Cristiano Ronaldo produced his worst performance of the season for Man United in the FA Cup 4th round loss to Middlesbrough.
The 37-year-old missed a penalty early in the first half and couldn’t redeem himself after that point.
He repeatedly missed key goal-scoring chances and his link-up play in the final third was extremely underwhelming as well.
Cristiano failed to inspire his side to a win and has infuriated fans with his disappointing display, as they reacted.
Tribuna
Martin Evans: “Ronaldo has been awful but no one is calling him out because he’s Ronaldo. The man is OLD, his legs are tired. we don’t f******* need him.”
UtdFrontFoot: “Honestly Ronaldo should just accept the fact that he has declined drastically!! Growth is something you can’t control regardless how well you keep your body. I think he’s lucky to be at Manchester United at age 37!! He’s still my goat, but I wouldn’t miss him when he’s out of the club!!”
Wag: “We stopped him signing for City, that was the main thing, love Ronny to bits but I think it might be better if he moves on at the end of the season and we get a new hungry number 9 for the new manager.”
Always United: “Ronaldo is the main problem for Man Utd, we cannot be sentimental, if he doesn’t perform in another 2 matches, bench him and if his form is dipping till end of the season, release him, no players is bigger than the club…. what we need is positive results…. Man Utd is running in a patch of bad luck at this moment, hope lady luck will be with Man Utd again anytime soon.”
Twitter
@AmonizFootball: “Ronaldo can’t dribble or pass, gets in the way of his teammates, doesn’t occupy oppo CBs, doesn’t consistently make runs, doesn’t press. All for ONE non-penalty goal since Rangnick was hired 2 MONTHS ago. Literally the single worst player getting regular minutes for United.”
@RealistGlizzy: “Lot of United fans are afraid to put the nostalgia aside and accept he isn’t the footballer he once was through no fault of his own, but he is a net negative in this team.”
@Faridahmad02: “Can’t stand the majority of United fans and the media praising him this season. He’s had his moments but he makes us worse. He’s not even the lethal finisher that people insist he still is.”
Redcafe
Amolbhatia50k: “We should never have signed him. Typical of this football club to take decisions with a complete lack of foresight. They are paid big money to get these decisions wrong and consistently screw then up. Now we’re stuck with a 37 year old striker who we need to worship endlessly who has to start and will influence the type of football we play hindering the potential got genuine progression in our football. The club doesn’t have the balls to sell him either.”
Devilmaycare: “He’s trying to get involved in the build-up more than he has in recent years but it’s not benefitting us overall and his finishing has hit the yips.”
Marktan: “There’s some parallels to another Glazer-owned team – the Bucca and Tom Brady – where Brady came in at 42 and won the super bowl. Unfortunately, football in all positions except goalie is a lot more physically demanding than being a quarterback. Especially for Ronaldo – he used to run and dribble a lot in his younger years and it catches up to you. He was good in his first two years at Juve – he was still the Madrid version, but in his last season at Juve you could noticeably see a drop off in his touch and play. Unfortunately for us we don’t really seem to properly scout players, we just sign names.”
WingAttackplan: “Very frustrating watching him play the last few games. He shoots from anywhere, no matter the route to goal being blocked, no matter if someone else is in a better position. Understandably, in his youth he was scoring from anywhere, but that’s no longer the case. His brain needs to catch up to his physique. He’s a luxury player and this is his curtain call before retiring, but it’s going to continue to feck us trying to fit the system around him.
“He is useful in snatching victory from defeat with one good move, but I’m starting to think that if we had a more mobile player up top, we wouldn’t find ourselves in the position of needing a last-ditch goal as often. If he is going to keep starting, he needs to come off at the hour. That gives him license to spend all his energy in that 60 minutes rather than slow down the last 30. His ego won’t like it, but too bad.”
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