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The Wizard

Let me get a quick word in.

This isn't the Manchester United he left in 2008.

This isn't the Ronaldo the club bid adieu to more than a decade ago either.

Both have changed. Both are different.

Ole is not Sir Alex.

The club has struggled to repeat its glory years a la the 2000s. Ronaldo's aura is still bright but not as incandescent as before. He's in better shape at 36 than most of us will ever be in our lives and yet he's 12 years older. Okay, he scored a lot of goals at Juventus, but Ronaldo hasn't picked up major honours/titles since leaving Madrid. The Italian job wasn't as successful as he and the team would have wanted. (*Edit: I was wrong. See PPS) Heck, Dybala may just have heaved the biggest sigh of relief in Italy because Ronaldo has a tendency to eclipse everyone else in the team. Kind of like Messi, but not in the Argentine's cunningly understated manner. Ronaldo's voracious appetite for personal success is as subtle as an uppercut.    

So, despite the fact that he's scored a scarcely believable 551 club goals since leaving Man Utd, it's best not to expect those feats and that impact from him once more. 

551, ffs!

Anyway, I'm concerned about aspects like locker room dynamics. disruption of the wonderful Bruno Fernandes' influence (thinking back to Portugal at the Euros), Sancho's position, Martial's effective redundancy, Rashford's overshadowing, Cavani's shirt number and much, much more. I'm also curious to see if his presence will lead to an individual and collective rise in quality and, in Fred and Martial's cases, any appearance of it. After all, Ronaldo, De Gea and Jones are the only ones in the team to have lifted the EPL trophy. After which Ronaldo went on to lift a LOT of trophies. Man's a serial winner.

And the Pogba equation of course.

I do hope the United locker room doesn't end up like the one at PSG, where gargantuan egos clashed and crashed the team's rhythm.

Still, watching the internet have a collective meltdown today, I couldn't help but think of the fact that a brand new generation of EPL footballers is about to experience the Ronaldo effect once again. And, I also think about the mental strength of a man who returns to play for a club where every one of his erstwhile teammates has retired or faded away.  

CR7 is back. What this means for United and the league is anyone's guess. I suppose we'll be seeing much more of Sir Alex at Old Trafford in any case.

Song for the moment: News - Dire Straits

PS: I didn't wax lyrical about CR during his first stint and I'm not about to start now, all things considered. 

*PPS: At Juventus, he won 2 Serie A titles and 3 other cups. What a guy!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Agree with you. The euphoria seems to more borne out of emotion than simple analysis. Here's my take:

United will essentially veer off the rebuild/transition path, one that they have actually been doing a stellar job with last season tbh, and go down the seductive path of trying to win it all, right now! This means Ronaldo will need to be accommodated, anyhow, and the team will be set up so that he can continue to bang in the goals. He will end up doing that successfully with all the service he's going to get from Bruno, Pogba, and possibly even Rashford. This will come off looking like a successful transfer, but once he leaves, it will be back to rebuild phase I, instead of phase III or IV which is where United would have been at, absent this event. Not saying that is a bad thing in and of itself btw.

United now favorites to win the league this season and make a deep run in the Champions League, for my money. Ronaldo, if fit throughout, gets 25+ goals in the league.
28 August 2021 at 01:20
G said…
@Anon: Maybe this deserves a follow-up post, but anyway. Yes, Utd. have chosen to veer off the rebuild path, for now. Definitely short of a CDM. Selling (Eg. Lingard, Jones, Matic, Mata, Martial, Fred) should have been a priority while buying, but they're terrible at it. Yet, the current reality is this - up front, MU are light. Greenwood is young, Rashford is injured, Cavani getting older (will miss games due to internationals too) & Martial has hit a wall. A good CDM would have allowed Utd. to work with Sancho, Bruno, Pogba (and DVdB if Ole ever wakes up) in frontal roles along with the others. With Fred, Matic & McTominay, they can't play without a point-person (unlike MCFC last year). So, in the short term, a phenom who still scores 20+ goals a season with good service made sense, I guess. Besides, it's Ronaldo & MU, which would always be fuelled by wistfulness & other emotions. And the crazy money they'll make won't hurt MU either :)

While I worry about his effect on the others, I also feel adding a serial winning mentality to the mix can't do any harm to a team filled with guys who want to win but haven't quite crossed that rubicon. Having 2 guys who know how to win (CR & RV) big + Pogba for a season, along with Bruno and Sancho's desire... may work.

I'd say the MU 'team' can definitely challenge for trophies now but I'm concerned for them, tactically speaking.
28 August 2021 at 10:15
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