[Adam-Utd]

He still leaps like a salmon.

How many headers has he scored so far? that doesn't really make up for his lack of work rate or first touch unfortunately.

I'm not trying to go on an anti Ronaldo rant here, but so far i'm not really thinking the transfer has paid off.

The team is worse, morale has gone to shit, Bruno is being shifted around and no longer performing. We'd have been better off just sticking with Greenwood up top.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

What he's done in the past, and won in the past is completely irrelevant to the player he is here and now. People need to learn to separate the two.

Why should it? He brings a winners mentality, which you need in a locker room if you want to achieve success. He is arguably the greatest footballer of all time. If he expects his colleagues to not be work shy and perform to the best of their abilities, I think that's a good thing. It says more about the serial losers in our squad that want to coast and let managers take the hit.

It's like saying Roy Keane would be bad for the squad because he demands the very best from them.

 

[troylocker]

Ronaldo is a serial winner. He came into a squad of mainly losers who have won very little in their careers. Of course these losers aren't going to like Ronaldo's demands to raise standards and expect more. These lot would rather hide, blame managers and take the easy life on the excess wages they are on.

Yes! That's it! That is what we should do: Get rid of everyone and build a team of winners around this 37 year old.

He still leaps like a salmon.

The funny thing is that he is still great at timing his runs for headers inside the box, but when you compare his numbers with let's say young Haaland (who has been getting a lot of critisism for his heading game) it is a bit of a surprising read:

Goals from headers this season:
Ronaldo: 1
Haaland: 5

Aerial duels won:
Ronaldo: 36,4% (28/77)
Haaland: 72,5% (37/51)

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Yes! That's it! That is what we should do: Get rid of everyone and build a team of winners around this 37 year old.

Who said to do that?

I said Ronaldo brings a winning mentality into the dressing room, so certain players being upset by that says more about them. Majority of these players have won nothing.

 

[Brwned]

Why should it? He brings a winners mentality, which you need in a locker room if you want to achieve success. He is arguably the greatest footballer of all time. If he expects his colleagues to not be work shy and perform to the best of their abilities, I think that's a good thing. It says more about the serial losers in our squad that want to coast and let managers take the hit.

It's like saying Roy Keane would be bad for the squad because he demands the very best from them.

In the end Roy Keane was bad for the squad because he was incapable of dealing with the fact he wasn't the player he used to be, was increasingly lashing out at players in destructive ways to overcompensate for his own deficiencies, and ultimately harmed the team atmosphere to such a degree that Sir Alex had to kick him out at the end of his career. So there are certainly parallels. Demands are good when you can back them up and lead by example. When you can't, they can be harmful.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Roy Keane was bad for the squad because he was incapable of dealing with the fact he wasn't the player he used to be, was increasingly lashing out at players in destructive ways to overcompensate for his own deficiencies, and ultimately harmed the team atmosphere to such a degree that Sir Alex had to kick him out at the end of his career.

I've read it all now, jesus wept. Without Keane's mentality and leadership we would of won nowhere near the amount of trophies we did.

This place has lost the plot.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I've read it all now, jesus wept. Without Keane's mentality and leadership we would of won nowhere near the amount of trophies we did.

This place has lost the plot.

Read what he said. In the end. Yes at his peak Keane drove everybody on. In the end he just as he said lashed out. There was a reason he was got rid of.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Read what he said. In the end. Yes at his peak Keane drove everybody on. In the end he just as he said lashed out. There was a reason he was got rid of.

Don't want to derail this thread completely, but even majority of that was an issue with Fergie and his contract not so much the squad (Fletcher incident aside, and even then was he wrong?) That can be debated another time and place I guess. My point regarding Ronaldo still sticks.

 

[Bebestation]

Read what he said. In the end. Yes at his peak Keane drove everybody on. In the end he just as he said lashed out. There was a reason he was got rid of.

And he is still going on. I find him one of the most annoying pundits after retiring because what he talks about, when he talks about it and how he talks about it.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Don't want to derail this thread completely, but even majority of that was an issue with Fergie and his contract not so much the squad (Fletcher incident aside, and even then was he wrong?) That can be debated another time and place I guess. My point regarding Ronaldo still sticks.

Ronaldo can be the biggest winner ever, but waving his arms around and causng unrest will not help anybody. I do not expect him to run around like a spring chicken. I expect other players to provide him with chances. It is not his job to chose who the manager should be. This team is a mess, that is not down to Ralf. That is down to past buying policy and lack of planning. Hopefully the club is trying to put that right. Undermining interim manager and coaching staff is not helpful. If these players do not pull their fingers out then getting a world class manager might not be as easy as everybody thinks.

 

[phelans shorts]

Why should it? He brings a winners mentality, which you need in a locker room if you want to achieve success. He is arguably the greatest footballer of all time. If he expects his colleagues to not be work shy and perform to the best of their abilities, I think that's a good thing. It says more about the serial losers in our squad that want to coast and let managers take the hit.

It's like saying Roy Keane would be bad for the squad because he demands the very best from them.

If he expects others to not be workshy then he can start by not being a workshy prick himself tbh.

if I was running my bollocks off for him to stand still and throw his arms out like a toddler having a tantrum every two minutes whilst standing ten yards offside my standards would drop too, because I’d be full of resentment towards him. If a Roy Keane came in you know he’d be trying to run through walls himself before bollocking you, so you’d be more than happy to do the same as the bare minimum.

 

[Telsim]

How is Ronaldo responsible for our disastrous defense or the inability of our players to pass or keep possession or make a run? McTominay hiding from the ball? Maguire repeatedly making shocking plays? They fail at the basics. They can't get the ball into a position where Ronaldo even matters. He doesn't press? Nobody really does on this team.

We don't have a midfield to speak of, leaving our already questionable defense exposed and our forwards largely on their own. RBs are hit or miss. Ronaldo would be the issue if we keep failing in the final third... but we can't even get to the final third enough to fail there. His whinging is an issue, but that's due to him expecting excellence around him. Which he doesn't get.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

If he expects others to not be workshy then he can’t start by not being a workshy prick himself tbh.

if I was running my bollocks off for him to stand still and throw his arms out like a toddler having a tantrum every two minutes whilst standing ten yards offside my standards would drop too, because I’d be full of resentment towards him. If a Roy Keane came in you know he’d be trying to run through walls himself before bollocking you, so you’d be more than happy to do the same as the bare minimum.

I wouldn't say Ronaldo was work shy at all. We often see him still busting a gut late on games. See Villareal and Atalanta for example, when he was even tracking back late in the game. Him 'not moving' is exaggerated, and I say this as someone who feels his legs have most likely gone.

And to be fair, as much as I don't like to see it, if anyone deserves to throw their arms in the air in despair it's Ronaldo, the greatest footballer of all time. Not Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes who have won next to nothing in the game, who do it even more than Ronaldo does.

I think the overall evidence is that this squad just don't want to work and would rather coast. Hence throwing managers under the bus, and complaining about training when it's dark outside.

 

[ForeverRed1]

Who said to do that?

I said Ronaldo brings a winning mentality into the dressing room, so certain players being upset by that says more about them. Majority of these players have won nothing.

you can have a winning mentality but the way it comes across on others is what matters.

not saying Ronaldo had done that.. but since his arrival it’s probably the worst we have ever seen it. This is rock bottom. Something is massively off and I guess none of us know what’s going on.. but the timing is since Ronaldo had been in the changing room. Hopefully it’s just coincidence but juve had issues with him aswell and have spoken out since he left against the fact that having him in the team didn’t help them. They are now having to totally rebuild.

 

[Bebestation]

I wouldn't say Ronaldo was work shy at all. We often see him still busting a gut late on games. See Villareal and Atalanta for example, when he was even tracking back late in the game. Him 'not moving' is exaggerated, and I say this as someone who feels his legs have most likely gone.

And to be fair, as much as I don't like to see it, if anyone deserves to throw their arms in the air in despair it's Ronaldo, the greatest footballer of all time. Not Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes who have won next to nothing in the game, who do it even more than Ronaldo does.

I think the overall evidence is that this squad just don't want to work and would rather coast. Hence throwing managers under the bus, and complaining about training when it's dark outside.

This is the same for Rashford for me. I see many people calling him lazy and I see him busting a gut tracking back against Wolves too.

I don't look at the data but doesn't it show that Ronaldo does the least pressing etc? Why is it okay for him and not for others?

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Yes! That's it! That is what we should do: Get rid of everyone and build a team of winners around this 37 year old.

That's my worry. That we'll now take decisions just to appease this 37 year old "born winner".

 

[troylocker]

Who said to do that?

I said Ronaldo brings a winning mentality into the dressing room, so certain players being upset by that says more about them. Majority of these players have won nothing.

That was just me sarcastically reacting to your post, claiming that everything is everybody else's fault when he is the biggest changed variable from last season. It's quite obvious that his winning mentality has helped no one in this club since he came back.

I wouldn't say Ronaldo was work shy at all. We often see him still busting a gut late on games. See Villareal and Atalanta for example, when he was even tracking back late in the game. Him 'not moving' is exaggerated, and I say this as someone who feels his legs have most likely gone.

And to be fair, as much as I don't like to see it, if anyone deserves to throw their arms in the air in despair it's Ronaldo, the greatest footballer of all time. Not Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes who have won next to nothing in the game, who do it even more than Ronaldo does.

I think the overall evidence is that this squad just don't want to work and would rather coast. Hence throwing managers under the bus, and complaining about training when it's dark outside.

The stats shows that he has the lowest defensive workrate for attacking players in the league by a clear margin since he came back, and his teammates hasn't been able to cover for him, so how he deserves to throw his arms in the air instead of chasing the ball because he used to be a great footballer is beyond me.

 

[MrEleson]

Hopefully it’s just coincidence but juve had issues with him aswell and have spoken out since he left against the fact that having him in the team didn’t help them. They are now having to totally rebuild.

Actually, both Bonucci and Buffon said that having Ronaldo in the team made other players work less because he was so good the others started to become reliant on him. They never said anything to discredit him.

 

[Smores]

That was just me sarcastically reacting to your post, claiming that everything is everybody else's fault when he is the biggest changed variable from last season. It's quite obvious that his winning mentality has helped no one in this club since he came back.


The stats shows that he has the lowest defensive workrate for attacking players in the league by a clear margin since he came back, and his teammates hasn't been able to cover for him, so how he deserves to throw his arms in the air instead of chasing the ball because he used to be a great footballer is beyond me.

Where are these stats? his distance covered was up there with most strikers the last article I read. He quite often spends the game positioning himself to cut passing angles, you won't find any stats for that mind you.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/16472353/cristiano-ronaldo-stats-man-utd-kane/

Dated October but those stats don't point to someone workshy as the poster above is trying to argue. .1km difference to Salah.

Then there's the argument he doesn't contribute beyond poaching but he's got a better assist per min than all bar Fernandes and Pogba this season.

Actually he's got more assists so far this season than Greenwood has in any full season to date and is on course to match Martials assists from his good 19/20 season a player who supposedly excelled in linking up.

He's obviously got limitations but people don't half exaggerate.

 

[Brwned]

I've read it all now, jesus wept. Without Keane's mentality and leadership we would of won nowhere near the amount of trophies we did.

This place has lost the plot.

Keane was an amazing player and a brilliant leader for most of his career. He was absolutely critical to that period of success both as an individual and a team mate. Towards the end he was a decent midfielder but his leadership became toxic, undermining the manager and destroying the confidence of the younger players.

And because no-one could meet Keane’s standard at that stage, not even himself, he became a very destructive personality. The interview being the obvious example of that.

Those younger players flourished after he left, they developed into the CL winning team without anyone like Keane. So clearly those demands aren’t required to meet those heights, they’re just useful in certain conditions. When those conditions change, they can be harmful.

At the end of the day, demanding people do things you want them to do is not a net positive or negative. It needs to be mixed in with other elements to take it one way or another. When you can’t meet the demands yourself then it’s rarely a positive thing. Mostly it’s an ego thing.

You just read what you wanted to read to make a drama out of it.

 

[MUFC OK]

In the end Roy Keane was bad for the squad because he was incapable of dealing with the fact he wasn't the player he used to be, was increasingly lashing out at players in destructive ways to overcompensate for his own deficiencies, and ultimately harmed the team atmosphere to such a degree that Sir Alex had to kick him out at the end of his career. So there are certainly parallels. Demands are good when you can back them up and lead by example. When you can't, they can be harmful.

This is completely correct. He was beyond awful in his last season, miles off the pace, couldn't make simple passes, was in decline and took it out on the players around him. Sir Alex used that interview as an excuse to kick him out but I suspect even if he hadn't caused disruption he would have been shown the door.

I don't see parallels to Ronaldo at all though, considering he's been our best outfield player this season.

The biggest problem player and area in this team currently is McTominay/Midfield. That should be clear to anyone who watches us week in/out.

 

[troylocker]

Where are these stats? his distance covered was up there with most strikers the last article I read. He quite often spends the game positioning himself to cut passing angles, you won't find any stats for that mind you.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/16472353/cristiano-ronaldo-stats-man-utd-kane/

Dated October but those stats don't point to someone workshy as the poster above is trying to argue. .1km difference to Salah.

Then there's the argument he doesn't contribute beyond poaching but he's got a better assist per min than all bar Fernandes and Pogba this season.

Actually he's got more assists so far this season than Greenwood has in any full season to date and is on course to match Martials assists from his good 19/20 season a player who supposedly excelled in linking up.

He's obviously got limitations but people don't half exaggerate.

Running and defensive workrate is not the same though, is it? He is very good at making positive runs and being available for service, that part of his game is still almost elite.
When it comes to pressing directly after we lose possession and in the attacking 3rd his numbers are extremely weak, and that's where it hurts our game the most:

Ok, here you go (only includes players with more than 500 minutes this season):

Pressings per 90/successfull pressings per 90/pressings in the attacking 3rd

Ronaldo: 6,28 pressings per 90 / 1,69 successfull pressing per 90/ 2,84 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90 (!!)
Antonio: 13,3 pressings per 90 / 3,97 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,01 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Dennis: 20,8 pressings per 90 / 4,76 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,31 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Maupay: 19,9 pressings per 90 / 5,73 successfull pressing per 90/ 10,49 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Watkins: 15,43 pressings per 90 / 4,17 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,48 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Lacazette: 19,58 pressings per 90 / 5,94 successfull pressing per 90/ 9,69 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Auba: 17,48 pressings per 90 / 4,61 successfull pressing per 90/ 8,7 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Jota: 20,66 pressings per 90 / 5,66 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,89 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Firmino: 20 pressings per 90 / 6,94 successfull pressing per 90/ 8,16 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Kane: 11,38 pressings per 90 / 2,96 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,35 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Jesus: 14,55 pressings per 90 / 3,22 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,08 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Lukaku: 7,93 pressings per 90 / 2,83 successfull pressing per 90/ 3,91 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90 (!!)
Werner: 19,84 pressings per 90 / 5,08 successfull pressing per 90/ 10,66 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Greenwood: 11,30 pressings per 90 / 3,13 successfull pressing per 90/ 4,52 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Cavani: 12,65 pressings per 90 / 4,49 successfull pressing per 90/ 5,51 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Jimenez: 14,70 pressings per 90 / 4,22 successfull pressing per 90/ 5,91 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Vardy: 12,86 pressings per 90 / 3,33 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,94 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Iheanacho: 17,58 pressings per 90 / 5,15 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,42 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Benteke: 9,16 pressings per 90 / 2,44 successfull pressing per 90/ 4,45 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Eduoard: 14,76 pressings per 90 / 4,34 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,01 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Toney: 13,65 pressings per 90 / 3,47 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,00 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Ings: 16,96 pressings per 90 / 3,30 successfull pressing per 90/ 8,0 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Broja: 19,63 pressings per 90 / 6,38 successfull pressing per 90/ 11,5 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Armstrong: 14,38 pressings per 90 / 3,92 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,61 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Rodrigo: 14,7 pressings per 90 / 4,6 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,0 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Wood: 12,96 pressings per 90 / 3,95 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,11 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Wilson: 11,97 pressings per 90 / 2,58 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,14 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Pukki: 19,88 pressings per 90 / 4,42 successfull pressing per 90/ 9,71 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90

Not very surprising to find Lukaku and Benteke just above Ronaldo. DCL will be down there with the worst of them if he doesn't improve his pressing numbers in the next few games.

How much credit do you think Ronaldo deserves for that McTom assist?
He's had a couple of nice headers to teammates in the box, but....
His xA90 is shared 8th in our team and shared 108th in the league for players with more than 450 minutes (it's hardly the contribution rate you are looking for in a elite forward):

Bruno: 0,28 xA90
Pogba: 0,23 xA90
Rashford: 0,19 xA90
Shaw: 0,18 xA90
Telles: 0,18 xA90
Matic: 0,14 xA90
Sancho: 0,13 xA90
Greenwood: 0,11 xA90
Ronaldo: 0,11 xA90

None of them have been impressive this season....
...and Ronaldo has deflated his teammates assist-rate by underperforming his npxG90 by 29%

 

[ForeverRed1]

Actually, both Bonucci and Buffon said that having Ronaldo in the team made other players work less because he was so good the others started to become reliant on him. They never said anything to discredit him.

buffon also said that juve lost their DNA with Ronaldo in the team as it became about him not the team.
Exact words were: we lost the dna of being a team.

no one on the planet can discredit Ronaldo as a footballer, he is better than all of them. But a team needs to be built around him and revolve around him and it’s not working for us at this moment, we have scored 31 goals and Ronaldo has scored 8 of them. In a team that has rashford, sancho, Greenwood, Bruno, pogba, Cavani.

something is off. Something isn’t working. Not saying it’s Ronaldo.. I’m saying it’s come to light since ronaldo has been in the team. Maybe he is just highlighting the weak mentality of those around him. It’s difficult to say unless your in the changing room with him after a game.

 

[glazed]

He was never going to City, Utd just played by agents again. No way Pep would tolerate a static prima donna who thows their arms in the air every time their run is not picked out.

This seems likely.

Just for perspective, Ronaldo would have been a good signing had our midfield not been so poor and unable to compensate for his weaknesses. That was and is the main problem.

However, having (rightly) decided that we are going to be a high press team, he's become an actual liability to making the necessary changes.

 

[Smores]

Running and defnesive workrate is not the same though, is it? He is very good at making positive runs and being available for service, that part of his game is still almost elite.
When it comes to pressing directly after we lose possession and in the attacking 3rd his numbers extremely weak, and that's where it hurt out game the most:

You don't have a decent distance covered stat if you don't put any effort into the defensive phase, it is very much linked. As i said pressing stats don't cover moving to cover space and cutting passing lines which is what he mainly does.

Don't get me wrong that's no great sacrifice it's just what any striker should be doing. My point is looking at pressing stats only is a very poor measurement of effort.

It's also tactically what you want because if you win the ball you need to feed it quickly into an attacking player in space and not someone ball chasing. It also stops the easy pass under a press and pushes teams to go long.

 

[the_cliff]

You don't have a decent distance covered stat if you don't put any effort into the defensive phase, it is very much linked. As i said pressing stats don't cover moving to cover space and cutting passing lines which is what he mainly does.

Don't get me wrong that's no great sacrifice it's just what any striker should be doing. My point is looking at pressing stats only is a very poor measurement of effort.

It's also tactically what you want because if you win the ball you need to feed it quickly into an attacking player in space and not someone ball chasing. It also stops the easy pass under a press and pushes teams to go long.

I still think he has one of the lowest distance covered stats per 90 in the league. I can't find the league statistics for it but I'd be surprised if he's in the top 20 out of the forwards.

In the champions league (where he seems to have a lot more effort), he's significantly behind Salah, Mane, Mahrez, Grealish, Greenwood, De Bruyne, Sterling, Lewandowski, Dzeko in terms of Distance covered per 90 and those were only the attackers I checked.

Compared with Greenwood for example:
Ronaldo has played 431 mins and covered 38.9 Kms
Greenwood has played 300 and covered 36 Kms and most people find Greenwood to be a lazy player.

With Salah it's even worse as he's played 30 more minutes but has covered around 50 Kms.
Mahrez has covered 62 Kms in 518 Mins.
Suarez has played 100 mins less but covered more distance.

In fact I'm struggling to find an attacker that has similar distance covered stats per 90 in the UCL to Ronaldo.

 

[Smores]

I still think he has one of the lowest distance covered stats per 90 in the league. I can't find the league statistics for it but I'd be surprised if he's in the top 20 out of the forwards.

In the champions league (where he seems to have a lot more effort), he's significantly behind Salah, Mane, Mahrez, Grealish, Greenwood, De Bruyne, Sterling, Lewandowski, Dzeko in terms of Distance covered per 90 and those were only the attackers I checked.

I linked an October article with them in above. His distance is virtually identical to Salah up to that point.

Could well be different as of today I've no idea but see little reason why it would be dramatically different.

 

[Brwned]

This is completely correct. He was beyond awful in his last season, miles off the pace, couldn't make simple passes, was in decline and took it out on the players around him. Sir Alex used that interview as an excuse to kick him out but I suspect even if he hadn't caused disruption he would have been shown the door.

I don't see parallels to Ronaldo at all though, considering he's been our best outfield player this season.

The biggest problem player and area in this team currently is McTominay/Midfield. That should be clear to anyone who watches us week in/out.

Yeah, I think it’s fair to say we have different opinions on Ronaldo’s performances this year, not much more to it than that.

 

[the_cliff]

I linked an October article with them in above. His distance is virtually identical to Salah up to that point.

Could well be different as of today I've no idea but see little reason why it would be dramatically different.

Well he would've only played 5 games for us then and one half against Everton. Not really good enough data to base how much he runs, it was also beginning of the season where most teams (including us) were still trying to build up fitness levels.

Here's a stat that may surprise you:
Distance covered per 90 in the UCL:
Ronaldo 8.1 Km's
Messi 8.3 Km's
Mbappe 8.7 Km's
Neymar 10.5 Km's

PSG's front 3 are constantly criticised for not putting in effort and running enough, yet average more distance than Ronaldo does.

 

[RashyGiggsy]

I agree... There's not even an ounce of... Not respect, but a little bit of education when talking about him. Everyone should be criticized, but people talk about him like he's an evil dude. I mean, even I as much as I like him can understand he's not played that well the last 3 or 4 games... But he deserves some respect from me, because I try to be like that with everyone, but specially him I think deserves a bit more when being talked about... Here's some of the things he's accused of here:

I apologize for deleting most of the quote. I want to say that I both agree and disagree. I don't blame Ronaldo for signing with United. At the same time, I did not like the signing, and I still don't like it. He left us for Real Madrid just as he was coming into his best years. It is like your spouse leaving you for someone else in the prime of life, then coming back later, much older, for an encore. It just doesn't sit right with me.

And certainly, Ronaldo is still a great player. He even presses more than most are giving him credit for. The question for me is not if Ronaldo is still a good player and can score goals, but does he fit with this team and make it better? I don't think he does. Yes, he wants to win. No, he wouldn't prefer a hat-trick to a win. But, does he help this team to win? As I see it, this was a team that was being built with a mind toward the future: bringing in and promoting young players who were only going to improve with time. Ronaldo interrupted that trajectory. I am not looking to relive glory days, but to a team that wants to build new ones.

I'd rather be playing with a front three of Rashford-Greenwood-Sancho and know if this is a frontline that we can depend upon for the future, than playing two 34+ year-old forwards on borrowed time.

 

[diawl_coch]

I apologize for deleting most of the quote. I want to say that I both agree and disagree. I don't blame Ronaldo for signing with United. At the same time, I did not like the signing, and I still don't like it. He left us for Real Madrid just as he was coming into his best years. It is like your spouse leaving you for someone else in the prime of life, then coming back later, much older, for an encore. It just doesn't sit right with me.

And certainly, Ronaldo is still a great player. He even presses more than most are giving him credit for. The question for me is not if Ronaldo is still a good player and can score goals, but does he fit with this team and make it better? I don't think he does. Yes, he wants to win. No, he wouldn't prefer a hat-trick to a win. But, does he help this team to win? As I see it, this was a team that was being built with a mind toward the future: bringing in and promoting young players who were only going to improve with time. Ronaldo interrupted that trajectory. I am not looking to relive glory days, but to a team that wants to build new ones.

I'd rather be playing with a front three of Rashford-Greenwood-Sancho and know if this is a frontline that we can depend upon for the future, than playing two 34+ year-old forwards on borrowed time.

Couldn't agree more.

I hope he leaves this summer. He has completely disrupted a healthy trajectory and cost Solskjaer his job.

 

[MrEleson]

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[ThierryHenry14]

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This is his last dance.

I'd rather be playing with a front three of Rashford-Greenwood-Sancho and know if this is a frontline that we can depend upon for the future, than playing two 34+ year-old forwards on borrowed time.

This will fail badly. If it works i am sure OGS or RR would have done it already. I don't believe they are forced to start Ronaldo or Cavani ahead of them. Save their own job and image are more important.

 

[D. Grayson]

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But... But... He has a chance at achieving the sweet sweet freedom that the club denied him in 2008.

 

[Relevated]

I apologize for deleting most of the quote. I want to say that I both agree and disagree. I don't blame Ronaldo for signing with United. At the same time, I did not like the signing, and I still don't like it. He left us for Real Madrid just as he was coming into his best years. It is like your spouse leaving you for someone else in the prime of life, then coming back later, much older, for an encore. It just doesn't sit right with me.

And certainly, Ronaldo is still a great player. He even presses more than most are giving him credit for. The question for me is not if Ronaldo is still a good player and can score goals, but does he fit with this team and make it better? I don't think he does. Yes, he wants to win. No, he wouldn't prefer a hat-trick to a win. But, does he help this team to win? As I see it, this was a team that was being built with a mind toward the future: bringing in and promoting young players who were only going to improve with time. Ronaldo interrupted that trajectory. I am not looking to relive glory days, but to a team that wants to build new ones.

I'd rather be playing with a front three of Rashford-Greenwood-Sancho and know if this is a frontline that we can depend upon for the future, than playing two 34+ year-old forwards on borrowed time.

The last part doesn't even make sense because with that logic you'd play with a load of 18 year olds since they have more time than greenwood and the two severely out of form players you mentioned.

 

[Strelok]

I apologize for deleting most of the quote. I want to say that I both agree and disagree. I don't blame Ronaldo for signing with United. At the same time, I did not like the signing, and I still don't like it. He left us for Real Madrid just as he was coming into his best years. It is like your spouse leaving you for someone else in the prime of life, then coming back later, much older, for an encore. It just doesn't sit right with me.

And certainly, Ronaldo is still a great player. He even presses more than most are giving him credit for. The question for me is not if Ronaldo is still a good player and can score goals, but does he fit with this team and make it better? I don't think he does. Yes, he wants to win. No, he wouldn't prefer a hat-trick to a win. But, does he help this team to win? As I see it, this was a team that was being built with a mind toward the future: bringing in and promoting young players who were only going to improve with time. Ronaldo interrupted that trajectory. I am not looking to relive glory days, but to a team that wants to build new ones.

I'd rather be playing with a front three of Rashford-Greenwood-Sancho and know if this is a frontline that we can depend upon for the future, than playing two 34+ year-old forwards on borrowed time.

Pretty the same here.

Anyone with some understanding of football watched him in the Euros should know he'd be useless against the top teams. Now he's even useless against the bottom table teams. The guy is simply finished at this level.

I had a feeling things would be very very bad this season for us after the Everton match. Once a club doesn't operate on a meritocracy basis then it's only a matter of time it'll be in deep shit. The sooner he got benched or leaves the more likely we'd have a chance for top 4 and better football this season.

 

[Lee565]

Having him in the side brings way too much drama and pressure put upon the manager for what it's worth, any time he is dropped in the future it creates the drama of why he was dropped and stories of falling out's etc.. if this was prime ronaldo you could put up with it but he is now basically filipo inzaghi

 

[SonyaCross493]

He's in poor form right now the last few matches but class is permanent. He will come good I have no doubt! we need him to get Top 4 and possibly win a trophy. Atleti will be dreading facing him

they was saying on commentary that a lot of players who had Covid even though they recovered still show the effects afterwards. Maybe Ronny had Covid who knows.

 

[chiz2kul]

He's in poor form right now the last few matches but class is permanent. He will come good I have no doubt! we need him to get Top 4 and possibly win a trophy. Atleti will be dreading facing him

they was saying on commentary that a lot of players who had Covid even though they recovered still show the effects afterwards. Maybe Ronny had Covid who knows.

more excuses. Fact is you cannot deny that he's old, he's lost his pace, dribbling etc, and brings drama to any team. Yes he will score the odd ET winner here and hype everyone up, but if you have any serious intentions, imo he's an unnecessary distraction. Unpopular opinion I know.

 

[Highfather_24]

For all the talk about workrate, Ronaldo has been running more than Cavani, pressing more. Atleast that's what I've noticed.