Cristiano Ronaldo may not have considered the scenario in which this Manchester United club is struggling to deliver in this early stretch of the season when he decided to leave Juventus last summer to return to Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have only won two of their past seven games in all competitions, putting them in seventh place in the Premier League rankings.
They may be the Champions’ League Group B winners, but they had to come from behind twice at home to beat Villarreal and Atalanta after losing away at Young Boys. One of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s worst results occurred a month ago, when David Moyes’ West Ham United beat them 1-0 at Old Trafford, knocking them out of the Carabao Cup. Then, on Sunday, things got much worse with a 5-0 humiliation at home to Liverpool.
Ronaldo had an immediate impact upon his return to Old Trafford, scoring five goals in his first six appearances for the Red Devils.
The Portugal international scored a brace in his second United appearance, the opener in a 2-1 loss to Young Boys, the equalizer in a 2-1 win against West Ham, and the winner against Villarreal. Ronaldo has six goals in nine games for Manchester United this season, but no other player appears to be able to compliment him for the Red Devils.
Bruno Fernandes is failing to regain his form, while Harry Maguire has made several important errors in the goals his club has conceded this season, and new addition Jadon Sancho is yet to make an impression.
Paul Pogba has struggled to lead the club from midfield, while summer signing Raphael Varane is out with a knock, and Marcus Rashford has only recently returned to duty following an injury.
The additions of Sancho and Varane were meant to turn Manchester United into title challengers, but that doesn’t appear to be the case based on their performance in the first half of the season under Solskjaer. It’s possible, therefore, that Ronaldo made a mistake when he returned to Manchester United from Juventus last summer.
