What started out grandiose has gone off the rails: Cristiano Ronaldo and his return to Manchester United. Ralf Rangnick addressed the issue
The age is making itself felt. Not in the still image of the now 37-year-old model athlete, but when he starts to move. No matter how impressive his state of fitness, Cristiano Ronaldo has lost some of his dynamism.
And because the recent visit of Burnley (1-1) was one in which the Red Devils had to “put on a lot of sprints”, Manchester United coach Ralf Rangnick put his most prominent protégé on the bench. Ahead of Saturday’s clash with Ralph Hasenhüttl’s Southampton CR7 is expected to be back in the starting eleven, but Rangnick ties that to certain expectations.
“He has to score more goals, that’s obvious,” Rangnick demanded at the matchday PK of the Portuguese, who is known to have scored more official goals than any other striker in the history of football – over 800. But Cristiano Ronaldo’s record under Rangnick shows the 63-year-old is not wrong.
Much better under Solskjaer and Carrick
While the returnee scored nine times in 13 games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and three goals in the three games under interim coach Michael Carrick, the tally in nine appearances under Rangnick amounts to just two meagre goals. Most recently, CR7 has gone five games in a row without a goal, a feat last seen when he first played for United.
Rangnick, however, does not blame his ageing superstar alone for United’s still erratic form: “It’s not just Ronaldo’s problem, it’s also a problem for the other players. If you look at how many chances we create, then that has to change in the next few weeks.”
These could decide where the journey goes for the Red Devils. At the moment they are in 6th place, which is not good enough for Champions League participation.
