LONDRES, 28 Oct. (STATS Perform/dpa/EP) –
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag believes Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo can return to the level he offered last season with the three-time European champions if the Madeiran so wishes.
The 37-year-old striker scored his third goal of this season this Thursday against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League, in what was his return to the team after being set aside to play against Chelsea as punishment for refusing to come on as a substitute against the Tottenham.
The Portuguese was United’s top scorer last season with 24 goals in all competitions but, after a somewhat turbulent summer due to his desire to leave, he has been pushed aside by Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is only averaging one goal every 260 minutes in all competitions, his worst since the 2005-06 campaign (one every 284 minutes), but Ten Hag insisted on its importance on Friday.
“It’s up to him, but I think when you collect all the opportunities that he creates and that the team creates for him, in the last few weeks that I’ve been here, you can see that he’s still capable of getting into the right positions. I know he’s capable. to finish that, so it is possible (that he returns to his performance from last year),” the Dutchman said at a press conference.
Additionally, Ten Hag liked what he saw when Ronaldo and Rashford paired up during the second half against Sheriff, and hinted that he sees a way to fit both into the team on a more regular basis. “I think it worked really well and I was happy about it,” he admitted.