Alex Ferguson filmed saying Ronaldo should have started

Bilbo

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A 36 year old player benched because he played a full 95 minutes 62 hours before? If this isn't news then I don't know what is.
 

quethenoo

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Nothing wrong with starting Cavani, he needs game time too and Ronaldo can't play them all. We should be able to beat Everton at home with the players we had out there. Some people complain when he doesn't use the squad and others when he does.
 

Bilbo

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Nothing wrong with starting Cavani, he needs game time too and Ronaldo can't play them all. We should be able to beat Everton at home with the players we had out there. Some people complain when he doesn't use the squad and others when he does.
Some people even manage to complain about both
 

Salwan

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Eh. We played better with Cavani on the pitch anyway, and looked markedly better when he came on in the Villarreal game too.
this 100%.

Our draw vs. Everton had nothing to do with Cavani getting the start a ronaldo sitting on the bench. If anything, one could argue in the completely opposite direction.
 

UnitedFire

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Eh. We played better with Cavani on the pitch anyway, and looked markedly better when he came on in the Villarreal game too.

This isn't the Ronaldo show, I'm already getting a bit tired of it. He can't expect to walk around the pitch for 80 minutes every game and throw his arms up like a diva anytime something bad happens. It's a team sport.
I agree with this. We were 1-0 up before Ronaldo came on.

When I used to play football and either start and go off or come on as a sub I always considered what the score was for the time I was on the pitch and what it was when I wasn't on it.

If Ronaldo is upset, he should be....with himself. He had a chance to score and win the match and he put it wide. Yes be annoyed with tactics too and chances, but the sub itself shouldn't be the focus. Yes maybe we could have been 2-0 up if Ronaldo was on all game, but maybe we'd have not gone 1 up.

This particular sub is not the key focus.
 

lysglimt

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The irony is - we were 1-0 up without Ronaldo ....

As for the always play the strongest players - that is a lot of crap and Ferguson rested key-players frequently. We didn't draw that game because Ronaldo didn't start.
 

Tincanalley

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Let’s just reappoint SAF. Then get Schmeikel out of retirement, and Beckham. We need you again, Scholes. Eric…? No problem, we can redesign the shirt collars
 

Oranges038

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Maybe he's just suggesting it would have been more than 1-0 had he started. Either way it's not because of Ronaldo playing or not that it finished 1-1.

I place most of the blame on Fred, AWB and Shaw for the goal.
 

Sviken

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People are defending Ole over SAF.... This is clown-tier. SAF never rested his key players in important games. You don't bench Ronaldo. You don't bench a guy that had scored 5 goals from 5 games. Cavani this, Cavani that, if Ole wasn't so hung up enough on his beloved 4-2-3-1 with McFred, they can both play in this team. Every rival fan is laughing at us and our manager and people here would jump at the first opportunity to defend him, even against SAF. It's mind-boggling to see.
 

Giggsy13

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He should hold himself to those same standards then. If you come onto the pitch and spend most of your time strolling around that bollocking holds less weight.
Don’t blame him when the service and tactics are shit. You want Ronaldo to play midfielder as well?
 

LARulz

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And if that winner is the 78 year old retired guy then you’ve got a problem. Because he’s the past, you’re supposed to be looking towards the future. Shades of Busby again, successors struggling under a massive shadow. Not good.
Whilst that is a fair point, the problem is putting the faith in Ole. Yes he has got this to a decent squad and generally improved the mood but honestly has shown nothing in terms of actual football to make anyone really believe we are moving forward in nearly 3 years. If we even saw a slight cohesive system then that's something.

I don't want to back Ole when I don't think he has shown enough to take us further forward. He has done well to get this far, but I can't see him taking us further
 

Noc-Z

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I don't know that there was any real agenda to what he was saying, it was just an opinion shared privately - on that note why are people constantly filming everything these days?!
And regarding the omission of Ronaldo - I don't think it had a big impact on the result - we were winning when he came on weren't we?
Of course, we will never know how the game would have gone if he had started. He might have scored a double and put the game beyond Everton, we'll never know. I think that's what Sir Alex was alluding to - start with your best players and put the game to bed. But looking at the game I think Ronaldo/Cavani starting didn't really have a big impact on the result. Fred not taking car of business was the big problem!

For the record - I would have started Ronaldo!
 

Giggsy13

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People are defending Ole over SAF.... This is clown-tier. SAF never rested his key players in important games. You don't bench Ronaldo. You don't bench a guy that had scored 5 goals from 5 games. Cavani this, Cavani that, if Ole wasn't so hung up enough on his beloved 4-2-3-1 with McFred, they can both play in this team. Every rival fan is laughing at us and our manager and people here would jump at the first opportunity to defend him, even against SAF. It's mind-boggling to see.
The whataboutism from the Ole in brigade is comical. “What about Fergie, he rotated too”. Really, before an international break when 3 points could potentially take us joint top of the league?
 

justsomebloke

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Ronaldo may be a physical machine, but he is also 36, and cannot possibly be playing every PL and CL game. And he played the full game less than three days previously. AND he got brought on with more than half an hour to go. I really don't think that was a strange decision.
 

CM10

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Don’t blame him when the service and tactics are shit. You want Ronaldo to play midfielder as well?
No, we lack quality and control in midfield too and that's another problem.

It makes it even more imperative you have players willing to work out of possession though, and Ronaldo simply isn't. That's not entirely his fault because that's never been his forte, but it certainly contributes to why we look so ineffective.

If that means there are games where Ronaldo is on the bench, so be it. I dread to think what would happen if we attempted to carry passengers like that against the likes of Liverpool.
 

Sviken

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Rooney, Hernandez, , Vidic, VDS and Evra were not key players under Fergie? In a cup game that is a pretty strong team in itself. In comparison to what Ole started ina cup game:


Virtually all except Sancho who is still adapting to the PL are bench warmers.
 

Solius

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Rooney, Hernandez, , Vidic, VDS and Evra were not key players under Fergie? In a cup game that is a pretty strong team in itself. In comparison to what Ole started ina cup game:


Virtually all except Sancho who is still adapting to the PL are bench warmers.
I didn't say he didn't use key players. Just that he didn't play his strongest team, and sometimes you shouldn't need to.
 

RORY65

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The fact that apparently we can't beat a depleted Everton side at home without starting a 36 year old striker, who we had no intention of signing until late in the window (because we didn't want him going to City), is more of an issue than the team selection itself. It's pretty disingenuous of Ferguson though, he rotated his squad relentlessly including in much bigger games than a home league game in early October. I mean he didn't start Cole, Yorke or Giggs in the '99 semi final replay for instance (Scholes also didn't start but he tended to be on the bench more often in the big games than the other three).
 

Sviken

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I didn't say he didn't use key players. Just that he didn't play his strongest team, and sometimes you shouldn't need to.
In PL games? What are we fighting for here? Top 4 finish? And even that is not all that secure, tbh. Thank God Arsenal have a clueless manager as ours and Tottenham are just fecking shit otherwise we'd be in trouble.
 

Offsideagain

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The point SAF was making, if it is true what he said, is that rating Ronaldo gave Everton a lift. It would have been wiser to start him and then bring Cavani on sometime in the second half to run at the Everton defence. When Rashford is back, it will be even harder to satisfy all of them. What about a Sancho, Greenwood, Ronaldo, Rashford front four with Cavani and Martial as subs? As for Ronaldo allegedly causing problems, I did wonder last year when a rumour started about him coming back if it would be a good thing politics wise.
 

Solius

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In PL games? What are we fighting for here? Top 4 finish? And even that is not all that secure, tbh. Thank God Arsenal have a clueless manager as ours and Tottenham are just fecking shit otherwise we'd be in trouble.
Yeah. You think Fergie played his strongest XI in every PL game? It's just a fact that he didn't. I'm not even saying it's wrong, rotation is important.
 

Andersonson

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SAF should've actaully kept his mouth shut.

Doesnt matter if he's right or not, stirring up unnecessary headlines when there's pressure on the manager isnt " the united way "
 

Sviken

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Yeah. You think Fergie played his strongest XI in every PL game? It's just a fact that he didn't. I'm not even saying it's wrong, rotation is important.
Barring injuries and the title not decided? I can't think of one time he rotated his best players. It would have had have been some very important CL game or something.

SAF should've actaully hold his mouth shut.

Doesnt matter if he's right or not, stirring up unnecessary headlines when there's pressure on the manager isnt " the united way "
Hope this is a joke. And can anyone please explain to me this mythical "United way" I keep hearing about?
 

11101

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He is backing himself into a corner. Ronaldo should have been rested against Villareal, because we should have beaten Young Boys. Then he would be fresh for Everton. These inane decisions Ole makes compound themselves over time and put him under undue pressure.
 

Solius

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Barring injuries and the title not decided? I can't think of one time he rotated his best players. It would have had have been some very important CL game or something.


Hope this is a joke. And can anyone please explain to me this mythical "United way" I keep hearing about?
Ole rotated one player as well. He played the rest of his big hitters.

Direct quote from Fergie too:

"Not everyone agrees and there are some fans who want me to play my best team every game," says Ferguson. "But if I could sit down with them and explain the number of miles the players are running in every match, the intensity, the speed, the number of times they have to sprint, they would maybe realise how difficult it is."
Link if you want - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2009/may/13/alex-ferguson-rotation-manchester-united
 

Luke1995

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Ronaldo usually scores more goals in the first half than in the second, right ? Start him every game and sub him later. Solved.
 

sugar_kane

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I think most people would agree that Ronaldo cannot play every game, but in this particular case there was an international break coming up, affording ample opportunity for recovery. Whether or not, regardless of fitness, he should generally be starting ahead of Cavani, is a slightly different point about which reasonable people can disagree.

I'm not sure how you connect the Ronaldo and VdB issues though - they do not compete for a starting spot with one another.
My point re: DVB is that people are complaining about a lack of squad rotation limiting his game time, whereas we also have people complaining when we do rotate (the Ronaldo situation). Basically, whatever Ole does he will be criticised even if it's for completely opposing reasons.

With regards to the international break, Portugal have 2 games in 4 days so not sure how this constitutes recovery for Ronaldo who will probably play both games.
 

Foxbatt

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Yes but Fergie can do whatever he wants because any player he puts in comes and does his job as he had a set structure in the way United play. Plus he normally wins at the end of the season.
This is the point made is how awful is our coaching? It shows that the two Silvas can come into midfield and do the job just as any other regular midfield player. It's simply great coaching at that time by United.
Are we saying that when Ronaldo was brought in, that he didn't have a clue?
 

red4ever 79

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SAF should've actaully kept his mouth shut.

Doesnt matter if he's right or not, stirring up unnecessary headlines when there's pressure on the manager isnt " the united way "
Your not campaigning in the UK right now with the insulation gang by any chance are you?