Former Ireland midfielder David Meyler joined The Football Show to discuss Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United.
Cristiano Ronaldo is scoring goals. He scored seven in 11 games entering Tuesday's Champions League clash with Atalanta.
Ronaldo scored a spectacular goal against Tottenham on Saturday. He assisted a second. But it was notable throughout the game that Edinson Cavani did most of his running. Cavani starred by working sideline to sideline and across all three thirds of the pitch. Cavani filled that role so Ronaldo could stay upfront.
It's a role that suits him.
But it wasn't just that. Cavani started in a formation that had five defenders and two holding midfielders. Solskjaer added a third holding midfielder before the end of the game. Paul Pogba wasn't even on the field so it wasn't to account for him. United are now an excessively cautious team and Ronaldo's inability to press is part of the reason why.
David Meyler believes the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to Ronaldo.
"If you look at any of the big players over the last 10 or 15 years, they never really are rested," Meyler said.
"If you look at Salah, Salah always seems to play. The only time he ever really gets a rest is in the League Cup. Jurgen tends to gut the whole squad and play a load of youngsters. He brings in the lads who hardly ever feature for Liverpool in the Premier League.
"So I don't think there is a case for Ronaldo being dropped."
The obvious retort to Meyler's comparison is that Salah is in the prime of his career. He is demanding a huge long-term deal because he's 29 years of age. Ronaldo is seven years his senior. It's easier for Salah to play so many games because he's younger. But Ronaldo is in impeccable shape.
Furthermore, Ronaldo is arguably more important to Manchester United than Salah is to Liverpool. That is because Liverpool have more proven star players.
"He's their main man. He is their goalscorer. You know if you get three, four or five chances in a game, Ronaldo is going to take two or three of them. Ronaldo just loves the headlines, he loves scoring goals. It doesn't matter what type of goal it is...Solskjaer needs to find a balance.
"I don't think he can afford to leave Ronaldo out.
"He will score goals."
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