“Ronaldo not a pressing monster”— Man United Coach lifts lid on Portuguese

So much drama has followed 5 time Ballon d’or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford. And they are drama or narratives that have fueled criticisms or debates by fans and pundits alike, in relation to Manchester United’s poor season.

The whole world expected a lot from Man United this season especially with the new arrivals that came into the club prior to the beginning of the season; in Rafael Varane, Jadon Sancho and, the King of all, Cristiano Ronaldo. But sadly, all those expectations eventually came crashing down right in the middle of the season, that had to require the coming in of German manager, Ralf Ragnick to see out the season.

Now, the United interim manager has come out to take the fall, and lift the lid off the disastrous season, while accepting blame for the team’s collapse.

Replacing former Manager, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Rangnick finally admits his mistakes of expecting a team spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo to adopt the energetic gegen press; which involved playing a high-octane game which ultimately failed.

“We never came near to that aggressive, pro-active football I’d normally want to do. It has to do with physicality if you want to play like that. I should have done better and developed this team in a more sustainable way.

“I am not blaming Cristiano (Ronaldo) at all, he did great in games, but he is not a pressing monster. Even when he was young, he wasn’t shouting, “The other team has the ball, where can we win balls?” the German said.

Seeing the error of his method, the Interim boss while going into his very last fixture, lamented not having found a Plan B that suited the squad’s pattern of play that could have eventually salvaged the team’s season.

“It was the same with quite a few other players so we had to make compromises at one stage. We never found the right balance between what do we need with the ball and without the ball,” He explained.

Going into Sunday’s final match day fixture, United would be hopeful of overcoming Crystal Palace to steal a spot in the Europa League ahead of West Ham United or face the risk of playing in Europe’s third tier, the Europa Conference League.