Gary Neville has told Ralf Rangnick that Cristiano Ronaldo must have a “meaningful partner” for him to continue to flourish at Manchester United.
Ronaldo has enjoyed a prolific return to United, hitting double figures before Christmas, despite the team’s relative struggles.
The 36-year-old was deployed as the centre point of three forwards under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, tasked with leading the line by himself.
Under Rangnick, he has often been paired with another centre forward, whether that be Marcus Rashford or Mason Greenwood.
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Ronaldo netted the winner in United’s last Premier League victory, scoring from the spot to earn the Red Devils a 1-0 win at Carrow Road.
Against Newcastle, Rangnick opted to start Greenwood alongside Ronaldo, with Rashford and Bruno Fernandes playing behind the front two.
Neville believes that to get the best out of him, Rangnick must continue playing another forward next to him.
“He has to start. I think he has to start and he has to have a partner,” Neville said. “He has to have a meaningful partner and the worry if you do put Greenwood right of him and Rashford, if they get dragged back in defensive positions then he could end up exposed.
“He needs someone up top with him. I think he’s looked good with Rashford - that’s one of the benefits of this system, getting Rashford upfront alongside him has been great.
“Thirteen goals in 16 starts is some return - he's doing what he was brought in to do, there's no doubt about that.
“He is doing what he was brought in to do, there is no doubt about that.”
Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure throughout much of the first half at St James’ Park, unable to influence proceedings as the Magpies took an early lead.
Speaking ahead of kick off, Rangnick admitted that his decision to remove Jadon Sancho from the starting XI came as a result of some concerns he had with his team’s performance at Norwich.
“Well, it was about decision making against Norwich and in certain parts of the game we didn’t make the right decisions,” Rangnick said.
“I didn’t like the body language in some parts of the game and this was also a topic when preparing for today’s game.
“It will be an away game in front of probably 60, 65 thousand and we need to take the next step. We need to be aggressive and prepare for a difficult, intense game.”
