Cristiano Ronaldo has been a problematic signing for Manchester United. Particularly in the last few weeks he has – finally, at 37 – begun to look his age. He would create tactical problems for any coach, especially one as devoted to gegenpressing as Ralf Rangnick. He is not the player he was. But though much was taken, much abides.
That this was only his second hat-trick for Manchester United is testament to how he has changed as a player. As he moved past Josef ‘Pepi’ Bican in Fifa’s charts as the leading goalscorer of all time, it’s easy to forget that when he left Manchester United in 2009, he was not yet the goal machine he would become but rather a wide forward who would occasionally be deployed through the centre. It was only at Real Madrid that the goals came by the bucketload.
His three goals against Tottenham demonstrated the range of abilities he still has. His first, lashed into the top corner from 25 yards as Eric Dier mysteriously sat off him, was a strike reminiscent of his goal against Porto in the Champions League quarter-final in 2009. The second was a predator’s effort, anticipating the threat, timing his run and staying onside to stroke Jadon Sancho’s cross low past Hugo Lloris. And the third was a classic goal of late-period Ronaldo as he powered in a header from a corner, all thrusting neck muscles like some tribute to Tommy Lawton. Without question, this was his best performance of the season.
He was focused and committed. He had eight shots in the game, four times more than the rest of the United team put together. Five of his shots were on target; every other player on the pitch managed four between them. He won three aerial duels, more than anybody other than Dier. In that sense it was a perfect centre‑forward’s display.
As a riposte to the doubts and rumours of last week it was magnificent. And yet, as so often with Ronaldo, there are other issues at play. There is no reason not to believe he was suffering from strained hip flexors last week, but the furore around his withdrawal from the derby were indicative of a wider problem. Ronaldo has become so big that any club for which he plays becomes FC Ronaldo. At times, as on Saturday, when everything clicks and the opposition defending is acquiescent, that is fine. But there have been plenty of days this season when it has not clicked, and when that happens the nature of Ronaldo, his ineffable vastness, becomes problematic.
Saturday is a case in point. Ronaldo, quite rightly, will take the headlines for a superb hat-trick. To take a record that has stood for 80 years is, clearly, an extraordinary achievement. Perhaps his 12 goals in 21 league starts, plus assorted key contributions in the Champions League, are enough that his return to United can be parsed as a (very expensive) success. But modern football is about more than individuals, particularly for managers with Rangnick’s philosophical outlook.
And he will be aware that, beyond Ronaldo’s brilliance, United, yet again, did not play particularly well. As repeatedly under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, they got away with it because of errors from the opposition – ruthlessly punished – and individual excellence.
Rangnick is a coach who prioritises the process but it was Tottenham’s processes that, for much of the game, looked better. Long spells of the second half were ragged and lacking in quality.
The front three that started for Spurs had attempted 26% more pressures per game than United’s front three. The consequence of that absence of pressing is that United have little choice but to pursue the reactive approach imposed by José Mourinho and that underlay their best results under Solskjær. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that, particularly not against better opponents, but United too often slip from reactivity into passivity. And that has surely been a contributory factor in the increasingly luckless Harry Maguire’s collapse in confidence and form.
Twice United let Tottenham back into the game; other teams will not be so forgiving as Spurs were. And that is the problem Ronaldo poses. He is capable of performances like this, when the years fall away and he looks again a magnificent striker, but even when he does the tendency is to cover up mistakes.
In part that is to do with the patchwork nature of this United squad, and the fact that Rangnick, undermined by his interim status, seems so at odds with its general disposition. But it is also because the Ronaldo way of playing, the focus on one individual, the compensation for his lack of pressing (tackles: 0; interceptions: 1), are so at odds with most modern thinking.
Ronaldo is a conundrum. History is unlikely to deem his return to Old Trafford a success. But on days like this, he is undeniably spectacular. He remains strong of will; some work of noble note may yet be done.
