Everyone will only see the bad side in this, seems to be the norm nowadays, although Ronaldo hasn't made it easy on himself of course, and no one will think 2 steps ahead about this tweet and see that maybe he's arguing against it because whenever he tries to lead the press their teammates just stand there watching him run alone at someone, and obviously there's no point in attempting a high pressing system if when he starts to press no one follows him.
Everyone mentions him shaking his head after the 0-4 but everyone seemingly forgot how he really, really tried rallying his teammates after the 0-1 and 0-2. Even tried rallying everyone by saying they only needed one goal to get back into the game, and we all know how that went afterwards.
No one cares about Ronaldo having to drop back almost right into the midfield line to get a pass in the 63rd minute, only to immediately dash forward with pace, lay the ball to someone else, and run again into space to create a passing line, after their teammates were passing sideways for 40 seconds in the midfield line while losing 0-4 to fecking Brentford. While everyone had given up last weekend, Ronaldo was mad at himself for missing 2 headers in the 2nd half, knowing he could've done better with both of those, and clearly in discontent with himself because that's the standard he has. He has a sense of pride, self awareness, and feels ashamed to be a part of this circus (and he is a part of this circus, no way around that), but has the mentality to try what he can to dig himself and the team out of it, regardless of whether it works or not by the end of the game.
People are more emotionally invested in someone who doesn't want to be here but has good reasons not to want to, after consistently giving match winning goals and points all of last season, consistently making up with goals for the same kind of personal and defensive mistakes we saw last weekend, and not seeing an ounce of pride of desire in most their teammates to even attempt a top 4 finish while he kept scoring against Tottenham, Norwich, Arsenal trying to achieve the bare minimum for United standards. Ronaldo had a bad game this weekend, but if anyone had the United DNA in that pitch it was him. And that's while he's unhappy at the club. I didn't see the captain Maguire rallying his troops like the unhappy Ronaldo tried. I barely saw anyone caring in the 2nd half to get a goal back or two, even if just for their own self pride.
There's only so much a guy like Ronaldo can take. Like him or not, he achieved what he did in football because of his brain, and most their teammates are nowhere near the basic level of what it takes to be a successful footballer (and I'm not talking techncal ability). I don't think he's ever gone through a situation like this, and I think it's clear he's struggling a bit on the emotional side, and that's leading him to making some mistakes like not going to the fans and apologising. He's not been perfect in the last 3 months, surely, but there's bigger problems in the squad and he's still soaking up pressure from the media and the fans because the spotlight is always on him, and whenever things get back to a smidge of normality, he'll continue to protect everyone else around him like always by scoring match winning goals, producing the goods, many times tapering mistakes in the otjer side of the field.
Again, I reiterate he's not perfect, and I think he's not been at his best emotionally and in some attitudes lately, but we're at a crossroads, a big one, for the club, and not a single one of our players has been perfect in terms of attitude. I look at some mistakes Ronaldo has made lately, but look to him on the pitch and I see a United player. Almost everyone else, I see a lot of good vibes, a lot of happiness, and a big bunch of empty souls on the field whenever things take the wrong turn. No one has been perfect lately, including him, but if I had to side with someone, I'd side with Ronaldo.
