The short answer to that question is a pretty resounding “NO” in all honesty but I’ll give you your money’s worth regardless…
You see, I wasn’t under the impression that it needed spelling out for so many people but once again the mainstream media have outdone themselves as it appears that – and you’ll love this – Ronaldo, you know that Portuguese fella who’s scored the most goals in Football history, isn’t very good at Football anymore and is hindering Manchester United’s youngsters.
What’s he like, eh?
So apparently, Cristiano “five-time Ballon d’Or winner” Ronaldo’s attributes just don’t cut the mustard anymore and players like Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho won’t benefit from the cross-heavy playstyle that incurs on the back of having arguably the greatest header of a ball the sport has ever seen.
Ironically enough, Ronaldo is yet to actually score a header for us since his return but our friends in the mainstream do have a point. Upon his return to Old Trafford against Newcastle, the first half did resemble that of an impromptu crossbar challenge with your mates down the park, seeing who has to go in net for Wembley; just endlessly and gormlessly booting it in Ronaldo’s general direction, hoping he’d turn sewage water into Sauvignon Blanc.
Thankfully though, such a trend didn’t really continue into the second half and United remembered they’re all footballers again and started actually playing. This, I’m sure, came to the great disappointment of Football “journalists” up and down the country, who had their slander-laden edgy think-pieces ready in the drafts for Sunday morning should United have failed to beat Newcastle.
Alas, Ole’s reds are tricky and the Football is fancy.
And now that Ronaldo had scored, not once but twice, I thought the boring rhetoric and agendas would have ceased but it seems a ruined childhood isn’t easily forgotten.
He then scored against Young Boys off the back of a sublime Bruno Fernandes through-ball, abruptly silencing yet another nonsense, in that Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t play together.
Advancing further down the timeline of events and moving swiftly on from that Young Boys game, and at this stage, we’ve had two games, both of which he’s scored in, you’d think the badly camouflaged wishful thinking would stop, but no, the opprobrium continues.
Now we find ourselves on a brisk Sunday afternoon in the capital; United have won and Ronaldo has scored – again. And yes, you guessed it, another miasmic wave of childhood trauma has arrived, this time from Merseyside.
You’d think, since we were so inconsistent and Ronaldo was so rubbish they’d just leave us to it but they just can’t help themselves can they?
The Guardian and the Independent have deployed the latest round of propaganda, indicating that United didn’t control “any stage of the game” and that apparently allowing a shot from the edge of the box is tantamount to “begging” to concede. The articles not-so subtly imply that we’re still a bit naff and we – yet again – got off lucky.
The thing is though, the last time we were beaten away from home in the Premier League, the Coronavirus was just an ostentatiously named hangover and Donald Trump was still shit-posting on Twitter from the Oval Office. We’ve gone approximately nineteen (19) months without losing on the road in the Premier League, and yet this “no tactics just vibes” narrative has loomed over us like dark foreboding skies do before a storm.
But when is the storm coming?
I’ve yet to witness this comeuppance that keeps being prophesised with Solskjær; I’m yet to witness this monsoon of dropped points that will see us plummet into irrelevancy on the back of Ole’s incompetence. We’re not the finished article by any means and we’ve still not won anything with him yet but we’ve steadily improved season-upon-season and we now have the team to challenge for the big trophies, thanks mainly to Solskjær.
Nineteen months is not a small sample size and in that time we’ve gone to every big ground in the country and come away with something; Solskjær also famously made his splash as United manager in Europe, defying the odds and going to Paris Saint-Germain with a team full of untested Academy players and sent, everybody’s flavour of the month, Thomas Tuchel home packing.
I’m not one for revisionist quotes taken outrageously out of context and manhandled into submission, to conform to the writer’s preconceived notions on a topic…
But if you’ll allow it.
Johan Cruyff once said, “playing Football is simple, but playing simple Football is the hardest thing there is.” Couldn’t have said it any better myself Johan.
Everybody’s other flavour of the month Marcelo Bielsa, said in April before playing us, “the more simple the Football is, the better it is. This principle is supported when the players do what they should do and what they are best doing. In this sense, Manchester United is an example of this.”
Just because there’s no instantly recognisable style of Football doesn’t mean, firstly, there isn’t one and secondly the Football isn’t any good. What was Sir Alex Ferguson’s style of play? What was Zinedine Zidane’s in the time he won three Champions Leagues in three years?
The chances are you can’t accurately describe them from memory or can’t remember them at all. And that’s fine but because of the preponderance of managers with a condescending, nouveaux riche philosophy that takes £500m worth of players to implement effectively, it now means Solskjær is a P.E. Teacher and crossing the ball occasionally, to a bloke really good in the air is prehistoric, uncultured drivel.
Ronaldo has come in and done what Ronaldo does best: score goals. So, of course, we’re going to cater some of our play to our most reliable source of goals. It’s not hard to understand is it?
The implication that players like Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho will suffer as a result of Ronaldo’s presence is bizarre, especially given the latter’s propensity to create for others rather than look to score himself and even more especially given both their ages. Ronaldo doesn’t predominantly play in either of their main positions either; sure Mason Greenwood will one day look to play down the middle but he’s literally nineteen-years-old.
19.
There’s more than enough time for him yet and learning to effectively play on the wings could (and already has) help him develop his overall game, which will only aid him, seeing as Solskjær has said numerous times that he wants to play with a fluid forward line.
Solskjær’s perceived lack of a style of play is not an issue, Fergie’s teams didn’t have a recognisable one and you didn’t care then so why do you care now?
Our perceived Ronaldo-centric style of play isn’t an issue either – it’s Ronaldo. Plus, how could one single person harbour these same two thoughts when they are in direct conflict with each other? We either have a style of play or we don’t, make your mind up.
Ronaldo will not stunt the growth of United’s youngsters, they’ll more-than-likely greatly benefit off learning from and training with one of the best athletes of all time.
And to those people who actually think Cristiano Ronaldo is finished at the top level…
In the words of a certain Portuguese, I prefer not to speak.