Cristiano Ronaldo summed up his entire spell at Manchester United since rejoining the club in his last two performances.
On the Saturday, he was at his marvellous best. His hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur was simply stunning and showed that 'never say die' attitude which United fans have been begging for this season.
Just three days later we saw the other side of Ronaldo - with a lack of chances created and without the ability to conjure up that magical moment, United and the Portuguese superstar were out of the Champions League. United perhaps have better individuals than Atletico Madrid and Spurs but the difference between the two performances was clear. Ronaldo can only bail out the Reds on certain occasions now.
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At 37, Ronaldo is inching towards the end of his career and as each day passes the more the obvious becomes clear; United need to be able to rely on more than just one man. Real Madrid seemingly had this figured out when Ronaldo wore their shirt.
Back in 2017, Mauricio Pochettino was asked to preview the La Liga side ahead of Tottenham's fixture against them in the Champions League. In this one extract he showed exactly where United have slipped up this campaign.
As reported in FourFourTwo, Pochettino said: "He's a very important player, but they have lots of very good players. The squad they have is amazing and they have a very good manager. They're a fantastic club, but you need contributions from the whole squad to win titles."
This, in a nutshell, is the problem at Old Trafford.
When watching United play this season you can sense that the players are just waiting for that next moment of brilliance from the forward. If it does not come they end up falling short - case in point Atletico Madrid, Middlesbrough, Southampton etc.
Ronaldo's success has come thanks to his teammates not in spite of them. The likes of Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema helped create a strong core at the Bernabeu which brought them huge success over the years.
That strong core does not exist over at the Theatre of Dreams. It is widely expected that United will look to have a wholesale clearout in the summer ahead of the arrival of a new manager - potentially Pochettino - but titles will not return if the squad does not pull together.
For too long, United have played like a team of individuals. The template for success is there, create a strong team and the rest will fall into place.
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The signing of Ronaldo was certainly not a flop - the club's leading goalscorer has impressed in parts. But United need more than just moments to return to the very top of the game.
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