[Ali Dia]

I said it before Ronaldo came in and I stand by it. With Greenwood, Rashford and Pogba you still majorly need your Fred’s, Dan James, Cavani and even the very limited McT to tip the balance back over towards aggressive and hardworking to do the hard yards for those non pressing/aggressive creatives. I was laughed at for defending James and Fred in particular.

Any 4/5 out of Sancho Pogba Ronaldo Greenwood Bruno Rashford is an absolute disaster. It doesn’t matter who is left behind or beside them. Could be Kante and Saul. They are still going to get swamped and passed through. They will be pressed so they can’t dictate. Out of all our regular forwards this season only Bruno presses and spoils in a genuine way. If half of your team is useless at defending, tracking, pressing and spoiling then you are going to be far too easy to play against. Add in Shaw as another attack minded player who gets caught out on the regular. Is it not clear yet why we are getting dicked about the place?

You guys really need to get out of FM thinking and think about the actual real life balance of the team. Pressing and hurrying the opposition into mistakes matters. Chasing lost causes matters. playing percentage ball across the goalmouth is effective if there’s anyone there to finish. Running the channels, aggressively disrupting the oppositions shape. All these things are gone now with the positions Ronaldo takes up.

We have an isolated elite finisher and header. Only Bruno and Pogba provide and we don’t cross well into dangerous areas. Can’t you guys see the balance has been broken to accommodate one player?

Is James a better player than Ronaldo? Feck no but Cavani - James has better defensive/pressing balance than Greenwood - Ronaldo. Is Fred a better player than Pogba? Of course not but Fred - Bruno has a better defensive balance than Pogba- Bruno. There has to be a trade off, for each low work rate attacker there has to be a worker/presser/spoiler close by. Ideally they’d all do it. Not only is Liverpool’s attack much better than ours but they all work twice as hard too. Their midfield is a compact unit. Their forwards are a compact unit. Who has a “free role” in that team? Not even Salah. We have Pogba Bruno Ronaldo Greenwood Sancho and Rashford playing it as they see it and it’s far from good enough. From the manager and the players.

 

[shamans]

I said it before Ronaldo came in and I stand by it. With Greenwood, Rashford and Pogba you still majorly need your Fred’s, Dan James, Cavani and even the very limited McT to tip the balance back over towards aggressive and hardworking to do the hard yards for those non pressing/aggressive creatives. I was laughed at for defending James and Fred in particular.

Any 4/5 out of Sancho Pogba Ronaldo Greenwood Bruno Rashford is an absolute disaster. It doesn’t matter who is left behind or beside them. Could be Kante and Saul. They are still going to get swamped and passed through. They will be pressed so they can’t dictate. Out of all our regular forwards this season only Bruno presses and spoils in a genuine way. If half of your team is useless at defending, tracking, pressing and spoiling then you are going to be far too easy to play against. Add in Shaw as another attack minded player who gets caught out on the regular. Is it not clear yet why we are getting dicked about the place?

You guys really need to get out of FM thinking and think about the actual real life balance of the team. Pressing and hurrying the opposition into mistakes matters. Chasing lost causes matters. playing percentage ball across the goalmouth is effective if there’s anyone there to finish. Running the channels, aggressively disrupting the oppositions shape. All these things are gone now with the positions Ronaldo takes up.

We have an isolated elite finisher and header. Only Bruno and Pogba provide and we don’t cross well into dangerous areas. Can’t you guys see the balance has been broken to accommodate one player?

Is James a better player than Ronaldo? Feck no but Cavani - James has better defensive/pressing balance than Greenwood - Ronaldo. Is Fred a better player than Pogba? Of course not but Fred - Bruno has a better defensive balance than Pogba- Bruno. There has to be a trade off, for each attacker there has to be a worker/presser/spoiler close by. Ideally they’d all do it. Not only is Liverpool’s attack much better than ours but they all work twice as hard too. Their midfield is a compact unit. Their forwards are a compact unit. Who has a “free role” in that team? Not even Salah. We have Pogba Bruno Ronaldo Greenwood Sancho and Rashford playing it as they see it and it’s far from good enough. From the manager and the players.

This is lazy analysis again. See some of our past games. The likes of Greenwood etc are taking punts for fun. Actually, greenwood in particular has become more selfish than last season so it's not like his game has been impacted due to Ronaldo.

There is some obsession with Cavani as of late as if he's someone who is as good as Ronaldo in finishing with all the added benefit of defensive pressing. Cavani was playing ahead of Ronaldo for the Everton game and we actually looked better once Ronaldo came on (despite conceding the goal)

Our losses have almost nothing to do with Ronaldo and more with our defense, midfield and attack with no tactics. Greenwood and the likes should service Ronaldo more but they are not. Just think about it. Imagine Ronaldo at Man City right now. He would have had like 10 goals with them crushing teams and you know that's a fact.

Pressing has become some buzzword as of late, especially under Ole.

 

[Reapersoul20]

Yeah, bro, Ronaldo, the lone striker, is somehow responsible for our entire defence and midfield to collapse in a spectacular fashion just because he didn't mindlessly press the keeper for no reason, showcased here:

Spoiler

Something as a bonus before Ronaldo was even in the team:

Spoiler

Yep, that's Ronaldo's fault all right. I wonder how this clown even won 5 CL's, 3 of them back to back when he literally has the "ability" to make every player turn into a disorganized mess, incapable of playing even basic football. Yep, that's Ronaldo. A joke of a footballer. Djemba Djemba, Bebe? WhO? Ronaldo has been the worst Manchester United player in history and that's a fact! He even has the ability to make United players play like shit EVEN when he is not in the team! Amazing stuff. I'd go even as far as to say Ronaldo is clearly responsible for every bad thing in the world, there's no other way. Some guy kills another person somewhere? That's Ronaldo's fault for not pressing the goalkeeper and ruining his day! Utterly despicable person that guy Ronaldo is. Sigh... At this point you're either massively wumming or you have some serious personal issues with Ronaldo. It's actually insane if you believe any of this shit you keep spouting.

Reported this post as you just killed a man.

Great post.

 

[Ali Dia]

This is lazy analysis again. See some of our past games. The likes of Greenwood etc are taking punts for fun. Actually, greenwood in particular has become more selfish than last season so it's not like his game has been impacted due to Ronaldo.

There is some obsession with Cavani as of late as if he's someone who is as good as Ronaldo in finishing with all the added benefit of defensive pressing. Cavani was playing ahead of Ronaldo for the Everton game and we actually looked better once Ronaldo came on (despite conceding the goal)

Our losses have almost nothing to do with Ronaldo and more with our defense, midfield and attack with no tactics. Greenwood and the likes should service Ronaldo more but they are not. Just think about it. Imagine Ronaldo at Man City right now. He would have had like 10 goals with them crushing teams and you know that's a fact.

Pressing has become some buzzword as of late, especially under Ole.

Do you remember last season just as we were about to lose to Southampton and have our season start to aimlessly tail off 0-2 down. Cavani and his pressing and aggression reignited our season, especially in the EL, from the pain of watching Rashford and Greenwood walking around to the biggest clue we could ever get to what had been missing from our play. He couldn’t play in every game but was by far our most important attacker for the second half of the season. This year Ronaldo comes in and Greenwood and Sancho/Rashford are back walking around with nobody to play off. Ronaldo isn’t going to battle to bring them into play and they aren’t going to press and provide for him. It’s the same problem all over again. The blend is all wrong. If you’d 2 Dan James pressing either side of Ronaldo I reckon he’d win us the league and I’m not even joking.

I called it before we signed him that we’d really miss Cavanis influence in the team as one of the only genuine forward presser/enablers in the squad and that C7 and Bruno would have the same frustrating dynamic as in their NT. Decent but they’ve never won anything together and it doesn’t look like happening here either.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Reported this post as you just killed a man.

Great post.

That post is heap of dung. Nice MS paint work though. Very pretty.

 

[bakalhau]

I don't disagree with the overall message and criticism of him here in the last few pages. Well, by that, I mean people pointing out his weaknesses, with which, as much as I'm a fan of the dude, I can't disagree with. Every player has strengths and weak spots.

I just don't think it's his fault that he's put as a number 9 on the field. That's not on him. Bebestation posted his heatmap and Ronaldo sticks more to the left, well, where's the surprise there? He's played there almost his whole life. He has said publicly during his RM days he'd play as a 9 but that he'd rather not if possible. It's not surprising that he drifts left, at this point it's probably a subconscious thing he does.

Where did the goal against Liverpool come from? From the left, or more like the central left. He wasn't on the central position and voila, suddenly he's got space, makes a run, cuts inside, actually shows he can still beat players in 1vs1 in small spaces (he actually beat 2 with his quickness) and scores his best "goal" at United so far. You guys see the Newcaslte 2nd goal he scored? Same exact spot, central left, has space, makes a run, beats the defender on pace at 36 years old, bangs it in. As a number 9 he is a static peon, and my god, is it a waste of the capabilities this man still has at this age.

I disagree with a few details on some people's messages that are bashing him, but I absolutely 100% side with some of the broader points these same posters are putting across. Before he played a game for us I said it'd be a huge mistake to play him as number 9. It's not even beneficial to him, let alone the team itself! His best goals where he showed what he is capable of have not come from a central 9 position. I understand Ole did not have the time to watch every single game of the dude like me, but I just wanna goddamn email Ole, just want him to put some "Ronaldo vs X team" on Youtube search and watch some goddamn videos of him playing in RM and Juve from 2016 onwards so he gets any clue as to whaat to do with him.

I'm dying inside waiting (and wanting) to see Ronaldo and Cavani start upfront in 2 or 3 games. 4-4-2. Just any change at this point and I think the team would be better.

 

[Reapersoul20]

That post is heap of dung. Nice MS paint work though. Very pretty.

MS Paint is a quality program in fairness.

Do you not rate Ronaldo ?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

MS Paint is a quality program in fairness.

Do you not rate Ronaldo ?

I think he’s a world class player, obviously. I also think accommodating him will cause a lot of problems. That will get bigger and bigger over the next season or two.

And that post you liked was annoying because it implies anyone who dares criticise Ronaldo automatically thinks everything else is working perfectly. We have a shit load of issues in our team. It’s possible to think that Ronaldo is one of them without being in denial about everything else.

 

[shamans]

I think he’s a world class player, obviously. I also think accommodating him will cause a lot of problems. That will get bigger and bigger over the next season or two.

And that post you liked was annoying because it implies anyone who dares criticise Ronaldo automatically thinks everything else is working perfectly. We have a shit load of issues in our team. It’s possible to think that Ronaldo is one of them without being in denial about everything else.

It's not about criticizing Ronaldo. He's had some bad games, but the whole idea of blaming our failures on him as some sort of goal poacher who ruins the harmonious forward pressing line is ridiculous. Lazy analysis.

 

[MrEleson]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Anyone that thinks this man is responsible for our defensive frailties is clinically insane. Alarmingly delusional. Nothing less.

 

[diawl_coch]

Anyone that thinks this man is responsible for our defensive frailties is clinically insane. Alarmingly delusional. Nothing less.

Anyone who claims that the side isn't hopelessly unbalanced and carrying an old man chasing past glories is seriously deluded.

Sorry, top level sport is ruthless. Ronaldo belongs in MLS.

 

[snk123]

Yeah, bro, Ronaldo, the lone striker, is somehow responsible for our entire defence and midfield to collapse in a spectacular fashion just because he didn't mindlessly press the keeper for no reason, showcased here:

Spoiler

Something as a bonus before Ronaldo was even in the team:

Spoiler

Yep, that's Ronaldo's fault all right. I wonder how this clown even won 5 CL's, 3 of them back to back when he literally has the "ability" to make every player turn into a disorganized mess, incapable of playing even basic football. Yep, that's Ronaldo. A joke of a footballer. Djemba Djemba, Bebe? WhO? Ronaldo has been the worst Manchester United player in history and that's a fact! He even has the ability to make United players play like shit EVEN when he is not in the team! Amazing stuff. I'd go even as far as to say Ronaldo is clearly responsible for every bad thing in the world, there's no other way. Some guy kills another person somewhere? That's Ronaldo's fault for not pressing the goalkeeper and ruining his day! Utterly despicable person that guy Ronaldo is. Sigh... At this point you're either massively wumming or you have some serious personal issues with Ronaldo. It's actually insane if you believe any of this shit you keep spouting.

Hey,
Please add these to the bonus section as well

Spoiler

What a great team juventus are without him now. He was the problem after all.

Spoiler

 

[snk123]

Anyone that thinks this man is responsible for our defensive frailties is clinically insane. Alarmingly delusional. Nothing less.

I think the last ten or more pages are people trying to argue with the extremely tiresome, awful agenda posting of Bebestation and captaincantona.

Maguire's performance thread is 24 pages long and Shaw's performance thread is 12 pages long.

 

[captaincantona]

It's not about criticizing Ronaldo. He's had some bad games, but the whole idea of blaming our failures on him as some sort of goal poacher who ruins the harmonious forward pressing line is ridiculous. Lazy analysis.

Do you lot even read what is being written...it has been expressly said multiple times that the tactics/formation are at fault- not Ronny personally. He needs a certain set up to get the most out of him. Yet I heard someone earlier actually mentioning a media conspiracy against the bronze god himself! It’s bizarre...he is not your da (or maybe he is...)

Now read this very carefully so as not to Misconstrue the arguement again...
My contention is 3 fold.

1) that playing him in the role and formation he was played in against Leicester, Atalanta and Liverpool, 3 teams with quality in possession, resulted in us looking like Swiss cheese. That is on Ole for not playing a formation which allowed us to stay compact and for encouraging what looked like 4-2-4 with Bruno pressing for Ronny because Ronny is fuking non-existent out of possession. It didn’t work...it’s not using him effectively and it unbalanced our whole shape. While we have looked bad in possession for years, and looked dodgy at the back in certain games, we looked a whole Dane Bowers (another level) of shite in those three games...so easy to play through.

2) to accommodate him, he needs a partner who can do some donkey work and more crosses. This type of formation would require Rashford, Sancho, Greenwood etc. To become more conventional wingers, possibly wingbacks or vie for a single position as his striking partner. Either way, you lose some of their undeniable positive attributes And ask them to retrain to essentially service one goal scorer. I don’t think he is worth that. I think a frontline of a fit Rashford, Cavani and Mason would outscore any frontline that contains Ronaldo. While he would probably score more than each of the other players individually he would be our main goal threat and not necessarily increase the potency of the team overall.

Three. Ronaldo is pretty shite these days at everything bar movement and finishing in the 18 yard box. He will deteriorate as contrary to what some on here believe he is not the second coming of Christ. He is 36, immobile, poor first touch, non existent hold up play, hasn’t seemed to gel with anyone in particular with regard to link up and therefore should not be the type of player you build an entire team around. Being held to ransom by his legacy is a dangerous position to be in yet it is hard to see any manager be able to cope with his status- bar someone who doesn’t give a fuk like Conte. Ronaldo deserves a spot on the bench and coming on at 65 mins every game...when we can maximise his abilities.

I am a Utd fan...not a Ronaldo fan...and I am desperate for us to develop a sustainable style of play where players can interchange with quality squad options without seeing the over all level of performance suffer. Ronaldo as a central focus of the team moves us much further away from achieving that.

Hey...”agenda posting” really? That’s harsh man!

 

[snk123]

Do you lot even read what is being written...it has been expressly said multiple times that the tactics/formation are at fault- not Ronny personally. He needs a certain set up to get the most out of him. Yet I heard someone earlier actually mentioning a media conspiracy against the bronze god himself! It’s bizarre...he is not your da (or maybe he is...)

Now read this very carefully so as not to Misconstrue the arguement again...
My contention is 3 fold.

1) that playing him in the role and formation he was played in against Leicester, Atalanta and Liverpool, 3 teams with quality in possession, resulted in us looking like Swiss cheese. That is on Ole for not playing a formation which allowed us to stay compact and for encouraging what looked like 4-2-4 with Bruno pressing for Ronny because Ronny is fuking non-existent out of possession. It didn’t work...it’s not using him effectively and it unbalanced our whole shape. While we have looked bad in possession for years, and looked dodgy at the back in certain games, we looked a whole Dane Bowers (another level) of shite in those three games...so easy to play through.

2) to accommodate him, he needs a partner who can do some donkey work and more crosses. This type of formation would require Rashford, Sancho, Greenwood etc. To become more conventional wingers, possibly wingbacks or vie for a single position as his striking partner. Either way, you lose some of their undeniable positive attributes And ask them to retrain to essentially service one goal scorer. I don’t think he is worth that. I think a frontline of a fit Rashford, Cavani and Mason would outscore any frontline that contains Ronaldo. While he would probably score more than each of the other players individually he would be our main goal threat and not necessarily increase the potency of the team overall.

Three. Ronaldo is pretty shite these days at everything bar movement and finishing in the 18 yard box. He will deteriorate as contrary to what some on here believe he is not the second coming of Christ. He is 36, immobile, poor first touch, non existent hold up play, hasn’t seemed to gel with anyone in particular with regard to link up and therefore should not be the type of player you build an entire team around. Being held to ransom by his legacy is a dangerous position to be in yet it is hard to see any manager be able to cope with his status- bar someone who doesn’t give a fuk like Conte. Ronaldo deserves a spot on the bench and coming on at 65 mins every game...when we can maximise his abilities.

I am a Utd fan...not a Ronaldo fan...and I am desperate for us to develop a sustainable style of play where players can interchange with quality squad options without seeing the over all level of performance suffer. Ronaldo as a central focus of the team moves us much further away from achieving that.

Hey...”agenda posting” really? That’s harsh man!

Ronaldo has his faults and he may be culpable for a lot of things attacking wise but blaming him for the absolute shambolic defending as a whole by our team is taking to the levels of "agenda posting". If we were playing well, had a lot of the ball, were not as open as we are and Ronaldo was missing chances or breaking up attacks, then by all means critisize him but to somehow blame him for all of that when he's basically the one papering over our complete inept tactics is just mind bogglingly crazy.

Also you guys are over complicating what is going wrong. Shaw and Maguire are in the worst forms of their lives. Greenwood is extremely selfish. Bruno is having his usual hot and cold days. Fred and Mctominay are back to their usual selves. Rashford is rusty and is rushed back. Because we have no philosophy, patterns of play and tactics, we rely on individual brilliance.

These individuals are all in poor form. In a better run club with a better manager, they would be rotated so that they can come back firing but because Ole doesn't trust his own squad, we're having to bear the same mistakes match after match.

 

[Righteous Steps]

The saying pressing begins from the front or attack is best form of defence are sayings for a reason, Ronaldo isn’t the sole reason for Uniteds failures but people should learn to look at football more holistically, yes a forward player not applying pressure can affect defences and midfields, it’s a team game and the team is at its best when everyone is in unison.

 

[Reapersoul20]

I think he’s a world class player, obviously. I also think accommodating him will cause a lot of problems. That will get bigger and bigger over the next season or two.

And that post you liked was annoying because it implies anyone who dares criticise Ronaldo automatically thinks everything else is working perfectly. We have a shit load of issues in our team. It’s possible to think that Ronaldo is one of them without being in denial about everything else.

Reasonable post, I respect your opinion and the post with the paint on it .

My main thing is that Ronaldo is brilliant, and most of the failings of the team currently are on the opposite half of the pitch IMO. You're right that he shouldnt be beyond criticism though.

His eyebrows are far too well cared for as well. Makes me uneasy.

 

[captaincantona]

My main thing is that Ronaldo is brilliant,

jesus...this is probably gonna just kick things off again but since it’s the Ronaldo performance thread I suppose it’s fine...

how exactly is Ronaldo Still brilliant?

I mean yes he was brilliant but when is the last time you watched him play 90 minutes and thought...”brilliant”...best player out there!?

he is unparalleled in terms of being the right guy in the right moment but cmon now, he has been completely average for us so far...genuinely...nothing outside of his goals...Ok, the team has not been good overall but I just don't get this blind praise he gets. There was him and Messi and no one comes near to their levels of consistency... He is a legend and a living example of mentality and hard work...there are litterally hundreds of superlatives you could use to describe his past brilliance...but Ronaldo has not been brilliant for a long time.

For context- Haaland is brilliant, Salah, Lewandowski, De Bruyne, Veratti, Van Dyk, Kante, Dias, Benzema, Jorginho...even Neymar ..all involved heavily in the game, influencing their teams week in week out...no off days, no tantrums, no finger pointing and storming off the pitch...just reliable, consistent, quality for 90 minutes...nearly every game. Can you really say Ronaldo has done that for Juve/Utd? Any Juve fans on here able to pinpoint the last time he was brilliant for Juve?

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Some of the players that have more dribbles per game than Ronaldo so far in the Premier League:

Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Jordan Henderson, Luka Milivojevic, Jannik Vestergaard, Oriol Romeu, Thomas Partey.

It's mad how much he's stripped down that part of his game, imagine you said that in 2004.

 

[MrEleson]

Some of the players that have more dribbles per game than Ronaldo so far in the Premier League:

Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Jordan Henderson, Luka Milivojevic, Jannik Vestergaard, Oriol Romeu, Thomas Partey.

It's mad how much he's stripped down that part of his game, imagine you said that in 2004.

This is partly due to how he's misused at United - being thrown up-front and basically asked to just be there. At Juve last season, he had the highest average dribbles per match in the team in a side that contained the likes of Chiesa, Dybala and Cuadrado. Ofcourse, he's nowhere close to the dribbler he was in his prime, but he can still hold his own in that department.

 

[MrEleson]

Anyone who claims that the side isn't hopelessly unbalanced and carrying an old man chasing past glories is seriously deluded.

Sorry, top level sport is ruthless. Ronaldo belongs in MLS.

Ofcourse, the top scorer in Serie A last season and at the Euros belongs in the MLS. Yes, seriously deluded indeed.

 

[diawl_coch]

Ofcourse, the top scorer in Serie A last season and at the Euros belongs in the MLS. Yes, seriously deluded indeed.

Listen, if he was playing a supporting role and here to sell more No7 shirts and bedspreads then OK.
But the whole formation and way of playing has been changed to accommodate him. It's not working.
As I've written before, we'd be in a much better position if he'd never come back and we'd spent the money on a half decent DM.
He has burnt away all the progress this team made. We'll win nothing this season now.

 

[MrEleson]

Listen, if he was playing a supporting role and here to sell more No7 shirts and bedspreads then OK.
But the whole formation and way of playing has been changed to accommodate him. It's not working.
As I've written before, we'd be in a much better position if he'd never come back and we'd spent the money on a half decent DM.
He has burnt away all the progress this team made. We'll win nothing this season now.

If that was the case then United would not be playing him as a lone 9 in a 4-2-3-1 (a role Ronaldo has seldom played in throughout his career) - also a formation we’ve been playing long before he came.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

The saying pressing begins from the front or attack is best form of defence are sayings for a reason, Ronaldo isn’t the sole reason for Uniteds failures but people should learn to look at football more holistically, yes a forward player not applying pressure can affect defences and midfields, it’s a team game and the team is at its best when everyone is in unison.

People are mostly clowning Bebestation because his argument is not that this can have an effect, it's that the effect determines everything.

 

[Highfather_24]

The saying pressing begins from the front or attack is best form of defence are sayings for a reason, Ronaldo isn’t the sole reason for Uniteds failures but people should learn to look at football more holistically, yes a forward player not applying pressure can affect defences and midfields, it’s a team game and the team is at its best when everyone is in unison.

Ofcourse Ronaldo not pressing has an effect. But rather than blaming Ronaldo for a shortcoming in his game, the bigger question is why Ole is persisiting with an unorganised high press when multiple players are not suited to it? If the tactics continually expose the weakness of players, seems kinda unfair to blame the players for it.

Just look at how we press, its a mess. After a point, fingers have to be pointed at the coaches. If we had a competent guy in charge, Ronaldo would probably be playing from the left with Cavani up top, and we would not be pressing high. We would be falling back when we lose the ball, keep our organised shape, then win the ball back and play quickly on transitions, with a focus on getting crosses in early to Ronaldo and Cavani. The fact that we dont play to our strengths is baffling to me. What a misuse of talent.

The fact that we have C.Ronaldo in our team and we dont cross the ball much to him, is a sackable offense in itself.

 

[Skyhightrees]

If that was the case then United would not be playing him as a lone 9 in a 4-2-3-1 (a role Ronaldo has seldom played in throughout his career) - also a formation we’ve been playing long before he came.

Exactly my brother. Ronaldo has been played out of position in EVERY GAME. There's no accommodating no one here. Ronaldo is doing the Cavani job at number 9 because OLE lacks any understanding of his players, not just Ronaldo. He punted Greenwood to RW instead of benching him and has Sancho at his disposal, how can people be this blind? And as you said, last season he had a good number of dribbles playing on the LF role, HIS role.

 

[bakalhau]

Anyone who claims that the side isn't hopelessly unbalanced and carrying an old man chasing past glories is seriously deluded.

Sorry, top level sport is ruthless. Ronaldo belongs in MLS.

Jeez guys I wonder where Mr Lukaku belongs then! Probably in the Slovenian 2nd league since he has 4 goals in 11 games on a team that's currently first

 

[bond19821982]

Ok, are we still blaming Ronaldo for the defeat?
Please explain me how many chances did we create for him ? How man key passes were made by our team . How many shots did manage at Alison ?

So basically that will explain why he isn't working. It's not just him that's not working. Sancho, Pogba, Bruno,Mason all have been embarrassingly bad.When our attacking players aren't creating anything, we just can't sit back and say they don't defend. Fix the attack first, let's start creating couple of meaningful chances first. Then we will talk about defending as an unit.

 

[tjb]

I don't understand how people keep comparing him with Cavani when it's Martial who has been our main striker. Martial did not press, so it's clearly not a Ronaldo problem. Just another media agenda to simplistically explain our poor season with the biggest headlines

 

[Godfather]

This thread .

So many pages of moaning for one of our best performers this season. Don't see the fecking Luke Shaw or Slabhead threads being as regularly refreshed as this one and these two feckers have been complete and utter shit this season and are probably the main culprits of why we looks so clueless at the back.

 

[FriedClams]

Yeah, bro, Ronaldo, the lone striker, is somehow responsible for our entire defence and midfield to collapse in a spectacular fashion just because he didn't mindlessly press the keeper for no reason, showcased here:

Spoiler

Something as a bonus before Ronaldo was even in the team:

Spoiler

Yep, that's Ronaldo's fault all right. I wonder how this clown even won 5 CL's, 3 of them back to back when he literally has the "ability" to make every player turn into a disorganized mess, incapable of playing even basic football. Yep, that's Ronaldo. A joke of a footballer. Djemba Djemba, Bebe? WhO? Ronaldo has been the worst Manchester United player in history and that's a fact! He even has the ability to make United players play like shit EVEN when he is not in the team! Amazing stuff. I'd go even as far as to say Ronaldo is clearly responsible for every bad thing in the world, there's no other way. Some guy kills another person somewhere? That's Ronaldo's fault for not pressing the goalkeeper and ruining his day! Utterly despicable person that guy Ronaldo is. Sigh... At this point you're either massively wumming or you have some serious personal issues with Ronaldo. It's actually insane if you believe any of this shit you keep spouting.

Hi Sviken. All you had to do was post the images, they speak for themself. Always great to see evidence to someones argument, especially as indisputable as this. Usually, the only danger with still images is they don't paint the full picture but there isn't a single reason to explain any of the Liverpool ones that places blame on Ronaldo. It's just absolutely shambolic positioning and awareness.

As soon as Ronaldo starts telling himself he's a number 9 and stops trying to play like an inverted winger and sometimes a #10, he'll go back to doing what he does best. His chopped off goal against Liverpool just shows what he can do inside the box, so here's hoping he puts himself in there more often.

 

[Lord SInister]

Ronaldo is the least of our problems.
Our problem is an tactically inapt managers backed by tactically inapt and boring coaches who sit in the dug with the inspiration of a used condom.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Yeah, bro, Ronaldo, the lone striker, is somehow responsible for our entire defence and midfield to collapse in a spectacular fashion just because he didn't mindlessly press the keeper for no reason, showcased here:

Spoiler

Something as a bonus before Ronaldo was even in the team:

Spoiler

Yep, that's Ronaldo's fault all right. I wonder how this clown even won 5 CL's, 3 of them back to back when he literally has the "ability" to make every player turn into a disorganized mess, incapable of playing even basic football. Yep, that's Ronaldo. A joke of a footballer. Djemba Djemba, Bebe? WhO? Ronaldo has been the worst Manchester United player in history and that's a fact! He even has the ability to make United players play like shit EVEN when he is not in the team! Amazing stuff. I'd go even as far as to say Ronaldo is clearly responsible for every bad thing in the world, there's no other way. Some guy kills another person somewhere? That's Ronaldo's fault for not pressing the goalkeeper and ruining his day! Utterly despicable person that guy Ronaldo is. Sigh... At this point you're either massively wumming or you have some serious personal issues with Ronaldo. It's actually insane if you believe any of this shit you keep spouting.

Great post. Ronaldo may have forced few changes up top but these pics speak for themselves that we have far bigger issues.

 

[shamans]

Do you lot even read what is being written...it has been expressly said multiple times that the tactics/formation are at fault- not Ronny personally. He needs a certain set up to get the most out of him. Yet I heard someone earlier actually mentioning a media conspiracy against the bronze god himself! It’s bizarre...he is not your da (or maybe he is...)

Now read this very carefully so as not to Misconstrue the arguement again...
My contention is 3 fold.

1) that playing him in the role and formation he was played in against Leicester, Atalanta and Liverpool, 3 teams with quality in possession, resulted in us looking like Swiss cheese. That is on Ole for not playing a formation which allowed us to stay compact and for encouraging what looked like 4-2-4 with Bruno pressing for Ronny because Ronny is fuking non-existent out of possession. It didn’t work...it’s not using him effectively and it unbalanced our whole shape. While we have looked bad in possession for years, and looked dodgy at the back in certain games, we looked a whole Dane Bowers (another level) of shite in those three games...so easy to play through.

2) to accommodate him, he needs a partner who can do some donkey work and more crosses. This type of formation would require Rashford, Sancho, Greenwood etc. To become more conventional wingers, possibly wingbacks or vie for a single position as his striking partner. Either way, you lose some of their undeniable positive attributes And ask them to retrain to essentially service one goal scorer. I don’t think he is worth that. I think a frontline of a fit Rashford, Cavani and Mason would outscore any frontline that contains Ronaldo. While he would probably score more than each of the other players individually he would be our main goal threat and not necessarily increase the potency of the team overall.

Three. Ronaldo is pretty shite these days at everything bar movement and finishing in the 18 yard box. He will deteriorate as contrary to what some on here believe he is not the second coming of Christ. He is 36, immobile, poor first touch, non existent hold up play, hasn’t seemed to gel with anyone in particular with regard to link up and therefore should not be the type of player you build an entire team around. Being held to ransom by his legacy is a dangerous position to be in yet it is hard to see any manager be able to cope with his status- bar someone who doesn’t give a fuk like Conte. Ronaldo deserves a spot on the bench and coming on at 65 mins every game...when we can maximise his abilities.

I am a Utd fan...not a Ronaldo fan...and I am desperate for us to develop a sustainable style of play where players can interchange with quality squad options without seeing the over all level of performance suffer. Ronaldo as a central focus of the team moves us much further away from achieving that.

Hey...”agenda posting” really? That’s harsh man!

Tell me what that is if not agenda posting or clueless to Ronaldo and what he's good at. Vs Atlanta hid quick linkup play in the box was brilliant. He's really good at 1-2s in tight spaces and linking attackers together.

If you don't see it don't be surprised when I look at these same old comments as lazy analysis.

 

[SuperiorXI]

Ronaldo has bailed us out more than once this season. Without him we could have been even worse off.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Ronaldo has bailed us out more than once this season. Without him we could have been even worse off.

True. It’ll be him who puts Spurs to the sword tomorrow as well, guaranteed.

 

[SuperiorXI]

True. It’ll be him who puts Spurs to the sword tomorrow as well, guaranteed.

Yeah I think he'll get at least one.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Yeah I think he'll get at least one.

Yeah, Spurs are also on the brink and literally can’t defend either. Also they’re bottlers.

Game will suit Ronaldo perfectly.

 

[captaincantona]

Nice and cosy in here in your little echo chamber...be objective for a second...

Atalanta and slick link up play in the box? You are a complete and utter liar. Plain and simple.
Here is the fabled Atalanta game...all his touches...now let’s rebalance ourselves here...I’m a Utd fan...And I’m delighted for his winner but who is watching this and determining that this was a wonderful performance??? One cross...one goal...zero hold up, zero link up and as for the tracking back??? It’s Shaw that gets the block in. I’m not Ronaldo bashing- I’m telling it like it is...watch it back and dare tell me he was amazing or anything like it...and I have already given him untold amount of credit for what he IS good at...right place right time cold as ice...he is unparalleled! He just shouldn’t be starting every game as a first name on the team sheet! Be fuking honest with yourselves...close your eyes and imagine that highlight vid was of Martial and not Ronny...you would all be saying shite bar the goal, diving for free kicks, shite free kicks, yard off the pace...etc. Etc. But somehow, Ronny tinted glasses make it sound like he was Roy Keane in Turin!


Ronaldo bailing us out? Would we need him to bail us out if we had of started without him? I happen to think we wouldn’t...I wouldn’t start him against ANYONE except teams I was pretty certain were gonna hand over possession...why? Because a back line that’s good on the ball will pick through us due to all the time they would get on the ball.

now head over to YouTube and watch his highlights against Villarreal and Leicester as well...fuking useless. Not me having an agenda...fact...show me anything in those games he did that you wouldn’t completely EXPECT of a Utd forward??? So stop wanking over memories and convincing yourselves he has been our saving grace...he hasn’t...he has added to our plethora of existing issues albeit still contributing goal wise unlike others .

Fuking agenda posting...cop on....wouldnt it be boring if we all just remembered what we wanted to remember and patted him on the back. Go watch back his performances- then criticise others for not agreeing with you own agenda.

....edit...sorry, I forgot...if Ronaldo doesn’t play well it’s the teams fault for not using him properly...well if that’s not an agenda I don’t know what is. The GOAT should be and is old enough and experienced enough to take responsibility for his own performances- not just shrug and point and run off down the tunnel.

 

[Skyhightrees]

Nice and cosy in here in your little echo chamber...be objective for a second...

Atalanta and slick link up play in the box? You are a complete and utter liar. Plain and simple.

Here is the fabled Atalanta game...all his touches...now let’s rebalance ourselves here...I’m a Utd fan...And I’m delighted for his winner but who is watching this and determining that this was a wonderful performance??? One cross...one goal...zero hold up, zero link up and as for the tracking back??? It’s Shaw that gets the block in. I’m not Ronaldo bashing- I’m telling it like it is...watch it back and dare tell me he was amazing or anything like it...and I have already given him untold amount of credit for what he IS good at...right place right time cold as ice...he is unparalleled! He just shouldn’t be starting every game as a first name on the team sheet! Be fuking honest with yourselves...close your eyes and imagine that highlight vid was of Martial and not Ronny...you would all be saying shite bar the goal, diving for free kicks, shite free kicks, yard off the pace...etc. Etc. But somehow, Ronny tinted glasses make it sound like he was Roy Keane in Turin!


Ronaldo bailing us out? Would we need him to bail us out if we had of started without him? I happen to think we wouldn’t...I wouldn’t start him against ANYONE except teams I was pretty certain were gonna hand over possession...why? Because a back line that’s good on the ball will pick through us due to all the time they would get on the ball.

now head over to YouTube and watch his highlights against Villarreal and Leicester as well...fuking useless. Not me having an agenda...fact...show me anything in those games he did that you wouldn’t completely EXPECT of a Utd forward??? So stop wanking over memories and convincing yourselves he has been our saving grace...he hasn’t...he has added to our plethora of existing issues albeit still contributing goal wise unlike others .

Fuking agenda posting...cop on....wouldnt it be boring if we all just remembered what we wanted to remember and patted him on the back. Go watch back his performances- then criticise others for not agreeing with you own agenda.

....edit...sorry, I forgot...if Ronaldo doesn’t play well it’s the teams fault for not using him properly...well if that’s not an agenda I don’t know what is. The GOAT should be and is old enough and experienced enough to take responsibility for his own performances- not just shrug and point and run off down the tunnel.

He has no hold-up play, Ronaldo is a LF, not a CF. Put that on the manager for playing him wrongly, and if you still think it's his fault, I suggest you to watch any of his CF games from way back at RM, in his prime. Similar performances but with much more agility and dribbling. Ronaldo at CF is worse than Cavani at CF, but are you up to discard 83 goals since 2020? He scored 83 in 97, only behind Lewa. He played all of Euro and all games at Utd out of position.
At Juve last season he never played as CF.