The public relations push has been relentless at
Ronaldo, of course, was immediately added to the giant mural emblazoned outside Old Trafford. United jerseys with his name on the back are flying off the shelves in the club’s megastore.
“Cristiano is in the house,” United midfielder
As if anyone wasn’t aware.
One of the best players in the history of soccer is making an emotional return for a second spell at one of the world’s biggest teams, so it’s understandable that Ronaldo has been the talk of the town since his stunning transfer from
His first appearance back at United is likely to be against
But away from all the glitz, the hype and the marketing, what can the soccer world expect of the 36-year-old Ronaldo in what could be the last big move of his club career? Does his presence virtually ensure United will be “closer to winning” trophies, as Fernandes has said.
Certainly, Ronaldo is a still a guarantee of goals. He has a staggering 785 goals in 1,075 appearances for club and country, after all. He has just become the record scorer of all time in men’s international soccer, with 111 goals, and is coming off a European Championship where he won the Golden Boot with five goals in four games.
The top scorer in
However, even if he was top scorer in Serie A last season and had 101 goals and 22 assists in a total of 134 appearances for
Juve steadily declined with Ronaldo there, to the extent that the team only just scraped a fourth-place finish last season to qualify for the
That maybe was not all his doing — it was a turbulent period for Juve, which had three coaches in
More than 28% shots taken by
“If there’s Ronaldo, you need to have a squad that suits Ronaldo,” Sarri, who was
Sarri, who is now coach at
“But there are also many positive aspects," he said, "because Ronaldo brings the numbers at the end of the year.”
And that’s the balance United will have to strike.
Does Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turn his team into one whose main function is to supply Ronaldo, and is that a wise strategy?
If Ronaldo starts as a lone striker, does United have the wingers who can deliver a regular supply of crosses that he lives off? In
Solskjaer has said he sees Ronaldo as “more of a center forward for me at the moment.”
“I want him in the box, scoring goals,” he said.
If Ronaldo starts as a left winger, which appeared to be his preference at
Ronaldo’s scoring ability is not in question as he begins life back in Manchester.
It’s how he affects the rest of the team that is the most intriguing aspect of his return to United.
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