Sarri tells Rangnick and Man United how to get best out of Ronaldo

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Maurizio Sarri is a manager who knows Cristiano Ronaldo well.

The pair worked together at Juventus during the 2019-20 season – a campaign that saw the Portuguese megastar score 31 goals in just 33 Serie A matches.

Fast forward two seasons and Ronaldo is now leading Manchester United’s line following a decision to rejoin the Red Devils last summer.

However, despite returning to his old stomping very much a club legend, Ronaldo, now at the age of 37, has struggled to replicate some of his past glories.

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Currently on a poor run of form that sees him with just one goal to his name from his last eight domestic appearances, Ronaldo, for the first time in his illustrious career, looks to be suffering from a loss of confidence.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored just one goal in 2022.

The 37-year-old’s situation has not been made easy though – especially considering several of his teammates are also in dire form, including winger Marcus Rashford, who has scored just five times in as many months.

However, offering interim manager Ralf Rangnick some advice on how he can improve Ronaldo’s barren spell, Sarri has suggested considering swapping the Portugal international’s position from a centre-forward to more of a winger.

Speaking in a recent interview (as quoted by Football Italia), the former Juventus boss said: “Cristiano scored more Serie A goals in his season with me than any other.

“He was prepared to play centre-forward in a few games when we had an emergency situation, but he didn’t much like the idea of doing it regularly.

“In those situations, you end up challenging the certainties that the player has. Ronaldo scored 35-40 goals per season by starting from that wider position, so for him it was an almost absurd request. That is understandable for the way he plays.”

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