On the walk to the press box at the Etihad on Sunday, a few of us passed a brusque Roy Keane, cause for dread for many inside the Manchester United dressing room.
Keane was devoid of a tie, now de rigueur at Sky taking as they take inspiration from Peter Mannion in their attempt to rebrand presenters and pundits. Keane looked typically gruff and you sensed then, three hours before kick-off, he would dominate the post-match news agenda.
The Manchester Evening News had revealed the night before the derby Cristiano Ronaldo was not in the squad. An Instagram fan account that is followed by Ronaldo posted he was not injured and had been dropped altogether. The post was liked by Ronaldo's sister.
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Unlike the last permanent United manager, Ralf Rangnick is not in the habit of fibbing about the fitness of players. The theory Ronaldo was cut at the expense of Hannibal Mejbri would kill a coach's credibility. Ronaldo was injured.
There was plenty for Keane to go at in the studio: “I just don’t like when the manager talks about this hip flexor. I don’t get it.
“We talk about Ronaldo being almost some sort of machine, he’s rarely ever injured. But every now and again he comes up with that, hip flexor. Doesn’t add up to me.”
Although he attempted some open surgery during his career, Keane is not a qualified doctor. Ronaldo missed two matches in January against Aston Villa with the same injury. A hip-related injury would significantly account for his lean spell and Ronaldo has been cumbersome since the turn of the year.
Punditry has been dumbed down in the last couple of years and studios are in need of an informative voice. Micah Richards, for such a ubiquitous pundit, had to be told by Gary Neville on Sunday United did not want Antonio Conte back in October, which was written at the time.
Keane's punditry carries gravitas and he was likely oblivious to Ronaldo's hip issue in January. No one, on camera or off, bothered to do some fact-checking and notify the anchor, David Jones, so he could provide context.
"We speculated earlier Ronaldo may not make the trip," Jones began, unable to credit the original source or the journalists who reported Ronaldo's absence.
Sky's touchline reporter now receives editorial guidance from the pundits, rather than a journalist. Ronaldo's absence was addressed by Rangnick in his pre-match chats and the topic was moot post-match, yet it was still brought up. In the absence of a dedicated United correspondent, Sky had to mine more Ronaldo 'content' from Rangnick's post-match press conference, when there were more questions about Edinson Cavani.
In all of their coverage, Sky barely mentioned Cavani, whom the absent Graeme Souness would doubtless describe as an 'armchair player'. Jones, Keane, Richards and Jamie Redknapp seemed completely unaware that Cavani has been declaring himself unavailable for matches for upwards of a year.
Cavani #mufc highlights 2021/22 pic.twitter.com/WVL4sfnxXG
— (@LJxmes)
Almost a year to the day since the MEN revealed United's frustration with Cavani, he let them down again. As soon as Rangnick indicated Cavani would be available on Friday one sensed he would not be at City on Sunday. On Saturday night, Cavani was absent from the 21-man United squad.
Keane played on after rupturing his cruciate ligament at Leeds, refusing to allow United to play the remainder of the match with 10 men whilst 1-0 down. What must he have thought of Cavani crying off? Jones missed out on a viral clip there.
Many more column inches have been dedicated to Ronaldo than Cavani since Sunday, inevitable given the Portuguese's profile. The suggestion United players were surprised by Ronaldo's absence from the matchday party on derby day is suspect. Injured players never travel to away games and when Wayne Rooney did against City in 2016 he delivered a motivational pre-match speech.
Cavani and Ronaldo were both waved through the barriers at Carrington for training on Tuesday morning. Cavani used to be serenaded by United supporters home and away, irrespective of whether he was at the stadium. The worshipping has ceased and it has been a while since Cavani's chant was last aired. United are in need of a positive news story and cutting loose of Cavani by paying up his contract would be one.
Ronaldo has cried off injured before at United with the infamous self-substitution against Sunderland in December 2008. A day later, he was in Paris to collect his maiden Ballon D'Or. His professionalism has otherwise been exemplary and enabled him to play 1,109 times. Portugal's World Cup qualifier against Turkey in two weeks may hold sway.
Fifteen goals in 30 games is pretty good going for a 37-year-old in the most demanding league. Ronaldo's goals secured the 10 points for United to qualify as group winners in the Champions League and he has claimed five winners in the Premier League. That is sufficient evidence to kill the theory they did not need him.
They did, otherwise Cavani would have been the only specialist striker at United. This time last year, he had played once in the last six games and also missed the next three. Next time, he might not be safe from Keane.
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