MARTIN SAMUEL: Cristiano Ronaldo can have respect if he accepts his best days are behind him

Piers Morgan will not be alone in hoping his friend Cristiano Ronaldo signs for Arsenal. Pep Guardiola, one imagines, will be a big fan of the idea, too. 

Having sold Mikel Arteta one of the hardest-working centre forwards in football, Gabriel Jesus, plus his now first-choice left back, Oleksandr Zinchenko, then watching Arteta’s rejuvenated Arsenal establish a five-point gap on Manchester City, Guardiola must be wondering what can be done to rein in the league leaders.

Sign an increasingly ineffectual and disruptive 37-year-old egomaniac who was once the best player in the world, but still acts as if he is, even if his best days are behind him, and will take a torch to team spirit if anyone so much as veers from a fawning narrative. Yes, that should do it. Maybe Guardiola has already put a call in with the recommendation.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s (left) bridge-burning exercise with Piers Morgan demonstrates his utter inability to accept he is no longer the focal point of the team 

On current form, Arsenal require Ronaldo about as much as England’s Twenty20 team need Piers’ other great friend, Kevin Pietersen. Arsenal came close to ruin treading that dead-end path already.

They awarded huge contracts to self-absorbed individuals such as Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose powers were already waning and who were a poor influence on the rest of the squad. Repairing the damage cost them greatly, both financially and in terms of status. Arsenal lost the ability to contend for the biggest prizes at elite level.

Now, they are back. And they are back precisely because Arteta would not tolerate a Ronaldo in his ranks. His Arsenal are built on young, vibrant, enthusiastic players and, if anything, his only misstep is not persevering with Joe Willock, now going from strength to strength at Newcastle, rather than failing to sufficiently flatter the ego of Aubameyang.

It is not just that Ronaldo would not get into Arsenal’s team, it is that he has nothing to offer them, having proved so conclusively at Manchester United that he cannot be a squad player, or happily occupy a supporting role.

Ronaldo (right) said he has no respect for current Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag (left)

That is what his ‘betrayal’ interview is really about. Ronaldo’s utter inability to accept he is no longer the focal point of the team. That is why Guardiola did not pursue him for City.

He knew Ronaldo would not accept being a substitute or being substituted, he knew he would not compromise his star status for the greater good of the group. Kevin De Bruyne sits on the bench in some games without complaint, he is removed at half-time and accepts it. Guardiola knows De Bruyne would play left back if it was desired.

Not Ronaldo. And, time was, it did not matter because Ronaldo’s value to the team made every bit of indulgence worthwhile.

That is no longer the case. Ronaldo has started four league games this season and United’s record in them reads one win, one draw, two losses. Two goals scored, seven conceded. He was on from the start in the 4-0 defeat by Brentford, the 3-1 loss at Aston Villa and a goalless home draw with Newcastle.

His only victory came at home to a faltering West Ham side and he has not scored in any of those games. He has three goals this season and two were against FC Sheriff, of Moldova, in the Europa League.

The days when he seemed to make trophies happen at Real Madrid by sheer will are over. He demands respect and would no doubt get it if he just accepted an ancillary role. Yet leaving Ronaldo on the bench still comes at a cost for any manager, as Erik ten Hag is discovering.

What coach will read Ronaldo’s most recent denunciation and see an attitude that would be helpful to his club?

And it is not just the hard-nosed professionals turning off. Even the romantics among us, initially excited by the potential in Ronaldo’s return, have long grown disillusioned. His latest self-indulgence merely confirms the cynical view. It is very dispiriting.

Even before this bridge-burning exercise, Ronaldo was a hard sell. If his motive, as is assumed, was to ensure his January departure, he is behind the news. United would have sold in the summer if a buyer could have been found. And what has changed?

Pep Guardiola knows City stars such as Kevin De Bruyne would play left back if necessary

Graham Potter is likely to be no keener on bringing him to Chelsea than Thomas Tuchel was, and there is no one else in the established Big Six that might need or could tolerate him. Even Newcastle, the interlopers, appear to have a more sophisticated gameplan than recruiting a marquee name to put the club on the map.

They can do that with less jeopardy by qualifying for the Champions League. Napoli are eight points clear at the top of Serie A without Ronaldo, so why risk that, while the romance of a return to Sporting Lisbon would require a substantial cut in his £560,000 weekly wage.

Of course, United could pick up the shortfall to send him on loan – that is if they decide his latest outburst is not grounds for breach of contract, and termination.

Most appealing would be interest from Bayern Munich although they, too, do not pay at Ronaldo’s level. The prospect of Champions League football would appeal, yet why would a club with Sadio Mane, who turns 31 in April, and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, 34 in March, seek a striker who will turn 38 in February?

The Bundesliga has reverted to type with Bayern now four points clear and is Ronaldo really the man to steer them past Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16? A rematch with Lionel Messi is enticing and strokes the ego, but not if the Argentinian arrives with the superior team, as is likely.

Either way, there seems no way back for Ronaldo at United, professionally or reputationally.

‘I love the fans, they are always on my side,’ he told Morgan. Yet they won’t be, after this. Fans were on Ronaldo’s side because they thought he was on their side, on the side of United, their club.

Yet Ronaldo spoke for one man only this week. He spoke against a manager most believe is doing a good job trying to transform a team in difficult circumstances.

And even when Ronaldo struck a chord with his claim that the club had not evolved since he left, his view came shorn of any self-awareness. For, after this, if one act was evidence of a club unhealthily mired in its past, it was the decision to re-recruit Cristiano Ronaldo.

Pep won’t get fooled again 

Thomas Frank revealed his blueprint for stopping Erling Haaland following Brentford’s win at Manchester City on Saturday.

Frank said his players cut Haaland’s supply line by closing down Kevin De Bruyne. It sounds so simple.

One imagines from here, however, it may prove a little more complicated. 

There is a lot of thinking time between now and City’s trip to Leeds on December 28. Pep Guardiola is good at thinking.

Manchester City Pep Guardiola has plenty to think about following the defeat by Brentford

Smaller nations bear brunt of crazy schedule  

A benefit of VAR is that it levels the field for small clubs. Before technology, a linesman’s flag could rule out a perfectly good goal.

Same for both teams, you might think – but it wasn’t. Manchester United, denied a goal against, say, Bournemouth at Old Trafford, will more than likely have many more chances to score. Yet the same error against a Bournemouth goal might rule out their one chance of winning the game.

The bigger and stronger the club, the more opportunity to rise above a random mistake. It’s the same with injuries at this World Cup. England lost Reece James, but have Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold and maybe Kyle Walker in reserve. 

Yet Senegal’s only other Champions League forward after Sadio Mane is Bamba Dieng, who has started one game for Marseille all season, while Son Heung-min is one of only two Champions League players in the entire South Korea squad.

Without such influential individuals their countries are considerably weakened. The cursed World Cup schedule cruelly disadvantages smaller nations.

Senegal forward Bamba Dieng has started just one game for Marseille this season

Thompson let Middleton down 

Anything less than returning with the trophy was considered a failure for England’s women at the Rugby World Cup, so it is no surprise that coach Simon Middleton is under scrutiny.

It is hard to see what more he could have done in the final, however, given the complete technical catastrophe of Lydia Thompson’s tackle on Portia Woodman of New Zealand, so poorly executed that it ended in a headbutt.

Her red card changed the game but it shouldn’t be allowed to erase the excellence of the previous 30-match unbeaten run under Middleton. 

Unless, of course, coaches should spend the week building up to a final giving experienced internationals refresher lessons in how to play.

Why do Press back Southgate? Because he’s usually right

If you write about sport, one of the questions most frequently asked is why are the Press so supportive of Gareth Southgate? Here’s the answer. Because he gets it right.

Not everything, not every game. We cannot always be in agreement, that would be impossible. Many in the Press box would play a different player, or a different formation, many would tweak here or there. But when it comes to naming a squad for a major tournament, it is hard to disagree with his reasoning.

In the end, he was not stubborn over James Maddison, he did include Trent Alexander-Arnold and are we seriously going to fall out over Callum Wilson or Ivan Toney for the second, perhaps third, choice striker?

The England squad named by Gareth Southgate for the World Cup makes sense to the press

Similarly, Conor Gallagher versus James Ward-Prowse. We are talking squad men. Neither is playing if everyone is fit, so he has gone with the 22-year-old. The logic is unquestionable.

Personally, I would play a back four and start Bukayo Saka ahead of Raheem Sterling, so we differ, but I can see why Southgate does what he does.

The more time the squad gets with him in tournaments the better they tend to look but preparation for Qatar lasts less than a week, so he probably has to stick with the familiar. And there is logic in that, too.

Qatar challenged by a human right 

Imagine if the World Cup had come to this country for 2022, or to Australia, or to the United States. Would there be any problem with a training top that carried the message ‘Human rights for all?’ Of course not. 

The pursuit of human rights isn’t seen as political here. It’s a, well, human right. Only if FIFA awards the World Cup to a repressive nation in which basic rights are often denied does such a statement become political.

This brings us to Qatar. The Danish Football Union asked if their players could train there in shirts with a message advocating human rights and FIFA said no. They claimed it was a political statement. Not in a free country it wouldn’t be. 

Say the World Cup was in England and Denmark wanted to parade in shirts proclaiming ‘B******s to Brexit’ or ‘F*** the Tories’ – that would be viewed as political and insulting to the tournament hosts. It says everything that the support of human rights is the equivalent challenge in Qatar.

Salute the real achievements

One of the problems with the shortest forms of white-ball cricket is the incessant hyperbole. We hear it in the commentaries around the Hundred each year. It is as if nobody had ever found the boundary until summer 2021.

The problem is, when something truly amazing or incredible then happens, all the superlatives have been used up on a lively eight-run over or a good cover drive.

As England triumphed in the Twenty20 World Cup this weekend, two genuinely remarkable things happened. 

Sam Curran’s figures of three for 12 from his four overs in the World Cup final was remarkable

For Adil Rashid to bowl a wicket maiden in the 12th over of the final was exceptional, as were Sam Curran’s figures of three for 12 from his four overs.

Equally, in the semi-final, for England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales to make India’s total without loss and with four overs to spare was stunning.

All of these achievements deserved every salute offered them. But, for proper perspective, the language of cricket must first leave somewhere to go.

Relentless Keane has defied the cynics

On the way back from Marseilles two weeks ago, I was talking with some Tottenham fans. Nice chaps. One of them expressed the fear that, with the World Cup imminent, Harry Kane might start shielding in club matches, maybe pick up a convenient suspension or a minor niggle keeping him out of the last game.

Since then, Kane has started all three Tottenham matches, played 239 minutes, including 59 at Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup, and his final appearance before the hiatus was a 4-3 ding-dong with Leeds in which he scored, lasted the full 90, and Tottenham came from behind three times. 

This despite Antonio Conte observing in the previous match that he looked tired.

One hopes the cynical are duly corrected.

James wasn’t worth the risk 

Reece James insists he was worth the risk at this World Cup. No, he wasn’t. What message would it have sent to the rest of the team?

James was not going to be fit until the knockout stage, meaning another player would have to occupy his position throughout the group games.

If he played well, only to be dropped for the returning James, that could affect the morale of the group – and if there was a vacancy in such an energetic wing-back role, could it really be filled by a player who as good as arrived on crutches? 

It is a terrible pity that James will not be there but, again, Gareth Southgate’s rationale is correct.