Cristiano Ronaldo Man United
Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the star of the show for whichever team he has played in the past decade but this season, he seems to be a liability for Manchester United.

Ronaldo was brought in amongst a lot of hype during the summer transfer window and he was supposed to be the x-factor at the club but recently he has been the primary reason why United are playing so poorly. He had another stinker on Saturday as he failed to convert numerous chances which is why United had to settle for only a single point.

The 0-0 draw against Watford means Man United are the risk of falling out of the top-four anytime and seeing his recent performances, former Chelsea defender Frank Lebeouf has very candidly claimed that CR7 should hang up his boots.

Lebeouf told ESPN: “Do you know what? I think there is a time where you have to think, ‘What do I do with my life and my career’.

“And maybe it’s time for Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of his career to wonder and have a discussion with himself, and maybe some of his family, to know what he has to do for the rest of his career, if there is a future in his career.

“I don’t want to watch Ronaldo and have pity, because he’s been on the top for so many years. I don’t want him to be a normal player. He’s been an exceptional player for so long.

“I’d prefer him to give up his career at the top instead of maybe trying and play for two or three more years and not being the player that he used to be.”

Is Ronaldo the root of all the problems at Man United?

At the ripe age of 37, Cristiano Ronaldo has lost all his pace so apart from scoring goals, he does not provide anything more in terms of building up the play.

He does make the odd move into midfield but running down the channels and playing on the shoulders of defenders is something he can’t do anymore. Well, not at least for the full 90 minutes.

To make matters worse, the superstar is not comfortable in a high press system which is why Ralf Rangnick has had to scrap his idea of a 4-2-2-2 formation and use Ole’s 4-2-3-1 system. And now that he is not scoring goals, Cristiano Ronaldo has turned into baggage for the manager.

Against Watford, he had five shots but failed to score from even one of them, and a few of them were pretty easy chances as per his standards.

In fact, in 2022 he has managed to score only one goal in the 10 appearances he’s made for Manchester United and his dullness in front of goal has cost United a lot of points. Rangnick is someone who’s not shy of making the harsh selection calls but with Edinson Cavani ruled out with an injury, the German cannot afford to bench CR7 right now.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo retire?

During the BEST award show a few weeks ago, Cristiano Ronaldo had claimed that he was still to play for four or five more years.

He had said: “I still have a passion for the game. It’s to entertain myself and I have played football since I was five or six years old. I feel joy when I train and my motivation is still there. I’m going to be 37 soon but I feel motivated. People ask me how many years I’m going to continue playing – I hope to play for four or five more years. Physically if you treat your body well, it will give you something back. I love the game and I want to continue.”

It’s really optimistic on his part to harbour the hope of playing beyond forty but his performances have been so poor this year that if Rangnick had a proper backup the manager wouldn’t think twice before benching the Portuguese.

He has turned into a massive liability for Man United and if he cannot score goals then he’s completely useless. We really don’t think Ronaldo will retire or even think of retiring right now but if he can’t get back into goalscoring form then he should at least think of playing in a league that is a lot less competitive and intense than the Premier League.

Read: Is this team now the favourites to secure a Champions League spot next season?

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