Chesterlestreet
Man of the crowd
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2012
- Messages
- 19,824
ETH has handled this situation as well as he could so far. But this has been the easy part. The hard part comes when Ronaldo returns to the team and ETH has to actually define Ronaldo's role in the side, make decisions about who goes on the team sheet in real matches, and then deal with the fallout from both players and the media. United isn't Ajax and Ronaldo isn't Haller or Tadic.
Absolutely - yes.
It's become a meme, but that really is a "first test" for him.
He's doing things on another scale now - no disrespect to Ajax but United (as shite as we've been since Fergie) is a very different beast in terms of having every little decision you make scrutinized by the whole world.
It's going to take balls to stand up to Ronaldo - if that's what it comes down to.
ETA But it really shouldn't be about ETH and Ronaldo. It should be about Murtough and Ronaldo - to put it like that. As in - ETH should focus on coaching the players according to his plan - and picking the XI week to week. Dealing with a possibly sulking Ronaldo (and his entourage) shouldn't be his problem - that should be Murtough's department.
To be clear: ETH should simply treat Ronaldo as he would any other player (I presume that he won't drop Ronaldo, or limit his minutes, without reason). If Ronaldo has a problem with ETH's decisions or ETH himself as a coach, that becomes a matter for Murtough - who can then either support ETH or Ronaldo, as it were. But the structural nature of that hypothetical situation should be clear from day one.
Last edited: