Ronaldo’s ego threatens to tarnish his legacy
"Yes, not only the coach but two or three guys around the club. I felt betrayed."
And following his explosive interview with Piers Morgan, many Manchester United fans will be feeling the same towards Cristiano Ronaldo.
Some say the greatest quality Ronaldo possesses is his confidence. However, at this stage of his career his sense of self-importance and ego is doing more harm than good. It entitles him to believe that he is still the best player on the planet despite a clear descent from one of the highest peaks any footballers has scaled.
Last season felt like one last great hurrah for the all conquering Ronaldo, who was United's top scorer in all competitions. Despite not sparkling in the manner that he did during his flamboyant pomp, he was still impactful and had enough athleticism, intelligence amd quality to make his mark.
This season has been starkly different. A drop in form, a struggle to fit into Erik Ten Hag's system, and disciplinary problems have plagued Ronaldo and prompted him to conduct an interview with the controversial Piers Morgan, blaming everyone but himself and threatening to tarnish his legacy and relationship with an adoring Manchester United fanbase.
A situation like this requires a far more balanced and inquisitive voice than that of the polarising Morgan who has a habit of stacking evidence in favour of his agenda whilst ignoring proof of a contrary viewpoint. The man thrives on sensationalism and sleaze, and as an avid Arsenal supporter he must surely have been gleeful as Ronaldo launched a proverbial hand grenade into the club he claims to love.
Whilst the Manchester United icon was certainly correct in his criticism of the Glazers and his assessment of a frustrating lack of evolution and innovation within the world's most famous football club, one has to question his motives when he elects to express these concerns in a publicised polemic as opposed to in private to the decision makers at the club.
The irony of his criticism of the clubs hierarchy is that the concerns many had by stating Ronaldo’s second coming would have a destabilising effect was true and therefore emblematic of the repeated rash decision making and failures of upper management at the club since Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill left the club. Instead of thinking about the progress of the team, they decided to add another giant ego to a squad that already contained many of them, recognising the commercial value of Ronaldo to outweigh the risk of jeopardising performances on the pitch and harmony in the dressing room.
The fans - myself included - romanticised that their former hero would bring back the glory years, sadly this was not the case and Ronaldo forgot two valuable lessons that his mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson, routinely cited. Firstly, that no player is ever bigger than the club, and secondly that the manager is the most important figure at the club.
His behaviour this season has been far from exemplary and despite claiming manager, Erik Ten Hag lacks respect for him, it’s important to acknowledge that the Dutchman has given Ronaldo numerous opportunities, forgiven for his missteps, and given him the responsibility of wearing the captains armband in his last outing - a 3-1 mauling at the hands of Aston Villa.
However, Ronaldo was right in saying he is being pushed out of the club. Not in the spiteful way he states but in the cyclical process that the club has traditionally evolved in. Erik Ten Hag has placed his faith in a younger crop of talented attackers to execute his gameplan and the painful truth is that Sir Alex Ferguson would approve of it.
In 2006 Ronaldo, along with a young Wayne Rooney, managed to convince Sir Alex Ferguson that youthful ambition, combined with talent, pace and dynamism would represent best chance for success at the club. It forced Ferguson to make the bold decision to sell the talismanic goal-machine, Ruud Van Nistelrooy. The exit of Van Nistelrooy signalled the beginning of a gloriously successful chapter for the club with Ronaldo as the spearhead.
This season the younger players no longer look subservient to Ronaldo’s force of personality and have been emboldened by Erik Ten Hag to believe that it is their time to shine. This makes the timing of the interview perplexing considering it coincides with the first real signs of progress within the team. Ten Hag has instilled discipline, self-belief, tactical cohesion, and most importantly collective harmony, underlined in their win against Spurs, the last gasp equaliser against Chelsea and most recently at the expense of Fulham. All successes achieved without the once irrepressible Portuguese captain, whose ego must have been bruised to know that he was redundant in those moments.
In truth the end is near for one of the greatest footballers ever but rather than accepting that Father Time overcomes even the greatest of athletes, Ronaldo is behaving like he has just entered the anger phase in the grieving process of his career by petulantly lashing out at the club he says he loves rather than looking at himself and realising that he isn't as good as he used to be.
The man known as CR7 is possibly unwanted by some at Manchester United, but equally his actions this season show that he has little ambition to remain there. He has forced a move from Manchester United before when he requested a move to Real Madrid but the bonds between player and fans remained so strong that many continued to proudly support him throughout his glittering career and welcomed him back with open arms upon his return in 2021.
Legacy is important to Cristiano Ronaldo. Records, trophies, accolades, and adulation are how he measures his success. He unquestionably has the first three, but criticising Manchester United in the manner he has without acknowledging his own flawed behaviour and decline will only threaten how warmly he will he remembered by the United faithful. This would be a great shame for a player whose achievements at the club deserve to be celebrated as much as any that has worn the famous red shirt.
