sport news Cristiano Ronaldo HAS to go... he won't keep up in Erik Ten Hag's system at ... trends now
Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United have enjoyed the most incredible love affair, but it is time to move on.
The relationship has not turned toxic - the player and club will forever care deeply for one another - but it simply isn't working and both would benefit by ending it.
Ronaldo has told United he wishes to leave this summer amid concerns he will be unable to compete for the biggest trophies at the club. This week, he has failed to show up for pre-season training, on Tuesday citing 'family reasons', as a move appears to edge ever closer.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been a fantastic player for Manchester United, but he is ready to leave
United are reluctant to let him go. They have built their transfer plans on the belief that Ronaldo will stay, so it must be alarming to consider an immediate future without him.
But however painful it is to conceive, the talisman's departure would give United, and new boss Erik ten Hag, the best chance of making the club competitive again.
It may seem peculiar to conclude that Ronaldo, 37, and United should part, not least because Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea have been linked with the wantaway star.
After all, the striker is a legendary performer in the Theatre of Dreams and in a difficult season still scored 24 goals in all competitions. Indeed, there have been moments during his second coming at Old Trafford that have even reignited the magic of his first spell, under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The comeback win against Atalanta in the group stages of the Champions League is a thrilling example.
It was a vintage European night at Old Trafford. Two-nil down and apparently out, Ronaldo dragged his side back into the tie through sheer will and unrivalled ability. At 2-2, with nine minutes to play, no one doubted that the Portuguese would seal the win.
Ronaldo scored 24 goals last season and was involved in some memorable moments
New United boss Erik ten Hag has previously stated that he sees Ronaldo playing a key role
The fact he did so with a trademark leap and emphatic headed finish only enhanced the euphoria.
And yet the dysfunction of the current relationship was also laid bare on that triumphant evening.
Ferguson's teams had a defensive security, which allowed Ronaldo and Co the freedom to wreak havoc at the other end of the field. That is not the case now.
Atalanta sliced through United in the first 45 minutes and only David de Gea's brilliance kept the three-time European Cup winners in the game. There was little cohesion and they were booed off at half time.
United's vulnerabilities are not all Ronaldo's fault, but the truth is that neither Ole Gunnar Solskjær or Ralf Rangnick could integrate the striker into an effective team structure.
It was a similar story at Juventus, where Ronaldo scored 101 goals in 134 games in all competitions, but despite his personal achievements, Max Allegri, Maurizio Sarri and then Andrea Pirlo all struggled to accommodate him.
It is likely Ten Hag will fail in that endeavour, too.
To some extent, at both clubs, Ronaldo's goals served to paper over the widening cracks.
Ten Hag's approach has been to press the opposition hard, but that hasn't been Ronaldo's style
Last season, United played without purpose, particularly when out of possession. Rangnick made clear he wanted his side to press - and he set them up to do it - but they simply couldn't with Ronaldo leading the line and they were exposed as a result, relying too often on the Portuguese's goals to avoid embarrassment.
'The problem is when your poison is your medicine, you will struggle,' Thierry Henry perceptively observed on CBS, after seeing Ronaldo net a late winner against Villareal last season.
'At the end, Ronaldo saves them, but when they play, they are exposed sometimes because they don't defend as a unit. We all know if you want to win, you've all got to run.'
Surely. it is only going to get worse under the leadership of Ten Hag.
The Dutchman is firmly rooted in the modern tradition of 'the press'. Like Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Julian Nagelsmann at Bayern Munich, he is driven by a fervour to regain possession high up the pitch.
To play with a centre forward who does not press, is to ask Ten Hag to redefine his whole approach.
The fact is Ronaldo does not play that way. He achieved fewer presses during the 2021-22 campaign than any forward in the top five European leagues, with less than seven per 90 minutes.
Thierry Henry highlighted how Ronaldo is United's 'poison and also their medicine' at times
As a result, United conceded possession and position on the field. None of their domestic or European rivals play that way.
In the Champions League, Liverpool produced on average 53 pressures on the ball in the attacking third, Chelsea 54, Manchester City 45, Bayern Munich 43, Ten Hag's Ajax 40 and even Real Madrid, not known for their pressing, returned a respectable 39.
United, managed just 29 pressures per game at the top end of the pitch, which was more like Benfica and Villarreal, who both accepted their best chance of survival in the competition lay in a low block.
The demands that Ten Hag puts on his players to win the ball back can be seen in other statistics, too. On average, Ten Hag only allowed the opposition seven passes
