Manchester United Are Now A Better Team Without Cristiano Ronaldo

It was after Manchester United’s 2-1 win at Fulham on Sunday evening that their manager Erik ten Hag was informed that his absent player Cristiano Ronaldo had recorded an explosive interview.

The Portuguese legend would later that night announce he had “no respect” for Ten Hag and that he felt he had been “betrayed” by United.

The interview has naturally caused a lot of drama and intrigue around the club, but the brutal truth is Ten Hag must be secretly relieved.

He will know there is now no way back for Ronaldo at Old Trafford and he has almost certainly played his last game for the club.

This will not concern Ten Hag, but rather be a cause for quiet celebration, for he knows United have become a better side without Ronaldo this season.

The Dutchman was never overly keen to use Ronaldo, an increasingly immobile striker on the verge of turning 38, but was prepared to make it work, even after the player had made it known he wanted to leave the club.

At the start of the season Ten Hag used Ronaldo for 37 minutes against Brighton and played him for the full 90 minutes against Brentford and they lost both games.

He then decided to trust his instinct and drop Ronaldo from his starting line-up for the next four Premier League games and United responded by winning all of them.

Without Ronaldo United began to push forward with greater pace and fluidity, and their attacking players looked to be unburdened at not having to look for Ronaldo.

This is the problem with playing Ronaldo; younger players in awe of him always look to get him the ball even when he is not the best option.

Ronaldo offers United very little outside of the penalty area; his movement is limited and his pressing non-existent. His greatest quality last season was how he came alive in the area to take chances and score a total of 24 goals.

But this is no longer happening this season. Instead he has scored just one Premier League goal over the course of 10 games and 520 minutes, and appears to be more hesitant in front of goal. He snatches at chances he used to comfortably convert.

United’s best three performances of the season, the wins against Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham, have all been achieved without Ronaldo in the starting line-up.

Overall, the statistics from this season are even more damning about Ronaldo and reveal his stark and declining influence on the side.

In the Premier League this season United have won 25% of their games when Ronaldo has started and 70% when he hasn’t been in the starting line-up.

When he has started United win an average of 1 point, score 0.5 goals and concede 1.8 games, but when he doesn’t start they win an average of 2.2 points, score 1.8 goals and concede 1.3 goals.

In another telling statistic United cover an average of 103 kilometres when he starts, but that increases to an average of 107.5 kilometres when he doesn’t.

During the summer when Ronaldo made it known he wanted to leave there was a sense of unease from the club as he was then their top scorer and Player of the Year.

Now he has made it clear yet again he still wants to leave, United should embrace this as an opportunity to move on without him.