It is safe to say that Cristiano Ronaldo has made a spectacular start for Manchester United ever since completing a stunning return to the club this summer. As many would have expected, he has been the main goalscorer for the Red Devils recently and his dramatic stoppage time goal against Villarreal in the Champions League just showed that he remains as big of a game winner as ever.
The performances that Manchester United have put in since his arrival though, have not been very convincing. The game against Villarreal is the perfect example of that.
Unai Emery’s side were the better team on the night and could have walked out of Old Trafford with a comfortable victory if not for the heroics of David de Gea in goal. And this was not a one-off shaky performance from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Coming into the game, they had lost three of their last four and they cannot rely on Ronaldo to come up with a moment of magic every time. The Red Devils need more than one consistent goalscorer if they are to challenge for titles this season.
Manchester United in danger of repeating Juventus’ mistake
When Ronaldo arrived at Juventus, it was believed that he could be the missing piece of the puzzle who would guide the Italian giants to the Champions League title.
Instead, they took a step back in Europe over the course of the three seasons that Ronaldo spent in Turin and last season, the club’s long streak of winning the Serie A also came to an end.
At times, it appeared that they were too reliant on Ronaldo to score and win them games. And while the Portuguese legend did enjoy a great individual 2020/21 campaign, finishing as Serie A’s top scorer, Juventus could only finish fourth.
Manchester United cannot end up repeating that. They need to make sure that Ronaldo’s addition improves them as a team overall rather than becoming reliant on him. Otherwise, they could end up taking a step back this season as well.