Cristiano Ronaldo
The entire week paving the way to Monday's conflict, the assumption encompassing Manchester United was that the club was in for a beatdown against Liverpool. The Red Devils got off to a rotten beginning to the 2022-23 Premier League season, losing continuous games because of Brighton and Brentford. Erik Ten Hag's residency at Manchester United could never have gotten going more terrible, yet he rolled out a few major improvements to the setup in front of their matchup with Liverpool.
Among the notable changes Ten Hag deployed included the decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo in favor of Anthony Elanga. The legendary striker found himself watching from the sidelines throughout most of the 90 minutes on Monday, and it ended up paying dividends for Manchester United. Joining Ronaldo on the bench was United captain Harry Maguire, who was replaced by Raphael Varane. Not only did United come away with a win, but they looked the far superior side against Klopp’s Liverpool
Joined players looked sure and ready, making shrewd runs off the ball and playing great collectively in the midfield. That is an unmistakable change from what we've seen in earlier weeks. Their presentation against Liverpool was top class beginning to end, in spite of surrendering a late objective to Mohamed Salah. It was a truly necessary triumph for the club, and demonstrates that in spite of his standing, Manchester United likely could be in an ideal situation without Cristiano Ronaldo.
3 reasons Manchester United is in an ideal situation without Cristiano Ronaldo
1). Ronaldo adds undesirable tension and consideration
Playing for Manchester United accompanies its very own spotlight, yet arranging close by Cristiano Ronaldo intensifies that 10-overlay. Ronaldo's groups are supposed to be at the highest point of the table and in conflict for Europe's top prizes, not duking it out in that frame of mind of the standings and playing in the Europa League. Ronaldo presents a significant interruption for the club. A significant part of the pre-match conversation on Monday was centered around Ronaldo's nonappearance from the Starting XI, as opposed to the players who were in it.
Ronaldo has been effectively looking for a create some distance from the group and has often stood out as truly newsworthy with his shenanigans. Whether it be his representative Jorge Mendes purportedly offering him to each top club in Europe, or his stunning choice to leave Old Trafford in a pre-season cordial in the wake of getting subbed off, Ronaldo figures out how to remain in the consistent pattern of media reporting. That can make things challenging for a club that is attempting to zero in on re-finding its structure. The additional interruptions that come from Ronaldo's presence just enhance the tension United players are as of now under, bringing about a troublesome climate for everybody.
2). Bruno Fernandes is better without Ronaldo
Regardless of the pair being colleagues for their global arrangement in Portugal, Bruno Fernandes is obviously a more certain and generally better player when not collaborated with Ronaldo. The Manchester United going after midfielder frequently vanishes from the game while imparting the pitch to Ronaldo. That was a long way from the case on Monday, as Fernandes was dynamic in all features of the game, whether it be develop play or following back on guard.
Toward the finish of last season, Fernandes offered a few remarks which seemed to propose that Manchester United might be in an ideal situation without Ronaldo, commending the going after threesome of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Anthony Martial. Amusingly, that was the very top three that figured out how to set up two objectives against Liverpool on Monday, meanwhile Ronaldo watched from the seat — until getting subbed on late. Maybe Fernandes was onto something with that strategic goody from last season. While Ronaldo is their most perceived player, it very well may be contended that Fernandes is more essential to the ongoing United arrangement, and Ten Hag ought to totally regard him thusly.
3) Ronaldo doesn't squeeze into Erik Ten Hag's framework
Erik Ten Hag's choice to seat Ronaldo was not absolutely founded on United's battles. Strategically, the style Ten Hag sends is definitely not ideal for the 37-year-old. As we saw during Ten Hag's spell at Ajax, he frequently uses a strategy that is requesting of his aggressors. Everything revolves around high strain start to finish. Ten Hag favors a forward who will endeavor to win back belonging and utilize their engine for an entire an hour and a half. With regards to following back and proceeding safeguard, that is not Ronaldo's subject matter. He frequently doesn't follow back by any means, which adds to the strain on United's protection and midfield.
Saying this doesn't imply that Ronaldo isn't truly equipped for playing in that style, nonetheless, it's notable that he creates at his best with the ball at his feet. The CR7 that turned into a worldwide symbol is famous for his goalscoring result and capacity to make safeguards miss with his spilling skill, not such a lot of his dynamic developments off the ball. Ronaldo, for all his ability with the ball at his feet, frequently battles to get once more into the ideal going after position in the wake of moving into the midfield to connect up play, a basic part of Ten Hag's strategic framework. It doesn't appear to be logical that Ronaldo will work on in the previously mentioned regions, given his age, making him a general unfortunate fit for Ten Hag's favored style of play.