By: Vansh Chojar, Junior College 1 Teamwork 

Abbreviations used in the article:

*Manchester United = Man Utd

*Manchester City = Man C

Just a year ago, on August 31, 2021, the football world was stunned by the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest football players in history, to Manchester United. Ronaldo’s transfer happened during the 2021-2022 season and he was expected to stay there for the next season. It was not only a transfer, but it was also the return of a once prospering teenager to the ‘Red Devils’ (Manchester United’s nickname) with immaculate maturity and experience. The transfer happened within just 24 hours! United fans were over the moon, surprised and now hopeful because the club has been struggling since 2013. 

Manchester United got him thinking that he would revive the club back to the good old days where Man Utd had no season without any trophy received. 

Both the fans and the media were going berserk. For Man Utd fans, the dream of lifting a trophy was getting an inch closer. The internet was filled with edited images of Cristiano lifting a trophy, congratulatory messages were flooding and the season had officially begun. 

Crowds were at the edge of their seats, waiting to see how Ronaldo would play into the team and alas, the 1st game happened on September 11, 2021: Man Utd went against Newcastle. They won the game with an impressive score of 4-1 and Ronaldo had impressed the crowd with his brace (2 goals). Fast forward to 20 appearances, Ronaldo had scored 14 goals, which was, undoubtedly, impressive but not what they had hoped for, they wanted more. 

However, Man Utd has not done well in attending competitions, being knocked out by Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup and was embarrassingly knocked out by Middlesbrough (2nd tier team). The exasperation of the fans was now visible and Ronaldo was now the victim. Critics started calling out his age and that he was part of the “problem” and trolls had now found content. 

Things took a turn for the better. After many appearances on the pitch, Ronaldo had started to slowly regain his form and things took a turn when he started against Tottenham Spurs (rivals of Manchester United) and he scored a hat-trick of goals. For the fans, the light at the end of a dark tunnel just got brighter as Ronaldo smashed yet another hat-trick. In spite of all of this, Manchester United’s performance was not getting any better, being knocked out of every possible competition and in the league, they were struggling with a top 4 position. 

That season of the English Premier League would continue to send chills down Manchester United fans’ spines. They ended in the 6th spot (out of 20 teams) with only 55 points, the lowest ever points secured in team history. However, Ronaldo was their top scorer and also in the 3rd place in the top scoring players of that English Premier League  season with 18 goals and 24 goals in all competitions. Ronaldo’s fans defended him by asking if a tree can still stand without its roots? Meaning that no player can perform with no backing of other players, a team can only do well if there is good teamwork and understanding between them.

The recent updates are that Manchester United had officially signed a new coach/manager on 21 April 2022, Erik Ten Hag who was the former manager of Ajax FC (a club playing the Dutch League, Eredivisie).

Since the beginning of the new season on 12 July 2022, Ronaldo has only started games for Manchester United 4 times and that just made Ronaldo’s frustration for the club even more. According to www.footballtransfers.com, around 7 clubs have rejected the option to buy Ronaldo this summer as his age is the biggest concern for them and ManUtd were not letting him go. 

Another recent update regarding Ronaldo’s transfer: according to the telegraph, coach Erik Ten Hag is now considering letting Ronaldo leave in January and will not stand in his way if the right offer arrives. 

To conclude, I believe that it is mostly accepted that Ronaldo’s transfer is not a problem but not a solution either. I do also agree and believe that he should not stay in this club any longer if he wants to get back to his level best. The reason for me coming to that conclusion is that Ronaldo was expected to score a lot more goals than just 24, but why was he being targeted the most? 

Ronaldo once said, “They may hate me because I’m too good.”, which I believe is what is currently happening to him. The fans are not realising that if he had not been in the XI ManUtd, it would have been on the 10th or 12th position. He is not getting the respect he deserves. The problem isn’t the players, it is the club system and the board which makes the problem much deeper than what we can see.  

Sources: 

• Fabrizio Romano (Sports Journalist) 
• Telegraph
• http://www.footballtransfers.com
• www.alamy.com
• sporting news.com 
• Manutd.com 
• www.premierleague.com
• www.thehighlightsapp.com
• Manchester Evening News