CR7 AND EL MATADOR: IT'S TOO TACTICALLY RISKY TO PLAY RONALDO AND CAVANI TOGETHER!

Featured Image Credit: Manchester United

As we know, Cristiano Ronaldo made his emphatic return to Old Trafford after Man

United put any interest from their bitter rivals Man City to rest by bringing the starlet back to Man United.

One question manager Ole Gunner Solskjær was asked was if there was a possibility of seeing CR7 up front with striker Edinson Cavani. This was brought to light after the Uruguayan gave up his famous number 7 shirt for Ronaldo to use on his return to the Premier League. This is what I think about a potential Ronaldo and Cavani and linkup and more importantly, if it will work.

As we know, Cristiano Ronaldo is not just one of the greatest players of our

generation, but one of the greatest players to ever play the game. With a status this

prestige, it is almost a necessity that Ronaldo will start in any team he plays for. We

saw it at Juventus when he started most games for the Italian giants. This would

either be in a lone striker rule or accompanied by the likes of Paulo Dybala or

Federico Chiesa in a two striker system. Ronaldo loves to be in the spotlight. He took

the top scorer award in the Serie A last season before his departure back to

Manchester. We also know his emphatic goal scoring tally when he was at Real

Madrid, achieving over 450 goals for Los Blancos and becoming their highest ever

goal scorer by a massive margin. So with such impressive goal scoring stats, will

Solskjær decide he wants to share the scoring with Cavani, or will he want Ronaldo

leading the line?

I believe that Solskjær will opt to play Ronaldo in a one striker system. One issue

Manchester United have is chance creation. They have struggled a lot with this

under Solskjær and the problem does not seem to be improving a lot. With two

strikers and no real attacking midfield options either wide or centrally, Cavani and

Ronaldo will struggle to score goals as there simply will not be enough chances for

the Red Devils going forward. Playing Ronaldo as a lone striker means that he can

bounce off the wing play of Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood and he can also

create his own chances with his amazing dribbling abilities. This then puts less strain

on the midfield to create the chances as the forward three will be able to. I think

overall in the long term Cavani will be playing number two to Ronaldo as the ability

Ronaldo has alone to create and finish chances is better than possibly any other

footballer on the planet right now.

Overall, although I believe it is harsh on Cavani for him to be dropped after what was

a very good season he had for United last season, Ronaldo’s quality is just too much

of a factor to ignore. I’m sure Cavani will get chances with United this season but I

don’t think it will be all too often and he will struggle to fit into the system throughout

this 2021/22 campaign. It would take some very impressive performances to

convince Solskjær he is the right man to lead the Man United strike force this

campaign.