Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham: In defence of Cristiano Ronaldo storming down the tunnel - The Warm-Up

THURSDAY'S BIG STORIES All the greats are deluded, Ronaldo is no different Ad Great athletes are deluded. That is no criticism. It is, in many ways, what separates the true greats from the mortals of sporting endeavour.

Premier LeagueTen Hag to ‘deal with that tomorrow’ after Ronaldo storms down tunnel11 HOURS AGO As such, The Warm-Up would like to posit its theory: however highly fans or rivals regard athletes of the calibre of Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or Lionel Messi, rest assured, those athletes hold themselves in a higher regard. Much higher. Ability differences at elite level sport are relatively miniscule.

In fact, there are three elements crucial to sporting success: talent, luck and belief. Thus, the difference in pure technical ability between a bog-standard Premier League player and a league-leading one is a lot smaller than many think. It is the varying levels of luck and belief that often separate the bog-standard from the not-so bog-standard.

It is, though, the meeting of talent, luck and impenetrable confidence — or delusion — that elevates the greats. It is often what allows them to achieve feats previously deemed unachievable. However it is why they sometimes compete well beyond their peak.

And as the gap between their perceived ability and actual ability gets ever wider, that delusion — once a potent weapon — becomes a legacy-tarnisher. And this is the situation Cristiano Ronaldo now finds himself in. Ronaldo is no longer an elite-level player.

For proof of that, he must just refer to a summer of being hawked across Europe to elite-level and sub-elite-level clubs. Not one serious club (sorry Al Hilal, you don't count) took the bait. He was forced to