The transfer market for the English and European Leagues this season has been in an uproar with the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo by Manchester United.
Ronaldo’s arrival is less than a week before the Premier League transfer window closes on Tuesday (31/8).
The player nicknamed CR7 returned to Old Trafford this season. Yes, Ronaldo kept his promise to return to Man Utd after 12 years.
It’s just that, in the midst of the frenetic arrival of Ronaldo, another question arose. How much do Man Utd need with Cristiano Ronaldo?
The main aspect of the transfer activity is the team’s need for the player, both from a marketing and technical point of view of the game.
On paper so far, Ronaldo is not a player the Red Devils really need. From the attack line, Man United has a fairly capable composition: Marcus Rashford, Mason Greendwood, Edinson Cavani, including another new recruit, Jadon Sancho.
Last season, Manchester United also became the second most fertile club after Manchester City. In the 2020/2021 season, Man United scored 73 goals in 38 matches, while Man City 83 goals.
With these data, Ronaldo is not an urgent need for Man Utd this season. Many say the most pressing position for Manchester United is a defensive midfielder.
Fred, Scott McTominay, and Nemanja Matic still appear to be windy as anchor midfielders. Especially Fred. Despite scoring in the opener against Leeds United, the Brazilian midfielder has in fact made several mistakes in the last two games, against Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
However, when explored further, last season Man United lost the chance to win a trophy due to a lack of clinical front lines.
Man United’s lack of sharp front line last season can be covered by the figure of Ronaldo this season. Compared to Man United’s attacking lineup last season, Ronaldo’s statistics in the 2020/2021 season in the league are still much better.
Last season, Man Utd’s top scorer in the Premier League was Bruno Fernandes who incidentally was a midfielder, with 18 goals in 37 appearances. While from the attacking line only Rashford has 11 goals from 37 matches, Cavani scored 10 goals from 26 matches, while Greenwood has 7 goals from 31 matches.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 29 goals in 33 Serie A games last season, with 6 of them from the penalty spot.
In the Italian League last season, Ronaldo also produced 5.1 shots per game, or a total of about 168 shots in one season (33 games).
Ronaldo’s productivity is much better than the Man Utd front line last season, including Jadon Sancho. The Man Utd striker who can get close to Ronaldo is only Rashford, with a total of 79 shots, 37 on target, and a shooting accuracy rate of 47 percent.
Cavani himself could only release 34 shots, 15 on target, with an accuracy of 47 percent. While Greenwood had 67 shots, 24 on target and 36 percent accuracy. Another player with great shooting accuracy is Anthony Martial, 49 per cent of 43 shots in 22 games last season.
This goal problem became the source of Manchester United’s failure to lift the Europa League trophy after losing on penalties to Villarreal. In the final match, Man United dominated the attack with 21 attempted shots, 7 on target, but only led to 1 goal.
Last season Manchester United also lost three Premier League points after only drawing, including against mediocre clubs such as Leeds United, Fulham, Crystal Palace, to West Bromwich Albion.
After the 31st week of the Premier League last season, Man Utd still have a chance to compete with Man City in the race for the title. At that time, United were only 8 points behind Man City.
However, in the remaining seven matches, Man Utd only won 3 times, drew 2 and lost 2 times. If only there were no problems with goal productivity, Man United could be the winner at the end of the season.
When matched by Leeds 0-0 in the 33rd week, Man United had 56 percent possession with a total of 16 shots, 7 on target. When they lost 1-2 to Leicester, Man United, who had 53.1 percent possession, could only shoot a total of 5 shots.
Meanwhile, against Fulham who are now relegated, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team only scored 1 goal from a total of 19 shots, 6 on target.
Therefore, recruiting Cristiano Ronaldo who is more productive in trying goals or scoring goals could be Man Utd’s need this season.
