That's the thing though, you can't take the emotion out of the discussion, because judging somebody a legend is an emotional decision in the first place. Without emotion, you're down to pure statistics in judging who is a legend and who isn't, and then this entire thread is superfluous. There are plenty of club legends who, by pure numbers, shouldn't be one, and others who should be one of the clubs biggest legends and aren't. All the numbers will do you no good in giving you legendary status if you are just not held in that much esteem by the fans. It is more than just pure metrics and achievements.
Emotionional connection and esteem are an integral part of the discussion whether or not somebody is a legend or not. And Ronaldo simply burned a lot of that esteem with his second tenure at United. Understandably so, his play was often substandard and listless by his standards, his conduct not rarely utterly unbecoming, and I don't think we need to talk about the way his story at United ended. A lot of fans were very fed up with him, both in regards to his play and his personality, and I'd say for good reason. And that of course would overshadow is outstanding first stint at United for many, you cannot erase that out of the picture that is "Ronaldo at United", just like his lacklustre second stint cannot erase how outstanding his first one was. They're both part of it. And it would seem for a decent percentage of fans that ruins their overall view of the player enough to push him out of legend status for them.
Coming back at 37 and being the only player who performed in that first season? The entire season was an abomination. And that overshadows three years of watching the best player in the world play for us, three years of one of the most outrageous young players to play for us, being the key player in a side winning three league titles on the bounce for only the second time, only the third CL, 7 trophies in six years….we’ve won as many in the 15 years since he first left in 09. Winning the Balon Dor only the fourth player to play for us to win it after the holy trinity.
You’re claiming football is made up of emotion and statistics alone. Utter nonsense.
Pperformances, match winning moments, BIG match winners, dragging a team to success with the sheer weight of a player’s contribution, impact, impact of the loss of the player, sheer magic and world class performances, being talismanic.
All of those things apply and are not eradicated by coming back at 37 for 18 months anymore than Schmeichel playing for City for 18 months should have any impact on what he did at United. Or Rooney twice trying his best, disrespecting his teammates and manager, to get out of the club, playing like a 37 year old Ronaldo at 27. Still a legend for his achievements and outstanding contribution. Keane holding the club to ransom for personal gain and being virtually sacked for misconduct . I don’t have to like a complete stranger to value what they did for the club and their impact on the global stature and trophy haul.
Keane’s last two seasons at United held us back as he couldn’t get around the pitch. We had to play another player next to him just to run for him. Rooneys last 3/4 seasons were pretty dire to say the least and he became a problem. Players get older, players ask to leave, sometimes clubs don’t allow it and sometimes the player manages to get his way.
Id say you’d have to want to find a reason not to say Ronaldo, perhaps our best ever player, isn’t a legend of the club, given how talismanic he was and influential to our success. I’d be suprised if a lot of the people saying so, don’t have their reasoning rooted from early on in his first stint and always struggled with how great Ronaldo actually became.