Brighton boss Graham Potter has warned his players that Cristiano Ronaldo still possesses the quality to decide games - despite being in the midst of his worst goalscoring drought for more than a decade.
The 37-year-old has failed to find the net in his last six games for Manchester United, with his last goal coming in the win over Burnley at the end of December.
It has led to some fierce criticism of his displays and question marks over how impactful he can be at this point in his career.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick went as far as to drop Ronaldo for last week’s draw at Turf Moor, citing Edinson Cavani’s additional ability to press as the deciding factor.
His current barren period is the longest since the 2008/09 season, when he went nine matches in three competitions without troubling the scoresheet.
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But Potter has claimed that the Portuguese icon’s qualities are still clear to see and compared the analysis over his performances to Seagulls striker Neal Maupay.
Maupay, like Ronaldo, has eight Premier League goals this term, but went more than a month without scoring, before netting in last weekend’s victory at Watford.
Asked about Ronaldo’s perceived struggles ahead of his side’s visit to Old Trafford on Tuesday night, Potter said: “Well you sort of run out of superlatives in terms of what he’s achieved in his career and the player that he is.
"I mean, it’s an absolutely amazing career. He’s world-class, out-of-this-world class. There’s nothing else to say with that.
“It’s like anything, too often we zoom in to individuals and forget that it’s a team game. Sometimes when the team isn’t scoring, the person at the front of the pitch gets the zooming in – we’ve had it ourselves with Neal, for example.
“So, as I always say, and I’ve said it when it’s Neal, it’s not just about the individual it’s about the team and from what I’ve seen you can still see the quality that he [Ronaldo] has and the quality that he brings to the group and the team.
“I’ve never played against him so I’m looking forward to going there and pitting our wits against one of the best players of all time.”
United host Brighton looking to end a run of three successive 1-1 draws, in which, they have taken the lead in each of the games, only to allow their opponents back into the game.
Rangnick has faced some flak for recent performances, but his Brighton counterpart added that the perception he is doing a bad job is being over emphasised.
He explained: “I would say that they’ve only lost one game in the Premier League since he’s been in. I think they’ve had five wins, four draws and one defeat, and then those draws you could argue that they quite easily could have won.
“Obviously there’s a managerial change halfway through the season, so that generally suggests something has happened.
“And then society thinks somebody’s going to come in and it’s just going to be a massive change and everything is going to be loads better, but the reality is it’s small changes over time.
“It doesn’t sound too interesting, doesn’t sound too sexy, but the reality of it is that’s what it is. I think they’re in the process of that. They’re still a fantastic club with fantastic players, really experienced football man in charge, so we know it’s going to be a tough game.”
