Enough now. If Cristiano Ronaldo can’t act like a professional, it’s time for Manchester United to treat him like any other footballer who refuses to carry themselves in an appropriate way.
After watching Ronaldo's sulky stroll down the touchline on his way out of Old Trafford before full-time on Wednesday, United need to bring an end to his second spell with the club sooner rather than later.
He’s one of the greatest players of all time? So what. He’s on around £375,000 a week? So what. All he is proving to be at this point is a distraction. Ronaldo 2022 is an overpaid bench-sitter, a player with 340 minutes to his name in 10 Premier League games so far this season and a single start in over two months.
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They tried to give him starts last season. They were awful.
They tried the same again at the beginning of Erik ten Hag’s reign. Brentford 4-0 Man Utd, anyone?
They’ve tried to bring him off the bench as a substitute in recent weeks. Guess what… it hasn’t worked.
And now he’s storming off in a strop and playing no part in celebrating the togetherness and spirit of a team which had just beaten a decent Tottenham Hotspur side in what is being heralded as their best performance in a number of years.
Erik ten Hag: “I will deal with that tomorrow, not today. We are now celebrating this victory”.
The very best players are not those who contribute only on the field, they are the ones who also give every ounce of their experience and insight over to the next generation, who harness and encourage the changing of the times, who do everything they can to get the best out of the group first and the individual second. Ronaldo, instead, has left Old Trafford early twice since August. If his name was Luke Shaw or Anthony Martial he’d be training with the under-18s by now with that sort of behaviour.
And that’s where he belongs at this moment in time: training with the kids. No more making allowances for the ego of a 37-year-old who is living off memories and nothing more. Get him in with the academy players who could really learn something from him. And if he doesn’t want to do that? Get shot of him. Seriously, what’s the worst that could happen? Another £13 million in wasted wages? Well, that’s the case anyway if he’s not getting any game time.
The farce needs to stop. End it. Get him out of the first-team squad. Out of the club if necessary. CR37 is not the man you remember CR7 being. He is now a self-centred substitute who can’t even stick around to pat his more united teammates on the back after an excellent win.
The time for pandering to Ronaldo has long since gone, and he has to be held accountable for his unforgivable selfishness.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
