The pre-season tour went pretty well until the Villa game when United succumbed to yet another goal from a corner. It was predictably flapped at by the keeper, but there are more pressing issues. The Erstwhile Cristiano
Ronaldo and his agents have been trying (and failing) to hawk his services to anyone that has a “project” deemed worthy of his attendance, and also stump up half a million quid a week for the privilege of having him flail his arms around, roll his eyes and score a few goals in their club’s colours of course. There have been few takers, and by definition, few means none.
It must be said at this stage that there can be few doubts, if any about his legacy. His level of skill, eye for goal and professionalism are almost unparalleled in football; perhaps any sporting arena full stop. That much is clear to see and his goal scoring stats are hard to believe; but there is a catch, or rather there always has been a catch. If he was made of chocolate he would have eaten himself at least twice by now.
The history of the situation
To paint a picture of how we arrived at this point, it is important to look back to his first spell at United, where he arrived at the club to replace David Beckham. The skilful, wiry teenager with very little end product and a tendency to fall over at the drop of a hat, hung onto the ball for far too long. A certain Ruud Van Nistelrooy became increasingly frustrated by him until the manager reached a decision. The Dutchman was sent on his way to allow the young talented duo of Rooney & Ronaldo to develop into one of the best attacking duos in the history of the club, and the relevance of this will soon become apparent.
The down sides to Ronaldo’s character were never far from the fore and it wasn’t long before he began to flutter his eyelashes at Real Madrid. The infamous wink as Wazza was sent off and the theatrics whenever he was tackled became ever more prevalent. There were reports of him throwing tantrums in the media room shortly before his departure and then there was the “look at me moments”. He almost cost us the Chelsea Champions League final with his missed penalty; his refusal to fulfil his defensive duties as a winger left Rooney on the left. A role he excelled at, but had he been up front against Barcelona in the Champions League final when Ronaldo took several ridiculous shots in the first half, perhaps that game might have turned out different?
Ronaldo “Came Home”
These things are in the past now, but can they offer indicators towards the current state of the club? No matter what your thoughts are on the former manager of Manchester United, at the time of Ronaldo’s return, the facts are thus.
We had secured back to back top four finishes for the first time post Ferguson, narrowly lost a European final, one of only eight in the history of the club. The garden was not all rosy, and many “fans” were unhappy with progress and demanded “any other manager” be landed in the hot seat. It is important to add context at this point. United have been very unstable; had a squad made up of four managers signings and had been underfunded by the Glazers for most of that time.
Despite spending large sums of money; the same number of players that went out came in and there had been no central midfielder signed for a long time. The blanket was too short for the bed. Whether you like it or not, Solskjaer had met his targets, delivered attacking football and scored lots of goals along the way. The stage was set for a big summer transfer window to push on to the next stage and challenge for
trophies.
A club on the up?
The club were no longer a soft touch. Dortmund had been forced to lower their asking price for Jadon Sancho the manager had waited patiently for, making do until he came in. Edinson Cavani had been signed on a one year deal with the option of a second taken up. He was a revelation. Brilliant on and off the pitch, great work rate and scorer of some vital goals. He lifted the curse of the #7 shirt and his name ringing round the train on the way to Southampton will live long in the memory for those that made the trip.
The midfielder seemed imminent in the form of Ruben Neves. Kieran Trippier was seemingly due to come in as back up to AWB (regardless of what anyone says now, at the time he was playing well). Tom Heaton was already signed, Cavani was back with Sancho & the garden was rosy.
Suddenly it became clear Ronaldo was available and the rumour was he was going to City. Out of nowhere the deal was done and he was “home” after more than ten years and two clubs away. The fanfare was off the scale. The chants rang around the ground and even I was swept along after a while, despite my misgivings when the transfer happened. The replica shirts were sold like hot cakes.
The Glazers also had their own hot cakes for sale and managed to sell another tranche of shares; taking advantage of the post Ronaldo price spike as well as trousering their yearly dividend, stitching the managers up along the way.
Context of the situation
So what relevance do Tom Heaton & Edinson Cavani have in a Cristiano Ronaldo article? This seems a little more relevant since Dean Henderson’s bizarrely timed interview. Many have taken this as evidence of Solskjaer’s false promises. However, Henderson mentions the “Hierarchy” and not the manager. Is that word telling of decisions made from above the manager? We can all draw our own conclusions, but the circumstantial evidence points in that general direction.
Solskjaer had wanted several players he didn’t get. The majority of them young, dynamic, skilful and quick. The older ones he retained were noted for their off the pitch attributes as much as on it and he often spoke of the collective, focus and having players “dialled in”. As much as he had a “nice guy” image, many players were shown the door in his tenure.
So ask yourself this; why would a backup keeper be signed if there were not going to be changes in that department (whether you like it or not, United were better with Henderson and the analytics back that up) and an option taken up on an experienced forward if it wasn’t required? Why would a 37 year old, with the worst off the ball stats in Europe and a history of being the main man be signed by a manager with a young, vibrant attack and a team that scores goals?
Ronaldo’s effect on the team
In a nutshell, the signing of Ronaldo made no sense on a footballing level. The Premier League is the most demanding league in the world and requires work rate from every player. Even if it doesn’t mean pressing at a hundred miles an hour, concentration is of utmost importance. Players need to recover their shape, mark their man or use their cover shadows to prevent easy passes from the first phase. This can often mean blocking the keeper off and preventing him from recycling the ball quickly. Ronaldo does nothing apart from wave his arms around at his team mates if he doesn’t get the pass and moan at himself when he misses.
Prior to Ronaldo’s return, Ole’s United team were fairly free scoring considering the midfield was still a major problem. Functional but limited in depth and quality. But the team was moving in the right direction. Albeit too slowly because of the need to ship players out and the Glazers refusal to part with the clubs cash.
So the greatest player in the world pitched up at United and the whole thing goes up in smoke faster than a Rebekah Vardy “Wagatha Christie” saga. When Ruud Van Nistelrooy fell out with a young CR7 he found himself on the plane to Madrid after watching the dynamic duo lift their first senior trophy. Fourteen years after he forced his way to Real himself, the Petulant Son returned to play the Van Nistelrooy role, crushing the young vibrant forwards Cavani had nurtured the previous season. The irony lost on most.
The data analytics supported the hypothesis and the anecdotal evidence was there for all to see. The pattern of reduced team performance displayed at Juventus was all too apparent at Old Trafford; but how did that unfold?
Ronaldo’s history
Ronaldo pitched up at Juventus off the back of a huge transfer fee and proclaimed Juve would win the Champions League. They didn’t. Even though he scored lots of goals, including some absolute screamers, he made them become one dimensional. This is because of his propensity to shoot on sight, whether it’s a sub-optimal shot or not. You don’t win the gold fish if you don’t throw the coconuts and all that. The trouble is, other players like throwing coconuts as well.
In the season prior to his arrival, Juventus were a team. Dybala and Higuain sharing over 50 goals between them (19 & 32 respectively). There were between seven and eight players scoring five or more goals to augment those from the forwards in the two prior seasons. In his last season there, only two scored five or more and only Alvaro Morata got close to scoring 20 (nine league goals and 18 in total).
Former team mate Massimo Mauro was quoted in Italian publication Gazzetta Dello Sport; “Ronaldo has never been a leader where he has played and he never will be. Cristiano doesn’t drag his team-mates along with him, he always wants them to give him the ball to score goals. He is a great individualist, he is not a team player”.
The stats don’t lie
Fast forward to Ronaldo’s arrival at United. Much fanfare and the suspension of all other transfer activity aside from the incoming Varane, re-integration of Dalot and Lingard. The sale of the popular and tactically effective Dan James followed along with the permanent benching of Henderson.
| 20/21 season | Goals | 21/22 season | Goals |
| Fernandes | 28 | Ronaldo | 24 |
| Rashford | 21 | Fernandes | 10 |
| Cavani | 17 | #11 | 6 |
| #11 | 12 | Rashford | 5 |
| Martial | 7 | Sancho | 5 |
At this stage, a comparison of the previous two seasons goal scoring seems pertinent. There may be various factors at play in this model. However, there is a clear and obvious downturn from the “Individual Brilliance” season to the one just gone. The retained attacking players were annoyed. James was binned meaning we lost defensive work rate and a few Goals/Assists. Whilst game time for VDB was restricted because Lingard was back.
“The Hierarchy” comments from Henderson’s interview perhaps need to be considered in a more critical manner than face value. Afterall, he goes against the unwritten rule of footballers/football clubs where everything is kept in house and vague. For a contracted, current player to speak out like that is almost unheard of, and why now? Those of you that enjoyed “WreckItRalf “Exposing the club” must be loving this! What’s that, you like the club to be exposed, but not exposed like this? OK then.
TEam Dynamic
Picture the scene. The squad numbers are out, the signings are all but done and the patterns of play are worked on. It’s time to build on the incremental improvements of previous seasons with a good group of players. Then suddenly a great player with a terrible attitude arrives, demands everything is about him and occupies spaces on the pitch others have been playing in for a few seasons to good effect. Ronaldo loves jaywalking in the left hand half space mid tantrum, and the class clown moon walks back into training and sets Pogba off in a dabbing frenzy mid team talk. Is there any wonder it ended in tears?
Ronaldo scored goals, but made just two assists in the Premier League and his defensive stats were almost non existent. He is 37 and if you wish to cite that as validation, then he has got to straighten his boat race, stop being a petulant child and accept a bit part role. The Premier League will not take any prisoners, and the sands of time wait for no man. It happened to Cantona, to Carrick and to Roy Keane. Perhaps he is a case in point, because once he was no longer the best player at the club, the attributes that made him the best in the country, if not the continent soon became disruptive influences on the group and he was booted out of the club. But this was when we were a football club and not a commercial operation with a works team.
The Glazer factor
Cristiano Ronaldo was not entirely at fault in this mess. It is clearly a Glazernomic signing, but once you acknowledge the pre-existing squad weaknesses, including; midfield, only one right back, post Euro blues/injuries along with the clear and present issues with the goalkeepers lack of proactive attributes, it becomes apparent that maintaining team shape was going to be difficult. Distances between players would become too great, and the system would fall apart. The club kept pumping the propaganda out and the fans kept clicking the links, liking the posts putting sponsors adverts in their eyes and the owners continued to enjoy the blame falling squarely at the door of the former manager. But surely Cristiano is a great player behind the scenes? His reactions off the ball are the frustrations of a winner are they not?
So can the current state of the club and squad be blamed squarely on Ronaldo’s toes? Clearly not, but the attitudes of the man are not what you would expect from a prodigal son returning to his former club to push them on to a new era of trophies.
Body Language EXAMINATION
Given most of us are forming opinions from incomplete data from a variety of sources, using them to form opinions, and as we know the media and social media can often shape these opinions to a greater degree than many realise. Too often the narrative is based on scapegoating and nonsense to sell clicks.
One area that is often spoken of is body language. Non-verbal communication is thought to be between 70 and 93 percent. As with many things in football, many people speak of it without really understanding the nuances and impact of certain behaviours. It was clear there had been many changes in the set up at Manchester United and a conversation with Gareth Hardman led to an in depth conversation on the fortunes of the club. It became clear Gareth is very knowledgeable as I asked him about his background.
Gareth, What is your background?
“I’m a behavioural analyst, positive behaviour support practitioner and de-escalation and self-defence trainer. I specialise in working with children and adults with Autism; their carers’, families and services to promote better, inclusive and more supportive environment, analysing physical behaviours to identify the source of anxiety in people with autism (due to verbal communicative barriers), and supporting people in direct contact with
the individuals, to recognise how their own demeanour, vocabulary and body language impacts on them. I’m also a conference speaker and teach social work students how to manage themselves when working with families through conflict. Situations can be resolved by simply managing your physical form correctly. In a nutshell this is me for the past 22 years.”
does this affect your behaviour as a fan?
“The answer to the question the answer is yes. I often find myself in the minority when the masses turn on our players or managers. As I’m sure you’ll have seen by my replies to tweets or those I’ve posted, I tend to have more patience and am far more empathetic when the chips are down. When Ole came in, the impact that he had on the club was incredible. He brought with him a sense of togetherness, unity and belief. For fans, despite the uncertainty with regards to the level of experience he had; it was exciting, nostalgic and he gave us permission to dream again. The results came, the players were cut loose from the shackles that Jose had imposed on them and they looked like a bunch of kids, loving life, and loving football. [It] was amazing to see. 6th, 3rd and 2nd [Premier League] finishes over two and a half seasons was progress, I don’t care what anyone says.”
We continued to agree that the progress was not linear
“The football at times was hard to watch when teams parked the bus; but when games were open, we were fire, but in the end, with Ronaldo there, that was Ole’s downfall.”
Was the arrival of Ronaldo the deciding factor for you?
“The two seasons before, we won as a team, but we lost as a team. That was so important.”
So can you give some examples of his body language from images and clips?
[Meeting Solskjaer for the first time at Carrington] “Ronaldo stands feet shoulder width apart with his hands behind his back the whole time. This is sign of dominance over the person that you are communicating with. Look at Ole, he struggles to look at Ronaldo directly and talks to either his chest, with his head slightly tilted away. Ronaldo stares right at him almost the whole time. Ole is withdrawn throughout the interaction without really being aware of it. It’s really interesting! That’s the manager, if he can do that to Ole on the first meeting, imagine what it was like in the dressing room?”
“If you imagine a bunch of younger players looking up to one of the best players on the world exerting his dominance over them. They will have rolled over like a bunch of puppies having their tummies tickled.”
So how did you feel about RANGNICK and Ronaldo’s behaviour towards him?
“In terms of [Rangnick], I believe he was fighting a losing battle from the start. He came in with completely the wrong approach. I don’t doubt his abilities in coaching, but his man management skills were just shocking. He took a team of players with such low confidence and belief, and made it twice as bad. They needed someone like him to come in and work with Ole; to be a stronger presence and better coaching credentials, but with less power. Ole had such a young and inexperienced group of backroom staff, he didn’t stand a chance. The players under [Rangnick] just looked downtrodden and lacklustre. There was no effort, but that wasn’t due to not wanting to try, they were genuinely lost. You could see it in them.”
Moving away from non-verbal communication, how do you feel it went down on the pitch?
“A couple of things to look at in play as well. When plays go through Ronaldo and it goes wrong, always a wry smile or a look up to the heavens; but if they go through another player and he is bypassed he goes ballistic. Also look for how many goal celebrations that didn’t involve him scoring or assisting he actually celebrated with the team. I found three. He stops dead where he is stood and puts his arm up, whilst the rest of the team are jumping all over each other. Even when it ends positively, he’s still not too happy it doesn’t involve him.”
Where would you say the biggest impacts were?
“Players became too scared not to involve him in forward plays, this had a negative impact on their expression, belief and confidence, and it becomes more apparent as the season goes on. When we lose he storms off the pitch like a child, at home the rest of the players applaud the crowd, he storms off.”
How would you compare Ronaldo to Cavani?
“Cavani was a different beast, you could see him talking to the younger players. If a pass was off point, or a poor decision was made, he was over talking to them, showing them what they needed to do instead; arm around the shoulder. I saw that so many times. Cristiano is jumping up and down shouting making exaggerated gestures with his arms, facial expressions contorted visibly angry”
How would you say it affected other players in the squad?
“Take Maguire and Rashford for example. Both quality players, both had two or three excellent seasons, yet both now two of the most horrendously bullied players in world football across social media platforms. With both of these players, for completely different reasons they hit a slump in form and confidence. This triggers a response from certain sections which snowballs into mindless agenda, relentlessly pushed by our own fans. They have such power it’s frightening. Before you know it, tens of thousands of individuals that lack true insight and rationale into why the players have responded in this way, are adding further substance to their lack of self-belief and confidence. To me, it’s cruel, it’s victimisation, bullying and without a doubt, it’s dangerous.”
How would you summarise Ronaldo’s impact over recent weeks in these photos and clips?
“Arms out to side, bent elbows for arms up as if to say ‘I know, you don’t need to tell me.’ Then his facial expression, eyebrows up, sides of mouth angled down. Very confident expression ‘what you telling me for’ Not a great look at all”
“Four players together in a huddle, but Ronaldo’s off to the side, distancing himself with arms crossed. This also signifies distancing, or shutting [yourself off] .Confused expression.”
what do you take from his behaviour over his time here including the recent walkout?
“I believe the dominant stance from him [in the first meeting with Solskjaer] was to show Ole actually who was in charge. That’s how it appears, almost condescending. I believe the walking out of the stadium was out of embarrassment. I think he’s hugely embarrassed that no club has come in for him. I guess I would need to take a closer look at that.”
How would you say this type of attitude can affect the team?
“There have been many coaches and organisational studies that discuss it. The All Blacks famously have a “No D***heads Policy” while Sir Clive Woodward described team members as “Energisers and Sappers”. While Solskjaer himself said he’d rather have a hole in the squad than an a***hole in the squad”
“In terms of the way that this type of issue spreads through a team the Betari box model is good. It’s a very simple way of looking at behaviour and attitude, and how it easily impacts on others around you.”
The Betari box model uses a cycle to show how our attitude can affect behaviour and how this behaviour can affect others attitudes and how this can subsequently affects their behaviour. If two or more individuals in a group or squad are displaying negative behaviours, it is possible they will continue to influence each other to feel the same. Although, it is often considered that attitude can be an unconscious behaviour. Thus, the decision about attitude is often made without thinking about it and can be often based on how people are feeling at the time.
Summary
To conclude, it is clear there are very few, if any positives to the signing of Ronaldo. Certain sections of the fan-base will cite the sacking of Solskjaer as a net positive, but the facts will always remain, things got worse when Ronaldo arrived and Ole left. And no matter what some might think, he was a relative success.
The club is a shadow its former self and the signing of a fading star is itself a symptom of the decline, not a rise in standards. Manchester United are competing against well-funded, well organised teams and one formerly great individual was never going to redress the balance. If anything Cavani was the better bet from a leadership point of view and this would have enabled better recruitment. We may still have been looking forward to the first game of the Ten Hag era, but if it is to be more than ten games and not another false start, Ronaldo must depart and take the Glazers with him.