Cristiano Ronaldo (I stay)

[Strelok]

He was given permission to skip all of pre-season for personal reasons while he's really trying to find himself another club... How convenient

I'm not a fan of his behaviour either but tbh imo this is a huge blessing in disguise.

Imagine how disruptive his presence would be to ETH's pre season. Plus we would have not been able to see our fluid and pressing front three I reckon.

Please don't come back as long as possible. Would be fantastic if he leaves without ever coming back. Just let ETH and the lads concentrate on their football.

 

[Real Name]

This isn't true though. He was given permission to take time off by the club due to personal reasons.

That's one looong time off.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I do wonder if Ten Hag was looking to play him on the left. Rangnick said Ronaldo doesn't like playing striker so maybe he made that know to Ten Hag. Ten Hag was also keen on Nunez and Brobbery and we are still looking for a striker while wanting to keep Ronaldo and Martial.

 

[Escobar]

AM come on, you can do it!

 

[MrEleson]

Yeah, and the problem with him is not about listening to the manager. He simply can't press much at his age and he isn't gonna change at 38 because very likely his body doesn't allow him to. That's why managers have to change their tactics so much to fit him.

His pressing stats from the last 5 seasons all paint the same picture, this is something Ronaldo has avoided doing to maximize his scoring output and to increase his longevity as much as possible. It worked great for him of course but it hasn't been working as well for his teams.

Last 5 seasons includes his final years at R.Madrid so it worked well for Real. Problem is that his subsequent sides haven’t been as good as that Madrid team. Juve still won Serie A for 2 of his 3 seasons there so it worked okay for them. They were never good enough to win in Europe. And this analysis isn’t too accurate as it’s assuming that all these teams play a pressing game which they didn’t. Pressing isn’t the only way to play football.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

He was given permission to skip all of pre-season for personal reasons while he's really trying to find himself another club... How convenient

Well yeah but it's not like he just hasn't shown up like some are claiming. He's not breaking any rules as far as I know because United gave him permission. Let's see what happens once we're back from Australia.

 

[Lewnited]

I do wonder if Ten Hag was looking to play him on the left. Rangnick said Ronaldo doesn't like playing striker so maybe he made that know to Ten Hag. Ten Hag was also keen on Nunez and Brobbery and we are still looking for a striker while wanting to keep Ronaldo and Martial.

Yeah I've thought this as well, I have a sneaky suspicion that it's Rashford who's place would be under threat as opposed to Martial. He's always been pretty vocal in saying he doesn't like playing as a solo #9.

How this would look in practice though, I have no idea. At least up front in a co-ordinated press he can just station himself on a CB. On the left though I'm not sure it would work.

Regardless, this saga is ridiculous now. Knowing he'll come back after all of this and still think he can demand a starting place is infuriating to me. Family issues aside, this ill thought out stunt is damaging both his brand and the name of our club.

 

[El Jefe]

Fergie should really be shut out from having any influence in footballing decisions going forward.

On Ronaldo, what a clown. He's as petulant off the field as he is on the field. He's essentially isolating himself from any blame of what happened last season. Sure he was one of our better players but he had a stretch over two months where he contributed next to nothing for us.

I can't wait till he takes his circus away from the club along with his fans that only care about his stats. First time losing Ronaldo was painful but there is zero fecks given now with this stat obsessed mercenary.

 

[SuperiorXI]

My only worry is his diva attitude could upset a team spirit we have built up on tour

His attitude is a result of poor effort and bad performances, I don't think we will see it any where near as often under a proper system.

 

[Renegade]

If a new club signed him tomorrow do we think his family issues would stop him from being at that club first day?

4 weeks with no pre season at 37 years old. The guys is mental. Even if he stays I don’t want to see him anywhere near the team for a few months. Which of course he wouldn’t accept with the World Cup in November.

Everything has to be on his terms always. Which ever club he goes to he’ll strip the #7 of the current players back and demand centre stage with no regard for team morale.

 

[cletus7]

His attitude is a result of poor effort and bad performances, I don't think we will see it any where near as often under a proper system.

On that basis, he should have been pleased to be subbed of rather than going off in a tantrum.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Again, Ronaldo and Mendes have royally fecked this up.

It would be even more hilarious if this situation didnt revolve around my club though.

 

[horsechoker]

If a new club signed him tomorrow do we think his family issues would stop him from being at that club first day?

4 weeks with no pre season at 37 years old. The guys is mental. Even if he stays I don’t want to see him anywhere near the team for a few months. Which of course he wouldn’t accept with the World Cup in November.

Everything has to be on his terms always. Which ever club he goes to he’ll strip the #7 of the current players back and demand centre stage with no regard for team morale.

I wouldn't start him until September let him get his fitness up with a few sub appearances.

He can start in the league Cup and Europa. If Martial goes off the boil and Ronaldo is banging them in then he can come back into the starting 11

 

[Mayhem]

I hope nobody still believe the family issues excuse. He’s embarrassed himself so much it’s pathetic at this point. Absolutely under no circumstances should he play for us again.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Pressing isn’t the only way to play football.

True, but it's an important aspect of our new manager's preferred game.

Anyway, Ronaldo and pressing: I mean, most people who watch him would presumably say that he doesn't consistently press and that his overall contribution to recovering the ball is very slender. And this is - absolutely and undeniably - supported by pure stats as well (he stands out negatively no matter how you look at it - a player who is famously called super lazy by United fans easily presses twice as much as Ronaldo in an average game).

This is by all means perfectly understandable - if Ronaldo had played like a pressing machine, he would've ran himself into the ground years ago. He plays conservatively in terms of defensive off-ball involvements and focuses on making dangerous offensive runs - again, this makes perfect sense for a player his age. But it's hardly a positive trait for an attacker if organized, non-stop pressing is your game (or an important part of that game).

In short, it's pretty obvious why people are questioning the idea of Ronaldo slotting easily into an ETH XI: everything points to him being a very, very poor presser who effectively has to be relieved of pressing duties to a great extent in order to play 90m week out, week in.

 

[#07]

I said a few weeks ago not to rule out a Real return. Mind you, I still think he'll end up staying due to us not willing to sell (which in turn is due to him leaving things a bit too late for us to find a replacement).

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Real Madrid is not interested in Ronaldo.

Ronaldo no longer has a choice about where he plays next season. I am sure he would love to go back to Real Madrid. However, at this stage in his career, what Ronaldo wants is no longer the most important thing.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Seemingly, the only big club willing to look at signing Ronaldo is Atletico Madrid. Even then, according to El Larguero, Atleti will only be in a position to do the deal if they shift players like Griezmann and Saul. Does anyone know if those players even want to leave Atleti? Saul we know is on the outs but Griezmann..?

The more you think about it the more fanciful it all seems.

At the moment Ronaldo is going nowhere. Not because he wants to stay (or because United want him despite what the club says publicly). Its simply nobody he would like to go to is stepping forward and putting the money on the table for him.

 

[Zoo]

Jorge will surely have enough favours he can call in at Atleti. Make it happen super agent.

 

[Renegade]

Would people take Greizmaan on loan for a season if it allowed Ronaldo to go the other way?

 

[LARulz]

Would people take Greizmaan on loan for a season if it allowed Ronaldo to go the other way?

I know he is not the most popular but I think he's great. He can finish and works very hard (at least when I see him), I think it would be decent if we could shift Ronaldo to them and take Griezman but think his wages are mental

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Would people take Greizmaan on loan for a season if it allowed Ronaldo to go the other way?

Is that even possible given he's already on loan in Atletico

 

[DWelbz19]

Spoiler: instructions

 

[Renegade]

Is that even possible given he's already on loan in Atletico

What! His still on Barca’s books?

 

[adam118]

It is going to be so awkward when he does his SUIII celebration to silence or booing in front of the Stretford end next season IF he stays.

 

[FrankDrebin]

It is going to be so awkward when he does his SUIII celebration to silence or booing in front of the Stretford end next season IF he stays.

And no teammates celebrating with him.

 

[The Firestarter]

It is going to be so awkward when he does his SUIII celebration to silence or booing in front of the Stretford end next season IF he stays.

buuui

 

[Withnail]

Well yeah but it's not like he just hasn't shown up like some are claiming. He's not breaking any rules as far as I know because United gave him permission. Let's see what happens once we're back from Australia.

Well obviously we don't know but I strongly suspect he told them he wasn't showing up and was leaving and 'permission for personal reasons' is just the story they've told us.

 

[MonkeysMagic]

This has been a monumental blunder by Mendes and Ronaldo not to have had an agreement in place before going public with his desire to leave.

He has damaged his relationship with the fans but more importantly the manager and team mates. Quite frankly, I'd rather he leave disrupt the team on his return so praying there is a club out there willing to take him! No doubt we will lose his goals but I'm glad to rid of the baggage!

 

[Judge Red]

It is going to be so awkward when he does his SUIII celebration to silence or booing in front of the Stretford end next season IF he stays.

Nah, Old Trafford will be like Coleen Rooney after Wayne says ‘sowwy, this is absolutely the last time, I pwomiss’.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Thing is, I don't even want him back, but we're already low on attacking players and if we agree to let him go, we'll need to sign at least two players.

As a quick fix, I'd say Depay, who is much more suited to playing false 9 role than Ronaldo, which is clearly how ten Hag wants to play his striker. See Martial during pre season.

Get Depay and Antony, get rid of Ronaldo and Bobs you uncle (or aunt).

 

[JB7]

Nah, Old Trafford will be like Coleen Rooney after Wayne says ‘sowwy, this is absolutely the last time, I pwomiss’.

I know right, proper weird the crowd actually celebrating a goal rather than booing the player who scored it isn't it?

 

[Sammy McIlroys fan club]

I know he is not the most popular but I think he's great. He can finish and works very hard (at least when I see him), I think it would be decent if we could shift Ronaldo to them and take Griezman but think his wages are mental

Is Griezman on more than Ronaldos £320-450k per week? Really?
At this stage in their respective careers I would swap Griezeman for Ronaldo for a year. Griezeman in a world cup year will be well up for it. He may not be well up for joining Utd though

 

[McGrathsipan]

I think hes played his last match for United.

Im actually astonished he hasnt come back for pre season.

I dont think ETH cares for him much anyway ,he doesnt seem to bothered

 

[spiriticon]

It's crazy that he's going to miss almost all of preseason.

I don't know what mad personal routine he is doing, but he better come back match fit.

 

[troylocker]

Why wouldn't the team become better overall? Ten Hag is an actual coach & manager, not a mascot like Ole. There seems to be some hivemind thought process that has convinced itself that Ronaldo somehow made the team bad, despite him creating chances for the other forwards, holding up the ball & showing good link-up play on top of scoring regularly. Ronaldo put chances on a plate for players like Sancho & Rashford last season & they missed sitters, would they have scored if it wasn't Ronaldo that passed the ball to them? I doubt that very much.

Because it is impossible to play ETH-football with a striker that does not press and wants to be the focal point of all moves forward. Ronaldo had the lowest pressing numbers in all the top 5 leagues last season. Of the 800+ midfielders and attackers in the top 5 leagues with more than 500 minutes last season he was rock bottom of the list at pressings/90. Putting him in the 1 percentile group for pressings/90 is actually an insult to the other 12 players in the group, because he was in the 0,1 percentile, alone. It's not possible for any modern progressive team to function well with a player like that on the pitch against top opposition. Not in any scenarios, except in your dreams maybe.
Ronaldo spent the first 3/4 of the season being the most wastefull player in our team, remember when he, in a 3 months period from December to March, scored 2 open play goals from 49 shots (in 14 games) + 1 missed and 1 scored penalty. He missed sitters every other week. His only assist in that period was a bad first touch picked up by McTom as well. Ronaldo's teammates scored 1,42 goals less than expected from Ronaldo passes last season in total. 1,42! That Sancho, Rashford and Bruno missed a couple of sitters is nothing compared to that period for Ronaldo. When he at the same time contributes zero to the collective and throws his arms in the air every time he makes a run and doesn't receive the ball, the net negative will always be huge, no matter how many goals he scores. We scored 0,42 goals less and conceded 0,35 goals more per match (0,77 goals worse goaldiff per match) in the PL last season compared to the season before. Not one non-goalkeeper player improved with his presence in the club, quite the opposite. Everyone got worse. His "elite mentality" didn't rub off. We changed the way we played when he arrived and every measurable team metric got worse as soon at the same time (chances created, chances conceded, possession, counters taken, in which areas we won possession/lost possession, etc.).
This is of course also why we have a hard time getting rid of him now. Hopefully he'll take a massive paycut and some team will bite, but I doubt very much it'll be title contenders in any of the top 5 leagues.

 

[pocco]

Because it is impossible to play ETH-football with a striker that does not press and wants to be the focal point of all moves forward. Ronaldo had the lowest pressing numbers in all the top 5 leagues last season. Of the 800+ midfielders and attackers in the top 5 leagues with more than 500 minutes last season he was rock bottom of the list at pressings/90. Putting him in the 1 percentile group for pressings/90 is actually an insult to the other 12 players in the group, because he was in the 0,1 percentile, alone. It's not possible for any modern progressive team to function well with a player like that on the pitch against top opposition. Not in any scenarios, except in your dreams maybe.
Ronaldo spent the first 3/4 of the season being the most wastefull player in our team, remember when he, in a 3 months period from December to March, scored 2 open play goals from 49 shots (in 14 games) + 1 missed and 1 scored penalty. He missed sitters every other week. His only assist in that period was a bad first touch picked up by McTom as well. Ronaldo's teammates scored 1,42 goals less than expected from Ronaldo passes last season in total. 1,42! That Sancho, Rashford and Bruno missed a couple of sitters is nothing compared to that period for Ronaldo. When he at the same time contributes zero to the collective and throws his arms in the air every time he makes a run and doesn't receive the ball, the net negative will always be huge, no matter how many goals he scores. We scored 0,42 goals less and conceded 0,35 goals more per match (0,77 goals worse goaldiff per match) in the PL last season compared to the season before. Not one non-goalkeeper player improved with his presence in the club, quite the opposite. Everyone got worse. His "elite mentality" didn't rub off. We changed the way we played when he arrived and every measurable team metric got worse as soon as he arrived (chances created, chances conceded, possession, counters taken, in which areas we won possession/lost possession, etc.).
This is of course also why we have a hard time getting rid of him now. Hopefully he'll take a massive paycut and some team will bite, but I doubt very much it'll be title contenders in any of the top 5 leagues.

Well said, particularly about the pressing. If you want to play like ETH, high defensive line and high press, then your striker simply has to press well and cut off passes once the opposition move the ball from keeper to one side of the pitch. The striker is key to the press as they almost shepherd the opposition into an area and set the trap for their teammates to then swarm the ball at one side of the pitch. If your striker doesn't press then the whole thing falls apart. Many teams in the PL are very able now at moving the ball around from the back and they will find that spare man or the opening every time if the striker doesn't do his job,

 

[royboy16]

It is going to be so awkward when he does his SUIII celebration to silence or booing in front of the Stretford end next season IF he stays.

The Suii will probably sound like a loud Boo

 

[Teja]

Is that even possible given he's already on loan in Atletico

What! His still on Barca’s books?

Barca did some creative accounting here to make it happen is my understanding. I thought Atleti still had the obligation to buy and he wasn't on loan anymore?

 

[The Corinthian]

He’s taking us for ride to be honest.

He’s going to miss all of preseason and therefore the first month of the season. He’ll come in for appearances here and there in Sept and Oct, playing at 50% capacity as he wants to save himself for the World Cup.

 

[Smores]

Because it is impossible to play ETH-football with a striker that does not press and wants to be the focal point of all moves forward. Ronaldo had the lowest pressing numbers in all the top 5 leagues last season. Of the 800+ midfielders and attackers in the top 5 leagues with more than 500 minutes last season he was rock bottom of the list at pressings/90. Putting him in the 1 percentile group for pressings/90 is actually an insult to the other 12 players in the group, because he was in the 0,1 percentile, alone. It's not possible for any modern progressive team to function well with a player like that on the pitch against top opposition. Not in any scenarios, except in your dreams maybe.
Ronaldo spent the first 3/4 of the season being the most wastefull player in our team, remember when he, in a 3 months period from December to March, scored 2 open play goals from 49 shots (in 14 games) + 1 missed and 1 scored penalty. He missed sitters every other week. His only assist in that period was a bad first touch picked up by McTom as well. Ronaldo's teammates scored 1,42 goals less than expected from Ronaldo passes last season in total. 1,42! That Sancho, Rashford and Bruno missed a couple of sitters is nothing compared to that period for Ronaldo. When he at the same time contributes zero to the collective and throws his arms in the air every time he makes a run and doesn't receive the ball, the net negative will always be huge, no matter how many goals he scores. We scored 0,42 goals less and conceded 0,35 goals more per match (0,77 goals worse goaldiff per match) in the PL last season compared to the season before. Not one non-goalkeeper player improved with his presence in the club, quite the opposite. Everyone got worse. His "elite mentality" didn't rub off. We changed the way we played when he arrived and every measurable team metric got worse as soon as he arrived (chances created, chances conceded, possession, counters taken, in which areas we won possession/lost possession, etc.).
This is of course also why we have a hard time getting rid of him now. Hopefully he'll take a massive paycut and some team will bite, but I doubt very much it'll be title contenders in any of the top 5 leagues.

A long rant to basically say we got worse last season so must have been Ronaldo. I thought we moved past the stupidity of that argument by the end of the season but now we're seeing it again and again as posters spit at their keyboards in a rage

It's amusing because the reality is the opposite. Ronaldo came too deep last season for ETH football, Haller is far more of a predator up top who waits for the ball to be delivered. Ronaldo can without a doubt replicate Hallers role he just can't do it every game as his legs are gone.

He'll be off anyway but if he stays some of you are going to look stupid (again).

 

[Teja]

Will be really nice if we can manage to get rid and sign Antony as a result. We'll have great attacking options if we do that: LW (Rashford / Elanga), RW (Sancho / Antony) and Forward (Martial / Rashford).

The way the accounting has been explained to me was that if someone pays a 15M transfer fee to us + takes his 25M in wages off the books, you can project that wage bill into the future (i.e., you're able to pay 25M now, so you'll be able to pay 25M in the following seasons as well).

So that's 15M + a typical contract length of 5 years = 5*25M available = 140M total for the next 5 years for fee + wages.

So that could potentially be a 60M fee +16M / yr (300k p/w) available for a new player. (Or some combination of that)

Appreciate it if someone could confirm the calculations.