Cristiano Ronaldo return destroyed everything Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was building at Man Utd - his second coming can be a short-term success

Ronaldo’s signing came out of the blue, so much so that one senior United staff member was ordered by Ed Woodward to immediately end his family holiday and head straight back to Manchester to prepare for the announcement. Solskjaer didn’t have too long to think about it either. Not that he needed to.

"It was a very quick decision," Solskjaer told the Stick to Footballpodcast. "When it became apparent that he was leaving Juventus, obviously there were other clubs that wanted him – but I was excited. They asked me, 'Would you want us to try this?'. I said yes – obviously we know Cristiano is quality, and he’s 37, but we have to manage – he’s the best goal-scorer in the world."

United had made a good start to the 2021-22 season, thrashing Leeds 5-1 on the first day while taking seven points from their first three games. Ronaldo had a near perfect debut, too, as he scored twice in a 4-1 win over Newcastle at an ecstatic Old Trafford. But the drawbacks of his return could be seen in the very next game as United were beaten 2-1 by Young Boys in the Champions League.

Ronaldo scored again in a 2-1 win at West Ham, but United lost five of their next seven league games, with Solskjaer sacked after losing 4-1 at Watford in mid-November.

Ronaldo did score important goals in the Champions League which prevented things from getting even worse, but those strikes could not hide the fact that the team had become completely unbalanced by him.

Solskjaer admitted: "We started off straight away thinking, 'how we are going to press and change the little tweaks?'. With the ball, with him in the team, it was no problem. Without him [pressing], we had to change a little bit the different roles we’d gotten used to. We were one of the highest pressing teams before."

While Solskjaer thought that Ronaldo understood the need to be rotated due to his age, the reality was that on the rare occasion that the manager did leave the Portuguese out of the starting line-up, there was a massive backlash. When Ronaldo was on the bench against Everton, Ferguson was seen telling UFC fighter and United fan Khabib Nurmagomedov: "You should always start with your best players."

The incident undermined Solskjaer’s authority and underlined the sense that Ronaldo’s return had led United to descend into a circus act. 

"Cristiano – when you know him and speak to him, he wanted to play three out of four games, he realised he’s getting older as well. But when you leave him out once, he’s not happy!" Solskjaer recalled. "I've thought a lot about this... The right thing was to sign Cristiano. But, I think it would've turned out better for Cristiano and for us if he hadn't signed."

It was not just Ronaldo’s sauntering pace that was a problem. Soon after his arrival, Solskjaer sensed a drop in morale across the squad.

He told The Athletic: "When you have a group, you need everyone to pull in the same direction. When things didn’t go right, you could see certain players and egos came out. Things had soured, the collective had been lost and that’s not Man United, where teams are built on the collective. Some players felt they should’ve played more and weren’t constructive to the environment."

Ronaldo’s return was a sliding doors moment for Solskjaer’s United, but the sour end does not change the fact that the Norwegian remains the club’s longest-serving manager since Ferguson left after achieving the best results in the Premier League. In his two full seasons in charge, the team finished third and then second, meaning Solskjaer is the only manager since Ferguson to achieve successive top-four finishes. He brought a smile back to United after Jose Mourinho had darkened the mood and allowed players to believe in themselves again.

That’s how Nemanja Matic remembers him. "I felt sorry because Ole was a great guy and we were on the way to doing something big," he told FourFourTwo. "I wasn't his first choice in the midfield and never liked a coach when I didn't play - I'd fight with them. But Ole was the first coach I didn't fight with. He brought the players who weren't in the starting XI together. He knew the club and the fans loved him.

"We finished second and third under him. There was an atmosphere in the team that we weren't happy finishing second, but when you see the results now, we did amazingly. I think Ole deserved more time - and when I say Ole, I also want to mention his staff, like Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna. They were going the right way to bring United back."

Marcus Rashford was also highly complimentary of Solskjaer. "Ole is a fantastic person," he said. "I loved playing under him. I can speak for many of the players at Manchester United when I say that we enjoyed playing for him."

Contrast the positivity players felt for Solskjaer with the negative atmosphere Ruben Amorim created with his outspoken remarks about the squad. Solskjaer is a unifier and he brought instant results, with United winning 14 of their first 17 matches. He had a similar impact when he became coach of Besiktas, winning eight of his first 12 games, including thrashing Athletic Club 4-1 and beating local rivals Galatasaray.

There are doubts about Solskjaer’s tactical acumen but, as Amorim’s tenure demonstrates, players at massive clubs do not always cope well with being given too many instructions. Solskjaer’s counter-attacking style is simple and it is easy to imagine Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo thriving under him. Nor should it be forgotten that Bruno Fernandes' most productive period as a United player, his 26 goals and 19 assists in his first two seasons, came when Solskjaer was in charge.

As well as agreeing to take Ronaldo back, Solskjaer’s biggest mistake was thinking that United could play as equals against Manchester City and Liverpool in his final few weeks in charge. Their two biggest rivals destroyed almost every other side that season, amassing 93 and 92 points, respectively, and Solskjaer was naive not to set his side up differently. 

Liverpool thrashed United 5-0 while City simply passed them into oblivion in a 2-0 loss which felt almost as hopeless as the battering by Jurgen Klopp’s side. He subsequently told Stick to Football: "Those two home games, I always looked at them as we need to be Manchester United. Don’t defend, don’t be counter-attacking, just let the players go out there, go toe-to-toe with them because otherwise there’s no point being at Manchester United. You've got to, at some point take the next step – and they weren’t ready. Just not good enough."

Solskjaer’s United were at their best when they played to their strengths, and if he learns from the mistakes of his first spell, he can bring the joy back to a club that lately has been starved of hope.