Former Liverpool defender Jose Enrique believes Ralf Rangnick has a similar problem with Cristiano Ronaldo which his predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had at Man United.
He told BeMyBet: “Look at Ronaldo’s age and he is still the top scorer at United. But I don’t see him playing for a team that plays with high pressing and high intensity. And Cristiano wants to play every game.
“If not, he’s not happy, so I don’t know how he’s going to handle that. Solskjaer had the same problem with Cristiano. You would always welcome Cristiano to your team, but Solskjaer changed the way he wanted United to play, a lot.
“I don’t see Rangnick adapting for Cristiano. Cristiano will have to adapt to him. He looks like a big personality and I like that. Cristiano will want to work because he is the best in terms of his body and fitness in the football world, but still the age is there and he cannot change that.
“You cannot ask him to run for 90 minutes. He’s never done that. At Real Madrid, they knew that and they played for him. In Italy he can do that, because the teams are more defensive and you don’t have to press that high.
“The Premier League is different, it’s up and down all the time. I’m not sure about the signing of Cristiano and whether it was good or not.”
Maybe Enrique has missed United’s games under Rangnick, but Ronaldo has done well to adapt to his new manager’s demands. The Portuguese forward has been pressing smartly and put in a lot of work to help his side grind out wins.
Rangnick himself only has good words for Ronaldo – indicating that Cristiano will continue being a pivotal part of the Red Devils under the German manager.
