The conclusion of Cristiano Ronaldo’s current situation and of that interview (with perhaps the worlds most vile creature) is one that’s quite simple. Both men wish to live in an a world of ignorance, narcissism and self-promotion and can’t comprehend that they are no longer relevant (or ever were in Piers case) and after this nobody will want anything to do with them anymore due to the toxic atmosphere they create.
This interview will be watched by millions, the majority being ‘the followers’, the people who don’t have much going on in their lives and just ‘follow the trawler’ to quote a former United number 7 (one worthy of the shirt). The other viewers, (like myself admittedly), will be there to watch the pair of malignant narcissists commit car crash viewing. Piers Morgan reprised his role as the inferior sidekick, propping up the Batman, which is fitting given how Ronaldo perceives himself in life regardless of who is in the room. In fairness to Piers though, he’ll get his clicks, his viewing numbers up and perhaps above all, as a big Arsenal fan, he gets to manipulate one of his teams main rivals star players on TV, which of course Ronaldo can’t see past for admiring his own reflection; Robin 1, Batman 0. In short, the pair of them have done United a huge favour, as United can now justifiably move Ronaldo on, as this season has proved he makes the team weaker, which has been the case with him for a few years now, as football moved on leaving Ronaldo behind. He’s never fully grasped that football is a team game and each player, regardless of ability must play a part and if that part is weak, then that shortfall has to be addressed. The team always comes ahead of the individual. Let’s also remember a Ronaldo-less United beat Arsenal 3-1 earlier in the season, which is their only defeat of the season. Thanks Piers! It must also be noted that Ronaldo is actually a product of society. In many ways the fans, followers, current and past teammates have all played a part in the creation of this monster. The endless idolising, relentless defending and egg shelling around the ego to make sure they aren’t on his shit list. Rio, Gary Neville (previously), Keane and Fergie to name a few, have blown so much smoke up his a***, add to that the millions of followers and fans around the world (neither of whom would have a bad word said against him), so what did we really expect? Perhaps the only notable teammate to call him out was Ruud van Nistelrooy and he was sold months later. Ronaldo’s narcissism and need to be the main man is partially what has got him to where he is. Big players need an ego, we know this. It’s what sets them apart in many ways. Along with the desire to win, ability and not accepting anything less than the highest standards, the ego and arrogance are needed. As with all great legacy’s though, they come to an end but this can be done in style and with class. Fergie walked out of Old Trafford with a Premier League title having wrestled it back from City. Robson ended his 12-years with a league title, as did Eric. Now although that was a different era, in recent troubled times Rooney still left with a Europa League and League Cup medal. Not a bad way to bow out given the many issues the club has been dealt in the past decade. Despite leaving Anfield without a trophy, Steven Gerrard a.k.a. Mr Liverpool has left behind possibly one of the finest legacy’s in football, notably due to the many occasions he singlehandedly pulled Liverpool through games and seasons. Ronaldo being Ronaldo though would set himself higher than all the aforementioned and would ideally bow out with a World Cup or Champions League medal but time may have run out for him on this. The fact Ronaldo feels he has to end his Old Trafford legacy by going on TalkTV with Piers Morgan (probably sandwiched between re-runs of Jeremy Kyle) shows just how desperate he now is. I mean surely he could’ve got Oprah at least? Honestly the tableau of these 2 and the relentless narcissism of Ronaldo is quite honestly nauseating. I wonder if we will we get a ‘Pogmentary’ about the big reveal? In reality Pogba left United on a free, as United wouldn’t meet his ridiculous wage demands, leaving him to join Juventus on a reduced salary and is now (again) out with a lengthy injury and likely missing his final chance at a World Cup. Both these incidents will go down as some of the most laughable in sporting history. Messi will be smirking at this one. The return to Old Trafford for Cristiano Ronaldo though, should never have happened. The fact they did relinquish their relationship is proof that both club and player were both desperate and in similar predicaments. Juventus needed him out post the pandemic, as he had become too much of a financial albatross around their neck and needed to free up the wage bill. Who will take this £500k a week 36-year old off us? Apparently Pep’s Man City were interested but I have my doubts on this, as it seems like the classic agent ploy to drum up false interest to play on the hearts of all at Old Trafford including Sir Alex and United, being United (never one to turn down revenues from shirt sales and marketing opportunities) leapt at the chance. This is what they do. They did it with Sanchez and Pogba. “Big social media following? We’ll have them!” It’s the chaos that is United, which is the reason he’s at United. Had United had a savvy set-up like the likes of City, Bayern or Liverpool, then United aren’t signing him. They’re signing the next Ronaldo…Erling Braut Haaland! Fast forward and long story short, Ronaldo finished the season top scorer, United were awful, Ole was sacked, Ragnick came and went and Erik Ten Hag was brought in, as a last ditch attempt to steer the sinking ship, which to date he has achieved even with the Ronaldo side-show screaming “Look at me! Look at me!” However, perhaps the greatest highlight of his work has been his victory over managing the biggest ego in football history. Ten Hag has given Ronaldo all the rope he needed to hang himself with, and it’s actually Ronaldo himself who has released the gallows. Ronaldo, as a United player is done and Erik Ten Hag and likely the ‘2 or 3 other guys’ will be loving the fact Ronaldo has made their lives easier by being the master of his downfall. Poor form, poor attitude and now this interview. This will also free up an extra £400k a week, which could go toward that state of the art jacuzzi and swimming pool Ronaldo so badly craves. I must add, it’s of course apt that a narcissist would call out the Jacuzzi of all things wrong with his current situation. It’s obvious he couldn’t find a club in the Summer, leaving him to go back with his tail between his legs to make sure he was fit for the World Cup. His agent will have continued to tout his man to other clubs in the meantime but it seems there’s still no takers. So what to do? Go and put yourself in the shop window by using cover agendas, such as the issues at the club, as a means to justify such an interview and hopefully get a taker? This is not 2009 when clubs were falling over themselves to sign him, at a time when he was in the position to chose his own destination. Now he’ll be lucky if Chelsea or Napoli will take a punt with him. Look forward to watching Graeme Potter try and manage this one. I suspect he’ll end up playing wingback, as is currently the case with Sterling. His interview with Simon Cowells lapdog to reveal his story (which on August 3, 2022 he said he would share) came just minutes after the final whistle had gone at Craven Cottage when the headlines should have been about Alejandro Garnacho scoring a last minute winner, but instead were hijacked by the released snippets of this interview to get the clicks started. Stam, Beckham, Keane and van Nistelrooy all left United under a cloud after disrespecting the club and undermining the manager with the latter being for similar reasons to Ronaldo’s recent behaviour. Ruud stormed out of the Carling Cup final in 2006 when Fergie didn’t put him on for the final moments of the game, which United won 4-0, Ronaldo scoring the 4th that day. Ruud was in no mood to be bench warming and watching Fergie build a new team around the young players of Ronaldo and Rooney. Ruud was ultimately sold to Madrid that summer. Beckham had become too much of a media circus and noise, which wasn’t conducive to Fergie retaining full control of a team dominating top flight football. Beckham was replaced with an 18-year old Ronaldo. Stam decided to write a book revealing changing room tactics while still playing for the club. Finally Keane (perhaps Ronaldo’s only remaining ‘pal’), left the club post his public dressing down of his teammates after a poor United performance. His contract was subsequently terminated and he left with immediate affect. Now Ronaldo (of course would need to go one better) has virtually merged all of the above into one play with this latest stunt, which is the pinnacle of recent events. He’s perhaps the biggest media circus around, he’s stormed out of Old Trafford when not being brought on and has now done an interview publicly calling out everything at Old Trafford adding in a few old teammates for good measure…Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney. Neville and Rooney weren’t actually criticising him, they were offering supportive advice of the situation between club and player. Also Ronaldo’s claim they don’t know what goes inside the club is absolutely nonsense. Rooney called out these issues in 2010 and actually went into Fergies office questioning the lack of ambition due to the lack of investment in the club. As for Gary Neville, it’s all he talks about alongside the Qatar World Cup. However, let’s not get lost in the real Napoleon issue, Ronaldo, like Trump will not be criticised and must be respected at all times and if so much, as anyone dare disrespect himthen they’ll be snubbed to create noise to deflect blame from the real issue, himself. Over the premier league break, more and more articles will surface about this story, more analysis and evaluations of the events will be conducted and discussed, more debates had, but ultimately the ending of this chapter is that Ronaldo will never play for United again. Where he goes next is anyones guess but we can agree that such a career or chapter should have ended with a finale fitting of one of the greatest players at one of the greatest clubs of all time, but instead has left us with a sense of sadness. As with Pogba, it’s a shame that nobody around him offered him guidance on the optics of this interview (or any association with Piers Morgan who is primetime trash media) or even a sense of scale in life. The fact Ronaldo can’t seem to understand the world doesn’t actually revolve around him or that he’s not actually Batman, has left him so far detached from reality that I have concerns about where his mind may go after football, which I’m unsure Ronaldo could cope with mentally, as it seems for all his ability, he does have limits on reality.
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