Pranav Nair
Mikael Silvestre believes Cristiano Ronaldo should accept that he will not play every game at Manchester United
According to Bettingexpert.com (h/t Metro), former Manchester United star Mikael Silvestre has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo faces a new challenge following his return to Old Trafford earlier this summer.
The 36-year-old shocked the footballing world by leaving Juventus and returning to United. Despite turning 36, he is as fit as an ox and continues to dazzle at the top of the footballing pyramid.
Silvestre believes Ronaldo will have a key role to play at Old Trafford this season in the club’s search for trophies. A ‘monster’ of a player, Ronaldo retains his greed to win and is unlikely to take it easy upon his return to United.
At 36, Ronaldo still plays both club and international football on a regular basis. Silvestre believes the veteran should now listen more to his body and not overexert himself week in week out.
“The difficulty is for Cristiano to accept that he will have to get some rest, he’s still playing for Portugal. Yes he wants play all the time but he needs to know when to take his foot off the gas which is difficult.”
Silvestre speaks from experience, having been there himself. He has relayed the importance of resting and believes Ronaldo should take care of himself. Given how knackered United looked towards the end of last season, it sounds like fine advice indeed.
“I’ve been there myself and you still think you can train as hard as a 20-year-old and you can’t and the reality is you have to rest so you can peak during the game, so that’s going to be the challenge for him but I think he can do that.”
Ronaldo is an extremely competitive player who always goes that extra mile on the pitch. Telling him to take it easy is as simple as running facefirst into a stone wall. To add to it, the 36-year-old continues to defy his age and appears to be in top physical condition, to say the least. But age has started to show in certain attributes such as speed.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sides have fizzed out at the business end of the season in recent years. It is clear that rotation is key if we are to avoid a similar pitfall. With an abundance of riches at his disposal, Solskjaer has no need to start Ronaldo week in week out. The game-winner that he is, the 36-year-old can be saved for when he is truly necessary,
