Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been slammed for failing to sell Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer transfer window.
Ronaldo was heavily linked with a departure from Old Trafford after Ten Hag's arrival, with the attacker unhappy with how his first season back in Manchester played out. But suitors for the 38-year-old were few and far between, with Chelsea and Bayern Munich among the clubs ruling themselves out of a move.
As a result, Ronaldo stayed with United, though by that time he had already missed several weeks of pre-season as he tried to push through an exit. He has struggled for opportunities in the Premier League under Ten Hag, starting just twice and scoring one goal.
But former United star Teddy Sheringham believes that it was obvious Ronaldo would find life tough under Ten Hag. And he slammed the Dutchman for not letting him leave during the summer window.
“I think Ronaldo has kind of got his head around the fact that he’s staying and the vibes don’t seem to be as bad anymore. When you have an absolute superstar in your camp it can affect a lot of other players," Sheringham told Gambling.com.
"I would have just said to him in the summer that he’s allowed to leave and built my team around a proper centre-forward instead, as well as the younger players he’s got. They’ve not really got a proper centre-forward, have they?
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"Ten Hag has got one of the hardest jobs in world football at the moment. He’s come in at United and is trying to get them all rowing in the same direction, but without a natural centre-forward up there leading the line and scoring the goals I think he’ll find it difficult."
United have endured a mixed campaign so far, winning five and losing three of their top-flight games so far. And Sheringham believes the root cause of their problems has been the lack of a natural centre-forward in their squad.
“He’s tried a few different players up there. Martial goes up there, Rashford and Ronaldo but none of them, in my eyes, are proper centre-forwards. The way I see it, they’re all players who are best off playing off a centre-forward," he added.
“I like Antony, he’s looked quite lively, and I rate [Jadon] Sancho too, even though we’ve yet to see the best of him. But when they’re playing with Ronaldo as their centre-forward, they’re finding it tough.
“I know he’s scored an untold amount of goals, but it’s not always just about scoring goals, you’ve got to lead the line as well and he doesn’t do that for me. You’ve got to have the right personnel to play the position properly – that’s what makes a team function, and I think that’s why they’ve struggled at times this season.”
