05 Nov 2021  |   04:24am IST

The man of the hour

Ronaldo has certainly made his mark with his old club Manchester United. He has scored goals helping them win games and now it is obvious his performance is helping keep his coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær in his job. The pressure on the coach has been increasing as fans have begun exerting pressure due to insipid performances by the team. Football fans in Goa presented their view point

For now yes, but it’s only a matter of time before the inevitable. I don’t see ole being successful in a league with managers like Pep, Klopp and Tuchel. His limitations as a manager have been found out unfortunately!

Samarth Sharma, Co-founder Quipp, Mumbai

Ronaldo of course is single handedly keeping Ole in the job. Last season it was Bruno, this season Ronaldo. Ole hasn’t been able to establish an identity to this team in the last few years. He’s totally out of his depths.

Conrad Barreto, Social Food and travel influencer, Margao

I believe Cristiano is only trying to give his best for the team with a hope to inspire the group of players around him to do better, and possibly is trying to bring back the ‘never say never’ spirit within the group which seems to have died down since the SAF era. As far as Ole’s managerial ability is concerned, he is still a work in progress. He must be a decent man manager, but needs to up his tactical game too, to be able to bring back the glory days.

Ankit Mhapne, Former Manager - Technical operations at FC Goa, Panaji

Ronaldo is definitely saving Ole’s job. Which is sad because we have very talented players in the team which ole is still not able to utilise at their fullest potential. Usually it’s the whole team that scores a goal, but recently we can clearly see that Ronaldo is stepping up to save us (Manchester United) most of the time.

Atish Bhanghu, Coach, All Star Academy

Definitely, Ronaldo has shown that age is just a number and he keeps getting finer like old wine. He’s just lethal upfront and keeps scoring goals for fun which in turn eventually decides outcomes of games. He has scored at crucial times for us this season in the domestic league as well as the UCL. Scored a couple of equalizers as well as match winners which has saved Oles job thus far, but how long will it last, who knows.

Ole should definitely change his tactics and shouldn’t be depending just on our Mr. Dependable (Cristiano). Hoping that we atleast have a trophy at the end of this season... Ggmu!

Kunal Kunkolienkar, Red Devils Musc Goa, Margao

He is definitely saving Ole’s job. Ronaldo’s game has matured to a level where even if he is not as fast as he was in his youth, he is capable of leaving a mark on the game. His performance in the game against Atlanta was indicative enough of the effect he has on a game. I think Ole may survive till Christmas after that decisions will have to be taken. The team has to move up the ladder and yes guarantee a place in Europe next season. I am not a fan of the team but I do admire Ronaldo as a player. Ole should perhaps give his salary earned for that match to Ronaldo.

Conal Lobo, Entrepreneur, Porvorim

If you go by the numbers we feel Ronaldo has been saving Ole’s job by scoring all important goals in United wins and draws but if you see tactically, even though he is playing well as an individual, the rest of the team has regressed compared to last season. Since Ronaldo’s arrival United have changed the way they play to fit in with Ronaldo. They have not been pressing high as they would like to. Also, Since a player like Ronaldo can not be benched, Ole can’t be flexible with his tactics and integrate Sancho as well as he could have.

Mahendra Audi, Sports Management Professional, St Inez