The recent game between Republic of Ireland and Portugal highlighted a potential issue for Manchester United fans as Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes struggled to link up, having just one shot in the entire first half from a penalty that had been controversially won by Fernandes. Ronaldo saw his spot-kick saved by Gavin Bazunu and struggled after that despite Portugal dominating possession.
Although Fernandes is seen more of a playmaker, they both like to take on opponents.
However they were both guilty of losing the ball on numerous occasions and if that were to happen on multiple occasions for United, familiar concerns about the duo playing in the same team could extend to the Old Trafford faithful.
Ronaldo was drifting left on occasions for Portugal, yet they still struggled to penetrate the Irish backline. Fernandes was trying to dictate play from deep but often found the easy pass sideways rather than making something happen for Fernando Santos’s men.
It will be interesting in the coming weeks to see how Ole Gunnar Solskjear lines up especially at home. With teams likely to sit off and defend deep will Ole opt for a 4-3-3 with Ronaldo as the central striker and Fernandes in midfield or will Marcus Rashford, who is due to return from injury shortly, lead the line with Ronaldo moved onto the wing as a wide striker?
Ole has options across his forward line; that’s clear to see. With the likes of Ronaldo, Sancho, Cavani, Greenwood, Rashford and Martial at his disposal the manager will have some tough calls to make in coming weeks as they face West Ham in the League Cup tonight before travelling to Villa Park in the league, ahead of hosting Villarreal in match day two of the Champions League.
Another potential issue for Ole to deal with is who will take the set-pieces and penalties. Fernandes has been the star man of late, but will Ronaldo take over? Will this cause an issue and divide the camp?
Move aside Mr reliable?
Fernandes has scored an incredible 21 of 22 penalties for Utd. It would seem to make sense for him to remain as the set-piece king at Old Trafford. If Ronaldo does take over, Fernandes may accept this in the public domain but he’s may have issues behind the scenes. With such an outstanding record – better than Ronaldo himself – from the penalty spot, the Portuguese superstar deserves to stay on at least until he hits a bad run of form.
One way to please both may be to keep Fernandes on penalties and put Ronaldo on free-kicks, or vice-versa. Fernandes has scored free-kicks in his time at United but for the national team it is Ronaldo who steps up come what may. The ego of both men may accept this compromise although given how many penalties Manchester United are awarded throughout the season this may yet prove a thorny issue.
There is also a strong possibility that all these potential problems in fitting in the two Portuguese superstars will be smoothly worked out to the benefit of both players and the team. Indeed, the evidence so far points to exactly that happening, with Ronaldo and Fernandes having played starring roles in the three games they have played together so far in the famous red shirt. Ronaldo has scored 4 goals, while Bruno has scored one and provided two assists, to none other than his compatriot.
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One thing everyone recognises Ronaldo will bring to the table is winning mentality and his incredible work ethic. Ole will be expecting this to rub off on the young talent at Old Trafford. There’s little doubt Ronaldo will have a positive impact in that regard, and he will score plenty of goals, but whether that will be enough to turn United into title contenders remains to be seen.
