Cristiano Ronaldo used to have people shaking their head in disbelief at what he did on the football pitch, but it is a sign of the Manchester United forward’s diminishing status that he is now only having that effect for what he does and says off it.
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As he prepares to fly to Qatar for his fifth World Cup with Portugal, Ronaldo has done and said everything he can to ensure that he won’t be going back to Old Trafford and the Premier League when the tournament finishes. The problem for Ronaldo is that, to get the move he wants, he now has to let his football do the talking in Qatar and his football, to be frank, hasn’t spoken so well in recent months.
Just think about the 37-year-old’s most memorable moments since the end of last season. He failed to report for preseason training on time, citing family reasons, and then missed United’s preseason tour of Thailand and Australia. When he finally returned to the fold, Ronaldo was criticised by manager Erik ten Hag for leaving Old Trafford during the second half of a friendly game against Rayo Vallecano. The Portugal captain then refused to come on as a substitute last month’s Premier League win against Tottenham Hotspur, during which he got up from the bench, walked down the tunnel and left Old Trafford before the final whistle. For that, he was excluded from the squad for the subsequent game at Chelsea.
And now, he has made perhaps his most premeditated display of dissent towards the club to date. Ronaldo has given an interview to Piers Morgan in which he accuses United of “betrayal,” says he does not respect Ten Hag and accuses unnamed figures at Old Trafford for wanting to force him out. For maybe the third time this season, the initial reaction is to believe that Ronaldo has gone too far and that he will have played his last game for United, but on the previous occasions, there has been an uneasy truce and he has pulled on the red shirt again.
For balance, it is only right that Ronaldo’s playing highlights this season are cited to temper the off-field issues. He scored his 700th career club goal from the penalty spot against FC Sheriff in the Europa League and netted another against the Moldovan champions at Old Trafford last month. And he has scored one goal in a 2-1 Premier League win at Everton. So there you have it. Three goals, with two coming in a competition — the Europa League — that he tried so hard in the summer to avoid having to play in. United, meanwhile, are seemingly on the rise again under Ten Hag after a decade of mismanagement at all levels. Of the five games they have lost this season, Ronaldo has started four of them.
