After making a sensational return to Manchester United in the summer, Ronaldo has taken no time to settle at Old Trafford.
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The recently concluded summer transfer window was dominated by the movement of two players – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi moved to Paris Saint-Germain, while Ronaldo made a sensational return to Manchester United. Their form since the window has been contrasting in nature for their respective clubs. Messi is taking more time to get adjusted to his new environment, while it has been a seamless transition for Ronaldo, who continues to score pivotal goals for his team. In the midweek, Ronaldo’s brace rescued a crucial point for the Reds in a Champions League draw away at Atalanta.
That performance made it an impressive nine goals in 10 starts for the Portuguese since completing a stunning return to Old Trafford in August. Despite his significant contribution, journalists present at Carrington asked manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on what he made of suggestions that Ronaldo might be a negative for the team in some ways. The manager dismissed those claims ahead of Saturday’s derby against Manchester City.
“He’s one of the best players that’s ever walked on this planet and his impact so far, on and off the pitch, has been absolutely immense. The goals he scores, the way he conducts himself in and around the place. So, how people can say that is a negative, I can’t see that one. We’re really, really pleased he has started off as well as he has, but that’s what he does. He scores goals, he works for his team, and he’s a top, top professional,” he explained.
Prior to Saturday’s match – the final one before the November international break – Solskjaer was asked about their last home match in the Premier League. Two weeks ago, United suffered a demoralising 5-0 defeat against Liverpool at Old Trafford, but Ole has insisted that the mindset of the players is positive following two important away results in the meantime.
“We’ve moved on from that one, of course it’s going to be in the history books, but we’ve had a good week with good results away from home in difficult games and the mindset is positive. Of course, we have to go into this game believing we can do good things. It’s a local derby and everyone knows what’s at stake,” he explained.
Solskjaer then provided a squad update ahead of their clash against Pep Guardiola’s boys. Speaking about Raphael Varane, Ole said, “With all the technology now, you expect him to be out four or five weeks with the scans and the pictures we’ve seen of him. Of course, it’s a blow for us. Raphael has come in and been really, really influential, but Eric [Bailly] came in last time and was excellent, so that’s why you have big squads: so you can cope with absentees sometimes.”
Referring to Victor Lindelof, the manager added, “He’s still a doubt but hopefully he can come back in tomorrow and say that he’s ready. I would expect him to be ready, put it that way, but I can’t promise you.”
Solskjaer’s Manchester United have fared well against Guardiola’s side in the last couple of years. Asked if it is something that he thinks about, or does he forget it and move onto this derby, Ole replied, “You look at the next game. I’m not one to talk about what I’ve done. I’ve got a great respect and admiration for Pep and what he’s done.”
“We’ve had a few good results against them, we’ve had some good games, tight games, and we need another performance like this. Sometimes you need luck, and we know this is a game where we’ll have to work hard and suffer a lot, but we have to believe in ourselves, we have to trust ourselves. We’re at home, as you say, we’ve had a few good results and let’s hope that continues, but we don’t take that for granted. We need to earn it.”
