Please Leave, If You Must.
I've been a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo ever since his stint at Manchester United the first time and I've followed him practically everywhere - supporting the teams he has always played for because I love his worth ethic and his desire to be the best. There was an interview then when he was asked alongside Rio Ferdinand and Anderson who they thought is the best player in the history of football. While others were talking about Pele and Maradona, he mentioned his own name. That's the confidence and pride in himself that I love. It means it would want to push him to be the best and live up to it. If you don't believe in yourself first, it would be hard to convince others to see things your way.
I was excited to see him come back in this second stint because we badly needed a leader on the pitch and his motivation is sky high which I felt others would tap into just to make the team better considering we finished the league a season before he came in, second. It looked like a match made in heaven but things didn't go the way I thought and with his recent tantrums like a boy deprived of his toys, I think he was looking for a soft landing. It wasn't loyalty that made him come back but he wanted an opportunity to win something again with Manchester United and he knows he would be dragged if he ever signed for Manchester City.
Reality set in and he noticed that the team wasn't as strong as he thought and the management made things worse so in a way I can't blame him for wanting the team he loves to compete with others because he knows he would always be judged based on how best the team performs. Lionel Messi didn't have a breakthrough season with PSG but still, he added a trophy to his cabinet and sometimes that is all that matters - things you look back on at the end of your career. I think Ronaldo wants to make history for coming back and still winning things with Manchester United because records and titles motivated him.
He was unable to get the clubs he had in mind and after his efforts to leave, he came back to Manchester United to talk with the management. From what I gathered, the meeting didn't hear anywhere and he still insisted on leaving after speaking with Sir Alex Ferguson and Erik Ten Hag. At this point, I think if he wants to leave and have his contract cancelled they should let him.
It's not about him dictating to the club but the club needs to let others know that no one is bigger than the club to be cut off. I am happy he even wants his contract cancelled because he knows that with his childish attitude over this debacle, the dressing room can never look at him the same again and the little optimism we are seeing around the team might become tenser if he is integrated into the team again. I want him to leave so he won't corrupt the mood in the dressing room.
I know that he is ambitious but when your club which you claimed to love is in turmoil, I think that's when you have to prove your love. Love shouldn't come with convenience all the time. It's when it's not easy that the love is tested and it counts. Anyone can claim to love a club when things are going well.
Sir Alex Ferguson spoke about Del Piero when he was about to be poached by Sir Alex. That was the season they relegated and he felt it would be the perfect time to sign Del Piero. Del Piero told Sir Alex that he was the captain of the team and how would he look if he abandon them during the crisis? That's loyalty and undiluted love. Loyalty these days can be bought with money and titles which makes it even sadder.
For the sake of other players in the team and not to have them corrupted, the mood soiled and experience another miserable season, they should cut off Ronaldo and let him go to wherever he wants to go. I feel he knows the club he wants to go to already but they can't afford his salary and then still pay that huge transfer fee when he has a year left on his contract. He is trying to make it easier for them to afford his salary by knocking off the transfer fee and it makes it even sadder coming from a legend of the game that a lot of people look up to. His attitude didn't speak of class but who am I to judge him since he is the only one that knows why he is doing what he is doing but that still didn't mean it's not disappointing.
Let him go if he must. We don't need such damaging influence, especially in this transition period no matter how much I love him. He knows how to make everything about him. Well, it has worked for him to have such a great career. I wish him all the best.
Cheers.
Gingered Up! ❣️
Great post, man! I am a Juventus fan and I understand what Man UTD fans are experiencing today because we saw it with our own eyes only 12 months ago.
Ronaldo promised when he came back from holiday that he would stay at Juventus, honouring his four year contract, but as soon as he got the chance to move to Man Utd he didn't think twice, leaving the club with a huge void.
In his three years in Italy he scored more than 100 goals, but never fully integrated into the team, believing he was more important than the team itself. At times he was capricious and rude and we were not sorry he left, only the way he did it.
I think that at almost 38 years of age he must understand that the game is coming to an end.
You spoke the truth here and I agree with you. I didn't like the way he left too. He seem to always run away from challenge by making his personal agenda to always take center stage. He knows his career is almost at the end and he wants to grab as much as he can. It's about any team that can meet his personal ambition rather than play for the team.