[Bebestation]

Until the knock out stages the PL is more hard to play than even the UCL in my opinion.

No player comes in at the age of 37, starting every game for a club that was expecting to win the title at the start of the season.

 

[Tom Cato]

Ronaldo Jr. just signed for the Academy, so unless Ronaldo the family man wants to spend a year away from his family playing football in Europe, he is going to retire at Manchester United.

His wife is also expecting twins in 2022.

Our Ronnie is about to have a eventful, happy year

 

[Swoobs]

Literally no one expects him to run from the halfway line, beat 4 defenders and score all by himself. He’s not done that (almost) since he left us the first time. And he has been getting chances. Plenty of them.

Thats the point i never understood. Reading the thread u would have thought he was starved of service from his teammates, but if you watch the game he had multiple good chances (and a penalty to boot). So why are some people blaming his teammates and rangnick for starving him of chances?

 

[captaincantona]

Its a reality whether people think he is still quality or past it. He has never been in dysfunctional teams, hence the reply to a question why does he seem less enthusiastic than start of the season

So are we now saying that this incomparable GOAT of mentality is somehow not mentally capable of giving his best in a dysfunctional team? He is giving up? Cause things are not going his way? Well that’s even worse then.
Whatever way you want to tilt the shades...Everyone knew Italy was the perfect league in which to match his decline in ability with the right pace of game to ensure he could still perform. It was a genius move at the perfect time to the perfect team- no real threat domestically week in week out and a chance to play guaranteed CL football.

In the same breath, all but his most ardent supporters could see his return to Utd and the PL was never going to be as smooth. Since day one his goals papered over the fact that his performances were not much different to how they are now. Average. He is an average player now. And if you’re telling me the one truly world class element of his game that remains- his mentality- is actually as fragile as to just throw his hands in the air and strop when he hasn’t got the fans and media fawning over him...then I would argue that heis of completely no use to us whatsoever and we should part ways at the end of the season.

I said the exact same thing when he was scoring goals btw. No kneejerks here.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

Ronaldo Jr. just signed for the Academy, so unless Ronaldo the family man wants to spend a year away from his family playing football in Europe, he is going to retire at Manchester United.

His wife is also expecting twins in 2022.

Our Ronnie is about to have a eventful, happy year

If leaks to the press are to be believed, Ronaldo has told his family that he is now feeling his age and cannot handle the PL. I got a feeling he might just call it quits at the end of the season, not just quitting Utd but actually retiring. He doesn’t strike me as the type who would want to continue playing if he needs to be carried.

 

[Swoobs]

If leaks to the press are to be believed, Ronaldo has told his family that he is now feeling his age and cannot handle the PL. I got a feeling he might just call it quits at the end of the season, not just quitting Utd but actually retiring. He doesn’t strike me as the type who would want to continue playing if he needs to be carried.

No way he will retire, he is too proud to retire after such a season. I reckon he will try for 1 last big move, probably back to Italy or PSG if they can afford/want him, or more realistically take a pay cut and go back to the Portugese league where he is loved

 

[Zehner]

Think people are being too definitive with their judgments, saying he's finished etc.

Personally I believe the issue is that he finds it more difficult to fully recover in short periods of time now. He might need longer breaks than the EPL allows a player who starts every game. At least in a team that's not good enough to decide a significant share of matches early on and routinely grind them out in energy saving mode.

 

[Berbasbullet]

He won’t retire without another crack at the World Cup.

 

[onemufc]

I'm having trouble believing the drop off in at least his goalscoring prowess is 100 percent down to age related decline. Still hope he's got a little burst of goals in him before the seasons over. On another day he rounds that Southampton goalkeeper and slots it home. That same shot that he blasted at Forster went in against Newcastle. Aside from that we need to be thinking beyond ronaldo come season end. When was the last time a title challenging team or any premier League team built themselves around a 38 year old??

 

[Ish]

Thats the point i never understood. Reading the thread u would have thought he was starved of service from his teammates, but if you watch the game he had multiple good chances (and a penalty to boot). So why are some people blaming his teammates and rangnick for starving him of chances?

I'm not sure, they probably refuse to accept he, like every sportsman/human on this planet, is declining with age, after a GOAT level career. Maybe he's too revered, or posters are conflating the previous United and ex Madrid version of Ronaldo, with this current version.

 

[shamans]

Thats the point i never understood. Reading the thread u would have thought he was starved of service from his teammates, but if you watch the game he had multiple good chances (and a penalty to boot). So why are some people blaming his teammates and rangnick for starving him of chances?

You can say that as of late but start of the season he was definitely taking his chances.

 

[shamans]

I'm having trouble believing the drop off in at least his goalscoring prowess is 100 percent down to age related decline. Still hope he's got a little burst of goals in him before the seasons over. On another day he rounds that Southampton goalkeeper and slots it home. That same shot that he blasted at Forster went in against Newcastle. Aside from that we need to be thinking beyond ronaldo come season end. When was the last time a title challenging team or any premier League team built themselves around a 38 year old??

I think it's a bit of both. There is some physical decline -- those shots that he hammer into the shins of defenders, the weak shots from the edge of the box. Then the physical decline is messing with his confidence and mentality to even mess up the basics -- missed penalty, rounding the keeper, weird over compensating finishes.

A lot of the stuff he used to do would look simple but it wasn't. Don't have to look back, even his second goal against Newcastle in his first game. Looks so simple, but there was a lot going on there. Now with his decline, he's still trying to go for the same balls but it's not happening.

To think there would be a time Ronaldo would have the ball at the edge of the box and you just knew it was going wide or hitting a defender!

 

[Foxbatt]

Ronaldo has been playing with players who can normally put the ball exactly where he wants it. Not at United. Neither Greenwood nor Rashford are those kind of players. If we had decent wingers he would obviously score more. He is one of the best headers of the ball but when was the last time we put two consecutive good balls in the box?

 

[shamans]

Agreed and Zlatan is another who takes care of himself physically etc. but a side point, the things (physical attributes) which made Zlatan great, are easier to navigate with age than the same things which made Ronaldo great (acceleration, elevation when jumping, leaner and fitter/faster than the opponent etc). Zlatan was a little more technique, brute strength (his size), hold up play, etc.

Giggs transitioned from the one (flying winger) to a completely different footballer (center mid) by the time he retired. At an extremely high level.

There's no guarantee Ronaldo can prolong his career to those levels if he does this, but he would at least have a chance if he accepted to be an impact player or someone who comes on at the second half of a game to change it up/as an added attacker. Just come one for 15-20 mins and go wild. Playing 120 mins of an FA cup game is ridiculous

 

[Dirty Schwein]

If leaks to the press are to be believed, Ronaldo has told his family that he is now feeling his age and cannot handle the PL. I got a feeling he might just call it quits at the end of the season, not just quitting Utd but actually retiring. He doesn’t strike me as the type who would want to continue playing if he needs to be carried.

Didn't know Ronnie room-shared with Maguire/Shaw/JLingz.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

Didn't know Ronnie room-shared with Maguire/Shaw/JLingz.

That would be like the greatest big brother series of all time

 

[Ish]

There's no guarantee Ronaldo can prolong his career to those levels if he does this, but he would at least have a chance if he accepted to be an impact player or someone who comes on at the second half of a game to change it up/as an added attacker. Just come one for 15-20 mins and go wild. Playing 120 mins of an FA cup game is ridiculous

Sham! How you brother? Yeah, agreed, though it is frustrating because his salary makes it a bloody expensive sub. I guess we need to bite the bullet and do what's best for the team - what he costs is now a sunken expense.

 

[Solius]

A lot of his recent chances have come on his left foot which although good, is not his best. There was no excuse for the weak as piss one after rounding the keeper though.

It's reached the point with his current form that I expect him to mis-control the ball more often than not now. There was a chance in the game on Saturday where if he had a bit of pace he'd have been in on goal easily, but any defender can catch him up so he ends up with very little time to get his shot away and it's usually at a poor angle.

 

[shamans]

Sham! How you brother? Yeah, agreed, though it is frustrating because his salary makes it a bloody expensive sub. I guess we need to bite the bullet and do what's best for the team - what he costs is now a sunken expense.

I'm doing great, just missing you in my life a little

Yeah agreed about the salary. Hopefully we got some money in terms of commercial deals to offset it for at least the end of this season. Beyond that, I wonder if Ronaldo will retire after the world cup.

 

[Ish]

I'm doing great, just missing you in my life a little

Yeah agreed about the salary. Hopefully we got some money in terms of commercial deals to offset it for at least the end of this season. Beyond that, I wonder if Ronaldo will retire after the world cup.

You have my number! Lots of catching up to do.

Geez, it's world cup year as well. And it is mid season, in Qatar, iirc

Yeah, not a bad shout - him retiring after the WC, or at least, trying to head to the States or something.

Sad how him and Messi are both struggling, but it was inevitable with age catching up with them after more than 1.5 decades of sheer dominance by the 2 of them.

 

[BlueHaze]

This chance where he rounded the keeper and made that pathetic shot sums him up at the moment. Never seen him so shot on confidence 6 months ago he would have buried that in so hard the net would rattle. It's not like he's not getting chances he has gotten plenty the past months but he makes the most abnormal feck ups.

I think it's a combination of many things one of them being his head is already elsewhere and he's realized his mistake of joining. The other factor is the tempo of the league has already worn him out mentally and physically. You remember his debut against Newcastle the way he sprinted past those defenders like he was still 30 when Shaw passed him and he scored his second? He's lost a mile in pace since then.

8 league goals for someone like him is a disaster.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Think people are being too definitive with their judgments, saying he's finished etc.

Personally I believe the issue is that he finds it more difficult to fully recover in short periods of time now. He might need longer breaks than the EPL allows a player who starts every game. At least in a team that's not good enough to decide a significant share of matches early on and routinely grind them out in energy saving mode.

That excuse went out the window after his inept performance in our first match after the winter break.

No aimed at you personally but all the mental gymnastics on display in this thread to find reasons other than the bleeding obvious for his decline (he’s 37 years old ffs) are getting ridiculous.

 

[Reapersoul20]

If leaks to the press are to be believed, Ronaldo has told his family that he is now feeling his age and cannot handle the PL. I got a feeling he might just call it quits at the end of the season, not just quitting Utd but actually retiring. He doesn’t strike me as the type who would want to continue playing if he needs to be carried.

I have seen no leaks to this effect. Where have you seen this ?

 

[Reapersoul20]

That excuse went out the window after his inept performance in our first match after the winter break.

No aimed at you personally but all the mental gymnastics on display in this thread to find reasons other than the bleeding obvious for his decline (he’s 37 years old ffs) are getting ridiculous.

I hate how everything is absolute wrt Ronaldo is so absolute though. He's either the bees knees or he is completely past it with no hope of redemption (and Ole and co should be strung up and shot for their crime against humanity in signing the decrepit egomaniac).

IMO it is fair to say something like "Ronaldo is playing a bit shite for the past few games. It's happened before and he turned it around - but he is 37, so he might just be past it. We shall see, it's not like we have any other choice.". That would be a reasonable take IMO, and I would honestly, against the grain, back him to turn it around.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

I have seen no leaks to this effect. Where have you seen this ?

It’s the Sun so don’t know if I’m allowed to post it, they are most likely banned

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/17628757/man-utd-cristiano-ronaldo-summer-exit/amp/

 

[Swoobs]

You can say that as of late but start of the season he was definitely taking his chances.

No doubt about that, but that also meant that he did and still do receive a good level of service from the team

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I hate how everything is absolute wrt Ronaldo is so absolute though. He's either the bees knees or he is completely past it with no hope of redemption (and Ole and co should be strung up and shot for their crime against humanity in signing the decrepit egomaniac).

IMO it is fair to say something like "Ronaldo is playing a bit shite for the past few games. It's happened before and he turned it around - but he is 37, so he might just be past it. We shall see, it's not like we have any other choice.". That would be a reasonable take IMO, and I would honestly, against the grain, back him to turn it around.

Is this right? Unlike many of his ardent fans on the caf I haven’t followed his career very closely since he left United. I was under the impression a lean spell like this in front of goal is unprecedented.

 

[Zehner]

That excuse went out the window after his inept performance in our first match after the winter break.

No aimed at you personally but all the mental gymnastics on display in this thread to find reasons other than the bleeding obvious for his decline (he’s 37 years old ffs) are getting ridiculous.

Of course he's declined, I'm thinking that since 2015 or so when it really became obvious that he had sacrificed so much of the characteristics that made him such an exciting player for optimizing his goal record.

Still, I think people are getting carried away a bit and suddenly over emphasize stuff hat they ignored when things went better for him.

 

[Reapersoul20]

Is this right? Unlike many of his ardent fans on the caf I haven’t followed his career very closely since he left United. I was under the impression a lean spell like this in front of goal is unprecedented.

The Ronaldo thread in the football forum was constantly bumped when he didn't score a hat-trick in recent years. It's his first time not scoring in a little over five games - but it's still just that isn't it ? Five games ! Just a few games playing shite when the rest of the team has been shite too (except Sancho).

Look I could very well be wrong and he is fecked, all I'm saying is people have prematurely written off Ronaldo every year for the past five years. He doesn't look much slower or less powerful now - so I have a hope we can eke out some more GOAT level performances from him!

 

[shamans]

You have my number! Lots of catching up to do.

Geez, it's world cup year as well. And it is mid season, in Qatar, iirc

Yeah, not a bad shout - him retiring after the WC, or at least, trying to head to the States or something.

Sad how him and Messi are both struggling, but it was inevitable with age catching up with them after more than 1.5 decades of sheer dominance by the 2 of them.

For it was mid season in Qatar myself. At the end of the day I think Ronaldo is a smart man who will even for his own sake protect his brand and not play longer than needed at the top level. Unless something drastically changes I think the world cup could be a good final hurrah for him retiring from club football at the end of this year and all football after Qatar. Just hope we get to a solution with all this...

 

[shamans]

The Ronaldo thread in the football forum was constantly bumped when he didn't score a hat-trick in recent years. It's his first time not scoring in a little over five games - but it's still just that isn't it ? Five games ! Just a few games playing shite when the rest of the team has been shite too (except Sancho).

Look I could very well be wrong and he is fecked, all I'm saying is people have prematurely written off Ronaldo every year for the past five years. He doesn't look much slower or less powerful now - so I have a hope we can eke out some more GOAT level performances from him!

I was the same as you. People would write him off and then he'd come back with three casual back to back hattricks but this time I just think the ship has sailed

 

[VanDeBank]

This guy is the main reason we're so shit this season and that Ole got sacked. He's not a leader, just a self absorbed twat. Bitter now that he's no longer as good as he was. Can't even be benched for the complete soap opera he creates and is also greedy as feck in front of goal and even more shockingly, he rarely looks happy when a team mate scores unless he has scored too. Our young players don't appear to look up to him like it appeared they would. If I had to wager a guess, it appears that a lot of the younger players don't like him at all.
We'll see a different United next season with him gone. Never a United legend in my eyes anyway. Abandoned us in his prime and should never have been brought back.

Why is Ronaldo the reason Ole got sacked and not the sale of Dan James?

We were getting okay results after we bought Ronaldo up until James left.

I rest my case.

 

[Strelok]

The Ronaldo thread in the football forum was constantly bumped when he didn't score a hat-trick in recent years. It's his first time not scoring in a little over five games - but it's still just that isn't it ? Five games ! Just a few games playing shite when the rest of the team has been shite too (except Sancho).

Look I could very well be wrong and he is fecked, all I'm saying is people have prematurely written off Ronaldo every year for the past five years. He doesn't look much slower or less powerful now - so I have a hope we can eke out some more GOAT level performances from him!

It's not only the problem of scoring. The ones who have been criticizing him did appreciate his performances even when he didn't score but he played well. You can check this very thread to see that.

The biggest problem is his general play like his touch, his passing, his finishing and how slow, weak, cumbersome and error prone he's become. Literally everything. He doesn't even look a proper footballer anymore.

 

[WR10]

It's painful. Loving him is painful. He's a shadow of his glory days but none of us want his flame to die out.

Win or lose tomorrow I would love to see Cristiano score.

 

[United in sin]

No way he will retire, he is too proud to retire after such a season. I reckon he will try for 1 last big move, probably back to Italy or PSG if they can afford/want him, or more realistically take a pay cut and go back to the Portugese league where he is loved

Messi would have to leave PSG for that to ever happen

 

[amolbhatia50k]

It's painful. Loving him is painful. He's a shadow of his glory days but none of us want his flame to die out.

Win or lose tomorrow I would love to see Cristiano score.

Would you also love to see us win regardless of whether he scores/has a good game?

I think this is a good game for our attackers to show some quality. Altetico themselves have been poor and their defence /keeper seems all over the place so hopefully Sancho, Ronaldo and co can take advantage.

 

[TMDaines]

After reading that Shearer piece in The Athletic this week, I hope we’re still fluffing his ego and getting him in the headspace to be the man for the rest of this season. I don’t see the alternative for the centre forward spot.

 

[Luke1995]

It's not like he hasn't been here on this goalless path before. 2008/2009 he had a run of seven games without scoring if I recall correctly.

 

[Mayhem]

It's not like he hasn't been here on this goalless path before. 2008/2009 he had a run of seven games without scoring if I recall correctly.

True, but he was a completely different player then. It’s painful watching his decline now.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

It's not like he hasn't been here on this goalless path before. 2008/2009 he had a run of seven games without scoring if I recall correctly.

We have never been here before. In 2008/2009 he probably got a bunch of assists and created loads of chances terrorising the opposition.

What we have today is a complete shadow of that great player, not even slightly comparable.