[jm99]

He clearly did benefit from a 10 day rest finally. If the rest of the attack wasn't so constantly so injured, useless or out on bail we could do it a bit more often

 

[SportingCP96]

I think the reactions are nearly always in reaction to complete overreactions by ultra fanboys.

When people just throw out statements like ‘Ronaldo would easily score 50 for a better team’ at age 37 despite pretty clear evidence he wouldn’t (he hasn’t scored 50 in a season for anyone since 2016 when he was 31, he hasn’t scored 40 in a season since he was 33), or ‘Ronaldo is clearly our best player’, when he’s been a problem in half of our games etc, it’s just hard not to get involved.

Pretty sure I said 40. Also pretty sure he got over 40 goals in all comps last season and 37 goals for Juve. Also yes he is very clearly the best player at United.

 

[Scottynaldinho]

He's definitely not the same player, but far from finished.

Goals will come. Believe!

Quoting myself here.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

How many people have said he'd score 50? He could legit score 40 in the City team though.

I completely disagree, given City’s style they wouldn’t carry him and he wouldn’t play enough games. And also he’s not better than peak Aguero, who only ever scored 33 for City. Salah has 28 this season and might just edge 40. So you think he’s as good/better than Salah? He’s miles off that. 40 is a lot of goals for people to be just throwing around that figure.

 

[Pyroblazer]

If you actually look at the Ronaldo V Messi threat I literally post 1x every 4 5 months if that. I barely go their.

I mean that's fair and I won't check that because that would be creepy. But I for myself can only say I went there a long time ago, posted something like 3,4 posts and thought you could have a sensible discussion and then saw the mess this thread is and never looked back. You posted over 700 posts there and when I look at the other top posters there, it's fair to say they are all a bit infamous for beeing maybe a little bit too obsessed with Messi and Ronaldo. I for myself don't think it's a sensible thing to do to and to have that discussion and argument all over again and again just to prove a thing to other people, which you can't prove either way, because it's a personal preference, feels weird to me. You obviously posted there today again to have your "Gotcha" moment. If you just having fun with it, fine why not, can't say it would be fun for me at least.

Your answer to me is actually much more sensible then some of your comments about Ronaldo, so fair play. I still disagree with some things in it.

Secondly I have been posting in this thread multiple times even when he has games where he didn’t score and the whole thread is having a dig and I was still here. So don’t say I only “showed up” after a hattrick. I have posted many a times before that.

I mean fair play and I don't want to check that that closely. It's true that you posted also here when Ronaldo was bad and often it was excuses to be fair. I still think especially in the last few weeks and in 2022 when Ronaldo was really bad you posted less here and it kind of feels like you were just waiting to jump back now and showing how wrong a lot of people here were. But you do also realise that this kind of doesn't really work?
I mean if we are that bad and if he doesn't get service then how is that hattrick today possible? 2 out of his 3 goals were great deliveries, that Sancho assist was easy to miss. One goal was a great individual moment, without a doubt. But those are usually rare with Ronaldo. He doesn't score that many goals outside the box, he also doesn't score that many solo goals where he goes past players. He needs chances for his finishing skills, he needs crosses for his headers. You and many people using that narrative and how does it work now? If Ronaldo is now scoring every week are we all of a sudden a great team? I don't think so, because we weren't that great today either. Ronaldo is all about his finishing and movement and we see both things declining this year further, which hurts his performance. We saw him missing chances, we saw him not beeing able to outrun his opposition to get in his usual positions to score. It's normal, blaming everything on United is just a bit tiring too me. You just said he is still "One of the top 5 finishers in the world" when stats probably prove that there are in the PL alone at least 5 players who have been better than him in that regard. His finishing was sublime today, but that definitely wasn't the case for the majority of the season. And apart from that his greatest quality was always to get on the end of so many chances thanks to his movement more than finishing every small chance he gets, which is not saying that his finishing isn't or wasn't good/great, but I don't think he is close to the level you are describing.

Is Ronaldo the right fit for United or United the right fit for Ronaldo? No

I don't think Ronaldo would actually be a great fit for any great side anymore. You keep beating the drum that we aren't good enough for him. But I doubt he would get as much gametime and chances at City or Bayern in comparison to us. We don't have anyone else and will just keep playing him. Using him less would probably be even good for him, but obviously would mean less goals. He isn't a great fit for City at all and he is obviously a much less-rounded footballer than Lewandowski. Bayern wouldn't swap Lewandowski for Ronaldo in a heatbeat, let's not kid ourselves. Ronaldo's 2022 has been shocking, today was his first great game. His league campaign overall hasn't been that good and before you are telling me he is the second best goalscorer. Yeah he scored those in 8 games, 7 in 3 games. Huge performances, not a huge season. He didn't score in 16 games. A better distributed contribution would obviously helped us a lot. His PL season hasn't been great by any means and I don't know how anyone can only look at stats and say otherwise.
He still has match-winning performances in him but we need to use him more wisely. He definitely isn't that world class, one of the best players in the world, player anymore and blaming United all the time for that is a bit annoying especially when the argument fells apart when he is actually scoring and having those games.

Is Ronaldo one of the reasons United is bad? Sure because at his age and at this stage in his career it didn’t make sense to go here. It’s a detriment to both him and United.

Agree on that, fair play. I think the PL was either way not the best choice for him. The physical nature of the league made things worse. He was a better player at Juve but he wasn't peak Ronaldo either. Serie A is a league that is really nice for aging players, that's why Di Natale or Luca Toni or Quagliarella managed to end up as top scorers. In 2 out of 3 seasons he was outscored by other players there, so I don't think the narrative that he would bang in 40 goals everywhere and outscore the likes of Mbappe or Lewandowski is in any way realistic, especially if he has to share gametime and maybe even penalty duties.

Is he the MAIN reason United is shit like some here are convinced? Absolutely not and that’s the whole point. He is IMO the least of United’s worries. Their problems stem much deeper.

He is obviously not the main or the sole reason and the people who are saying that are obviously on the other extreme spectrum. He is one of the reasons though, at least in the league. We went through many games in the last few weeks where we were in desperately need for a striker and were never able to score more than one goal. We actually had good first halves a few times where we created a lot and didn't reward ourselves and dropped points. Ronaldo wasn't the only one to miss several chances, but he was part of that and unfortunately looked very undangerous overall upfront. Before that hattrick most of our attackers scored as many goals or more than him from open play in the last few weeks. If Sancho can pop up with a goal here and there regularly in 2022, why not our main striker? So the whole narrative United makes Ronaldo not able to score doesn't really work here either. We obviously aren't a better team without Ronaldo because we have no one really to replace him. But would we be better if we put Haaland, Mbappe, Lewandowski or Benzema into our team instead of him this season? Without a doubt.
Would we be a great team with any of those and no Ronaldo? Obviously not. Our defence is shit, we lack a top manager, we have no midfield and our general play and mentality is lacking. We have many problems, but holding Ronaldo back isn't one of them. And today proves it. It's on him, peak Ronaldo would shine either way and bang them in in our side too.

Is Ronaldo finished? Not even close

Is he in his prime? No


Can he still score 30 a season? 1000%

I don't think so. At least in a top league. I mean he is after all still at 18 goals overall, but I still don't think he will get there in all comps based on his season here. Especially in the league it's a lot of goals in a small amount of games. He doesn't score on a consistent level to reach those numbers, so I don't think it's about the quality of the league, but rather his own consistency to perform at the required level these days. The whole "he would score in a better team" doesn't automatically work. I think he actually got more chances/shots than any City player for example. At better teams attacking players will share their output, he will also play less in top teams, because he just hasn't been that good. No way Bayern or City would play him all the time and I actually think he would make those teams worse. He can't disrupt our playstyle, because we have none, that's different at the top sides. And his finishing actually was off in the league, so even more chances might have been missed. Some strikers were the main guys at smaller teams, scored for fun and then moved to a better side and scored less. So I am not really fan of this "He would score 40 goals here and there narrative" and it's especially weird for the current Ronaldo, who didn't score in so many games and lacks the consistency to reach those numbers. Based on his season people basically expect him to score 40 in those 10 games where he actually banged them in and that's probably unlikely. When he doesn't score he has been really bad many times, maybe not always as bad as some people made him out to be, but for me more often than not on a level that most top clubs wouldn't accept.
So yeah in that case I will disagree, you won't, at the end of the day neither of us can prove it. But I don't think you can perform like him this season for any top side and expect to score ton of goals.

We can discuss about the term "finished" probably all day. Is he finished as a world class player who delivers that level every week for a top side? Yeah I think so. Is he finished as footballer? No. I still think he can play a good role for us, just not as a main striker. And showing this kind of performance after a long break and not playing him all the time is actually a strong argument for that imo.

My issue is when you having people saying he should be in MLS etc when for example at 37 he still miles ahead of the “star” striker at Spurs.

I mean yeah the MLS posts are obviously also extreme posts on the negative side of that discussion. But saying he is miles ahead of Kane is the other extreme again. Kane's season probably has been weak for his level overall too, but I don't think anyone can dismiss that he is overall a better footballer than Ronaldo these days. He would also be an upgrade for us especially if he goes back to his best. But again the discussion about his overall game has been a bit tiresome since the Juve days too. If people can't see it, it's fine for me. I have a lot of problems with his overall game these days and he can only really compensate it if he bangs them in like today. If he doesn't score a lot like he did in the last few weeks his overall contribution is pretty low for a striker. And that would be even more of an issue at a less disjointed team and clear playstyle/tactics which we don't have.

 

[Devil may care]

His mentality is unquestionable, great hat-trick and he had another couple of good shots, Sancho and Fred were constantly offering him the quick lay-off option and there's been promising play between him and Sancho this season and we saw more of it today.

 

[Red the Bear]

I mean that's fair and I won't check that because that would be creepy. But I for myself can only say I went there a long time ago, posted something like 3,4 posts and thought you could have a sensible discussion and then saw the mess this thread is and never looked back. You posted over 700 posts there and when I look at the other top posters there, it's fair to say they are all a bit infamous for beeing maybe a little bit too obsessed with Messi and Ronaldo. I for myself don't think it's a sensible thing to do to and to have that discussion and argument all over again and again just to prove a thing to other people, which you can't prove either way, because it's a personal preference, feels weird to me. You obviously posted there today again to have your "Gotcha" moment. If you just having fun with it, fine why not, can't say it would be fun for me at least.

Your answer to me is actually much more sensible then some of your comments about Ronaldo, so fair play. I still disagree with some things in it.



I mean fair play and I don't want to check that that closely. It's true that you posted also here when Ronaldo was bad and often it was excuses to be fair. I still think especially in the last few weeks and in 2022 when Ronaldo was really bad you posted less here and it kind of feels like you were just waiting to jump back now and showing how wrong a lot of people here were. But you do also realise that this kind of doesn't really work?
I mean if we are that bad and if he doesn't get service then how is that hattrick today possible? 2 out of his 3 goals were great deliveries, that Sancho assist was easy to miss. One goal was a great individual moment, without a doubt. But those are usually rare with Ronaldo. He doesn't score that many goals outside the box, he also doesn't score that many solo goals where he goes past players. He needs chances for his finishing skills, he needs crosses for his headers. You and many people using that narrative and how does it work now? If Ronaldo is now scoring every week are we all of a sudden a great team? I don't think so, because we weren't that great today either. Ronaldo is all about his finishing and movement and we see both things declining this year further, which hurts his performance. We saw him missing chances, we saw him not beeing able to outrun his opposition to get in his usual positions to score. It's normal, blaming everything on United is just a bit tiring too me. You just said he is still "One of the top 5 finishers in the world" when stats probably prove that there are in the PL alone at least 5 players who have been better than him in that regard. His finishing was sublime today, but that definitely wasn't the case for the majority of the season. And apart from that his greatest quality was always to get on the end of so many chances thanks to his movement more than finishing every small chance he gets, which is not saying that his finishing isn't or wasn't good/great, but I don't think he is close to the level you are describing.




I don't think Ronaldo would actually be a great fit for any great side anymore. You keep beating the drum that we aren't good enough for him. But I doubt he would get as much gametime and chances at City or Bayern in comparison to us. We don't have anyone else and will just keep playing him. Using him less would probably be even good for him, but obviously would mean less goals. He isn't a great fit for City at all and he is obviously a much less-rounded footballer than Lewandowski. Bayern wouldn't swap Lewandowski for Ronaldo in a heatbeat, let's not kid ourselves. Ronaldo's 2022 has been shocking, today was his first great game. His league campaign overall hasn't been that good and before you are telling me he is the second best goalscorer. Yeah he scored those in 8 games, 7 in 3 games. Huge performances, not a huge season. He didn't score in 16 games. A better distributed contribution would obviously helped us a lot. His PL season hasn't been great by any means and I don't know how anyone can only look at stats and say otherwise.
He still has match-winning performances in him but we need to use him more wisely. He definitely isn't that world class, one of the best players in the world, player anymore and blaming United all the time for that is a bit annoying especially when the argument fells apart when he is actually scoring and having those games.



Agree on that, fair play. I think the PL was either way not the best choice for him. The physical nature of the league made things worse. He was a better player at Juve but he wasn't peak Ronaldo either. Serie A is a league that is really nice for aging players, that's why Di Natale or Luca Toni or Quagliarella managed to end up as top scorers. In 2 out of 3 seasons he was outscored by other players there, so I don't think the narrative that he would bang in 40 goals everywhere and outscore the likes of Mbappe or Lewandowski is in any way realistic, especially if he has to share gametime and maybe even penalty duties.




He is obviously not the main or the sole reason and the people who are saying that are obviously on the other extreme spectrum. He is one of the reasons though, at least in the league. We went through many games in the last few weeks where we were in desperately need for a striker and were never able to score more than one goal. We actually had good first halves a few times where we created a lot and didn't reward ourselves and dropped points. Ronaldo wasn't the only one to miss several chances, but he was part of that and unfortunately looked very undangerous overall upfront. Before that hattrick most of our attackers scored as many goals or more than him from open play in the last few weeks. If Sancho can pop up with a goal here and there regularly in 2022, why not our main striker? So the whole narrative United makes Ronaldo not able to score doesn't really work here either. We obviously aren't a better team without Ronaldo because we have no one really to replace him. But would we be better if we put Haaland, Mbappe, Lewandowski or Benzema into our team instead of him this season? Without a doubt.
Would we be a great team with any of those and no Ronaldo? Obviously not. Our defence is shit, we lack a top manager, we have no midfield and our general play and mentality is lacking. We have many problems, but holding Ronaldo back isn't one of them. And today proves it. It's on him, peak Ronaldo would shine either way and bang them in in our side too.




I don't think so. At least in a top league. I mean he is after all still at 18 goals overall, but I still don't think he will get there in all comps based on his season here. Especially in the league it's a lot of goals in a small amount of games. He doesn't score on a consistent level to reach those numbers, so I don't think it's about the quality of the league, but rather his own consistency to perform at the required level these days. The whole "he would score in a better team" doesn't automatically work. I think he actually got more chances/shots than any City player for example. At better teams attacking players will share their output, he will also play less in top teams, because he just hasn't been that good. No way Bayern or City would play him all the time and I actually think he would make those teams worse. He can't disrupt our playstyle, because we have none, that's different at the top sides. And his finishing actually was off in the league, so even more chances might have been missed. Some strikers were the main guys at smaller teams, scored for fun and then moved to a better side and scored less. So I am not really fan of this "He would score 40 goals here and there narrative" and it's especially weird for the current Ronaldo, who didn't score in so many games and lacks the consistency to reach those numbers. Based on his season people basically expect him to score 40 in those 10 games where he actually banged them in and that's probably unlikely. When he doesn't score he has been really bad many times, maybe not always as bad as some people made him out to be, but for me more often than not on a level that most top clubs wouldn't accept.
So yeah in that case I will disagree, you won't, at the end of the day neither of us can prove it. But I don't think you can perform like him this season for any top side and expect to score ton of goals.

We can discuss about the term "finished" probably all day. Is he finished as a world class player who delivers that level every week for a top side? Yeah I think so. Is he finished as footballer? No. I still think he can play a good role for us, just not as a main striker. And showing this kind of performance after a long break and not playing him all the time is actually a strong argument for that imo.



I mean yeah the MLS posts are obviously also extreme posts on the negative side of that discussion. But saying he is miles ahead of Kane is the other extreme again. Kane's season probably has been weak for his level overall too, but I don't think anyone can dismiss that he is overall a better footballer than Ronaldo these days. He would also be an upgrade for us especially if he goes back to his best. But again the discussion about his overall game has been a bit tiresome since the Juve days too. If people can't see it, it's fine for me. I have a lot of problems with his overall games these days and he can only really compensate it if he bangs them in like today. If he doesn't score a lot like he did in the last few weeks his overall contribution is pretty low for a striker.

Jesus even Tolstoy won't write that much , what a wall of text this is.

 

[WR10]

Ronaldo is my favourite superhero

 

[MUFC OK]

Hope he gets dropped against Atletico so he can see himself out the door and spare the club the effort. This has been one of the worst signings in recent history, one that epitomizes the poor planning and downright negligence this club has exhibited in abundance for a long time now.

The boy does not want to be here and he doesn't care to show it anymore. He went against Rangknick's policy over players spending their rehab in Manchester. I doubt he was injured before the city game.

Where are you today mate? what a terrible take this was. Still baffled you could write that about Ronaldo even before today.

 

[Pyroblazer]

Jesus even Tolstoy won't write that much , what a wall of text this is.

I mean you don't need to read it if you don't want. I know it's hard. Sometimes longer posts with a little bit of thought into it would be nice and probably would engage a discussion. But we can also get back to

"SIUUUUUUUUU. GOAT. What a player he is. Where are the haters now?"

and after his next bad game

"Finished. Hope he fecks off to MLS. Would have won the quadruble with Elanga as our main striker."

That's probably 90 percent of the comments here covered. If that's better for you, fine, but I thought he was deserving of a bit more of an answer and then we can still go back to the usual nonsense.

 

[Reapersoul20]

Hey,so, everyone, get fecked

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

I didn't think he had that in him anymore.

He was incredible.

He looked pretty spry physically too.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Where are you today mate? what a terrible take this was. Still baffled you could write that about Ronaldo even before today.

Not the worst take I've seen.There was somebody on here not long ago saying Ronaldo isn't good enough for the MLS.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Red the Bear]

I mean you don't need to read it if you don't want. I know it's hard. Sometimes longer posts with a little bit of thought into it would be nice and probably would engage a discussion. But we can also get back to

"SIUUUUUUUUU. GOAT. What a player he is. Where are the haters now?"

and after his next bad game

"Finished. Hope he fecks off to MLS. Would have won the quadruble with Elanga as our main striker."

That's probably 90 percent of the comments here covered. If that's better for you, fine, but I thought he was deserving of a bit more of an answer and then we can still go back to the usual nonsense.

I myself am guilty of putting out word salads from time to time i was just taken back by a behemoth of that size so made a little joke about it.

Anyway I do agree with some your points and disagree with others so obviously it's a decent post to add to the discussion but brevity is a virtue so cutting some of that length here and there does help with the text comprehension and makes it so that main points come out better.

Anyway it's not my prerogative to tell you how to write your posts but good luck anyways!

 

[MUFC OK]

Not the worst take I've seen.There was somebody on here not long ago saying Ronaldo isn't good enough for the MLS.

Some of our ‘fans’ truly deserve being subjected to our plight of the last 9 years.

 

[United in sin]

Where are you today mate? what a terrible take this was. Still baffled you could write that about Ronaldo even before today.

I was among the first to praise him after today's game and masterclass of a performance. Check the threadmark. Still want him gone at the end of the season.

 

[MUFC OK]

Not the worst take I've seen.There was somebody on here not long ago saying Ronaldo isn't good enough for the MLS.

That was the same bloke.

This. The MLS is not a cake walk. Gerrard was in decent shape when he signed for Galaxy and he struggled against younger players in this league.

Nani has had his struggles at Orlando and looks nothing special either. Hugain similary has been nothing special either at Inter Miami. Ronaldo is finished and the sooner he realizes this the better because it's going to end up being embarrassing for him

 

[Pintu]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Sancho is the next legend. I believe in him.

 

[MUFC OK]

I was among the first to praise him after today's game and masterclass of a performance. Check the threadmark. Still want him gone at the end of the season.

You simply said ‘great game today’ after all the toxic shite you’ve posted about him for ages. Being a United fan and hating on Ronaldo is beyond weird and you’ve only made yourself look clueless.

Far from being ‘finished’ as you put it, play to his strengths and he’s still a world class player.

 

[TsuWave]

There’s never been any other player that’s given me as much joy as this guy. Favourite United player ever, and I know he’s not what he used to be but I think that with a strong manager, he can still play a part. I mean having Ronaldo to share minutes with other players and teach and pass on his mentality has to be an asset right?

just manage his minutes, and fix that midfield and back four and we should be OK, he shouldn’t have had as many appearances/minutes as he has had, huh is 37, but Cavanual Leave keeps choosing when to play

 

[FattyFooty]

As I have stated, by far and I mean byyyyy farrrrrr the best player at United.

Imagine him in a better team. Easy 40 goals a season.

That first goal was vintage CR7

That hes best united player is an understatment.

 

[kundalini]

Sensational performance. 3 goals from 8 attempts. Brilliant long distance strike for his first. Super header from Telles' corner for his 3rd. 2 other attempts saved.

 

[FattyFooty]

Benzema showed last night in Madrid what a real world class talisman striker should conduct himself on the pitch. A player not only raising his own game instead of sulking but encouraging all team mates around him. Vinicius Junior final product wasn't always last night there as his passes wasn't always connecting with Benzema and was sometimes running into blind alleys but not once did you see Benzema scowl towards him or throw his hands up in a hissy fit when things were not going their way in the first half after going down

Together they worked even harder and kept their heads up in belief along with modric and Benzema galvanising the troops. When Camavinga came on neither did he come on with a strop just because he didn't start, instead he changed the game and imposed himself in the game and got control of midfield.

What we get with Ronaldo who he and others sees as captain is strops, tantrums and only consulting with his national compatriot Bruno Fernandes as if they are both above the rest of the team. If he happens to come off the bench he's puts in an even worse performance. Had he played against City and when we went down he would throwing his hands up in the air, going into midfield ruining the shape to try and get the ball, scowling at teammates before biding his time so he could strop off straight down the tunnel at the end of the game to show his disdain for the away fans.

I have only seen this guy save the team for his own gain not for the teams. I will never forget at the bernabeau when he was at Madrid and Bale scored instead of himself and he refused to run over and celebrate with him, instead he sulked.

So it's not a suprise in our biggest derby he goes over manager protocol of having rehab at the club and swans off to portugal for his hip replacement. The players are right in this instance, he should have been with the team but we know Ronaldo is only concerned with no 1 and still believes he's top dog and everything should revolve around him even though his body is now as stiff and rigid as an ironing board to the point where he can no longer compete at elite level consistently.

Yeah.....

 

[oneloop31]

I kept on having a feeling that ronaldo would play better without Bruno, and today was just the case

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Ronaldo's the problem... Viva Ronadloooooooo

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Benzema showed last night in Madrid what a real world class talisman striker should conduct himself on the pitch. A player not only raising his own game instead of sulking but encouraging all team mates around him. Vinicius Junior final product wasn't always last night there as his passes wasn't always connecting with Benzema and was sometimes running into blind alleys but not once did you see Benzema scowl towards him or throw his hands up in a hissy fit when things were not going their way in the first half after going down

Together they worked even harder and kept their heads up in belief along with modric and Benzema galvanising the troops. When Camavinga came on neither did he come on with a strop just because he didn't start, instead he changed the game and imposed himself in the game and got control of midfield.

What we get with Ronaldo who he and others sees as captain is strops, tantrums and only consulting with his national compatriot Bruno Fernandes as if they are both above the rest of the team. If he happens to come off the bench he's puts in an even worse performance. Had he played against City and when we went down he would throwing his hands up in the air, going into midfield ruining the shape to try and get the ball, scowling at teammates before biding his time so he could strop off straight down the tunnel at the end of the game to show his disdain for the away fans.

I have only seen this guy save the team for his own gain not for the teams. I will never forget at the bernabeau when he was at Madrid and Bale scored instead of himself and he refused to run over and celebrate with him, instead he sulked.

So it's not a suprise in our biggest derby he goes over manager protocol of having rehab at the club and swans off to portugal for his hip replacement. The players are right in this instance, he should have been with the team but we know Ronaldo is only concerned with no 1 and still believes he's top dog and everything should revolve around him even though his body is now as stiff and rigid as an ironing board to the point where he can no longer compete at elite level consistently.

You can delete this now.

 

[United in sin]

That was the same bloke.

I stand by what I said haha. He's 37 you know. He won't get any better with age

 

[justboy68]

Ronaldo's goals have been the highlight of the season. Seeing a legend back at United has been a pleasure. Without him we're just middling along anyway, so I'll always be happy we brought him back.

 

[The Irish Connection]

Someone said a few weeks back that they’d rather have Neal Maupay…

 

[MattofManchester]

I said a while back we should have faith that he'll find the net regularly again. Too many were too quick to dismiss one of the greatest of all time, who looked patchy and out of form for a while. He's a footballer. It happens. Even RVP had a barren spell in our last league winning season. Nothing is perfect.

We need him at his best now more than ever.

 

[tenpoless]

It's easy to find flaws when your club is having a bad season. But without him we'd be lower in league table.

 

[RedRonaldo]

I think the reactions are nearly always in reaction to complete overreactions by ultra fanboys.

When people just throw out statements like ‘Ronaldo would easily score 50 for a better team’ at age 37 despite pretty clear evidence he wouldn’t (he hasn’t scored 50 in a season for anyone since 2016 when he was 31, he hasn’t scored 40 in a season since he was 33), or ‘Ronaldo is clearly our best player’, when he’s been a problem in half of our games etc, it’s just hard not to get involved.

It was a great hattrick and a 10/10 performance. If you can't even enjoy a moment of that as a fan of Man Utd and football, its really sad for you.

Also, I am sure in all competitions (including Portugal international), Ronaldo still managed to score over 40 goals a season over past 2 years. Sure if only count for clubs alone, he hasn't done it since his move to Juventus. Don't forget he has been scoring at insane rate at international stage in recent years (he also won golden boot in Euro and broke all time international record not long ago).

In all competitions:
19-20: 48 goals in 52 games (37 goals in 46 games for club)
20-21: 46 goals in 59 games (36 goals in 44 games for club)

Currently:
21:22 (up to 13 March): 24 goals in 37 games (18 goals in 32 games for club)

 

[RedRonaldo]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

At least our most talented youngster in youth squad has more common sense than the average fans out there.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I mean that's fair and I won't check that because that would be creepy. But I for myself can only say I went there a long time ago, posted something like 3,4 posts and thought you could have a sensible discussion and then saw the mess this thread is and never looked back. You posted over 700 posts there and when I look at the other top posters there, it's fair to say they are all a bit infamous for beeing maybe a little bit too obsessed with Messi and Ronaldo. I for myself don't think it's a sensible thing to do to and to have that discussion and argument all over again and again just to prove a thing to other people, which you can't prove either way, because it's a personal preference, feels weird to me. You obviously posted there today again to have your "Gotcha" moment. If you just having fun with it, fine why not, can't say it would be fun for me at least.

Your answer to me is actually much more sensible then some of your comments about Ronaldo, so fair play. I still disagree with some things in it.



I mean fair play and I don't want to check that that closely. It's true that you posted also here when Ronaldo was bad and often it was excuses to be fair. I still think especially in the last few weeks and in 2022 when Ronaldo was really bad you posted less here and it kind of feels like you were just waiting to jump back now and showing how wrong a lot of people here were. But you do also realise that this kind of doesn't really work?
I mean if we are that bad and if he doesn't get service then how is that hattrick today possible? 2 out of his 3 goals were great deliveries, that Sancho assist was easy to miss. One goal was a great individual moment, without a doubt. But those are usually rare with Ronaldo. He doesn't score that many goals outside the box, he also doesn't score that many solo goals where he goes past players. He needs chances for his finishing skills, he needs crosses for his headers. You and many people using that narrative and how does it work now? If Ronaldo is now scoring every week are we all of a sudden a great team? I don't think so, because we weren't that great today either. Ronaldo is all about his finishing and movement and we see both things declining this year further, which hurts his performance. We saw him missing chances, we saw him not beeing able to outrun his opposition to get in his usual positions to score. It's normal, blaming everything on United is just a bit tiring too me. You just said he is still "One of the top 5 finishers in the world" when stats probably prove that there are in the PL alone at least 5 players who have been better than him in that regard. His finishing was sublime today, but that definitely wasn't the case for the majority of the season. And apart from that his greatest quality was always to get on the end of so many chances thanks to his movement more than finishing every small chance he gets, which is not saying that his finishing isn't or wasn't good/great, but I don't think he is close to the level you are describing.




I don't think Ronaldo would actually be a great fit for any great side anymore. You keep beating the drum that we aren't good enough for him. But I doubt he would get as much gametime and chances at City or Bayern in comparison to us. We don't have anyone else and will just keep playing him. Using him less would probably be even good for him, but obviously would mean less goals. He isn't a great fit for City at all and he is obviously a much less-rounded footballer than Lewandowski. Bayern wouldn't swap Lewandowski for Ronaldo in a heatbeat, let's not kid ourselves. Ronaldo's 2022 has been shocking, today was his first great game. His league campaign overall hasn't been that good and before you are telling me he is the second best goalscorer. Yeah he scored those in 8 games, 7 in 3 games. Huge performances, not a huge season. He didn't score in 16 games. A better distributed contribution would obviously helped us a lot. His PL season hasn't been great by any means and I don't know how anyone can only look at stats and say otherwise.
He still has match-winning performances in him but we need to use him more wisely. He definitely isn't that world class, one of the best players in the world, player anymore and blaming United all the time for that is a bit annoying especially when the argument fells apart when he is actually scoring and having those games.



Agree on that, fair play. I think the PL was either way not the best choice for him. The physical nature of the league made things worse. He was a better player at Juve but he wasn't peak Ronaldo either. Serie A is a league that is really nice for aging players, that's why Di Natale or Luca Toni or Quagliarella managed to end up as top scorers. In 2 out of 3 seasons he was outscored by other players there, so I don't think the narrative that he would bang in 40 goals everywhere and outscore the likes of Mbappe or Lewandowski is in any way realistic, especially if he has to share gametime and maybe even penalty duties.




He is obviously not the main or the sole reason and the people who are saying that are obviously on the other extreme spectrum. He is one of the reasons though, at least in the league. We went through many games in the last few weeks where we were in desperately need for a striker and were never able to score more than one goal. We actually had good first halves a few times where we created a lot and didn't reward ourselves and dropped points. Ronaldo wasn't the only one to miss several chances, but he was part of that and unfortunately looked very undangerous overall upfront. Before that hattrick most of our attackers scored as many goals or more than him from open play in the last few weeks. If Sancho can pop up with a goal here and there regularly in 2022, why not our main striker? So the whole narrative United makes Ronaldo not able to score doesn't really work here either. We obviously aren't a better team without Ronaldo because we have no one really to replace him. But would we be better if we put Haaland, Mbappe, Lewandowski or Benzema into our team instead of him this season? Without a doubt.
Would we be a great team with any of those and no Ronaldo? Obviously not. Our defence is shit, we lack a top manager, we have no midfield and our general play and mentality is lacking. We have many problems, but holding Ronaldo back isn't one of them. And today proves it. It's on him, peak Ronaldo would shine either way and bang them in in our side too.




I don't think so. At least in a top league. I mean he is after all still at 18 goals overall, but I still don't think he will get there in all comps based on his season here. Especially in the league it's a lot of goals in a small amount of games. He doesn't score on a consistent level to reach those numbers, so I don't think it's about the quality of the league, but rather his own consistency to perform at the required level these days. The whole "he would score in a better team" doesn't automatically work. I think he actually got more chances/shots than any City player for example. At better teams attacking players will share their output, he will also play less in top teams, because he just hasn't been that good. No way Bayern or City would play him all the time and I actually think he would make those teams worse. He can't disrupt our playstyle, because we have none, that's different at the top sides. And his finishing actually was off in the league, so even more chances might have been missed. Some strikers were the main guys at smaller teams, scored for fun and then moved to a better side and scored less. So I am not really fan of this "He would score 40 goals here and there narrative" and it's especially weird for the current Ronaldo, who didn't score in so many games and lacks the consistency to reach those numbers. Based on his season people basically expect him to score 40 in those 10 games where he actually banged them in and that's probably unlikely. When he doesn't score he has been really bad many times, maybe not always as bad as some people made him out to be, but for me more often than not on a level that most top clubs wouldn't accept.
So yeah in that case I will disagree, you won't, at the end of the day neither of us can prove it. But I don't think you can perform like him this season for any top side and expect to score ton of goals.

We can discuss about the term "finished" probably all day. Is he finished as a world class player who delivers that level every week for a top side? Yeah I think so. Is he finished as footballer? No. I still think he can play a good role for us, just not as a main striker. And showing this kind of performance after a long break and not playing him all the time is actually a strong argument for that imo.



I mean yeah the MLS posts are obviously also extreme posts on the negative side of that discussion. But saying he is miles ahead of Kane is the other extreme again. Kane's season probably has been weak for his level overall too, but I don't think anyone can dismiss that he is overall a better footballer than Ronaldo these days. He would also be an upgrade for us especially if he goes back to his best. But again the discussion about his overall game has been a bit tiresome since the Juve days too. If people can't see it, it's fine for me. I have a lot of problems with his overall game these days and he can only really compensate it if he bangs them in like today. If he doesn't score a lot like he did in the last few weeks his overall contribution is pretty low for a striker. And that would be even more of an issue at a less disjointed team and clear playstyle/tactics which we don't have.

The stamina to write this post. Impressive.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He's often been poor this season and I'm worried about him as out CF going forward but excellent showing today in the final third. First and third goals were excellent. One for the pureness of the strike and the third for the importance of the goal (hopefully will make a difference).

 

[Gazza]

Now on 96 PL goals in 220 appearances.

 

[United in sin]

You simply said ‘great game today’ after all the toxic shite you’ve posted about him for ages. Being a United fan and hating on Ronaldo is beyond weird and you’ve only made yourself look clueless.

Far from being ‘finished’ as you put it, play to his strengths and he’s still a world class player.

He had a great game and I acknowledged that it was a masterclass. What more the feck do you want? Would it be mature of me to tag you if he has a shit game against Atletico or Liverpool?

I still think he's done at the top and that doesn't mean he doesn't have it in him to pull off a performance like that every once in a while but we need to look to the future.

He'll be 38 next season and will be an even bigger issue in my eyes under a manager who demands as much if not more than Ragnick.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Suggestions that he'd not be a fit at City

They have the best collection of passers and crossers in the league and most teams can't get close to them. Literally the perfect fodder for the GOAT. 30 league goals easy.

 

[United in sin]

Suggestions that he'd not be a fit at City

They have the best collection of passers and crossers in the league and most teams can't get close to them. Literally the perfect fodder for the GOAT. 30 league goals easy.

He should've gone there instead. I'm sure you'd have enjoyed watching him help them to another league title and deep CL run