This wasn’t how Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United was meant to play out.
After scoring two goals on his homecoming appearance against Newcastle back in September, an electric Old Trafford was believing that the Reds could mount a title charge once again.
But fast forwards five months and things have taken a dramatic turn for the worst, and the doom and gloom surrounding the Reds continues to grow ever darker.
The great Portuguese, just like his teammates, has been consistently producing poor performances of late and is in the midst of his longest goal drought since 2009.
But according to the Sun, the 37-year-old was the first one in and last one one out of training on Sunday after fluffing his lines the day before, in the 1-1 draw with Southampton.
United’s number seven arrived at Carrington at 9.20am and did not leave until 2.20pm.
Ronaldo is yet to find the back of the net in 2022 and hasn’t scored in his last six games. His last goal came in a 3-1 win against Burnley on December 30.
The last time he went six games without a goal was in 2009, which came in the final months of his chapter at Manchester United before he joined Real Madrid.
Ronaldo is United’s top scorer with 14 this season, but the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s confidence looks sapped.
After being played in on goal by Jadon Sancho and rounding Fraser Forster on Saturday, the man who has scored over 800 career goals lacked conviction when putting the ball into a seemingly effort.
His timid goal-bound effort was cleared off the line by Romain Perraud, but Ronaldo shouldn’t have given the defender the chance.
Despite achieving everything he has in football, Ronaldo’s desire and motivation to stay at the top of the game still burns large.
Spending five hours at Carrington on Sunday is more than sending an example to his teammates, and he is desperate to overcome his drought.
United welcome Brighton to Old Trafford tomorrow night and that will be the first time Ronaldo has faced the Seagulls in his career.
You can never write Ronaldo off, but the vultures are circling.
Cristiano Ronaldo has produced a response time and time again during his career. Hopefully tomorrow night is no different.
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