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The Portugal international may face a battle for a starting berth at Old Trafford after the teenager netted for the third successive game at Wolves
Match statistics: Wolves 0-1 Manchester United
Manchester United have a goal-scoring hero heading back to the club, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might have to spend the international break wondering how he can justify putting Cristiano Ronaldo in the team at the possible expense of Mason Greenwood.
This is Ronaldo that we are talking about, so of course he will start once his arrival has been rubber-stamped. United are not bringing the Portugal international ‘home’ for him to warm the bench.
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But while his arrival will rightly excite the United fanbase, Solskjaer now faces a headache as to how he moulds his team around the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Chants of "Viva Ronaldo" could be heard hours before a ball was kicked at Molineux as United travelled to take on Wolves on Sunday, and the atmosphere will be electric when the prodigal son finally arrives back in Manchester.
But United’s performance here only emphasised that the 36-year-old is a luxury signing that, while thrilling the fans, will not solve the long-term problems in Solskjaer’s side, and may well create one for Greenwood.
The England forward's 80th-minute winner against Bruno Lage's side was his third goal of the season, making Greennwood the first teenager to score in the opening three Premier League games of a new campaign since Robbie Fowler did the same for Liverpool in 1994-95.
The 19-year-old has picked up from where he left off last season, with his impressive displays and his angled strike here, which was assisted by debutant Raphael Varane, meaning he has now scored nine goals in his last 11 league appearances.
In that kind of form, he is undroppable. As Solskjaer put it in his post-match press conference, "he's a special kid".
Greenwood’s strike came after he had been pushed out to the right, as Edinson Cavani had come off the bench in the second half to replace Daniel James and go through the middle, but Greenwood's displays against both Leeds United and Southampton showed that he has developed well enough that he too can operate effectively in that centre-forward role.
So with Cavani still offering a threat and Greenwood in the form of his life, what does that mean for Ronaldo?
This was Solskjaer’s 100th Premier League game in charge of United, and while he has had some difficult team selection decisions to make since he took charge, perhaps the most challenging are now coming up.
Having strengthened this summer with the signings of Jadon Sancho, Varane and Ronaldo, Solskjaer has a depth to his squad that he has lacked in the last two seasons.
In attack, he now has Ronaldo, Sancho, Greenwood, James, Cavani, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and, arguably, Paul Pogba, who is better further up the pitch, to choose from. An impressive roll call on paper, but how will it work in reality as he bids to feed every mouth?
"He’s not been signed to sit on the bench, of course he’s not," Solskjaer said of Ronaldo post-match. "He’s going to make us a better team, of course."
So if Ronaldo is going to start, who misses out? And will his presence be enough to eradicate the issues that made United's overall performance here a concerning vision of what is to come moving forward.
With Sancho handed his full debut and James preferred on the left, Pogba was pushed deeper to partner Fred in the double pivot at the base of United’s midfield. Needless to say, it did not work.
Pogba likes the license to roam and get forward, and Fred has shown both here and against Southampton that he is not the formidable defensive shield that Pogba requires next to him if he is to be allowed such freedom.
United's lack of midfield control led to Wolves dominating the first half, while United failed to register a shot on target. Their performance was so bad that former club captain Roy Keane joked during his half-time analysis on Sky Sports that he hoped Ronaldo was not watching or he would change his mind about the transfer!
It has been obvious for some time now that United need an elite defensive midfielder. Club chiefs are not naive enough to think that it is not a position that needs strengthening either, and that is why Declan Rice, among others, has been monitored for a while.
But for now they have Fred and an ageing Nemanja Matic to pick from while Scott McTominay, who is far from the finished product himself, recovers from groin surgery.
Solskjaer opted for Fred here, and it almost cost his side twice inside the opening six minutes.
First, the Brazilian conceded possession in his own half to gift a glorious chance to Adama Traore, only for Raul Jiminez to have his shot saved by David de Gea.
Fred was then embarrassingly out-muscled by Francisco Trincao as Wolves launched a counterattack, only to be bailed out by a superb goal-line clearance by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. His performance from there improved, but only marginally.
The only saving grace for Solskjaer’s side was that Wolves, for all the chances they created, could not seem to finish, and even when it looked like they might finally break the deadlock midway through the second half, De Gea pulled off a remarkable double save to deny Roman Saiss.
The goalkeeper's intervention, along with the decision not to award a foul against Pogba for a challenge on Ruben Neves in the build-up to Greenwood's strike, proved to be crucial as United stretched their unbeaten away league run to 28 games - a new English top-flight record.
Next up after the international break is Newcastle at Old Trafford, and Ronaldo's potential homecoming. Given that all the songs after the final whistle here were aimed towards the club's latest signing, the home crowd promises to be at fever pitch on September 12.
But unless Ronaldo can put in a shift in central midfield, then United's familiar failings look likely to continue, even if he is able to play alongside the flying Greenwood.
"fit" - Google News
August 29, 2021 at 06:45PM
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Greenwood flying and Fred flailing: How does Ronaldo fit in at Man Utd? - Goal.com
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