[BusbyMalone]

What you’re saying can be described in different ways. Describing it as delusional doesn’t overwrite what else you’re saying, it just adds a different dimension to it. It strips away the tone that suggests Ronaldo is somehow above it all.

Did Ronaldo come here expecting to win? Yes. Is he capable of making this team win by his presence alone? No. Can he accept not winning? No. Those are the things you’ve said about him. Put those together and you describe a delusion.

If he can’t accept he accept the reality he finds himself in, and he can’t accept his role in co-creating that reality, then he’s deluded. This isn’t the Ronaldo from 10 years ago that could expect to transform a team into title winners. His last club was an obvious example of that, he went there aiming to transform them into CL winners, and he failed.

We expect players to know their own limits, their own capabilities, and ground their expectations in that. That’s a necessary part of being a team. If Ronaldo isn’t capable of doing that it should be held against him.

We're sort of getting away from the main point I was making here and we've wandered into some weird semantic argument. You're saying he's delusional - that's fine. I'm not saying that and, more to the point, I don't really care. The point I'm making is that this could become an issue with someone like him if we continue in the form we're currently in.

Whether you think he SHOULD be acting that way or whether you think he SHLOUD modify his behavior is completely irrelevant. Because, let's be honest, he's not going to. At least I don't think he is and I think anyone who's watched him over his career will know he's not going to accept not competing and winning these major honors. Again, this is not me lionizing it or saying this is how every player should behave, I'm just saying this is probably what's going to happen.

You're saying he should not be expecting that. Again, that's fine. You can think that. But do you think he's really going to?

To be honest, I think we certainly have the squad to compete for these titles. It's the manager I think that will ultimately let us down.

 

[11101]

Problem is we have a limited number of players who can create for him. The only full back who can really cross is Telles. Shaw is little better than AWB. He gets forward a lot, but his contributions with the ball are very low quality. The only midfielders who can pick a pass between the lines are Pogba and Matic, who gets little game time. Bruno's usually too far up the pitch.

I am looking forward to Rashford being back with him though. He impressed me last season with some of his creativity.

Come on now...

We have Bruno and Pogba for starters, two of the best passers in world football. You find me another team with two players to match those pair. Then you have Sancho, Greenwood, Matic, Martial and so on.

Not getting the ball to him enough is nothing to do with the ability of our players.

 

[Black Adder]

You can't really prepare that because it depends on who you have on the pitch. His role may change if Cavani is there or not, for example. You don't seem to know such a basic thing, so I have to explain it to you. All clubs at all levels do it. A nothing story here.

Wow, rarely I see such level of insight and knowledge from someone on internet. You've changed me man and for the better, now I can see thing in football I've never understood before.

Thank you Mickeson from internet, legend about you will live as long as players look at pointless drawings before coming as subs.

 

[Ixion]

Ronaldo would be fine IF we created decent chances. A good game is if Ronaldo has managed 6-7 shots but he's barely gotten a kick in the last couple of games. Expecting him to smash them in from 30 years or beat 5 men is fantasy but if we managed to create a couple of chances like Everton/Villa/Villarreal did against us he would put them away.

 

[TMDaines]

Come on now...

We have Bruno and Pogba for starters, two of the best passers in world football. You find me another team with two players to match those pair. Then you have Sancho, Greenwood, Matic, Martial and so on.

Not getting the ball to him enough is nothing to do with the ability of our players.

Did you read my post?

 

[Mickeza]

I’ve seen it posted a few times in here now - do people actually think he’s our best player?

 

[11101]

Did you read my post?

Yes. You said we have limited numbers who can create for him. Unless you mean limited to the 11 players on the pitch.

 

[Jim Beam]

Ronaldo, Ole, the club, and the fans should realise he is no more GOAT or spring chicken and has limitations in his games. He is not, or will not be our saviour.

Protect your legacy, Ronnie. Don't let your mind/heart fool you into thinking you're still at the same level you were over the last many years. It simply happens to all of us as we start getting older and we just don't realise our limitations.

Onto you Ole, have the cajoles to make decisions on Ronaldo the player as he performs now and not his previous greatness.

Not gonna happen. The player of his status who still has such goalscoring ability won't like his minutes being reduced. You are basically suggesting that he accepts his limitations when he built his whole legacy on a mindset that there aren't limitations to what a player and a person can achieve. That is a downside of having a GOAT calibre player who is in his last years.

Ole also isn't the person to do it imo. There was absolutely no reason to include him yesterday. We were fine, had 1-0 lead and Cavani didn't look tired. Ole decided to go into some kind of compromise and play him when he could have go with a rest explanation. Ronaldo might end up getting pissed, but he was bound to get pissed either way once the decision was made to start without him.

Once we got Ronaldo the only solution is to build around him and get around his limitations which Ole seems incapable of doing. Yes, it looks like we are more disjointed with Ronaldo in the team atm, but it sure doesn't look like we are flying without him also, so Ole has nowhere to hide really.

If things don't change quickly, he will probably be the end of Ole.

 

[Brwned]

We're sort of getting away from the main point I was making here and we've wandered into some weird semantic argument. You're saying he's delusional - that's fine. I'm not saying that and, more to the point, I don't really care. The point I'm making is that this could become an issue with someone like him if we continue in the form we're currently in.

Whether you think he SHOULD be acting that way or whether you think he SHLOUD modify his behavior is completely irrelevant. Because, let's be honest, he's not going to. At least I don't think he is and I think anyone who's watched him over his career will know he's not going to accept not competing and winning these major honors. Again, this is not me lionizing it or saying this is how every player should behave, I'm just saying this is probably what's going to happen.

You're saying he should not be expecting that. Again, that's fine. You can think that. But do you think he's really going to?

To be honest, I think we certainly have the squad to compete for these titles. It's the manager I think that will ultimately let us down.

Yeah, that’s kind of my point. You don’t really care whether his behaviour is based on delusions. You’re happy to point out that he’s going to behave that way because that’s the environment he’s in, happy to criticise his supporting cast at the same time, but unwilling to consider whether that’s based on a delusion or a rational and appropriate assessment.

There are a lot of people in here that lionise that particular feature of Ronaldo, without asking whether it’s legitimate in his current situation, whether it has had negative consequences for those around him, etc.

It gives him the status of being somehow above the team, not responsible to his team mates or responsible for his own situation. It’s pandering to an idol.

I do believe he came in expecting that. I don’t think that was realistic but it’s not that obvious, there’s a lot of unknowns. But he also came here primarily because he couldn’t win what he wanted to win in his last club, and he wanted out. People are very quick to paper over that primary motivation of his.

He decided he wanted to leave Juve, then decided he’d go to City, or PSG, or United. That expectation to win things is just a loose ambition after the primary motivation, it wasn’t a driving force of a career change. He failed based on his own standards. Expecting him to have some humility in these circumstances is appropriate. Not holding him accountable for lacking that capacity is just pandering to him, which in and of itself upsets the balance and chemistry of a team. They can see he’s being put on a pedestal already.

 

[steffyr2]

What you’re saying can be described in different ways. Describing it as delusional doesn’t overwrite what else you’re saying, it just adds a different dimension to it. It strips away the tone that suggests Ronaldo is somehow above it all.

Did Ronaldo come here expecting to win? Yes. Is he capable of making this team win by his presence alone? No. Can he accept not winning? No. Those are the things you’ve said about him. Put those together and you describe a delusion.

If he can’t accept he accept the reality he finds himself in, and he can’t accept his role in co-creating that reality, then he’s deluded. This isn’t the Ronaldo from 10 years ago that could expect to transform a team into title winners. His last club was an obvious example of that, he went there aiming to transform them into CL winners, and he failed.

We expect players to know their own limits, their own capabilities, and ground their expectations in that. That’s a necessary part of being a team. If Ronaldo isn’t capable of doing that it should be held against him.

He can expect the team to do the basics -- defend, cross, pass. When they can't do that, he can be angry. It's odd that others don't appear to be.
btw, no one's presence alone makes a team win, so by your standard every players who expects a team to challenge for titles is delusional.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Apples and oranges

Is that the best you got? Disappointing.

 

[BusbyMalone]

Yeah, that’s kind of my point. You don’t really care whether his behaviour is based on delusions. You’re happy to point out that he’s going to behave that way because that’s the environment he’s in, happy to criticise his supporting cast at the same time, but unwilling to consider whether that’s based on a delusion or a rational and appropriate assessment.

There are a lot of people in here that lionise that particular feature of Ronaldo, without asking whether it’s legitimate in his current situation, whether it has had negative consequences for those around him, etc.

It gives him the status of being somehow above the team, not responsible to his team mates or responsible for his own situation. It’s pandering to an idol.

I do believe he came in expecting that. I don’t think that was realistic but it’s not that obvious, there’s a lot of unknowns. But he also came here primarily because he couldn’t win what he wanted to win in his last club, and he wanted out. People are very quick to paper over that primary motivation of his.

He decided he wanted to leave Juve, then decided he’d go to City, or PSG, or United. That expectation to win things is just a loose ambition after the primary motivation, it wasn’t a driving force of a career change. He failed based on his own standards. Expecting him to have some humility in these circumstances is appropriate. Not holding him accountable for lacking that capacity is just pandering to him, which in and of itself upsets the balance and chemistry of a team. They can see he’s being put on a pedestal already.

To be honest mate, that's a bit of an unfair assessment based on what I've been saying. I'm not "unwilling" to consider whether it's a rational outlook, and I'm not "happy" to criticize his supporting cast. I mean come on - I just said I'm not looking forward to seeing what could potentially happen if our form continues. I'm not looking forward to the potential disharmony Ronaldo could cause if his standards aren't met. I'm not making a judgement call on whether it's right or wrong for him to behave this way because it's irrelevant to my point, so that's why I don't care.

I don't want him to start showing off and making it about him, but I'm saying it's probably going to happen whether I think it's justified or not. I mean, if you had a gun against my head and asked me if he's justified in thinking that we can win the major honours, then I would say we've got the squad for it, but we haven't got the manager, ergo - I don't think he'd be justified in thinking that. But again, I didn't make the point that he's right to think that way. I was saying that this could be a big problem for us, whether he's "delusional" or not.

Nothing that I'm saying is pandering to him. I don't want this, and this was a concern I had when we signed him.

 

[ForeverRed1]

I get all this winner mentality Ronaldo brings to the club, but the issue is Ronaldo is not the Ronaldo of old where he could win matches on his own and set the standard. Now he needs help from his team mates, who are simply not good enough. If you thinks he’s getting pissed off now, you haven’t seen anything yet!

well he can still score us 25-30 goals. He will also pop up and win us games like he did against villa real. He will be a big player for us and push the whole team to another level. On the pitch and mentality wise.

he isnt the Ronaldo of old though, agreed. He also doesn’t want to not play either so ole will have to manage that. It’s a tough one but all in all he will elevate us.

 

[Brwned]

To be honest mate, that's a bit of an unfair assessment based on what I've been saying. I'm not "unwilling" to consider whether it's a rational outlook, and I'm not "happy" to criticize his supporting cast. I mean come on - I just said I'm not looking forward to seeing what could potentially happen if our form continues. I'm not looking forward to the potential disharmony Ronaldo could cause if his standards aren't met. I'm not making a judgement call on whether it's right or wrong for him to behave this way because it's irrelevant to my point, so that's why I don't care.

I don't want him to start showing off and making it about him, but I'm saying it's probably going to happen whether I think it's justified or not. I mean, if you had a gun against my head and asked me if he's justified in thinking that we can win the major honours, then I would say we've got the squad for it, but we haven't got the manager, ergo - I don't think he'd be justified in thinking that. But again, I didn't make the point that he's right to think that way. I was saying that this could be a big problem for us, whether he's "delusional" or not.

Nothing that I'm saying is pandering to him. I don't want this, and this was a concern I had when we signed him.

Yeah, I wasn’t contradicting your original point, I generally agree with it l. I’m just extending your point and considering the implications of it. At the end of the day you need that theoretical gun to your head to ask that question, because people are very reticent to criticise him. He is who he is, we just have to deal with it. I don’t agree. He should be held accountable for being who he is. If we don’t want to go there unless that gun exists, we just end up creating other problems on top.

You earn the right to expect things of those around you with your performances and your impact on the group. As those things wane, your right to that wanes too. At some point it disappears. Some players are too deluded to accept that reality and end up hurting the team. Think Keane in 2005, and in his managerial career. He thought he could just bollock people into submission long after he was good enough for people to tolerate it. He made the atmosphere worse for thinking he was above that basic expectation that your own performance dictates your own standing. It took him years to realise that didn’t actually work for him or the team.

 

[Sultan]

Is that the best you got? Disappointing.

Hardly worth writing an essay with a riposte with you comparing Ronaldo with Ibra's time at United. Completely different players who played with different teammates and coaches.

 

[Sultan]

I'll repeat what I said on Wednesday. A lot of our problems are down to the front three of Ronaldo, Greenwood and Sancho not pressing and can be easily bypassed. This then puts a lot of pressure on the midfield and in turn the defence. If Ronaldo cannot press or is too good to be dropped an alternative might be having Cavani playing alongside. Cavani pressing is a massive boost with the roar at Old Trafford increasing many folds and panics the opposition defence. He's also infectious when he presses it encourages others to do likewise.

 

[BusbyMalone]

Yeah, I wasn’t contradicting your original point, I generally agree with it l. I’m just extending your point and considering the implications of it. At the end of the day you need that theoretical gun to your head to ask that question, because people are very reticent to criticise him. He is who he is, we just have to deal with it. I don’t agree. He should be held accountable for being who he is. If we don’t want to go there unless that gun exists, we just end up creating other problems on top.

You earn the right to expect things of those around you with your performances and your impact on the group. As those things wane, your right to that wanes too. At some point it disappears. Some players are too deluded to accept that reality and end up hurting the team. Think Keane in 2005, and in his managerial career. He thought he could just bollock people into submission long after he was good enough for people to tolerate it. He made the atmosphere worse for thinking he was above that basic expectation that your own performance dictates your own standing. It took him years to realise that didn’t actually work for him or the team.

Yeah, I 100% agree with the bold there. And just to reiterate, he should definitely be held accountable both for performances and his behavior if indeed he does start to disrupt things.

We do agree, I think you were just coming at it from the perspective of whether his behavior is justified or not and whether it should be excused (again, I don't think it should), but I was just saying I didn't enter that particular debate because whether it is justified or not, or whether I think he's delusional or not, is irrelevant because it's going to happen anyway. At least I think it is. Maybe he's a changed man.

It wasn't me excusing it, more just acknowledging the reality of the situation.

 

[TMDaines]

Yes. You said we have limited numbers who can create for him. Unless you mean limited to the 11 players on the pitch.

I was primarily referring to players further back, which is where the ball tends to get stuck right now. Our full backs are pretty average at creating, our holding midfielders who occupy the pivot are poor at it, except for Matic who is rarely played for whatever reason and Pogba who is often used further forward. All we constantly do is pass the ball around in a U-shape in front of a deep block every time we face it and we wonder why we are struggling to create.

Part of the problem is Bruno’s usually too advanced and his often playing as a second striker.

Martial and Greenwood are pretty middling in terms of creativity. Neither of them are a good foil for feeding a centre forward. Rashford is similar, although I feel more confident in him adapting his game.

Sancho in fairness has posted great metrics for creativity in the Bundesliga and if we are going to shape a side around feeding a centre forward, he needs to start most matches. Right now he’s on the fringes though and completely unproven over here.

 

[tenpoless]

We need to revisit this thread when the midfield can string 5 passes together without fecking up. If after everyone is performing to the standard required (aka after the midfield performs) and we still look like being held back by Ronaldo then lets talk about it. Right now its too early. Didnt Martial use to jog around a lot as well? we did okay with him up front in several games last season.

 

[steffyr2]

It's unnerving that Ronaldo sticks out so with his drive to win. Reminds me of how Mourinho failed at United.

 

[11101]

I was primarily referring to players further back, which is where the ball tends to get stuck right now. Our full backs are pretty average at creating, our holding midfielders who occupy the pivot are poor at it, except for Matic who is rarely played for whatever reason and Pogba who is often used further forward. All we constantly do is pass the ball around in a U-shape in front of a deep block every time we face it and we wonder why we are struggling to create.

Part of the problem is Bruno’s usually too advanced and his often playing as a second striker.

Martial and Greenwood are pretty middling in terms of creativity. Neither of them are a good foil for feeding a centre forward. Rashford is similar, although I feel more confident in him adapting his game.

Sancho in fairness has posted great metrics for creativity in the Bundesliga and if we are going to shape a side around feeding a centre forward, he needs to start most matches. Right now he’s on the fringes though and completely unproven over here.

That's because we are too slow switching from defence to attack and give opponents time to get their shape back. That's not the players though, that's the coaching.

 

[Josh 76]

That's because we are too slow switching from defence to attack and give opponents time to get their shape back. That's not the players though, that's the coaching.

And Fred!

 

[11101]

And Fred!

In Fred's defence, it's more McTominay's job to pass between the lines. Fred is the pressing player forcing the mistake.

 

[SonyaCross493]

We need to move the ball quicker from midfield to attack to get the best out of the GOAT. More first time crosses. How often do we do short corners instead of just crossing it? And Fernandes yesterday instead of waiting to deliver the free-kick he took it too fast and a player was offside Fernandes does things too rushed at times instead of calm. Fernandes needs to stay disciplined and deep to help the midfield dominate and stop thinking he's a striker.

Ronaldo will score loads and win us loads of games once the team starts clicking (and Sancho settles in as I loved there link-up play yesterday both ballers with a good understanding) and he can be the difference in the big games when you only get 1 or 2 decent chances in a game you want it to fall to him. Like that Cavani sitter header in the first half yesterday you know Ronaldo would've buried it as he always hits the corner with his headers it's amazing really. One of Ronny's best qualities is his heading yet I can't think of one decent headed chance we have created for him yet? That proves we are yet to click but we will. Sometimes take time with so many new players look at PSG losing 2-0 today in the farmers league, it does sometimes take time for players to click but good players will eventually.

I think playing Greenwood and Pogba on the wing doesn't work, there's zero creativity with Greenwood selfish (natural strikers instincts rather than crossing) and Pogba drifting into the midfield edge of the box and not staying wide. We need Sancho and Rashford or Sancho and Greenwood but we need more players delivering crosses

United dominated possession yesterday 72% yesterday and Everton had the same amount of shots on goal as United. Proves we are not moving the ball fast enough from midfield to attack to create chances.. too much sideways passes and passing backwards to defenders.

We created more chances when Ronaldo, Pogba and Sancho came on with 30 minutes left in the game but we had to as we was chasing the game.

 

[Dinghy]

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We're not a good enough team to get away with this throughout the season. Needs to be benched vs the likes of City and Liverpool or else they'll dominate us completely.

 

[TMDaines]

That's because we are too slow switching from defence to attack and give opponents time to get their shape back. That's not the players though, that's the coaching.

Some and some. Better coaching would help longer term, but I think team selections and formation are a big part of it.

We often have too limited ball progression in the back line, pivot and full backs. Take yesterday: who out of AWB, Varane, Lindelöf, Varane, Shaw, Fred and McT is most capable of feeding players in dangerous areas in the final third? Lindelöf is probably best of them.

If your front three is Martial - Cavani - Greenwood, who is enabling his teammates? Cavani works hard, but he’s not a creator. The other are goal focussed too. Substitute Ronaldo for Cavani and there’s even less teamwork.

We perhaps need to put some creativity and playmaking further back in our team, and some enabling work-rate and teamwork players further forward to develop a more cohesive unit. Right now there’s a big split between our front four and back six.

 

[TMDaines]

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We're not a good enough team to get away with this throughout the season. Needs to be benched vs the likes of City and Liverpool or else they'll dominate us completely.

Or you compensate for Ronaldo by selecting other higher workrate players in the other forward positions, instead of the likes of Martial and Greenwood. Greenwood is 5th bottom of this chart and has no excuse of being a senior player.

Salah and Mane are doing multiples of what Ronaldo is, but are still doing relatively little. They have Jota and Firmino to help compensate.

 

[Dinghy]

Or you compensate for Ronaldo by selecting other higher workrate players in the other forward positions, instead of the likes of Martial and Greenwood. Greenwood is 5th bottom of this chart and has no excuse of being a senior player.

Salah and Mane are doing multiples of what Ronaldo is, but are still doing relatively little. They have Jota and Firmino to help compensate.

We're already compensating for Pogba. Greenwood has probably been our best attacking player so far, and Rasford/Sancho isn't much better defensively.

 

[steffyr2]

We're already compensating for Pogba. Greenwood has probably been our best attacking player so far, and Rasford/Sancho isn't much better defensively.

So none of our forwards press, good to know.

 

[TMDaines]

So none of our forwards press, good to know.

But the conclusion is not to play arguably the greatest player of all-time!

 

[Dinghy]

So none of our forwards press, good to know.

They're probably around same level as Greenwood defensively = they'll run three times as much as our static 9.

 

[steffyr2]

They're probably around same level as Greenwood defensively = they'll run three times as much as our static 9.

We probably need a table of who runs the most too.
If only pressing and running was how the game was won.

 

[Mickson]

Wow, rarely I see such level of insight and knowledge from someone on internet. You've changed me man and for the better, now I can see thing in football I've never understood before.

Thank you Mickeson from internet, legend about you will live as long as players look at pointless drawings before coming as subs.

still you didn't know

 

[Black Adder]

still you didn't know

Didn' have a clue, always thought it's some kind of maximum secret tactics which can only be seen once before destroying papers

 

[SonyaCross493]

They're probably around same level as Greenwood defensively = they'll run three times as much as our static 9.

Static 9.. you mean possibly the greatest player of all-time to ever lace up a pair of boots, who is already a legend at Manchester United helping us win loads of trophies? He deserves a bit more respect than that he's earned it throughout his career! See the bigger picture what he brings to the team he's already won us points through his expert finishing goals.. Lukaku doesn't press much at Chelsea but they manage and compensate don't they? More than one way to skin a cat..

What are you talking about? Greenwood is playing as a WINGER in our system! He should be running a lot more as he should be tracking back, but he's not tracking back as much as we need which also leaves us exposes defensively conceding goals. But nobody mentions that even though Greenwood is 16 years younger and can run about all day.

You compensate for that like Sir Alex Ferguson did when Ronaldo played down the middle as number with Rooney shifted to the wing as the sacrificial lamb to get the best out of Ronaldo for the good of the team. Ronaldo has never pressed even when he was a kid. Ole has many 'passion merchants' that can press like Fernandes, Greenwood, Rashford etc

You don't want to waste Ronaldo's energy and risking injury by pressing. You want to maximise him at his best in the opposition box

You can't give Neymar, Messi and Mbeppe a free pass by saying 'they'll click eventually' at PSG as they are too good and not do the same with Ronaldo and the rest of the players at Manchester United by saying it'll click eventually. 5 goals in 6 games is brilliant so far long may it continue once the team starts to click/gel!

 

[Gottabekiddingme]

Ronaldo's best games in the last few years, and you can legit just go on Youtube and watch them, are when he plays on the wing, switches positions, takes advantage of defenders marking the number 9, and making a decisive run for a one touch goal.

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid 2016/2017, Champions League SF. With Benzema.
Juventus vs Real Madrid 2017/2018, Champions League QF. With Benzema
Juventus vs Atletico Madrid 2018/2019, Champions League R16. With Mandzukic.

Notice how there are no games from 2019/2020 and 2020/2021which I can point to. That's because he played alongside dead horses like Higuain and Morata as his number 9, who alongside being meh at best, didn't seem to gel with Ronaldo on a personal level (Morata got on Ronaldo's nerves even in Real Madrid).

Ole needs to do the right thing and let Ronaldo play on the left and couple him with Cavani. It's going to be a long and terrible season for Ronaldo - and maybe United - if he continues to stink the field as a 9.

 

[bakalhau]

Ronaldo's best games in the last few years, and you can legit just go on Youtube and watch them, are when he plays on the wing, switches positions, takes advantage of defenders marking the number 9, and making a decisive run for a one touch goal.

Ole needs to do the right thing and let Ronaldo play on the left and couple him with Cavani. It's going to be a long and terrible season for Ronaldo - and maybe United - if he continues to stink the field as a 9.

Bingo. Been saying this on this thread too. He's wasted as a number 9. Zidane was smart enough to try and cut it once he saw his productivity went down. He even went as far as changing what was then the staple Madrid 4-3-3 into a 4-4-2 to have him play along with Benzema, and they kept on winning the CL that way.

As for your second paragraph, I also agree with you. I also supported those thoughts I had here by giving a few fresh examples of just how good he is playing in tight spaces with fast paced, one touched football, with great team link up. He can also beat a man 1vs1, albeit not as consistently as before, and most of all, he crossed the ball better than every Juventus player bar Cuadrado, which sounds ridiculous, but is actually a sad truth, and could feed Cavani/Whoever with his crosses.

I just don't want to be very assertive here on my view as I have only watched 20% of United's games last 2 seasons, and you guys here know the team better than I do, so your concerns about defensive action and pressing and whatnot with Ronaldo left and Cavani upfront may be warranted, but I have a certain degree of confidence Ronaldo would perform much better on the left, and he and Cavani would work wonderfully together in my opinion.

Edit: the only thing I disagree is him having a terrible season. He played as a number 9 so much in Juve last season and the one before, and he still managed 35 goals each year. He always find a way. But maybe let's try and give him a chance to play to his strengths, and maybe he bangs 50 in instead of 35.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I’ve seen it posted a few times in here now - do people actually think he’s our best player?

If we had a system that was based around feeding a CF with all manner of passes, he’s arguably amongst the best in the world as can finish in every possible way and has no real weakness bar pure pace nowadays. If we have him in our system, where forwards often go an entire half or more without a ‘good’ chance and crosses tend to be more hit and hope then planned moves or fantastic deliveries, he’s going to struggle.

Best player at the moment is probably De Gea.

 

[TMDaines]

If we had a system that was based around feeding a CF with all manner of passes, he’s arguably amongst the best in the world as can finish in every possible way and has no real weakness bar pure pace nowadays. If we have him in our system, where forwards often go an entire half or more without a ‘good’ chance and crosses tend to be more hit and hope then planned moves or fantastic deliveries, he’s going to struggle.

Best player at the moment is probably De Gea.

This. When he’s on the field, we need to build the team around servicing him. If that means benching other shiny toys, then so be it.

 

[predator]

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We're not a good enough team to get away with this throughout the season. Needs to be benched vs the likes of City and Liverpool or else they'll dominate us completely.

I actyally think we have a good chance of beating Liverpool and City home and away, especially with ronaldo in the team. We are just so unpredictable and unlike them, have no defined way of playing. If our defence is solid and Bruno and Pogba play well, coupled with Ronaldo getting chances then we can beat anyone in my opinion. Winning the league however is another story. We simply don't have the consistency or a system in place that all players adhere to.