Traits that made Cristiano Ronaldo great now hasten his painful decline

Manchester United player lost a child and is struggling as his athletic gifts erode away. Does he not deserve compassion?

A MAN ALONE: Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo during the Premier League match at Goodison Park, Liverpool. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

Cristiano Ronaldo trained alone on Friday. In a way it was the perfect image: a footballer who perhaps more than any other embodies the trope of the individual superstar, the idea that one man can do it on his own, doing it on his own. The television cameras were there to film his arrival and they were there a few hours later to film Erik ten Hag as he weathered a squall of Cristiano-related questions. The soap opera continues. But for now the football career is on hold.

Ronaldo will not feature for Manchester United against Chelsea on Saturday afternoon. He has been suspended for storming down the tunnel after refusing to come on as a substitute against Tottenham on Wednesday. The word is that United will again try to move him on in the January transfer window, and may even pay him to leave.