To me that's what makes Zlatan such an intelligent player. He knew his rol within a team had to change and used all of his success to become a mentor to younger players. He aged so well by being just a little bit self aware, and in many ways has remained the "starman" for Milan despite picking up injuries every time He touches a ball.

I think the biggest problem for Ronaldo is that he didn't really plan out his career post- Madrid. He overestimated how strong and competent of a club Juve were, and made a hasty decision to return to the Prem, which at his current age is a massive risk to take, especially if you aren't going to Man City. Now he's in a situation he could've never imagined and probably just can't fully handle it mentally.

In 2016 Mourinho predicted that in 5 years Messi will be 34 but I guess he never saw it coming for Ronaldo.

We were singing his name just before halftime when he was warming up and he repaid us by leaving the stadium early. People who say Man Utd fans disrespected him doesn't even know anything. We also cried VIVA RONALDO against Chelsea. Nobody would support a player who is wrong but we still did it cause he is our legend.

Ronaldo at one point deserved the right to be selfish because of his abilities , he could score 6 goals on his own for a team , but now the ego and ability don’t match anymore , back in Madrid he could be all overconfident or egotistical and still score like 5 hat tricks a season.

What I don't get about the pundits whinging about Ten Hag being "hard" on CR7 is that for years they've said that Man U needs to have a culture of accountability and now finally get it and they're apoplectic.

When Zlatan returned to Milan he was mostly there to mentor and motivate the younger players and become the locker room leader, so when Ronnie first back to Manu i thought he's gonna take the same role, but apparently i was wrong

Here in Portugal a lot of pundits call us “ungrateful” whenever we say he’s not the same player as he was 4 or 5 years ago, mainly because of what he’s done throughout his career and, with the latest events, with him leaving the Tottenham game early after refusing to be subbed, a lot of people are criticizing Ten Hag by saying he is “a nobody” comparing to Ronaldo in terms of accolades, so yeah, it’s not only in England that people defend him blindly

Pete Donaldson on The Football Ramble (of all people 😅) made a really good point about all this- the fact is, it's a bit of a nightmare scenario for a manager trying to build something for the future, to have this verifiable legend who thinks he's bigger than the club but can't contribute. But Ronaldo's attitude is a massive blessing in disguise for Ten Hag, he's just making it easy for him to dump him without taking the criticism he would normally do in that case. It's a sign that the only one who doesn't understand Ronaldo's situation is Ronaldo.

One thing I never understood Is why Ronaldo isn't willing to take paycut for transfers. He's a billionaire at this point and earns millions regardless of football just from merchandizing & brand.

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 401) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

He can't come to terms with getting old.

Both Ten Hag and Arteta are scholars of Pep Guardiola. And pep has taught them, no person is bigger than the club. You turn up to training like everyone else, you show up and show out every time. Auba learned it the hard way, is he done? No way he is. But he definitely should either humble himself or know that no club will pay above £500,000 for someone who doesn’t have a massive impact like he thinks.

Keane always sticks up for his mates. the whole "say it as it is" persona is a facade

Ronaldo has always been a bit egotistical the difference then though is his immense ability on the pitch largely backed up his attitude. Its only now that age has finally caught up with him that it's seen as a problem but throughout football history all the top players had an immense will to win which may have come across arrogant to others but that was just them being fired up and willing their team to success. Ronaldo has had a fantastic career but unfortunately his best days are long behind him and his ego no longer matches his ability on the pitch like it once did

I believe a reason why Tom Brady came out of retirement last spring was because he was in attendance for Ronaldo’s hat trick against Tottenham and they met on the pitch. Ironic that they are both going out sad this season.

I always thought Ronaldo cared about winning above everything but now it feels like he’d rather lose but play than see his team win without him

Credit to Craig Burley for making the same observation of how English pundits would have reacted if Pogba had acted out like Ronaldo did

Ronaldo also somehow snagged the reputation of being Mr. UCL at Madrid. He hasn't even seen a UCL semi since leaving RM. Madrid hid his flaws for many years.

As a United fan, it’s so odd to see, so blatantly, that when Ronaldo starts, we lack any sort of threat from the front in terms of pressing and so we’re forced to sit deeper and invite teams on to us, whereas starting Rashford or Martial for example gives us that extra energy, and seeing pundits routinely defend Ronaldo and saying we are better with him starting. We are not, and the fundamentals of Erik ten Hag’s style that he is slowly implementing here absolutely requires that willing runner and off-the-ball worker up front. And whilst Ronaldo is one of the greatest players in the history of our club and of all time, he simply isn’t able to run more than Rashford or Martial due to his age, and therefore does not suit Erik’s game whatsoever. You can argue, and I will, that he is one of the all time greats, and that he is still an incredibly sharp finisher but that isn’t all a striker is anymore in the modern game and especially at United now. (Edit: 😉)

Almost a year on and without ronaldo, manU still concending goals, still dont press and couldnt win against an above average team like brighton and has to call a 1-0 scoreline against burnley a big win 😃 I GUESS ITS RONALDO'S FAULT ONCE AGAIN

Massive lifelong United fan. I think Ronaldo is top five all-time great...I also think you're absolutely correct in your assessment. Psychologically, it is a humbling, crushing realization when you are no longer the man. It would be best if he followed Beckham's path to the MLS and taste that final fleeting glory one last time.

In my opinion, Cristiano Ronaldo should have planned better his last years as a football player. It is a shame that he had such an oversight and he still thinks he is as good as 5 seasons ago (the latest). Cristiano Ronaldo is my absolute favourite football player and will always be, but he deserved to give himself a better exit from the playing stage. This situation is his fault entirely, not Erik ten Hag, not Manchester United. To end up in this situation with virtually unlimited possibilities it's a pitty.

When Zlatan played in the MLS he scored his 500th goal against my club. It was this crazy kung-fu flying spin-kick goal and even WE had to applaud it, haha

United went downhill under OGS when Ronaldo came in. It is no coincidence that they've improved under Ten Hag since he dropped him.

Don't think Keane's constant defence of Ronaldo is anywhere near as complicated as the "he reminds me of me" theory Neville defended Ole because they were mates. Keane defends Ronaldo because they're mates (just look at the way they hugged each other when Ronaldo came over to the sideline that one time).

This aged like dogwater

Alfie is willing to say the things many cannot. First the Queen, and now Ronaldo.

His goalscoring record is just wow i can remember when Raul was all time top goal scorer in the Champions league and wondering was his record ever going to be beaten and not only did Ronaldo beat it he has completely blown it out of the water as has Messi and there's no doubt that they're both the 2 greatest players of their generation by quite some distance and possibly the greatest of all time as well.

Hot take - I think that Erling Håland's performances in the city rival Manchester City (especially during the Manchester derby, which ended 6-3) also hurt CR7's ego to a degree, because "how dare this Norwegian kid eclipse the all mighty CR7". Håland's rise in his very first season in the Premier League is something never seen before - not even CR7 had that strong first season (individually) at United.

eras come to an end every great player had their peak and when time came to leave the highest level they did. ain't nothing wrong with that father time waits for no one

His move to Juventus was the start of a decline for him & them, poor move from him in terms of the team's state & CL aspirations & for them as they needed a team not spunking their full budget on someone so old to then not be able to invest around him for it to really work. He's wasted the last 4 years really outside of his International goals record as no one is impressed with titles at Juve & even then they were declining with him so it wasn't a great look

Ahh the voice of reason, thank you very much Alfie

Ronaldo should not be starting at united, but that’s not what everyone is annoyed about. Manchester United kept one of the greatest players of all time at their club for their own selfish purposes, knowing he would just sit on the bench, also knowing he wanted to leave. They are ruining the end of his career! The club is an absolute disgrace.

Ronaldo’s performances this season have been a disgrace. The guy can’t even do basic stuff like pass five yards. Trap a ball, control a ball. And we all turned a blind eye to it because he scored goals but now that he isn’t scoring it’s become more noticeable.

As a lifelong Manchester United fan (21 years), this whole situation is infuriating. I watch every game and it doesn’t take a football analyst to see how much united have been improving under eth. I love ronaldo just as much as any united fan who saw him in his early years does but it’s not hard to realise that he isn’t as useful at his age now in the modern game. We finally have a manager who shows he is able to do some man management and all the ex player pundits shut him down while they stick up for a guy they’re attached to because they played with him for a short while in his early years, and he went on to be one of the best players the games ever seen. It’s like the ex united player pundits are unfamiliar with man management despite playing under one of the best man managing managers of all time. Scholes was one of the best creative cms I’ve had the pleasure of watching and he has even previously stated that there would be games where sir Alex would just drop him because he didn’t suit the system for an upcoming game. All ex united pundits were brilliant players and they would’ve all been dropped by sir Alex at times but for some reason they put ronaldo on this pedestal where despite it being obvious that he may not be what is best for the team at times, he is completely undroppable.

Every single club on earth desperately wants CR7, but none of them want to pay ¾ of their annual budget on his salary.

Ronaldo thinks he is bigger than everyone and everything in football

I was actually shocked by what Roy Keane said, I can't understand how he can honestly think that Ten Hag isn't winning enough games and Ronaldo should be playing more. Has he watched any of Manchester United this season?

Ironically I think that Portugal team is good enough to contend for the world cup (at least as far as the Quarter Finals), but Fernando Santos's almost-religious insistence to playing Ronaldo for the full 90, blocking the path to the 1st team for players like Raphael Leao will prevent them from kicking on I expect. My Portuguese brother-in-law and I disagree on this point.

People Defending Ronaldo are mostly Madrid Fanboys If you Ask Them Would they take Ronaldo Back "They won't Take Him Back" But yet they Bark Everywhere

Father Time is undefeated. Anyway to over simplify. Messi = team player/whats good for the team Ronaldo = what team. It's all about me.

messi destroys whatever competitive spirit ronaldo have with that world cup win.

Ronaldo Stans are incredibly annoying, im a Man United fan and there is no reasoning with them. They come off as the children who play fifa and switch the controls to the opposite team shortly after kick off in order to score lots of own goals, only to boast about the result afterwards.

Sad to see a legend like Ronaldo tarnishes his legacy like this. I hope he figure the situation out because we don’t want the 2nd Man Utd stint to be the most fond memories of CR7 when he hangs his boots.

Santos and ronaldo are joined at the hip, there’s no way ronaldo doesn’t start all 3 group games. It’ll be the last World Cup for both santos and ronaldo, and as unfortunate as it is, in a new era of very pressing football. Both Portugal’s new generation and a new manger such as amorin will make Portugal a frequent top 8 side on an international scale again

Comming from his 4 goals in a match with Al-nassar today, will I will only say that people can talk all they want but can never match his level.

At least he has Europa to keep playing 90 mins Now he has jeopardised it... 😪

Imagine if someone at McDonald’s did what Ronaldo did? “Nah boss I don’t want to make burgers I want to make the nuggets and if you put me on burgers I’ll just go home” they’d be sacked immediately

He’s done. He’s had a long and incredible career but sometimes you need to bow out when the ovation is loudest. If I were him I’d cash in on that Saudi offer now before his stock falls further in England and even they don’t want him anymore.

"Nobody wanted to sign him" Wrong, nobody wanted to pay a transfer fee for a publicly unhappy player who's contract expires in a few months, not every club is as dumb as United was with Antony, most other clubs don't just pay millions for players they can get free with a little patience, and clubs are still interested in him, Napoli is publicly interested in signing him so i have no idea where people got this utter BS that nobody wants him from, not wanting to pay an unnecessary transfer fee to united is not the same as not wanting a player United aren't impressive at all, they're awfully inconsistent and frequently struggle in the second half without Ronaldo and Ronaldo typically only joins matches during the second half when Bruno's already run himself ragged and Rashford's missed 3 sitters, its ridiculously precocious to count Ronaldo out based on performance in these conditions, PSG fans who thought Messi was done come to mind lol Ronaldo will have his vengeance still, he always does, if anything i'm excited by how mad this nonsense must be making him and funny how everyone is pretending like United is good all of the sudden because of the Tottenham game, Tottenham which immediately following that match got wrecked by EVERTON lol

In my opinion, he's always had a terrible attitude when it comes to this, but when you are as good as he was particularly from say 2013-2017, your team is going to win a lot, and that is going to mask a ton of issues, but you have to be a truly sensational player for teams and the media to put up with that, and CR7 isn't at that level anymore.

I hate to see Ronaldo in this state when he still has all the ego of a serial winner but not the ability(any more) to back it up. It was always gonna happen but it is soo sad to see the guy I loved to see play everyday turn into basically a rotational option.

Around 13:55 ya may a really good point about adapting his game. Video idea: 7 best players who adapted their game

Great and insightful work, as always. One point that isn't talked about in my humble opinion is the loss of his child earlier this year. Don't get me wrong. I don't use this tragedy in order to justify his antics by any means, but I am pretty certain that it took a toll on his mental health. Losing a child is an event that will stay forever with him. What is his mental state currently? Nobody is really asking this question. I agree with all the points that you mentioned, but in the end, we are all humans. Who knows whether he will ever recover from this tragedy.

great video u sum it up very nicely in this video.

22:35 unpopular opinion I don't think Ole would've been fired until the end of the season if he stuck to his guns and made him a bench player after that Everton game. The fact that they kept playing him only added legitimacy to arguements like "Oh they haven't won a prem game without him" when in reality they hardly played any games without him and on the whole the results weren't even better against those specific teams in the matches that he played Vs the ones he didn't.

He’s back to training with the first team and he’ll probably start the game against Sheriff. I really hope Ronnie calms down and keeps his cool, it’s gonna hurt him when he’s looking for a team to join in the summer.

Thanks Alfie. That's what was an insightful video.

If Ronaldo had gone to the 6th best european league instead of the best league in the world, then he’d be topping the scoring charts. He wants a challenge unlike a certain tiny Argentinian, who can’t even tear up that farmers league

The thing is, and hear me out here, Ronaldo hasn't yet disappointed a manager that consistently bet in him and kept him on the pitch, it eventually always payed off. Now what Ten Hag did, allthough he surely had his reasons given how the season started, is to bench him before giving him the chance of the day. And yes he starts him now and then in shitty matches most players are switched of at. Against Omonia for example half the players were digesting their redbull rather than trying and Ronaldo was frustrated by minute 15. Ronaldo hasn't gotten the chance to actually prove himself and the playtime he gets is rather for pity than for trust, and this shows, this doesn't give him the confidence to play on and honestly to do this rather sell him before season starts as Man Utd and therefore Ten Had are basically ending his carreer for him. I'm not discrediting anything you said here, most of it is true, but from the opposite side of the spectrum there's also a point to be made that Man U/Ten Hag are distrusting a player before he fails the club just assuming he will. And again we're back to a what came first, Ronaldo's behaviour at preseason or Ten Hag letting him know he would play the cup matches mostly regardless of what he did to change that.

Narcissists know how to behave when it's going well but expose themselves when it's not. I'm glad he's finally showing his true personality.

It's funny because shortly after this video was made, Messi got his era defining tournament, his 86 Maradona.

Great video like always.

Long story short , always remember to be humble and do not ever forget you are not higher than your employer, lastly keep your ego aside, keep your mouth shut.

If he had an ounce of self-awareness, he'd realize being a super-sub would be a great way for him to rack up goals, avoid injuries, be a hero and stay on a high level team. But his ego, wage demands and selfish play will curtail his top-flight career prematurely, given his amazing talents. He was a GOAT goal scorer once, but in my opinion, he was never a great "footballer". I think Messi will be remembered with far greater fondness, and Ronaldo's legacy will serve as a cautionary tale.

Alfie, you hit the nail on the head with this video. Love, from South Africa 🇿🇦🔥❤️

Day 3: Hey Alfie, could you please do a mini-doc on Justin Fashanu please, it's a criminally underrated and horribly sad story .

Everyone seems to forget his 20+ goals in all comps last season, single-handedly with DDG keeping United out of the relegation zone… he wanted to leave in the summer and we should have listened, the goat makes his own rules

In one word: petulance In many words: the whole video

You nailed it when you said (paraphrasing), "Keano is vicariously re-living his final days at Old Trafford through Ronaldo". Every insult that comes Ronaldo's way, Roy Keane takes it as a personal insult. He doesn't want to chin Pogba or Ronaldo, he wants to chin Sir Alex! Seriously though how can you argue Rashford or Martial are doing a better job than Ronaldo would? I'm so disappointed with both of them. Even if you disagree with that, you'll surely agree than Ronaldo is doing a better job than Mason Greenwood!

Very good video appreciate, wish those pundits can watch this video

A year or two ago I would have been very hard on Ronaldo but your video about the dehumanising of footballers changed my perspective, his son died only a few months ago he should be given a lot of slack

Ronaldo loves shushing his haters and here we are once again ronaldo is proving that he can still do some very good stuff for the team at 38 years of age and ten hag is proving.....absolutely nothing horrible signings horrible performances struggling against relegation teams and probably no top 4 this season 🤙🏻

Cant wait for his reaction to the infamous interview, feel bad for my man for missing a bit of his timing

Where was kane against United, he was on the sheet 1 time and Ronaldo scored 5 in 2 against tots, Ronaldo is not getting enough game time and you are acting as a ex girlfriend of who is focusing on bashing a guy who is just struggling . He didn't started in most of the games.

ronaldo is the jordan of football an extremely motivated, driven and at times selfish and egotistical superstar who has done a lot of winning, but stepped on a lot of toes

I see a lot of parallels between Ronaldo right now and the beginning of Carmelo Anthony's decline in basketball. A player who was one of the best in the world for a solid decade has trouble adjusting to what his new role in winning teams should be. Melo eventually settled into his new role as a legend who plays limited minutes and helps the young guys develop, idk if Ronaldo will ever do the same.

Manchester united made ronaldo who he is. He shouldn’t forget it

Ronaldo 🐐 ❤

I would add that he has lost a child in the last year, and that is going to have an impact in some form on and off the pitch.

Day 339: Indonesia XI If All Eligible Players Had Declared For Them.

Ronaldo is still one of the best players in the world The reason why he is playing badly now is because he has zero motivation, he hates the club As soon as he leave, he will become a world star again

Congrats on the 500k subs Alfie:)

“You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain” CR should know his position right now. Just hang the boots, you don't have to prove anything anymore. We all already know you are one of the greats in football.

unique super athletes who invests alot of work in their body to extend playing years like CR7 and Tom Brady shouldn´t be compared to regular good football players FULL STOP.

Ronaldo has reached the point in his career where his best days are behind him and every day he gets slower as he ages. He cannot dominate a game on his own any longer and needs the team to feed him the ball for him to have any success. The problem is top teams are not built around any one player. Manchester United certainly is not. After being the man all his life that certainly is a blow to his ego. As for the pundits claiming Ronaldo is still the greatest well they are entitled to their opinion but clearly they are looking at him with rose-colored glasses because the Ronaldo of today is not the Ronaldo of 4-5 years ago.

Ronaldo has been a first Class professional for over 22 years that has won everything in the game accept the World Cup! Bring him back to Man Utd to be a player/assistant Manager to Ole or Outsider like Zidane cos we gladly have him back at our club!

He was decent last season , but this season he is actually causing a little problem at the club this season so far

Ronaldo scored a goal every two games last season. Which is what he was referring to I guess

Past Man Utd players turned pundits defending their teammates and being partisan?? Never heard it before

My response is the same as the last vid - agreed! He's yesterday's man and hasn't come to terms with it yet. We all also know that if pundits were that knowledgeable, they'd be managing teams not analysing them on tv! Their insights are interesting but are only as good as the half they've just watched.

Suggestion: the 7 clubs most likely to win their first international club competition. This includes Champions League/Europa League/Conference League and all their predecessors.

Wow, What a way to describe a legend of the game's legacy. The amount of biased toward Messi is clearly visible. So, can't expect fairness in this discussion tho. But the thing most painful to watch or hear was those exact horrible words you used to describe him. Man does deserve shit from you guys and never will he did enough for the game & made many fall in love with this sport. And for that, I'm forever thankful to him

Rabona TV also talk about this from portugal national team perspective and come more or less same conclusion that ronaldo will be better as an impact sub player

Coming back in the Prem was a mistake. Even for an athlete like him , you can’t cheat age and playing in the most physical league in the world when you’re not far from 40 is too much for anyone even him.

Ronaldo should go to some smaller European club to finish his career where he will play Europa League or ECL like Slavia Prague, Viktoria Plzen or Maccabi Haifa.

again this aged like dogwater

Best example of too much ego will ruin your talent

Who else is here after his latest "betrayal" interview