Though no longer young, Cristiano Ronaldo is still Manchester United’s past

DBasia.news – Manchester United have won four games in a row. And in this match, Cristiano Ronaldo was used as a substitute by Erik ten Hag.

“I will be his friend (Ronaldo), sometimes I will be his teacher. It depends on the situation. As we all know, he does not have pre-season and you can’t miss pre-season,” said Ten Hag recently.

“It depends, the demands, the cooperation and the demands of certain positions, in and out of possession. And the other thing is fitness.”

It wasn’t easy for Ronaldo, who missed pre-season, to suddenly get into the Man United squad where they try to practice the style of play that Ten Hag wants.

In his playing style, the front players must also help the team defend by pressing, having speed when attacking, and moving. At a young age Ronaldo could easily have done it, but not now at 37.

Ronaldo remains who he is with quality of play, scoring goals, and maturity to read the game. But with all the great success he has had in Europe, on a personal and collective level, this moment at Man United in Ronaldo’s second spell is a thing of the past.

“It seems (Marcus) Rashford has won the battle with Cristiano Ronaldo to start the game for Manchester United,” wrote football pundit Garth Crooks on BBC Sport.

“Erik ten Hag has made the right decision of course. Rashford is part of United’s future and Ronaldo, unfortunately, is part of United’s past. It comes for all great players of course.”

Rashford led Man United’s front line and scored twice in Man United’s 3-1 win over Arsenal, a team that is in good momentum and at the top of the table. The Manchester-born striker now needs to maintain consistency in his playing.

“However, it is time to see if Rashford can bring United back to its former glory. That is what he must achieve if he is to lead United’s attack and leave Ronaldo on the bench. To do that, Rashford has to score goals and more,” added Crooks.

“He appeared well against Arsenal and scored both goals well, but to be at his best he has to stay focused on maintaining the consistency he lacked last season.”