Cristiano Ronaldo’s role at Manchester United has once again come under the spotlight after he was accused of being part of the Red Devils’ ‘problem’.
The Portuguese superstar returned to Old Trafford in the summer transfer window, but his second spell at United has so far been mixed, with his individual performances unable to prevent a disappointing campaign for the team as a whole.
The latest low point in their season came on Friday night when Championship side Middlesbrough fought back from going a goal down to dump them out of the FA Cup at the fourth-round stage.
The competition was their last realistic chance to win a trophy this season, with Ralf Rangnick’s men also facing a huge battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Has Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester United been a success? Comment below.
Ronaldo played all 120 minutes of the game and dragged a first-half penalty wide that would have sent United through.
The attacker scored United’s fourth penalty in the shootout, but Anthony Elanga missed his in sudden death to send Rangnick’s men crashing out.
By his standards, Ronaldo’s performance at Old Trafford was poor, putting half his shots off target and losing four of his five aerial duels.
That has led to him receiving fierce criticism from former Premier League star Carlton Cole, who believes that Ronaldo is part of the ‘problem’ at United.
The West Ham icon also stated that the signing of Ronaldo has proven to be an error of judgement from United, despite the 37-year-old being their top scorer this season.
“I got slated for saying this about Cristiano Ronaldo before, that he’s come in and taken all the attention away from what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was doing,” Cole told talkSPORT.
“I’m not saying that he’s not going to score you goals, he scores a bag of goals, but was he the right thing for Man United? Was he the right thing for that team?
“The evidence shows, and not even just from tonight, but going on everything that has happened since he came in, Man United still have not gone to the next level.
“I’m not saying it’s just Ronaldo’s fault – a lot of things have happened – but he is part of the problem too.
“Obviously you’re going to look for Ronaldo but I don’t know whether he can lead by example anymore. He hasn’t got that tenacity.”
Cole also believes that Ronaldo has lost some of what made him a serial Ballon d’Or winner as he approaches the end of his career.
“Where he used to be buzzing around the pitch, now he’s waiting,” he added.
“He’s goal-hanging right now because he’s trying to save his energy and score goals, that’s what his job is and that’s what we expect from him.
“The younger Ronaldo would have obviously been bombing around the pitch and charging about, but now he’s got to depend on his teammates.
“He’s a leader in his own way, but he can only say so much to the players. They need someone who is going to show action as well. I was looking on that pitch for a leader, and I didn’t see one.”
