I see the 'ABU' Media are back in full voice...

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justsomebloke

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That is the nature of opinion pieces, which is what his commentaries are.
Yeah, but there is such a thing as whether an opinion expressed is reasonable or not. There's a difference between an opinion piece arguing, say, that Bielsa is hurting Leeds' results by playing with too much acceptance of risk, and an opinion piece arguing that Bielsa is a useless, overrated wanker.
 

ReddBalls

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Yeah, but there is such a thing as whether an opinion expressed is reasonable or not. There's a difference between an opinion piece arguing, say, that Bielsa is hurting Leeds' results by playing with too much acceptance of risk, and an opinion piece arguing that Bielsa is a useless, overrated wanker.
The good thing about his pieces is that they are pretty easy to counter, which has been done well by several posters in this very thread. Anyways, the point was that he isn|t obliged to balance in an opinion piece as he would be if he was reporting news.
 

big rons sovereign

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Garth Crooks claiming he'd take Lukaku over Ronaldo every time. He then goes on to say that Lukaku scored his first goal at Stamford bridge after 22 shots.
Granted it's over quite some time, but it's hardly grounds for wanking over him.
 

Coleyoscar

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Heres the problem with opinion pieces these days, especially in politics but also in other walks of life, they are quite often taken for fact and the line is often wilfully blurred by the opinion giver.
This is true. Wilson had another entirely negative take on Uniteds 4-1 win in yesterday's Observer, unbalanced to the point of parody. It amazes me that there are posters who suggest that it's a case of over sensitivity for us to call out these ABU merchants.
 

Amir

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Of course there was more to it. The reasons I stated in the post you replied too are a good starting point. :)
Its not just the morale boost, its also
  • Massive, massive shirt sales and other revenue connected to us signing him. I am pretty confident when the dust have settled, the club would have gained a significant net gain from signing him
  • Hes a model pro. Having him around is going to be huge for the younger players
  • Him going to City would be a huge blow to the clubs status.
  • Despite his age, hes still in peak physical condition and hes still a fecking good playe
Those points are valid. How much part they played in the club's considerations, we'll never know.

Even though Ronaldo's exit from Juve has been talked about throughout the summer, there seemed to be nothing to connect him to United until it looked like he was going to City - and then it took us about five minutes to close the deal. So I can see why some people would wonder for the actual reasons behind this signing. And why there could be vaildity in what Wilson is saying, even if United fans are incapable of accepting people having opinions that don't put United on a pedestal.
 

Bobcat

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Those points are valid. How much part they played in the club's considerations, we'll never know.

Even though Ronaldo's exit from Juve has been talked about throughout the summer, there seemed to be nothing to connect him to United until it looked like he was going to City - and then it took us about five minutes to close the deal. So I can see why some people would wonder for the actual reasons behind this signing. And why there could be vaildity in what Wilson is saying, even if United fans are incapable of accepting people having opinions that don't put United on a pedestal.
People are more than welcome to question the signing. At the face of it, signing a 36 year old attacker when we are stacked with attackers and desperately need midfilders seems daft. But looking at it that way throws all context out the window and Wilson knows damn well what Ronaldo means for the club and for the fans

I dont have the problem with the point hes making that signing an attacker instead of a CM was risky/stupid. Its the way he presents it and how narrow minded he is that grinds my gears. If he wanted to make his point he should have seen it through a wider lens. Instead its just sour grapes and a whole lot of wumming. Well, he winded me up so job done i guess
 

cyberman

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Those points are valid. How much part they played in the club's considerations, we'll never know.

Even though Ronaldo's exit from Juve has been talked about throughout the summer, there seemed to be nothing to connect him to United until it looked like he was going to City - and then it took us about five minutes to close the deal. So I can see why some people would wonder for the actual reasons behind this signing. And why there could be vaildity in what Wilson is saying, even if United fans are incapable of accepting people having opinions that don't put United on a pedestal.
Simply seems you’re sticking up for Wilson here because you agree with him to be honest.
 

StBruno

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The Observer piece was laughable. It read so much like a parody I kept reading , expecting Wilson to reveal it as a parody at the end. There was no ‘ comment section’ at the foot of the piece - unsurprisingly.
I fail to see a negative side to Ronaldo return.
For me , it has lifted my daily mood by hundreds of notches . The closest feeling I can describe is it’s like my big brother coming back from being away in the army and sorting my bullies out.
 

mav_9me

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Its not just the morale boost, its also
  • Massive, massive shirt sales and other revenue connected to us signing him. I am pretty confident when the dust have settled, the club would have gained a significant net gain from signing him
  • Hes a model pro. Having him around is going to be huge for the younger players
  • Him going to City would be a huge blow to the clubs status.
  • Despite his age, hes still in peak physical condition and hes still a fecking good player
Wilsons piece is dripping with bitterness, mental gymnastics and wild assumptions. Its not like we were on the brink of signing Kimmich and then opted for Ronaldo instead.

Also, in an alternate reality where Ronaldo signs for City and scores a brace in his debut, you can bet you have ABU hacks like Wilson writing a piece about how we are fools for letting one of our biggest legends go to our local rivals and how it firmly establishes us as "the other club" in Manchester
If Ronaldo had signed for City and scored 2 goals, he would be writing:

This feels like another milestone in Manchester City's relentless pursuit of becoming the best club in the world, let alone Manchester. The player who left United as soon as he won the BallondOr, returns to establish their rivals as the best club in England. Where he would have been expected to light up the theater of dreams, now the United fans must be distraught to see his GOATness grace the Etihad. Surely this is a monumental failure on the part of United and Solsjkaer.
 

justsomebloke

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The good thing about his pieces is that they are pretty easy to counter, which has been done well by several posters in this very thread. Anyways, the point was that he isn|t obliged to balance in an opinion piece as he would be if he was reporting news.
No, that's true enough. He's not breaking any rules of journalism or anything like that. But you'd think the editors at the Guardian might feel that the credibility of their publication would be better served by insisting on a higher standard of argument in these pieces.
 

Will Singh

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Under SAF it never really got to me maybe because we were flying. Fast forward to now, after all we’ve been through it gets to me and I find myself replying to every comment on Twitter. But on the plus side it means they are all shitting it hence all the negativity. VIVA RONALDOOOOO
 

Redcy

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No, that's true enough. He's not breaking any rules of journalism or anything like that. But you'd think the editors at the Guardian might feel that the credibility of their publication would be better served by insisting on a higher standard of argument in these pieces.
Like any paper the Guardian only cares about page views and clicks. I imagine they get tonnes from every piece he writes about United, especially with him being so anti-United. ABUs will love to read his pieces at affirms their belief, and United fans will read it to see how much of an arsehole he is. They can then sell adverts based on how many impressions he gets. Journalistic integrity last about as long as it takes to make more money.
 

justsomebloke

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Like any paper the Guardian only cares about page views and clicks. I imagine they get tonnes from every piece he writes about United, especially with him being so anti-United. ABUs will love to read his pieces at affirms their belief, and United fans will read it to see how much of an arsehole he is. They can then sell adverts based on how many impressions he gets. Journalistic integrity last about as long as it takes to make more money.
I don't think that's true. They're a quality paper. No quality paper stays a quality paper if they only care about page views and clicks. It's not hard to tell the ones who work that way from the ones who don't. In the case of The Guardian, it probably also helps that they are unique in the UK in not needing to turn a profit (which they don't). Apparently they're financially supported by a huge legacy that allows them to operate on a different basis. No pay-wall for the online edition, for example. And unlike others who don't have that (such as the diabolical MEN), that doesn't mean a blizzard of pop-up advertisements either.
 

Red71

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If Ronaldo had signed for City and scored 2 goals, he would be writing:

This feels like another milestone in Manchester City's relentless pursuit of becoming the best club in the world, let alone Manchester. The player who left United as soon as he won the BallondOr, returns to establish their rivals as the best club in England. Where he would have been expected to light up the theater of dreams, now the United fans must be distraught to see his GOATness grace the Etihad. Surely this is a monumental failure on the part of United and Solsjkaer.
I strongly suspect that this is bang on!!! Could well imagine him (or someone of his ilk) writing that!
 

Fluctuation0161

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Those points are valid. How much part they played in the club's considerations, we'll never know.

Even though Ronaldo's exit from Juve has been talked about throughout the summer, there seemed to be nothing to connect him to United until it looked like he was going to City - and then it took us about five minutes to close the deal. So I can see why some people would wonder for the actual reasons behind this signing. And why there could be vaildity in what Wilson is saying, even if United fans are incapable of accepting people having opinions that don't put United on a pedestal.
The only reason you need is he is the GOAT and costs less than £30M.

The rest is fluff.
 

Red71

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Its not just the morale boost, its also
  • Massive, massive shirt sales and other revenue connected to us signing him. I am pretty confident when the dust have settled, the club would have gained a significant net gain from signing him
  • Hes a model pro. Having him around is going to be huge for the younger players
  • Him going to City would be a huge blow to the clubs status.
  • Despite his age, hes still in peak physical condition and hes still a fecking good player
Wilsons piece is dripping with bitterness, mental gymnastics and wild assumptions. Its not like we were on the brink of signing Kimmich and then opted for Ronaldo instead.

Also, in an alternate reality where Ronaldo signs for City and scores a brace in his debut, you can bet you have ABU hacks like Wilson writing a piece about how we are fools for letting one of our biggest legends go to our local rivals and how it firmly establishes us as "the other club" in Manchester
I have long discussed Ronnie’s return with my lad who was desperate to see him back. I probably felt he was maybe on the downward slope but went it actually happened, I was surprised at how delighted I was. You can’t discount that morale boost as you say.

The additional points you’ve made are spot on for me but I’d probably give you one more for the set - in addition to proven winners like Sancho and (particularly) Varane, we’ve added arguably the biggest winner in football to our squad. Trying to get to the pinnacle of football again when Chelsea, the Dippers and city are littered with players that know the course, it is invaluable to have our squad packed out with similar medal holders showing the way.

Adding Ronaldo to the squad could just be the difference in us picking up pots this season. I’m sure the media see that so it’s no wonder they’re out in force trying to knock us down…we’re coming for those titles and they are scared/gutted…!
 

BusbyMalone

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I really don't get the Sancho criticism. First of all, I thought he looked sharp. It was a much-imporved performance from the previous two games and he seems to be gathering fitness.

Secondly, you can't just completely ignore the opposition. I think we all do this to a certain extent. We look at things in isolation - like a player's performance, for instance - and ignore some of the context. That's not to say you can't criticize the player, but at the end of the day, Newcastle came and had ten men behind the ball and sat deep. Yes, it's up to us to break them down, but I don't give a feck who you are, that's difficult to play against when that team is well drilled.

Look at Saint-Maximin, for example. He looked like one of the top three players in the world on that performance because he had acres to run into due to our midfield issues, but also the fact that we were obviously pushing up and playing a high line. We were the team trying to win the game. You put Sancho in that position and he'd be doing exactly the same.
 

Kevzter

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Does Ole need to win a trophy? Yes, every Man utd manager does.

But this strange idea that Ole should be sacked if he doesnt win a trophy this season is bizarre. There are so many factors and context, what if we had an amazing season, reached CL finals, and 2nd in league by 1 point? Obviously if we have shown marked improvements over the last season, he should be sacked. He should only be if he regresses, or we dont show any improvement.

The trophy binary is stupid. Its just coming from ABUs who are scared of United again, and want to mount pressure on Ole. The agenda is so obvious.
They are scared of what Ole is building that's why. Pretty soon Ole's team won't even need a manager to win :lol:
 

cyberman

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I believe I said I agree with him in my first post.
And that seems to sway you on judging if he is extremely biased against Ole or not. There’s elements of the ABU media that I may agree with but it doesn’t stop me realising how incredibly harsh and unrelenting these very same media outlets are towards my club.
Just because you may agree with it doesn’t mean it’s fair
 

Sweet Square

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And as a football writer he's entitled to judge things without emotion and with logic.
Wilson so far in 2021 -

Cristiano Ronaldo exits but does not have the look of a man whose race is run
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-not-have-the-look-of-a-man-whose-race-is-run
He may have lost a battle of fine margins with Romelu Lukaku in Seville, but at 36 Ronaldo has shown in this tournament he is still an asset to Portugal and beyond
Cristiano Ronaldo held Juventus back: just what do Manchester United see in him?
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ust-what-is-that-manchester-united-see-in-him
Returning superstar will certainly score goals, but his chief use at Old Trafford will be as a celebrity content provider
Juve had won seven scudetti in a row before Ronaldo arrived. They won it again in their first two seasons with him, but finished fourth last year. He scored 81 league goals in three seasons, but Ronaldo made Juventus a worse football team.

Juve have played 3 games this season and are currently sitting on 1 point.
 
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Withnail

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Less than a month ago

Cristiano Ronaldo held Juventus back: just what do Manchester United see in him?
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ust-what-is-that-manchester-united-see-in-him






Juve have played 3 games this season and are currently sitting on 1 point.
They won 7 before he got there, won another two with him and then came fourth.

You know it's funny it's almost as if something else happened going into the season before they came fourth, like, oh, I don't know... appointing a rookie manager who had zero experience and didn't even have his coaching badges?

No that can't be it, it must be Ronaldo's fault.
 

Amir

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Juve have played 3 games this season and are currently sitting on 1 point.
Let's just say Ronaldo did hold Juve back. Would his exit mean they just return to their 2018 selves right away?

Obviously it's a little more complicated than that. The team has changed, and also lost their top scorer in the last moments of their transfer window. Their struggles right now don't mean his transfer was a great success.
 

Amir

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And that seems to sway you on judging if he is extremely biased against Ole or not. There’s elements of the ABU media that I may agree with but it doesn’t stop me realising how incredibly harsh and unrelenting these very same media outlets are towards my club.
Just because you may agree with it doesn’t mean it’s fair
And just because people disagree with it doesn't mean it's not fair.

But it doesn't really work in this thread.
 

Vault Dweller

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When Wilson appears on the Guardian podcast he constantly speaks about his distain and disillusion with modern football and how the teams with money buy the best players and therefore win the most games. He hates all the oil clubs and teams like United who can essentially buy players that his Sunderland (and other teams) can’t. He’s not just ABU at this point he’s anti football.
Kinda agree with this.
 

NewYorkRed

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I love it. Seeing the media hate on us feels…normal. It means we’re getting back to where we need to be. I try to youtube a bunch of british media, but mostly get ESPNFC jokers here. Craig Burley’s hate for us is so great to watch. Same for Nicol. The french guy, Julian Laurens, the other day said “patterns of play…sorry I know OGS and patterns of play are two big words together” I can’t wait to see their faces when we win the league this year (yeah, I said it, we’re winning the damned thing this time around).
 

Vault Dweller

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Let's just say Ronaldo did hold Juve back. Would his exit mean they just return to their 2018 selves right away?

Obviously it's a little more complicated than that. The team has changed, and also lost their top scorer in the last moments of their transfer window. Their struggles right now don't mean his transfer was a great success.
That's a fair point but when I heard Wilson on the two podcast episodes particularly going on about Ronaldo he just didn't really make any sense. Calling Ronaldo moving to Juve 'the worst transfer in their history' was totally nonsensical, and he also went in on him for not winning the CL while there. Ronaldo obviously didn't help them get over the line, but making out he was the sole reason they didn't win league last season / did poor in the CL with him / made the entire team worse was mental. Maybe, just maybe factors such as recruiting a totally rookie manager like Pirlo / not recruiting the right type of players rinsing themselves by paying a fortune in salaries for Ramsey and others also played into the reason Juve have got worse, while Inter & AC and Atalanta have all improved over the last few years.

People are entitled to their own opinion, of course they are. But at least make sense when stating an opinion, Wilson didn't and certainly just came across as a guy who had a real bee in his bonnet about Ronaldo and wouldn't hear otherwise.
 

cyberman

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And just because people disagree with it doesn't mean it's not fair.

But it doesn't really work in this thread.
People aren’t picking it out because they disagree, they’re picking it out because it follows a pattern of Wilson constantly shining a negative light on Utd?
You seem to be defensive about this and focusing on one article when it’s now evolved into a complete volume of work
 

Sweet Square

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Let's just say Ronaldo did hold Juve back. Would his exit mean they just return to their 2018 selves right away?

Obviously it's a little more complicated than that. The team has changed, and also lost their top scorer in the last moments of their transfer window. Their struggles right now don't mean his transfer was a great success.
It is but I'm just putting the same amount of effort in as Wilson. Wilson current argument(Again in the euro's he was arguing that Ronaldo is still an asset to Portugal and beyond)is Juve losing Seria A top goal scorer is a positive outcome because the player was holding the team back which is why they finished 4th(Wilson doesn't mention the insane management situation last season at Juve). Also it doesn't help Wilson argument that Juve failed have to score in 2 of their 3 games this season.

To make the argument that Ronaldo held Juve back and was the worst transfer in the club history there has to be something more than lazy pressing stats and bad references to old tv shows. Wilson does the very annoying guardian shtick of arguing that a very positive thing is actually really shite(Scoring 81 goals in 3 season made a team worse). Pretty sure we are talking about the guy who said goals are overrated, he is almost playing a character now. Whatever pays the mortgage I guess. If a poster on here claim the same or argued that Messi goals stopped Barca from winning la liga they would be rightly laughed at.
 

imamuppet

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If Ronaldo had signed for City and scored 2 goals, he would be writing:

This feels like another milestone in Manchester City's relentless pursuit of becoming the best club in the world, let alone Manchester. The player who left United as soon as he won the BallondOr, returns to establish their rivals as the best club in England. Where he would have been expected to light up the theater of dreams, now the United fans must be distraught to see his GOATness grace the Etihad. Surely this is a monumental failure on the part of United and Solsjkaer.
Thank you :lol:
 
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