Time beats everyone, regardless of your age or wealth or your determination. It remains undefeated and many have tried to beat the clock they fail; athletes have improved their longevity over the last few years but they all must face the final curtain.
Roger Federer has retired from tennis in the last few weeks as has Serena Williams, two of the most dominant players who have retired after long and successful careers. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been the best football players for so long I cannot remember a time before their dominance.
The problem Cristiano has is that he is coming towards the end and there is one last hurrah on the horizon and that is the World Cup in Qatar, he knows that this could be his legacy and when you reach the end you worry about your legacy.
Sadly, this legacy might come at odds with his present at United, with new manager Erik ten Hag favouring a quicker and fluid frontline means he is spending more time on the bench. This of course frustrates Cristiano, but he is not the player he was, and he still does not realize it.
The game in Cyprus against Omonia Nicosia was bad to watch but the worst part was watching everyone try to set Cristiano up goal number 700, it was like an episode of Quantum Leap except he leaped into his own body during his own testimonial.
A man who could break goalscoring records could be reduced to that is quite sad but if you have been paying attention then it has been coming for a long time.
Of course, his ex-teammates in the media seem to gloss over his obvious failings by talking about his achievements in the past and blaming other players to deflect. They talk about the past because if you talk about the present then you would have to be honest and admit that he is in danger of ruining his own legacy.
The people who blindly defend Ronaldo are a bizarre combination of teenage fanboys on the internet (for whom obsessing over certain players becomes an extension of their personality) and ex-pros who are flattered that he comes over to say hello during their pitch-side punditry
— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) October 20, 2022
The worst thing about legacy is you as an athlete rarely get to control when and how it ends, you either sense the end and retire or you go beyond that point and then show yourself to be finished. Nothing would be worse than to be an icon of the game and then slowly become a figure of fun because you refused to admit defeat.
To me it was just sad to watch him pondering around now like a successful singer who is now doing a string of appearances to pay off a hefty tax bill, he is there in body but there is no fire any more.
He and his agent Jorge Mendes have seemingly leaked stories about how Cristiano feels the team should be set up differently, to accommodate him.
This is difficult to accept for him as he has been used to his demands, inspiring the best out of other players and now, he only inspires pity from some of them for the player he used to be.
After coming off the bench against Everton and scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 draw whilst also bringing up his 700th club career goal, it made me wonder if he could adapt to a new role.
But after I got home from the 2-0 win over Tottenham, I saw he had walked down the tunnel and had refused to come on for the last few minutes. This for me as well as a lot of fans is the final nail in the coffin of his United career.
He arrived back with such fanfare and open adulation from the fans like a conquering emperor coming back into Rome, however this has now turned sour very quickly. Any goodwill towards him only really comes from his ardent fan base and ex-teammates who still need to stay relevant in the media.
From a footballing standpoint he needs to be moved on and now this will push him out the door in January if not sooner. Ten Hag has remained firm in his approach to him by making him train alone and dropping him from the squad for the Chelsea game.
The manager needs to be the figurehead at any club and no player is bigger than the club, the sad part is that he thinks he is but does not have the ability to consistently prove his worth.
For a player like that it must be a difficult transition from playing week in week out to being on the bench towards the end of your career, he does not know how to handle not being the hero any more.
The good of the team always comes first, this feels like a breakup for fans who have long adored him but now this could put a bitter taste in the mouths of fans of the club. Respect is something earned and not given and that display the other night will feel to fans like the ultimate disrespect to the club but also themselves.
They always say you never go back and most of the time they are right, Michael Jordan being the notable exception. If that is his last moment at Old Trafford it would be a sad way to bookmark his time at the club.
Players come and players go but the club remains, his time is up, and the club is going somewhere he cannot follow. The World Cup is his Last Dance, his last chance to control his narrative and end on a high.
The curtain is coming down on his career and this is not the way we all wanted it to end but end it must, as Mick Jagger once sang “You can’t always get what you want.”
