different from Cristiano Ronaldo, the Croat is highly productive in the team, has a low maintenance rate and, more importantly, he always maintains a low profile, humility and discipline. What Ronaldo doesn't realize is that his core, idol and superstar identity has become the most difficult part to solve. Simply put, Ronaldo is no longer a five-time Ballon d'Or winner for his outstanding performances on the pitch, but he still seems to expect these remarkable achievements to always bring him supremacy.
A few days ago, the old man Alex Alex Ferguson presented Ronaldo with the Manchester United 700-goal commemorative trophy. Like many others, when Ronaldo returned to Manchester United last year, the old man thought that the former beloved would once again usher in a golden age for the Theatre of Dreams, but this was not the case. However, Ronaldo's return to the Theatre of Dreams seems to underscore once again United's most glorious years – no player is bigger than the club.