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Manchester United legend Roy Keane has expressed concern that his former side are too reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo after yet another man-of-the-match performance from the Portuguese star.
Ronaldo scored a fine penalty in the Red Devils' 3-0 victory over Brentford on May 2 as his remarkable goalscoring form continued. He also had a goal disallowed by the VAR in the 46th minute by the slighest of offside margins. The Portuguese has now scored 18 goals in 29 Premier League appearances for the club and trails only Mohamed Salah (22) and Son Heung Min (19) on the top scorer charts.
At the age of 37, it's incredible to see Ronaldo still having such a huge impact in the Premier League. However, Roy Keane is worried about Manchester United's over-reliance on the veteran striker and believes incoming manager Erik ten Hag has a massive task on his hands.
He told Sky Sports following the side's 3-0 win over Brentford (via Express):
“When you’re hanging your hat on a 37-year-old, that’s not good. As brilliant as Ronaldo is, United are too dependent on the strikers. Defensively, they’re not good enough. Midfield, not good enough. [It’s a] huge job for the new manager.”
Keane was more positive about the performance shown by the Red Devils against Brentford. He added:
“Very good. Brentford, no aggression in their play and no intensity, comfortable enough for Ronaldo. I bet he wished every game like that. Finishing the season on a high at Old Trafford. He deserved a goal."
Manchester United seem unlikely to finish in the top four, given they trail Arsenal by five points, having played two more games than the Gunners.
However, Ten Hag is being given all the information needed to understand the necessary rebuild he has to undertake at Old Trafford this summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliance doesn't stave over the need for a Manchester United reset
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has revealed his expectations for what should be a complete overhaul at Old Trafford this summer.
Speaking after the win over Brentford, Rangnick told reporters (via PlanetSport):
"Obviously quite a few players will leave the club so we will need new players, top-quality players, but I strongly believe if everybody works together we can raise the level and bring back Manchester United to the spaces and areas they should be.
"Apart from the goalkeepers, where we have three excellent options in Tom Heaton, David De Gea and Dean Henderson, all the other areas there will be players leaving the club so I wouldn't put my focus on specific areas of the pitch.
"Others clubs have only needed two or three transfer windows (to get into contention) so we have to make sure we bring in top-quality players to really help us raise the level of all the other players."
Manchester United duo Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata waved goodbye to the Old Trafford faithful on Monday night and will likely be part of the exodus.
