Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has been given a useful piece of advice after scoring a hat-trick in the club’s 3-2 win over Tottenham at the weekend.
The Portugal international was back to his best after missing last week’s Manchester Derby, scoring a stunning treble to give the Red Devils all three points in this important top four battle against Spurs.
Some were doubting Ronaldo after a recent dip in form, but he showed what he was all about with this majestic display at Old Trafford, and pundit Garth Crooks made an interesting point about his improved performance.
Writing in his column for BBC Sport, Crooks insisted that Ronaldo should be more willing to take the occasional rest at his age, as it seems he’s still capable of world class performances if he’s not playing 90 minutes week in, week out.
The 37-year-old doesn’t seem like the type of player to accept a reduced role in the Man Utd first-team, but this sounds like very sensible advice from Crooks.
“Just when you think Spurs are making progress something comes along to convince you it was all smoke and mirrors,” Crooks said.
“The person this time to shatter all Tottenham’s illusions that they might be a top-four side was Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar was in blistering form against Spurs at Old Trafford.
“Ronaldo was left out of the starting line-up against Manchester City with a suspected hip injury. It was just as well because he was looking jaded and seems to have benefited from the rest.
“Here is someone who still wants to play every week but as an outfield player and especially as a striker aged 37, someone should tell him that even he should give way to youth occasionally.”