Sky Bet’s widely lauded panel show, The Overlap, returned to analyse a frantic start to the Premier League season, reflecting on the performances of Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane specifically.
Out the blocks, the panel were asked about the start to the season of Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjær, with Gary Neville detailing his belief that the performances have been ‘poor’.
He also revealed his fears that United’s start to the season may be worse than it seems, with the Reds now due to face a plethora of top teams having avoided them in the early stages of the season.
The midfield conundrum for United quickly became a hot topic for the panel as Adam McKola questioned the decision of Solskjaer to stick with Scott McTominay and Fred, a criticism that the panel seemed to feel was relatively harsh.
United’s start to the season has very much been salvaged by the returning Ronaldo, and host Josh Denzel was keen to pay homage to the Portuguese forward and get the panels’ thoughts on his role in the squad.
“They had to do the deal, but with it comes big positives and problems – Ronaldo had to be managed – in the 2008 Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, Ronaldo was stuck up front on his own, because you couldn’t carry him in the big games,” Neville stated.
He added: “The idea that United are going to become a pressing team with Ronaldo there isn’t going to happen, because he wasn’t pressing ten years ago so what you are left to figure out is what is the style of Manchester United?”
“There are big decisions that Ole is going to have to make in the next few weeks in order to compensate for Ronaldo coming, when I said I thought United could win the league with Kane and I don’t think they can with Ronaldo, I say that with knowledge of both players.
“However, they have to find a way of playing with Ronaldo in the team – like they did ten years ago. There has to be a balance in there.”
Paul Scholes went on to laud the impact Ronaldo could have off the pitch, as he provides a role model for the younger players.
