Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher insist that Cristiano Ronaldo will be a ‘massive problem’ for Manchester United's next manager, because he doesn’t offer enough defensively.
The Portugal forward scored his tenth goal of the season during United’s 2-0 win over Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday, and his return to Old Trafford from an individual standpoint has been a success.
However, Carragher and Henry claim that despite his prolific form, Ronaldo is harming United’s team due to his lack of work rate and willingness to press the opposition.
"How can a club the size of Manchester United still rely on a guy who’s [nearly] 37? His goal record is unbelievable, but if he doesn’t score he is a passenger in the game,’ Carragher told CBS Sports.
"You have to accept that, that’s a fact. But he scores nearly every game so at the moment you can accept it.
"If Cristiano Ronaldo went four or five games without scoring, that’s a massive problem for Manchester United."
Henry added: "The problem is when your poison is your medicine you will struggle.
"You watch the game [against Villarreal], at the end Ronaldo saves them, but when they play they are exposed sometimes because they don’t defend as a unit. And we all know if you don’t do that you cannot win games.
"And, by the way, we’re talking about winning the Champions League and winning the title in England, not finishing second, third, fourth and going to the quarter-finals and semi-finals. We’re talking about winning, and if you want to win you’ve all got to run."
Carragher concluded: "Look at Manchester United’s defensive record this season. I’m not just saying that’s down to Ronaldo, that’s the whole team, their organisation is all over the place.
"But if you haven’t got 11 men fighting for each other, intense, working like we see the other top teams do, you’ve got a massive [problem] and it’s a knock-on effect right through the team."
