Paul Merson gave Manchester United a few tips in terms of utilising Cristiano Ronaldo’s repertoire to its ultimate capacity.
Writing for Sky Sports, Merson told Ole Gunnar Solskjaer he should consider changing Ronaldo’s role to suit his skill set.
The 36-year-old is no longer the box of tricks winger that insisted on stepping over the ball 1000 times before making his next action.
He only sprints and pressures opponents when absolutely necessary.
His goalscoring touch might not have disappeared – five goals in seven games since re-joining United – but the energy in the legs certainly has.
Which causes extra strain on Ronaldo’s teammates.
If CR7 isn’t going to do the chasing, then everyone around him must add an extra 20% upon their workload.
This creates a domino effect on the squad; players running around without purpose, or in Ronaldo’s case, not running at all.
United’s previous results have highlighted these exact deficiencies seeping throughout the squad, starting with their main centre-forward.
Change for Cristiano
If the Red Devils are to get out of their rut, perhaps Solskjaer should listen to Merson’s latest nugget of wisdom.
“To get the best out of Ronaldo he’s got to be given a completely free role, in the hole and then have the likes of Marcus Rashford or Mason Greenwood opening up the game ahead of him to give him the space he needs on the ball,” said the former Arsenal midfielder.
“But if you play him up front you have to accept that he is not going to run beyond.”
Dropping Ronaldo slightly deeper would allow players with pace to break in behind and therefore leave gaps for the no.7 to exploit.
There is seemingly nothing risky about this plan, other than potentially upsetting the Portuguese talisman by moving him a little further from goal.
But simply altering the position of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is not the only solution to United’s problems.
United under fire
“I wouldn’t blame Ronaldo, it’s the manager’s responsibility to adopt a system that gets him into the game,” continued Merson.
“Ronaldo is the best in the business over five yards, he makes great runs, he’s just not getting the service.
“Jadon Sancho doesn’t cross the ball, Greenwood wants to come inside and shoot, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba want to spray it around in the middle, and Ronaldo just isn’t getting the ball in the areas where he can hurt teams.”
United are in sixes and sevens at the minute, an equation Solskjaer must solve before he becomes divided from his dugout seat.
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