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<p>It is tragic when a relationship ends but especially when one of the parties cannot accept that fact. In fact, this can be awkward and embarrassing for those involved. Once this rift hits the public eye, it can be cruel.</p>
<p>According to reports, Cristiano Ronaldo requested to leave Manchester United. The club will likely accept any outside offer that meets their demands. This is a major development, and Ronaldo’s camp likely does not request a transfer without interest from potential suitors.</p>
<p>Already, fans see signs of a messy break up between the most recognizable name in sport and one of the most recognizable clubs in the world. Since the Portuguese returned to Old Trafford in August 2021, United’s social media platforms changed. In many ways, Manchester United’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook turned into fan tribute pages for Cristiano Ronaldo. However, like any school drama, Ronaldo has not featured in any post since June 25, 2022. Clearly, this is a stark contrast to the relentless and daily posts, which inundated the fan base with his image.</p>
<p>That stems from the infatuation with Ronaldo from Manchester United’s corporate side. The forward’s presence online generated unrivaled revenue from shirt sales, new followers and more just because of the aura Ronaldo carries.</p>
<h5>The lone star</h5>
<p>It appeared on the field, as well. In an otherwise dismal season from Manchester United, supporters and teammates heralded the star. He was United’s one bright spot in a season that started out with un-bounding hope. Those around the club regularly ask, <em>‘where would we be without Ronaldo?’</em></p>
<p>The club’s media department propagated that view. And, it helps when he truly is the most important player for the club each game.</p>
<p>His return of 24 goals in 37 appearances represents an impressive strike rate. Plus, there can be no argument those goals won matches otherwise lost. Consequently, the messaging of the club resembled one of those nauseating couples constantly publicizing their love and interdependence.</p>
<p>This becomes a problem when the relationship sours. Your identity becomes based upon a relationship that was only ever really an intense fling.</p>
<h3>Cristiano Ronaldo breaks up with Manchester United</h3>
<p>Ronaldo made his intentions clear. He does not want to spend the twilight of his career fronting an unpredictable rebuild. Besides, the team isn’t playing in the UEFA Champions League.</p>
<p>Commercially, his potential departure leaves Manchester United broken-hearted. The effect on the pitch could be noticeable as well. Ronaldo provided the majority of the Red Devils’ highlights this season. For one, his debut double against Newcastle United sent Old Trafford into a frenzy. Then, in the Champions League, late winners against Villarreal and Atalanta brought back the <em>Fergie Time</em> magic of United of the past. Finally, his hat tricks against Spurs and Norwich provided crucial points and timeless moments for United supporters.</p>
<p>However, sometimes when a relationship ends, you realize how much needed to be sacrificed to make things work. This relationship required work on both ends. Its likely end could be a weight off both parties’ shoulders.</p>
<p>At 37 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo is still a freak of nature. Even then, his best days dominating in Europe are behind him. Goal-scoring still drives his play and his desire to further his legacy. Statistics published by <a href="https:\/\/theathletic.com/player/premier-league/manchester-united/cristiano-ronaldo-dos-santos-aveiro/" target="_new" rel="noopener"><em>The Athletic </em></a>show Ronaldo averaged 3.9 shots per game and under-performed his xG by around three goals.</p>
<p>The majority of his touches were on the left side of the pitch, confirming what was obvious to observant spectators. He is not an effective central focal point. Famously, he is the least diligent forward in the Premier League at pressing defenders. This past season, he averaged just <a href="https:\/\/fbref.com/en/players/dea698d9/Cristiano-Ronaldo" target="_new" rel="noopener">2.7 pressures per 90 minutes</a>. To put that into perspective, Liverpool’s Diogo Jota averages 20.</p>
<h5>Working to fit Ronaldo in</h5>
<p>Accommodations can be made in tactical systems to make allowances for a player with these shortcomings with such outstanding goal scoring attributes. However, more narrative transpired suggesting Ronaldo is a difficult personality to manage for Manchester United. He played a divisive role in a previously harmonious dressing room. The Portuguese captain expects to play every minute of every game, as his legacy would suggest. Attempts to leave him on the side-lines generally met ‘hip flexor’ issues and trips back to Portugal.</p>
<p>There were regular public shows of dissent and frustration to both teammates and management. Harry Maguire’s position as captain has been a constant cause for debate both internally and externally. Ronaldo reportedly questioned his suitability for the role. Playing second fiddle to Ronaldo has been detrimental to Bruno Fernandes. Jadon Sancho struggled with occupying the same spaces. Of course, a lot of these issues also stem from poor management and lack of structure or any clear patterns of play. It is relevant, though, that Ronaldo was also reportedly not receptive to the tactical instructions of Ralf Rangnick.</p>
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of Manchester United squad for the start of pre-season tour. He’s not gonna travel to Bangkok tomorrow. 🚨🇵🇹 <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com/hashtag/MUFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MUFC</a></p>
<p>Man United accept to give Cristiano additional time off to deal with personal/family issue. <a href="https:\/\/t.co/R8Z9XkCOST">pic.twitter.com/R8Z9XkCOST</a></p>
<p>— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1545097091982266369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2022</a></p></blockquote></div>
<p><script async="" src="https:\/\/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h5>Changes coming to United</h5>
<p><a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/2022/07/04/ronaldos-power-play-puts-pressure-on-ten-hag/">For Erik Ten Hag</a>, inheriting Cristiano Ronaldo in his playing squad represents significant challenges, not least politically. As a manager who favors a high pressing style with players who work to a collective game plan, Ronaldo is an individual who would require to be accommodated by his colleagues. There is an acceptance, and a physical inevitability, that he plays in moments, conserving his energy and exploring the spaces. For Ten Hag to arrive and attempt to show Ronaldo the exit would inevitably cause a media storm, and unbearable scrutiny. If early results and progress were not evident, fans and media would insist Ronaldo was the missing element.</p>
<p>A swift exit to another club, with Ronaldo the instigator, could enable Ten Hag to accelerate the process of building a side in his own image. They can’t replace Ronaldo with a comparable figure, and maybe that’s a good thing. There is an acceptance that Ten Hag needs to be given time, and the authority, to oversee a root-and-branch cultural reboot with this ailing side. For too long, Manchester United have striven to replicate past glories. Other clubs, though, have evolved to reach new levels of excellence based upon defined tactics in which every player knows and executes their role. Ten Hag will be aware that he must make efforts to develop a side that functions to those levels of synchronicity.</p>
<h5>The club over a player</h5>
<p>With Ronaldo potentially on the verge of mutiny at Manchester United, maybe Ten Hag should consider these words said by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 when speaking with Harvard Business Review:</p>
<p>“If the day came that the manager of Manchester United was controlled by the players – in other words, if the players decided how training should be, what days they should have off, what the discipline should be, and what the tactics should be, then Manchester United would not be the Manchester United we know. There are occasions when you have to ask yourself whether certain players are affecting the dressing room atmosphere, the performance of the team, and your control of the players and staff. If they are, you have to cut the cord.”</p>
<p>Those words seem startlingly relevant to the state of the club in recent years. The likelihood, however, is that Ronaldo’s future most likely depends on the strength of his own desire to leave the club that promises it can change.</p>
<p><em>PHOTO: Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images</em></p>


Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United ready to set the EPL ablaze again. Less than one year removed, disappointment stings fans.

Cristiano Ronaldo's impending breakup with Manchester United - World Soccer Talk

Cristiano Ronaldo's impending breakup with Manchester United

<figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-114555" title="louis-van-gaal3-600x390" src="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/louis-van-gaal3-600x390.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="390" srcset="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/08/louis-van-gaal3-600x390.jpg 600w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/08/louis-van-gaal3-600x390-150x97.jpg 150w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/08/louis-van-gaal3-600x390-300x195.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"></figure>
<p>During the World Cup 2014 at Brazil, millions of soccer fans and thousands of experts saw the renaissance of the 3-5-2, the classical continental formation of the 1970s and 1980s. Louis van Gaal, who throughout his managerial career has stood by a philosophy akin to the Dutch “Total Football” but been highly flexible in terms of formational choice (e.g., 4-3-3 at Ajax, 2-3-2-3 at FC Barcelona, 4-4-2 at AZ Alkmaar), was one of the coaches who employed 3-5-2 with his Dutch national team, that is, with players who for the most part have been educated in the traditional Dutch 4-3-3. It certainly raised some eyebrows, not least in his home country, but Van Gaal’s experiment paid off as Holland won the bronze medals.</p>
<p>I have already written in an earlier piece what consequences the conversion from 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2 inevitably have on a team’s attacking profile. Just to repeat the main point: The creative epicenters of the 4-4-2 are the two wingers, that is, the team creates most from the peripheries, whereas the creative fulcrum in a 3-5-2 is associated more with the classical number 10 playing centrally behind two attackers. It seemed to make a lot of sense that Van Gaal made the switch with Holland since Wesley Sneijder had a good tournament (although not a dazzling one), Robin van Persie scored the goal of the tournament and of his career, and, not least, Arjen Robben was the star of the World Cup (together with Toni Kroos). However, in several matches it was also clear that Holland had some difficulties in dominating the game, in keeping ball possession, and in creating chances. It was as if the team comprised one very good attacking midfielder and two brilliant forwards and six pretty ordinary defensive oriented players. Too much depended on Robben’s speed and dribbling and on Van Persie’s moments of clinical or breathtaking finishing. But still, two things point in the direction that Van Gaal got it right: With the types of players he had at his disposal, it seemed logical to adapt to a system which basically was meant to create free roles for Robben and Van Persie, and with the players available it was an achievement in itself to reach third place.</p>
<p>Taking over the manager’s seat after David Moyes at Old Trafford, it couldn’t surprise anyone that Van Gaal chose to stick to his successful World Cup formation. After all, it had secured him a bronze medal, and fans and experts alike did agree that the Dutch Iron Tulip was one of the master tacticians during the World Cup. Apart from having been triumphant with the 3-5-2 formation in Brazil, Van Gaal immediately took a look at the squad he had inherited from Moyes, and his verdict was clear: it was unbalanced. What did he mean by that? First, the squad consisted of too many number 10s (Juan Mata, Shinji Kagawa, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, perhaps even Adnan Januzaj and Marouane Fellaini) and too many number 9s (Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez, and James Wilson). Choosing a 4-2-3-1 would mean either playing the Rooneys and Matas out of position or putting them on the bench. Second, the other thing he meant by “unbalanced” was that the squad lacked wide players, or, as he corrected himself, “world class wingers on the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo or Angel di Maria”. It was a pretty damning verdict on players such as Nani and Ashley Young, whereas Antonio Valencia had already proven himself capable of occupying a more defensive wide position (right back) under Alex Ferguson and David Moyes. As for Januzaj, he never had any reason to belief Van Gaal’s verdict included him. So, Van Gaal realized that he had loads of creative talent centrally and not enough of it on the wings. So far so good. The conversion to 3-5-2 still makes sense. This opinion was only strengthened after Manchester United’s preseason tour to the United States where the team came out as (undefeated) winners in a highly prestigious tournament including opponents such as Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Liverpool, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/2014/08/15/manchester-city-2014-15-season-preview-champions-face-unsure-season/">Manchester City</a>, and Roma. In addition, Rooney was named the best player of the tournament. Finally, Ander Herrera, the Spanish midfielder bought from Athletic Bilbao seemed to hit the ground running, and Darren Fletcher, out for so long with what could have turned into a life-threatening bowel disease, appeared to be back to his competitive and combative best.</p>
<p>There are three things, though, which challenge the logic and suitability of Van Gaal’s conversion. First, if Van Gaal was right in his characterization of the squad as being “unbalanced” in terms of not enough wing talent and too much talent centrally, the change from playing with two central defenders to three basically means that you need more central defenders. Did he have that? No, he did not. In fact, after Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand left Manchester United, Van Gaal inherited a squad with only three central defenders (plus a couple of talents). Luke Shaw was brought in to replace Patrice Evra, but only very recently Van Gaal and Ed Woodward managed to secure another defender, Marcos Rojo, who may have had a very good World Cup, but is not exactly one who the fans expect to take over from Vidic or Ferdinand in terms of responsibility and level. So, does it make sense that Van Gaal converted from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2 at Old Trafford? In my opinion, not entirely. He may have a point in terms of getting the best out of Mata, Rooney and Van Persie, but a backline of three consisting of the likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, and Jonny Evans is not exactly frightening to attacking trios such as Neymar-Messi-Suarez, Ronaldo-Benzema-Bale, and Silva-Dzeko-Aguero.</p>
<p>The second reason why Van Gaal’s decision of formational change may prove unsuitable is that Manchester United’s success has often been intricately linked with flamboyant wingers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Andrei Kanchelski, George Best, Johnny Berry, and Billy Meredith. Attacking width is almost ingrained into the club’s DNA. Of course, what was in the past was in the past, and that cannot determine whether future success can be secured by other means. The game of soccer constantly evolves, and Van Gaal may be one of its greatest innovators and tacticians. Still, there is something very strange in seeing a Manchester United team without attacking full backs and flamboyant wingers.</p>
<p>Third, if Manchester United fans thought, after the successful U.S. tour, that the good times were returning to Old Trafford, and that the Iron Tulip had worked miracles instantly, they woke up to a reality that was only a prolongation of last year’s disasters at the Theatre of Dreams – a fitting name nowadays, since the gap between dream and reality has never seemed larger at Old Trafford in the last 30 years. During the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson, the dreams at Old Trafford were often converted into reality, and if it may sometimes have been a conversion that came late, in Fergie time, it nevertheless often came. Not anymore, though. Decades of creating a fortress of fear was ruined in just nine months by David Moyes, his staff, and the players, and Swansea’s 2-1 win at Old Trafford against Manchester United in this season’s first match merely showed how far Manchester United and Louis van Gaal are from the glory of the past. Even though Van Gaal converted from 3-5-2 to 4-2-3-1 at half time, things did not improve greatly in the second half. It did give the fans a glimmer of hope in regard to what I would think were their preferred formation, one with wingers and attacking width.</p>
<p>If there is one thing that offers hope for Manchester United’s millions of fans worldwide, it must be that Louis van Gaal is a slow starter wherever he is. He has said it himself: It is all about surviving the first three months, because this is the time it takes for the players to adapt to his “vision”. I am not sure, though, that Manchester United, in the hunt for a Premier League title or, at least, a Champions League spot, can afford a three-month period with sustained losses of points. If the club does not manage to secure the signatures of Mats Hummels, Arturo Vidal/Kevin Strootman, and Angel di Maria (or someone on the same level as these players), the future sure does not look bright at Old Trafford, despite the tactical genius of Louis van Gaal.</p>

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Analyzing Louis van Gaal’s 3-5-2 Formation at Manchester United