What did Roy Keane say?
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Manchester United legend [player 6971111] said, “I think Ten Hag will have been watching tonight and will have had a sleepless night watching that team.”
“But I think if you’ve got a player in your group that can score that amount of goals, they have to be involved.
“Now, Ronaldo will want to play week in and week out and that will be the problem. The new manager comes in and whether he’ll be looking for another striker.
“But Ronaldo won’t be hanging around unless he’s playing week in and week out. He won’t mind being rested for the odd League Cup game or a European game if they’re already through, but we saw his disappointment going back a few months, whether it was [team 18] and then [team 9]..…and the injuries started popping up.
“I think he wants to play week in and week out and that will be the problem for the manager because he’s probably looking and going ‘I’ll probably have to rotate you in certain games’.”
Keane also joked about the media’s criticism of Ronaldo saying, “He’s (Ronaldo) such a big problem for Manchester United. Scoring goals week in, week out. It’s not good.”
“Everything (needs a rebuild),” he added. “Don’t get me started on the midfield. Defensively… I’m still not happy with the goalkeeper. Couple of players up front… huge.”
“They wouldn’t have done any worse if [coach 524307] was here, but obviously the decision was made and you can’t keep looking back,”
“Go back as far as [coach 455355], I’d always argue managers should be given more time than what they have. The reality of top football is there is no patience.
Keane was asked if the club would be in a better position right now if Ole was still in charge, he replied, “If Ole had stayed on, in terms of their league position, I’d say yeah. You have to remember the last couple of games for Ole, you are talking about leopards and spots, the [team 25] game they never ran.
“They stopped running for Ole towards the end. There was the [team 8] game and they can rip anyone to shreds, but they kind of gave up for Ole at the end.
“I’m not saying it wasn’t right for Ole to go.”
Ten Hag’s system in brief
It does not require a lot of knowledge to know about the principles that [coach 456113] believes in. It’s clear he belongs to the same school of thought as the likes of Cruyff, [coach 629] and [coach 523959]. His Ajax side have been consistently one of the best sides to watch for a few years now. The amazing team of 2019, which made it to the semi-final of the [league 2], will live forever in many hearts.
They play tiki-taka; we all know what that is, right? The modern football trend which requires quick one-touch passing and penetrative movements, especially between the lines. The legendary [team 83] side of 2009 and 2011 is the greatest example in modern history.
Apart from the attractive play in possession, this system requires a high level of work ethic when the opponent has the ball. High pressing and high counter-pressing were a key part of his [team 629] side. This means that players need to have a tireless work ethic to regain possession.
Strikers need to press from the front, wingers need to track back properly, and midfielders have to be good all-round to succeed in this system.
Can Ronaldo fit into the Ten Hag system?
[player 580] is an excellent football. He is one of the best of all time and arguably the best of his generation. A player with multiple attributes and great numbers who can play down the middle and also on the left side.
Despite United’s terrible performances this season, Ronaldo has had a fine season. He has scored in the last few games in a row when the whole team has underperformed. His goal against Chelsea was beautiful. The control and the finish were world-class, as are so many of his goals.
However, despite all the great things he brings to this team, we cannot deny an issue with him that arises when the team is out of possession. At 37, his work rate will not be as great as it was a decade ago.
This is where Ten Hag could face a massive issue. Ronaldo will have great numbers again next season, but he might not be a great fit in Ten Hag’s system when defending. The Portuguese will not press from the front; he won’t be tracking back most of the time. His counter-pressing is also not effective.
With [team 14] building a plan for the future, Ten Hag might be better off without the superstar. This is not because Ronaldo is not a great player but because of the reasons I mentioned.
If Ten Hag manages to find the right balance between his strict principles and Ronaldo’s lack of work rate, that could work great for United. However, as we have seen under [coach 19960383], the possibility of that happening is low.
Author: Devashish Akolekar
