Rio Ferdinand explains why Man Utd failed Cristiano Ronaldo

The former defender thinks the Red Devils haven’t held up their end of the bargain.

Manchester United have failed Cristiano Ronaldo by not providing him with a ‘platform for success’, according to Rio Ferdinand.

12 years on from his initial departure, Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford from Juventus last summer. He scored a solid 24 goals in all competitions, bagged two hat-tricks, and won the Premier League’s Player of the Month award twice.

But while the 37-year-old forward excelled last season, United finished a lowly sixth in the Premier League and 35 points behind league champions Manchester City.

“On a personal level he does what Ronaldo does, he scores goals, he wins games. Without Ronaldo, they don’t get out the knockout stages of the Champions League,” Ferdinand told FootballJOE.

“He’s scored winning goals multiple times, and he has held up his side of the bargain. I think the club obviously hasn’t played their role in terms of giving him the platform for success.

“It just shows you that great players, those in conversation as the best players ever – and he’s one of them – you can’t do it alone, you need teammates to help and this shows that.”

Can Ronaldo fit into Ten Hag’s system?

For the 2022/23 campaign, Erik ten Hag will take charge as the new Manchester United manager after a trophy-laden four-and-a-half-years in charge of Dutch champions Ajax.

The arrival of Ten Hag, who has a reputation for success with young players, has raised questions over how he’ll deploy an aging Ronaldo.

“We have to wait and see. This is something we need to wait for and give it time,” Ferdinand said.

“Ronaldo said this new manager needs to be given time and he needs to be afforded that given the resources, given the patience, to try and create something. He has to create something from almost scratch here.”