TalkSport pundit Sam Matterface has given his view on Cristiano Ronaldo and his performances at Manchester United.
Having suffered something of a blip when it came to his numbers in the Premier League this season after failing to provide a goal or an assist since his return against Newcastle United back in September, Ronaldo was back on form against Tottenham Hotspur this Saturday as he got one of each in their 3-0 win.
His performances and lack of a return in front of goal lately have sparked a debate as to whether or not the 36-year-old is a good fit into this United side. But speaking on the TalkSport Gameday podcast, Matterface claimed that Ronaldo’s performance at the weekend might have had something to do with a change in the team’s philosophy and how they intend to use him moving forward.
He said: “I spoke to some insiders at United this week who said, ‘this was us deciding to organise ourselves around Ronaldo rather than supplanting him into the system that we’d already had’. And the result was a positive one, but it will have implications going forward.”
TIF Thoughts on Sam Matterface’s comments about Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United…
Will Ronaldo hit 20+ this season?
Yes
No
This was probably always going to be the best way forward for Manchester United when you look at the figures. Given that Ronaldo managed to bag 36 goals last season and is someone that has a major impact in the way the club is run behind the scenes, he is the player that the team should be built around.
When you have someone of that immense talent and influence at your disposal, everything that the club is doing should be built around his strengths, and as this weekend showed, when you do exactly that, he can run the game for you and bring results.
How long he’ll be able to keep it going for at his age, despite his incredible fitness regime, is hard to tell, but for as long as they have him, they should be doing all that they can to squeeze everything that they can out of this opportunity and hope that the rewards will follow.
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