It’s hard to imagine Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United being led by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The first period of the season – where the Red Devils were getting packed in by Brentford and Brighton, shipping goals for fun, scrambling to break into the top four – seems a long time ago now.
Ronaldo’s rigid style, lack of pre-season and desire to leave last summer meant that he did not immediately feature in Ten Hag’s plans. But after getting some minutes in his legs, he quickly fell out of them altogether.
Eventually, Ronaldo’s frustrations saw him leave a match at Old Trafford before the final whistle and then conduct an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, intensely criticising the club and Ten Hag.
His contract was mutually terminated shortly after the start of the World Cup.
How have United fared since his departure back in November? Let’s crunch the numbers.
|
Position |
Team |
Games played |
Points |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1st |
Manchester United |
10 |
23 |
|
2nd |
Brentford |
8 |
18 |
|
3rd |
Arsenal |
8 |
17 |
|
4th |
Manchester City |
9 |
16 |
|
5th |
Fulham |
9 |
16 |
|
6th |
Brighton |
8 |
14 |
United have benefitted from playing more games than any other side, sure, but hey, you’d rather have points on the board than games in hand, right? It’s not a real table anyway so calm down.
But since Ronaldo’s departure, it’s clear to see that the Red Devils have enjoyed some stability. They aren’t blowing teams away just yet and they’re still relying on Marcus Rashford to carry the scoring load, but there’s definitely more positive feelings around the club now that they don’t have to worry about Ronaldo.
Arsenal may have wobbled in recent weeks but their overall record since the World Cup has been decent, while they have been helped by the gap they opened up in the autumn and Manchester City failing to better them since.
Brentford – unbeaten in their last ten – Fulham and Brighton have all continued their excellent seasons.
You may have noticed that three ‘big six’ clubs, as well as fourth-placed Newcastle United, are missing from the table.
The Magpies have won three and drawn five of their eight games in this time period, accumulating 14 points and sitting in seventh on goal difference.
Liverpool and Tottenham have both taken 13 points, sitting in 11th and 12th respectively. Shortly behind them in 14th are Chelsea who have a measly record of 10 points from nine games. Fix up, Graham Potter.
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Credit: 90min.com
