Falcao was just rushed back from a very serious injury to be fair, what were we doing getting a player that was 7 months after an ACL injury? Madness. Once Falcao got back into shape, he’s had a decent career since.
7
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 38
- Goals
- 24
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 9
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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I can see him blocking a possible move from ETH, as he is aware he wouldn't be playing under the dutch due to his age and the pressing that ETH requires for his teams.
His best choice is lobbying for Pochettino, along with Luke Shaw and other english players.
Pochettino is weak, and will never dare to bench Ronaldo.
His best choice is lobbying for Pochettino, along with Luke Shaw and other english players.
Pochettino is weak, and will never dare to bench Ronaldo.
Erik Ten Hag has no experience of top teams or big European leagues, a number of Dutch fans have expressed concerns about that, why do you think he’d be more likely to drop Ronaldo than Poch? What is that based on? Pochettino also demands pressing and is more famous for pressing than Ten Hag is.
He needs a rest until the end of his contract
Does not apply to such hectic schedule though. Ronaldo has been resting league games to keep his legs fresh for mid week CL games, or resting domestic cup games for league games, back in the days in Real and Juventus, its nothing new. And back then he was 3-5 years younger too.
He needs a rest.
One of greatest ever but age has finally caught up with him, people need to realise he ain't Benjamin fecking Button
I'm not sure this is entirely fair. We saw in the 19/20 season Juventus began to manage his minutes, I seem to remember him being left out completely 5 or 6 times in games they were expected to win. They couldn't do that last season as he missed a few games with COVID early on and then they did leave him out once or twice and IIRC they didn't win any of those games, as such they'd had a poor start to the season and were playing catch-up so they essentially played him all the time and in fairness he ended up being the top goalscorer in the league so you can see why they did that.
So I don't think that he is necessarily demanding to play every minute of every game, it's as much as a case as we need him to as we have no other options. We've got Cavani who seems to only play if he can be arsed, Greenwood is no longer an option for obvious reasons and Martial decided that was the window to demand a move. Couple those issues with Rashford being as out of form as he's ever been in his life and we basically have only Ronaldo available up top which is ridiculous as I certainly don't think anyone was expecting to see him having to play 4 games in 11 days when we signed him.
I also think while it's clear he is nowhere near the player he was, he's being asked to play a different way in this team to what he's used to. He's used to having players around him, throughout his career he's come in off the wing where he can pull away and find space, generally even now that's where he looks most dangerous. We're asking him to constantly occupy the oppositions centre backs with only Elanga ever willing to run beyond him. You see in the moments we do get players close to him that he comes alive but he's so easy to mark out of the game while we keep playing him through the middle on his own, but as I said before, nobody else seems to want to play up front for us.
The options are limited now... but earlier in the season we played Greenwood over Sancho on right wing, when Greenwood was better as a striker anyway, while Sancho was raring to go. And Martial barely played, wasn't even making squads, when he was fit too. Ronaldo was playing every game, when surely he should have been rested around Champions League games? Ferguson's "always play your best players" was annoying and also disingenuous because Ferguson always rotated and rested players around big games.
I agree with you, I was a big defender of Ole but he became terrified to leave Ronaldo out after that Everton game which was ridiculous because we were actually winning that game when Ronaldo came on and it was the players lack of ability to stop a basic counter attack that killed us in that game. We're getting the brunt of that now, a completely knackered Ronaldo who's still playing every game but now because the manager has no other options rather than because he's scared to rotate.
He expects to play at a high level in those 4-5 years, to win things with any club that can give him that chance. I don't think he's talking about winning the MLS cup or the CONCACAF champions league. He also wants to continue with the Portuguese NT and win things with them. Pure delusion. It also means he doesn't give two shits about united and will play for any high profile club challenging for top honors.
It's why he was desperate for City but it's clear to me Pep wasn't on board, otherwise it would've happened. El3mel I know you've read the article but I'll leave his actual qoutes here for those who haven't seen it.
The guy wants to remain at the highest level! In my opinion he'll resign if he can't find a taker in Europe that fits his requirements and will put out some Gary Neville like statement and needing to focus on his family etc
"It's hard to say that I don't want more, because if I'm at a club that gives me the opportunity to win more things, why not?
"And in the national team too. I know I don't have many years left playing, four or five more, we'll see, and I want to win more things.
"You have to be intelligent and know that at 18, 20 or 25 you are not the same as at 35. And that is the maturity, the experience, the intelligence to understand that maybe you lose some things to win others and have the right balance to continue competing and be at the highest level."
https://www.tribalfootball.com/arti...-years-left-i-want-to-win-more-things-4405599
At this point there's no "win" situation for United regarding his minutes.
Play him every game, you're wasting his last legs.
Play him on big matches (but lose because the whole team isn't up to fight at that level) and get critiziced that you should be using him against smaller teams to gain form.
Play him against smaller teams and fans will say you should play him only in big games.
He has to find his way out of the slump by talking with the manager and choosing the games on his own I guess, but when he was rotated in the past it was for teams that were capable of winning without him. For a hyper competitive guy sitting on the bench while your team wins 2-0 or 4-0 is a different thing than sitting while you see your team struggle against Burnley.
It's a similar situation to the one we found in Barcelona with Messi for the past years, you want to play your start, but in theory the best case scenario would've been to play Fernandes as False 9 while having a LB and at least a CM that are able to balance all the defensive work needed on the left wing that you don't want Ronaldo to take. Shaw, Telles, Fred, Mctominay or Pogba aren't the kind of players capable of consistently pulling a double shift on defensive duties.
Play him every game, you're wasting his last legs.
Play him on big matches (but lose because the whole team isn't up to fight at that level) and get critiziced that you should be using him against smaller teams to gain form.
Play him against smaller teams and fans will say you should play him only in big games.
He has to find his way out of the slump by talking with the manager and choosing the games on his own I guess, but when he was rotated in the past it was for teams that were capable of winning without him. For a hyper competitive guy sitting on the bench while your team wins 2-0 or 4-0 is a different thing than sitting while you see your team struggle against Burnley.
It's a similar situation to the one we found in Barcelona with Messi for the past years, you want to play your start, but in theory the best case scenario would've been to play Fernandes as False 9 while having a LB and at least a CM that are able to balance all the defensive work needed on the left wing that you don't want Ronaldo to take. Shaw, Telles, Fred, Mctominay or Pogba aren't the kind of players capable of consistently pulling a double shift on defensive duties.
I know but that injury recovering Falcao is exactly what we are seeing now from a 37 year old Ronaldo.
You really have no idea how Pochettino operates do you? He demands high intensity pressing too. His preseasons are said to be invariably some of the most grueling for players as well, as many at Southampton and Spurs attested to. He's huge on conditioning and stamina, more than Ten Hag. If Ronaldo dislikes Rangknick because of his need for pressing he'll find himself in hell with Pochettino.
Agreed with your general point but have you seen how much that front trio at PSG is pressing for Poch? Point being, Poch is proven to be a little more tactically flexible depending on the players at his disposal. So there’ll be a question mark over how he adapts to Ronaldo. Could go either way.
You're right, it could go either way but I don't think Pochettino will want to shape his approach around 37 year old Ronaldo. In the premier league I see him going back to the approach he had at Spurs and Southampton, perhaps with a few tweaks to cater to the squad he inherites and due to his evolution. That's just my opinion.
I don't want any manager forced to fit Ronaldo into their tactical approach, we need a long term plan and need the new manager (if not Ralph) to hit the ground running when it comes to implementing it
Yeah completely agree. At this point, seems best case scenario is for both parties to move on. Get rid of his wage and the pressure a new manager would be under - whether having to play him or bench him, etc.
Agreed
With Cavani and Ronaldo leaving, we will have to be busy in the Summer window.
I really thought Rangnick would drop Ronaldo more often, but his tantrums and intimidation have worked to keep him on board. So I'm not convinced Ten Hag would drop Ronaldo, possibly nervous about his first job at a 'superclub' any more than Pochettino. And I'm not sure any manager in the world would willingly drop Messi. Mbappé is one of the best players in the world. Neymar misses half the games anyway and more than justifies his selection when he does play. I think it's a myth that you swap Ten Hag and Pochettino around and Ten Hag plays a different team to Poch. Managers have to adapt to what they're given.
I don't think Ronnie has issues being left out to rest, started at Madrid in 2016 and he got used to it, even to a point where lately he and coaching staff would choose together games to sit out. Of course he won't mind playing every single game either, but has no problems rotating sporadically like he did with Ole anyway or in the last 5 years. He usually sits out on cup games, yet he had to play 120 mins in the last cup tie because I believe Cavani wasn't available. There's no one with Ronaldo's skillset available right now, regardless of Cavani playing well or not, being available would prevent Ronnie from playing too many games in too little short of a timeframe. He treats his body like a temple but age does play its part here. I love if he gets to play every single game, but it's not sustainable and honestly he needs to rest a bit right now before tackling the last games of the season.
Wait, you don't actually think Ronaldo has the power to veto a move for any manager united wish to go with do you?
I believe anything from people here at this point, after all some people claim he has a contract clause to force the club to play him every game.
Can we at least not play him starting every game like Bruno? Ridiculous. He looks better after being rested
End of the season can't come quick enough and hopefully we part company.Best for both parties.
Started class but Ralf’s tactics are showing on him. He desperately needs to have his minutes managed as he looks utterly fecked. Annoying that the man himself can’t understand the best thing for his career is more rest, more being subbed and more appearances as sub. I’m convinced he’d have another good year after this if he could understand that should be his role.
Instead he kicks up such a fuss around being subbed or rested it makes it very difficult to do it, and that ultimately might mean a parting of ways.
Instead he kicks up such a fuss around being subbed or rested it makes it very difficult to do it, and that ultimately might mean a parting of ways.
Falcao scored 4. Ronaldo at 36/37 has scored 15.
Different gravy.
Whether he's the man to keep on next season is anyone's guess of how it'll pan out though
I think the whole set up and most players are looking well off their best right now.
If Cavani could actually be available more than 1 game in 6 it might help.
That and Rashy having an outrageous drop off in form, Greenwood's behaviour and..well that's it actually.
We have no other option right now.
He's played a huge number of games, its obviously not him at his best. We dont look particularly well built to suit him either, though that would probably be true of most players i guess. Properly managed with realistic competition up front and he could still be a good player for us. Getting a striker who's flat out better in any and every situation isn't that straightforward and even they'd need cover or someone to come on when chasing a goal.
Though i can totally see him as a headache for a new manager to deal with and how it could be better to just bring martial back and bring in someone easier to accomodate with a more rounded game. I'd be fine with either really.
Different gravy? No they both played out. One couldn’t keep on his feet the other keeps getting brushed off his feet.
It’s heartbreaking watching him believe he can still take in people.
That's the problem essentially, that people still think Ronaldo is one of the best in the world, whereas people knew Falcao and Sanchez were shite.
When you look at him physically, it’s still easy to fall into the trap that he could be at the peak of his powers. But clearly he isn’t and we’re paying the price for that somewhat. But we can’t use him more as a devastating impact sub with all our other forward problems, hence he’s overplayed and looks a shadow of what he truly was even only a few years ago. Still a legend and always will be but it’s not going to happen much now.
The point I was responding to was stated that Poch is a pressing machine and would demand Ronaldo presses more than, say, ETH. Or some thing along those lines. I simply stated that Poch isn’t requesting his other superstars press. That’s all.
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It was very sad seeing him not able to move with ball at all. I think the best way for Ronaldo to still make an impact for us this season and possibly the next is for him to accept his age and manage his playing time wisely. He doesn't need to start every game, or play a full match. And he definitely needs to retire from international football as soon as possible.
People need to remember that at his peak Ronaldo left us without a seconds thought. I've no problem with that as he had achieved everything possible here.
I do have an issue that we are now hampered with this version of Ronaldo. We owe him NOTHING. He is not good enough and is only going to get worse. If he is stinking out the place again next season that's another season wasted.
I do have an issue that we are now hampered with this version of Ronaldo. We owe him NOTHING. He is not good enough and is only going to get worse. If he is stinking out the place again next season that's another season wasted.
The frustrating thing about all this, is that it was all so predictable. That's why there was always some skepticism around the deal. As fans, it was obviously exciting at the time, but a lot of fans could have seen this coming. That's also why you had so many articles written that criticized the transfer. I know many people on here just put their fingers in their ears and wouldn't listen to any negative story around the transfer, but a lot of it was true. As we're seeing now.
I have been pretty tough on Ronaldo myself.
But do you think we are not playing to his strength?
That he is not getting the service he needs?
Players making poor decisions and not passing to him?
But do you think we are not playing to his strength?
That he is not getting the service he needs?
Players making poor decisions and not passing to him?
Mixture of some of your points, combined with him missing some real clear cut opportunities. I wouldn't say every shot he has had has been a golden one, but it's pretty bad the good chances he has missed.
He's not the only one though, the other forwards too have been wasteful the last few months
For me Ronaldo is still good to even great. Just a bad fit between him and the club at this stage of his career. He likely would have done much better at City. Recently, his finishing has gotten worse but I suspect a lot of that is mental and due to the drought he’s had so his confidence is low which probably wouldn’t have happened at city.
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