It was only during the final months of last season, Manchester United’s annus horribilis, that Erik ten Hag’s predecessors decided they could neither succeed with Cristiano Ronaldo or succeed without him. To implement a modern, progressive playing style – the sort that Ten Hag is now gradually introducing – was deemed practically “impossible” with Ronaldo as a regular starter. And yet, he was the top scorer and the only reliably available centre forward. Eventually, they decided they were better off with than without.
A new managerial regime is now in place at Old Trafford and suddenly, we may be about to get a much better, more prolonged idea of what that “without” looks like. Ronaldo will not be part of the United squad for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Chelsea after leaving Old Trafford early during the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. The 37-year-old, who it has been suggested refused to come on as a substitute on Wednesday night, will train separately from the rest of the first team squad as punishment.
And crucially, that decision to punish Ronaldo is Ten Hag’s. The United manager is responsible for disciplinary matters against players and, having promised to act in the immediate aftermath of Ronaldo’s early exit, he has now acted. Ten Hag has the full backing and support of the United hierarchy.
This is a defining moment in Ten Hag’s reign at Old Trafford, after a 24-hour period that could shape United’s direction under him. Not only was the win against Tottenham the best performance of his short tenure to date, it was United’s most convincing in recent memory, increasing his level of support among fans and giving credence to the belief that they are finally on the right path. Yet what has followed with Ronaldo could well be more important still. It is a sign that a club which has lacked an authoritative figure in the manager’s office knows who is in charge.
Ronaldo’s homecoming in the final days of last year’s summer transfer window was in keeping with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s nostalgia-tinged tenure but was not entirely manager-led and in its spontaneity, disrupted the more considered elements of United’s squad-building. When Ronaldo’s scoring prowess – which is and always will be undoubted – began to dig out a suddenly broken team time after time, many began to ask whether he was the solution or the problem.
That debate raged all season but missed a vital point – that there has rarely, if ever, been just the one problem at United during the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, as Ralf Rangnick soon discovered. Solskjaer’s interim successor was fully aware of Ronaldo’s limitations but given the additional headwinds of an imbalanced squad, indulgent culture and wantaway players, tactical compromises had to be made. Ronaldo was a regular, while the question of whether he made United a better or worse side persisted.
That question is now closer to a definitive answer than ever. With the benefit of a secure and permanent position, and after adding reinforcements to the squad in the transfer market, Ten Hag has taken a different tack to his predecessors.
It has not been a matter of playing with or without Ronaldo. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has instead been edged out gradually – largely confined to a place on the substitutes bench, but still granted enough opportunities to prove that he is deserving of a starting place. And still, it is difficult for Ronaldo to argue that he warrants one. His 695 minutes of football – equivalent to about eight full games – have produced just two goals, one being a penalty away to Moldova’s Sheriff Tiraspol. In the defeat to Real Sociedad, the greatest goalscorer of his generation looked every one of his 37 years.
Still, Ronaldo’s belief he should be starting is undimmed, which was clear even before his latest act of petulance on Wednesday night. It was not the first time he has left Old Trafford early this season, having made for the exits after being substituted at half time of a pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano. Ten Hag called that conduct “unacceptable” but did not single out Ronaldo for criticism, insisting other players had also left early and even pulling up reporters for the wording of their questions on the matter.
Ten Hag’s management of Ronaldo was similarly even-handed after he did not report back for the club’s pre-season tour of Singapore and Australia, which the Portuguese missed amid intense speculation over his future. His reasoning was accepted by Ten Hag and the club, the matter was not discussed publicly and he was eventually welcomed back, albeit with the need to prove his fitness. Once the deadline passed, United had not received a suitable offer for Ronaldo’s services. That definition of “suitable” may have changed come January.
Because after Stamford Bridge this weekend, what then? Even if this incident is to be resolved with Ronaldo’s reintegration into the United squad, he will not immediately be granted the automatic starting place that he believes his status demands. An exit at the next available opportunity is the best possible route for all parties, yet it is far from certain that the stumbling block of his salary in the region of £500,000 a week will be any easier to overcome in January, in a typically slower market.
A discontent Ronaldo stuck on the sidelines – with the potential to be both a distraction and a disruptive presence – was always the worst case scenario when he failed to engineer a move in the summer. It may now be the reality for the rest of the campaign. Yet that prospect is far less of a threat to United’s fortunes if there is no question of where the ultimate authority lies. Ten Hag’s decision to come down hard on Ronaldo could be the breaking of one United career and the making of another.
