Inside Scoop: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer speaks on Cristiano Ronaldo’s second stint at Man United
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the Manchester club back in 2021 for a rather unsuccessful second stint, and now, then manager and Man United legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has spoken on Ronaldo and revealed new inside details about the Portuguese player’s second stint.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Man United: An unfortunate end to a legendary story
When Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in 2021, the expectations were obviously through the roofs despite his age. The boy who left the club and returned as perhaps the greatest player on planet Earth was meant to be a beautiful end to the story. However, the return quickly turned sour as few in the management turned their back on the legend. Once Erik ten Hag took over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he immediately adopted his system of play. The sacrifice to implement his system was Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo left the club mid-season in the winter of the 22/23 season. The Portuguese legend now plays his trade for Saudi club Al Nassr.
However, not everything had broken down when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was managing the club before ten Hag. Speaking on a podcast recently, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke on Cristiano Ronaldo at length.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Ronaldo: “ I was excited to sign him.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made a rare appearance in the media recently and spoke on his stint at Man United and on Cristiano Ronaldo.
While speaking on Ronaldo and their time together, the ex-United gaffer said. “Cristiano [Ronaldo] and I had a good relationship. There was respect. I think he behaved very well despite his disappointments when I was there.”
However, even under Ole the pressure on the team was starting to build. When questioned about integrating Ronaldo into the team Ole Gunnar spoke on Ronaldo and letting go of Dan James. “We let Dan James go when Cristiano Ronaldo came in, and they’re two different types of players. It was the right decision to make for me – it didn’t turn out to be the right one.”
Elaborating further on why the move didn’t work out, Ole Gunnar said, “ With the ball, with him in the team, it was no problem. Without him [pressing], we had to change a little bit the different roles we had gotten used to. We were one of the highest pressing teams before [Ronaldo joined].”
Yet, Ole defended the move to sign Ronaldo and said, “ When it became apparent that he was leaving Juventus, obviously there were other clubs that wanted him – but I was excited. United asked me, ‘Would you want us to try this?’. I said yes – obviously we know Cristiano is quality, and he’s 37. But we have to manage – he’s the best goal-scorer in the world. It didn’t work out for me, it didn’t work out for Cristiano, but it was the right decision at the time.”
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