When Michael Carrick takes his place in the Estadio de la Ceramica away dug-out as Manchester United interim manager on Tuesday, it will add to a potentially concerning trend for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Red Devils will take on Villarreal in a crucial Champions League group stage contest, ensuring the headlines are firmly on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ‘s absence and United’s path to progression in the competition.
But as worrying side-stories go, Carrick’s promoted presence on the touchline marks Ronaldo’s fifth new coach in just three years – potentially representing a cause for concern over the Portugal captain’s influence in the dressing room.
Massimiliano Allegri, Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo all saw their respective reigns at Italian giants Juventus come to an end while Ronaldo was the talisman in Turin.
Despite scoring an astonishing 101 goals in 134 games in the famous black and white strip, Ronaldo’s time in Serie A was not without reports of unrest within Juve ranks.
Two Juve stalwarts in Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci have both previously spoken at length over how Ronaldo’s presence inadvertently led to a decline in the standards of other players.
Dissecting Allegri’s reign in particular, the six-time Serie A winner had enjoyed a period of relative stability prior to Ronaldo’s arrival, having been appointed in 2014.
While the club’s success never waned in the one campaign Allegri and Ronaldo shared in Italy, the fact Allegri ensured it was only one campaign raises eyebrows.
Stints at the helm for both Sarri and Pirlo duly followed, but both suffered humiliating Champions League exits with Ronaldo present for both.
Reports of a rift between Ronaldo and a number of other Juve stars were rife in the aftermath, before the 26-year-old upped sticks back to Manchester earlier this summer just a few games in Allegri’s return.
He was welcomed back to Old Trafford with immense adulation from adoring fans who viewed him as the final piece in the jigsaw to end the recent trophy drought.
A brace on his debut followed, sparking smiles and a boost in morale for both player and manager as Solskjaer waxed lyrical over his former teammate triumphant return.
However, bubbling under the surface were legitimate concerns Ronaldo had re-joined for the wrong reasons from the club’s perspective and would hinder Solskjaer tactically.
As this season has drawn on, those fears have slowly emerged as as a reality – the 36-year-old’s regular Champions League heroics becoming borderline embarrassing from the manager’s perspective – inept tactics bailed out by Ronaldo’s goal-scoring.
It was a trend that was unsustainable – as proven by United’s recent league run of five defeats from seven, but also appeared to have led to frustration from Ronaldo’s side.
Defeat at Watford was reportedly followed by heated discussions between Ronaldo and the rest of the squad, the former accusing the latter of wanting things ‘too easy’.
Whether that theory is true or not, it is likely to have only contributed to the kind of morale that has clouded the latter stages of Solskjaer’s tenure.
Concerns that Ronaldo commands more respect from some players than the manager are unlikely to go away given Carrick’s blank resume in a managerial sense.
Ronaldo’s demand for a serial winner in charge may also be behind the rumours touting Zinedine Zidane with a switch to the Old Trafford dug-out, the forward winning three Champions League titles under the Frenchman’s guidance.
United simply can not afford to get the next appointment wrong for a number of reasons – but keeping their star-man happy is one of the biggest.
