Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo could benefit from Erik ten Hag's Ajax system

The appointment of Ralf Rangnick didn't signal the end for Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United after all.

When the godfather of gegenpressing arrived at Old Trafford in December it was considered to be bad news for Ronaldo, but United are as reliant on the 37-year-old now as they were back then.

It certainly helped his cause that Ronaldo scored twice in front of Rangnick in the 3-2 win against Arsenal and that Edinson Cavani has essentially been unavailable for most of the German's reign.

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But United also stopped pressing with the intensity that Rangnick usually desires fairly on in his reign. Whether he decided the players couldn't act on his instructions or whether the squad themselves failed to follow the plan, United haven't been a pressing team under their interim manager.

Erik ten Hag's appointment will signal a fresh start, however. Rangnick was constrained by time as interim manager but Ten Hag will have no such problems.

He has always played a high-pressing game at Ajax and that is unlikely to change. He will also benefit from a full pre-season, including a tour in Thailand and Australia, to get those ideas across.

United are also determined to sign a young centre forward this summer, someone who can come in and compete with Ronaldo at the very least, so the next few months will certainly represent a challenge for the striker.

It's not inconceivable he considers his own future, given this is now almost certain to be the first season since playing in the UEFA Cup with Sporting Lisbon that Ronaldo won't be operating in the Champions League and with the clock ticking on his career, that will be an awful lot to give up even for just one campaign.