It was always going to be him, wasn’t it? He’s only been back in the Premier League for a few weeks and already Cristiano Ronaldo is player of the month.
Three goals in three games. The impact, the celebration, the muscles. He is, as the saying goes, inevitable. And it’s impossible not to get swept up by it.
Who cares if Mo Salah scored in more games in September and looked like the best player in the world? Does it matter that, in Manchester United’s loss to Aston Villa, Ronaldo often resembled one of those life-size cardboard cut-outs you can buy for £35 off Amazon?
Cristiano Ronaldo has run an average of just 3.7 miles per 90 minutes for Manchester United so far this season
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may eventually wonder if signing Ronaldo was worth it
Yet where he goes, the spotlight follows. And so it falls on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a man never too far away from questions of whether he can deliver Old Trafford’s expectations. He doesn’t start Ronaldo against Everton and it’s not long until Sir Alex Ferguson suggests it wasn’t the right call. Will he eventually wonder if it was all worth it?
Everyone knew what Ronaldo would bring — shots and goals. And there are few greater in the history of football at doing that.
It’s no surprise, then, that since his return to Old Trafford no player in the Premier League has taken as many shots as Ronaldo. Eighteen in four games and in one of them he only played 30 minutes.
His shots have brought goals. A brace on debut against Newcastle. Another against West Ham. A goal in each Champions League game so far, including the incredible late winner against Villarreal. He knows how to make an entrance and provide a dramatic ending.
The positives that Ronaldo brings to United, in terms of goals and chances, are clear
Only Dominic Calvert-Lewin boasts a better Expected Goals (xG) per 90 minutes than Ronaldo of players to feature in more than 270 minutes this season. He’ll keep scoring, of that there is no doubt.
The concern is over what he doesn’t bring to United. For one, there’s not much running. Of the 72 forwards to have played at least 75 minutes in the Champions League this season, 67 of them have covered more distance on average per game than Ronaldo.
The Portuguese averages 3.7 miles per 90 minutes. At the top is Atletico Madrid’s Yannick Carrasco, with eight miles. Even Lionel Messi, who famously
