Man Utd Stars Slammed After Brighton Rout

There was a time during Manchester United’s season when it was suggested that Cristiano Ronaldo was no longer capable of leading the line.

That was swiftly crushed by the Red Devils’ predicament, and now they may be the ones to lose their best player.

The club had identified the 37-year-old as a problem area since his unwillingness to push ran counter to Ralf Rangnick’s coaching style.

Similarly, it felt like he was being hoisted up by his teammates when his goalscoring form dropped off the grid for a stretch of ten games in which he scored just once.

How quickly things change. In 38 games, the Portuguese superstar has scored 24 goals in all competitions, with three more assists.

The team’s dismal 4-0 loss to Brighton on Saturday encapsulated all that is currently wrong with them. The hosts not only outfought them physically, but they also played better football and generated more chances. Graham Potter’s team is actually better equipped than Rangnick’s jumbled mess.

Bruno Fernandes summed up the problems in the locker room, admitting that Brighton “had more determination than us.”

In football, such an admission is illegal because it implies that players are not working hard enough, which should be a must considering the millions of dollars that the players earn each week.

The notion is that new head coach Erik ten Hag will want to exploit Ronaldo’s experience, which makes sense given that he has 15 times more goals than Fernandes, the next best scorer.

But why should the veteran attacker spend his time at that level if United is traveling to obscure regions of eastern Europe for Europa Conference League qualifiers?

Although his transfer options are limited due to his exorbitant salary demands, Ronaldo remains a coveted commodity in the transfer market due to his global commercial appeal and on-field effect.

PSG could afford his salaries, but Lionel Messi is paid astronomically, so a move to Major League Soccer appears to be a more viable possibility.

Rangnick hopes to sign “at least six people.”