The Decline of Cristiano Ronaldo

By James Guo | Layout By Katy Su

For Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo, things were never meant to be this way. When it was announced that football’s all time record goalscorer and five-time Ballon D’Or winner would return to his former club while rumored to have declined the attempts of rivals Manchester City to sign him, the general consensus of the football community was that Cristiano Ronaldo had helped Manchester United cement their place as title contenders having finished second in the 2020/21 premier league season prior to his arrival.

However, since Ronaldo joined the club, the magnitude of Manchester United’s decline has been startling. Ronaldo himself produced eye-catching moments, including stunning hat tricks against Norwich and Tottenham and respectable goalscoring numbers for the 2021/22 season - scoring 24 goals in all competitions - whilst playing for a struggling United side as they lumbered to a sixth-place finish. Yet simultaneously, Ronaldo also drew heavy criticism from pundits and fans alike as they debated whether or not his ego and reluctance to work hard defensively were creating more problems than his goals could solve.

From the perspective of those in charge of the club, Ronaldo’s presence was correlated with underperformance. Highly popular manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a former teammate of Ronaldo’s, was fired merely 13 matches after Ronaldo’s arrival due to floundering results. Short-term interim replacement Ralf Ragnick, credited with developing the heavily used tactic of “gegenpressing”, took over the reins in November. By January, he made a private request to the Manchester United board to sell Ronaldo in order for the team to progress. The request was denied.

e Ronaldo dilemma now rests with new coach Erik Ten Hag. e Dutch coach originally rallied to keep Ronaldo at the club, but a er their 4-0 humbling at the hands of Brentford in just his second match in charge, Ten Hag told the United executives that he would not stand in the way of Ronaldo leaving. Ronaldo has not started in any of the next 5 premier league matches for Manchester United.

As for Ronaldo, he made it abundantly clear to the club back in July that he wished to move on from Manchester United due to their failure to qualify for the Champions League in the upcoming season. In an interview to the magazine “France Football” in 2019, Ronaldo revealed further evidence of his drive to compete only at the highest level. He stated that, if things were up to him, he would only play the big games. “ ose of the national team and Champions League,” Ronaldo said. “It’s those types of games that motivate me, with everything at stake.” It is di cult to envisage the idea of Ronaldo being content with sitting on the bench in Premier League games and only getting to start in xtures against Moldovan club Sheri Tiraspol and Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League.

Yet, with all the drama surrounding Ronaldo’s desire to seek new pastures over the summer, the highest-paid player in the history of the Premier League has not received any o ers from Champions League clubs. e only formal approach that Ronaldo received in the summer window was from Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, a club that does not meet Ronaldo’s principle of playing at the highest level. However, as Ronaldo has only scored a single goal in eight premier league games, it is uncertain whether or not Ronaldo will accept a similar o er to that of Al Hilal, should it arrive in the winter transfer window.

Slow Down

Has time nally caught up with the seemingly evergreen striker? As Ronaldo nears his 38th birthday, his time playing at the highest level may soon be over. Given that strikers usually peak when they are around 25-27, it is outstanding how Ronaldo has managed to continue breaking records at his ripe age of 37. Even when a vast majority of Ronaldo’s younger former teammates have chosen to hang up their boots, he has continued to push his body to the limit every week in order to continue pursuing his footballing dream.

Cristiano Ronaldo is truly a one-of-a-kind football player, one that married his mercurial talent with his unprecedented work ethic. He holds the record for the most Ballon d’ors for a European player (5), most goals and assists in the Champions League (140 and 42), the most goals in the UEFA European Championship (14), the most goals in the FIFA Club World Cup (7), the most goals in a single Champions League season (17), the most international goals (117) and the most appearances for a European national team (191). His record of 817 senior goals is also the highest managed by anyone in history.

For much of Ronaldo’s career, he was compared to the only other player that could rival his greatness - Lionel Messi. Rather than acknowledging the fact that they are both supreme players and should be recognized for their own achievements, both were heavily scrutinized when one struggled to match the other’s output. As Ronaldo’s career is clearly heading towards its twilight, instead of criticizing his decline in the quality of his performances, we should slow down and take a step back to appreciate how remarkable it is for Ronaldo to still be stepping onto the pitch at his age and treasure his nal years as a football player.