[Nordmore]

Surprised at some of the comments on here, he was absolute gash. Couldn’t trap a ball all night long, wild shots at times - you could see the frustration in his face at his own performance

we will truly improve as a team once we realise he is well past his best, I fear though that he’s too big to be dropped

He scored so it's understandable that many praised him I think.

But tbh I don't rate his performance, still fecked up many basic things like touch and pass and missed hell of a sitter. He should definitely burry that chance. It's the least we should expect from him. With him our pressing was still basically non existent despite Cavani.

Anyway it's quite an improvement from the horror shows in the previous two matches I must say. At least he did look like somewhat a footballer. Probably because Burnley was so shit at defending and actually didn't care much about their defense in the second half so he had more time and space than usual.

His movements and scorer instinct are still top though. As showed in the second goal or the chance he missed. The goal was lucky but he didn't get offside which many strikers could easily to imo. But I do agree with you we'll generally be better without him and he should be used as a sub. He was the worst among the front four despite the G+A. I don't think he's good enough to start for us anymore or he must up his game considerably in the next matches. Because not every team is Burnley, unfortunately.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Its not a criticism but i think we need to find players with passes depending on their position on the pitch. There were moments when i thought Cavani or others were in better position but we went for Ronaldo.

Plus he needs to stop hitting free kick

 

[redcafe_reader]

He need to improve all the technical aspects quickly (finishing, passing etc), but I can't fault his work rate. Long may it continue.

 

[FattyFooty]

That get the ball to Ronaldo vid is really scary to watch.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

His age is showing so much. His reaction time has slowed down a lot which usually results in a bad first touch and gives the defender chance to get the ball or stop whatever he is trying to do.

Anyway he is still Ronaldo and even at his age he’s better than most strikers out there. He’s just been away so long that It is hard to accept that he isn’t the same player that we watched in his prime, young Ronnie would of had a hat trick last night.

 

[redcafe_reader]

His age is showing so much. His reaction time has slowed down a lot which usually results in a bad first touch and gives the defender chance to get the ball or stop whatever he is trying to do.

That's very spot on. Unfortunately I don't think he can improves much on that aspect so we need to find a way to play around that to utilize him, or finding new player to replace him in the near future.

 

[sewey89]

I cannot fathom how he seems to be getting more stick for his performance yesterday than Cavani is getting for his.

He was decent, looked up for it and put in a shift. Scored and got an assist, no matter how fortunate.

He has 14 goals so far this season and we're about half way through. Every chance he hits 30+

 

[Bwuk]

I cannot fathom how he seems to be getting more stick for his performance yesterday than Cavani is getting for his.

He was decent, looked up for it and put in a shift. Scored and got an assist, no matter how fortunate.

He has 14 goals so far this season and we're about half way through. Every chance he hits 30+

Agenda.

I agree with you. Last time we had someone hit over 30 in all comps was Rooney in 2011/12 - 10 years ago!

 

[Gehrman]

Looked lively. Fecked up his 1 vs 1. Got an easy tap in. His assist was a poor touch. Feels unfair to slate him but hardly a great performance. Was scolding himself when he fecked up his touch for a great chance.

 

[roonster09]

His technical skills have regressed, his first touch is like Lukaku's and also he takes poor touches to take the ball in his stride, which messes up chances.

Apart from all that, his movement is great and gets into good position so many times, so will always be a threat and always an option for player in possession to pick him.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

It’s a bit of a worry that he was dramatically worse than Rashford by every metric in our last match but still started this one. If Rashford was poor enough to deserve to be benched (and he was) then Ronaldo was even more deserving. If any team ever stops being a meritocracy it’s in deep shit

 

[Gehrman]

It’s a bit of a worry that he was dramatically worse than Rashford by every metric in our last match but still started this one. If Rashford was poor enough to deserve to be benched (and he was) then Ronaldo was even more deserving. If any team ever stops being a meritocracy it’s in deep shit

I guess it's the fact that he's our top goalscorer. And we don't know what happens in training.

 

[The Firestarter]

It’s a bit of a worry that he was dramatically worse than Rashford by every metric in our last match but still started this one. If Rashford was poor enough to deserve to be benched (and he was) then Ronaldo was even more deserving. If any team ever stops being a meritocracy it’s in deep shit

We had stopped that a long ago. Was hoping Ralf would change that, but what we see with Maguire and Ronaldo is not promising at all.

 

[captaincantona]

I cannot fathom how he seems to be getting more stick for his performance yesterday than Cavani is getting for his.

He was decent, looked up for it and put in a shift. Scored and got an assist, no matter how fortunate.

He has 14 goals so far this season and we're about half way through. Every chance he hits 30+

If you watch back you will see how many times our players looked for Ronaldo as opposed to Cavani. That’s a tough role for a player of Cavanis calibre but he sucks it up and puts in a shift without throwing his hands up when he doesn’t get the ball.

Ronny is scoring at the rate he is because our tactic in the final third is “find Ronaldo”. It also explains our almost complete lack of goals elsewhere in the frontline.

Ronny was poor yesterday but worked hard which was an excellent example for Greenwood and Sancho who seemed to follow suit somewhat. I’m not Bothered by his poor touches or wild shots cause on another day he scores a goal no one else in the squad could - more worried about how uncoordinated the press looks. He is trying but there seemed to be no cohesion up top...just players running a lot.

 

[redcafe_reader]

It’s a bit of a worry that he was dramatically worse than Rashford by every metric in our last match but still started this one. If Rashford was poor enough to deserve to be benched (and he was) then Ronaldo was even more deserving. If any team ever stops being a meritocracy it’s in deep shit

Picking player on merit doesn't mean "last match" but "last several matches" or "form", right? Also it depend on the replacement, we have Sancho or Greenwood to replace Rashford but who to replace Ronaldo?

 

[pascell]

If you watch back you will see how many times our players looked for Ronaldo as opposed to Cavani. That’s a tough role for a player of Cavanis calibre but he sucks it up and puts in a shift without throwing his hands up when he doesn’t get the ball.

Ronny is scoring at the rate he is because our tactic in the final third is “find Ronaldo”. It also explains our almost complete lack of goals elsewhere in the frontline.

Ronny was poor yesterday but worked hard which was an excellent example for Greenwood and Sancho who seemed to follow suit somewhat. I’m not Bothered by his poor touches or wild shots cause on another day he scores a goal no one else in the squad could - more worried about how uncoordinated the press looks. He is trying but there seemed to be no cohesion up top...just players running a lot.

Completely agree with the bolded and the main culprit of that is Bruno, hence why he's not influencing games as much anymore, he's hellbent on giving it Ronaldo all the time.

Greenwood is doing the right thing, either having a shot himself of playing it off Cavani too, we severely lack variety in our attacks.

Another thing that's annoying is pumping it long off goal kicks to have a flick on from Ronaldo, that's Big Sam and Tony Pulis football ffs.

Whatever happened to sticking to a system and weeding out the weak, or was it that too many of our squad are weak?

 

[Josh 76]

Only the Spurs game, but that shouldn't even count.

We didn't play well to end last season either though. Our issues aren't solely down to Ronaldo.

He has his issues though and I don't think we'll ever be a pressing side with him in the team. His attacking output(while still good/great) isn't worth the knock-on effect of him not being able to press.

It was always a nostalgia signing, but we'd probably be out of the CL group stages without his goals and his performances.

At the end of the season, if your statement read; “without his goals, we wouldn’t have WON the CL”, then I would understand.

Don’t think all the hassle is worth us just getting out of the CL group. (The teams in the group were shocking by the way).

 

[Pogue Mahone]

At the end of the season, if your statement read; “without his goals, we wouldn’t have WON the CL”, then I would understand.

Don’t think all the hassle is worth us just getting out of the CL group. (The teams in the group were shocking by the way).

The teams were shocking and we played badly against them. It was great seeing Ronaldo roll back the years to dig us out of the shit the way he did but you can’t really ignore that the reason we needed injury time heroics was because he was an integral part of a team that played badly against mediocre opponents. The same poor team performances that cost us in the league (minus his injury time goals)

 

[Bobade]

Worked hard, tried everything, very little came off for him. His touch was really poor. He was very frustrated.

Glad he got the goal, and that is what we need from, but should have scored more. Would like to see him used a bit more sparingly, but it's unlikely to happen.

 

[MrEleson]

It’s a bit of a worry that he was dramatically worse than Rashford by every metric in our last match but still started this one. If Rashford was poor enough to deserve to be benched (and he was) then Ronaldo was even more deserving. If any team ever stops being a meritocracy it’s in deep shit

Because it was one match.

 

[Adam-Utd]

So he is now criticized for doing something that he was criticized for not doing.

clearly there was a reason he never used to do it - he’s bloody rubbish at it.

His first touch is on par with Lukakus lately.

Worryingly even his goal scoring seems to be taking a dip, couldn’t believe he missed that early 1 on 1

 

[Mickson]

A tap-in and a bad touch led to a brilliant shot from McTominay and people are praising him like a God. Awful footballer nowadays and unwatchable at times. How anyone over 15 years of age can love him, I don't know. We haven't had a good game when he has played yet. The sooner we get rid, the better we can play.

 

[Red Rash]

Not a great overall performance but still he did what Ronaldo does and got a goal.

The good thing with Ronaldo is that he does what every good striker should do and gets himself into goalscoring positions even if he misses some of them.

At the end of the day he got a goal and assist but could have had a hat trick on another night.

Also he almost got another assist with the header back to Cavani.

I still get a nice feeling of nostalgia everytime he puts the ball in the back of the net

 

[Real Name]

Put in a shift, was decent, got a goal and an assist. Some moves didnt go of but nothing special and certainly not as dramatic as portrayed here.

 

[FattyFooty]

It’s a bit of a worry that he was dramatically worse than Rashford by every metric in our last match but still started this one. If Rashford was poor enough to deserve to be benched (and he was) then Ronaldo was even more deserving. If any team ever stops being a meritocracy it’s in deep shit

Rashford has been very weak, Ronaldo has atleast goals to back it up.

And this was the first time we played an funny half in a long time. It was a step up. We have many problems. Much sorting to do. But atleast we scored 3 goals. Our team certainly had more positives this time. Several players got dropped. And it was the right call.

Ronaldo wasnt at hes best. But he made 2 goal points, and when he gets more used to getting the ball from hes teammates he will get even more.

 

[Godfather]

It’s a bit of a worry that he was dramatically worse than Rashford by every metric in our last match but still started this one. If Rashford was poor enough to deserve to be benched (and he was) then Ronaldo was even more deserving. If any team ever stops being a meritocracy it’s in deep shit

Not sure about this one. Ronaldo had some good matches for us this season and actually worked his socks off yesterday. Can't remember the last good game Rashford had. Honestly can't. So dropping Rashford ahead of Ronaldo is justified. Now whether Ronaldo on his own deserves dropping is another question. It's not like we have another number 9 scoring for fun at the moment though. And that's the real issue. I'm not really happy with the options we have currently.

 

[RedRonaldo]

It’s a bit of a worry that he was dramatically worse than Rashford by every metric in our last match but still started this one. If Rashford was poor enough to deserve to be benched (and he was) then Ronaldo was even more deserving. If any team ever stops being a meritocracy it’s in deep shit

Not a good comparison. Rashford has been bloody awful lately and basically did feck all for as many games as I could remember, while Ronaldo is in poor form (together with the team), but he still score goals.

 

[Gehrman]

Not a good comparison. Rashford has been bloody awful lately and basically did feck all for as many games as I could remember, while Ronaldo is in poor form (together with the team), but he still score goals.

Despite pre-season boasting about our forward line, it's overall quite shit atm. If Sancho picks up we might start scoring more as a team as well. I'm always on the ropes with this version of Ronaldo. I for us getting him because he scores more goals than the other strikers in our team, yet he mostly hardly sets the world alight with the ball at his feet. His movement is still good, he is still fast for his age, but also he should be getting goals as our main striker. His last few games have been shit though but this gets masked over by an assist where he miscontrolled the ball and a tap in in front on an open net. Against Norwich he was gash as well but scored a penalty. However the whole team terrible mostly and I expect him to do better if the team manages to get on form.

 

[Jericho]

Agenda.

I agree with you. Last time we had someone hit over 30 in all comps was Rooney in 2011/12 - 10 years ago!

What agenda are you talking about? He missed a good few chances that he should be scoring. Simple as that.

For what it’s worth so think he did ok, definitely aided by having Cavani there with him. I think he’s a victim now of his own reputation a little bit. It’s often said he only needs a sniff of a goal to score, that he’ll score goals that others won’t/can’t, that’s why he needs to be on the pitch all the time. But he’s only human, he’s not going to score every time.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

Rashford has been very weak, Ronaldo has atleast goals to back it up.

And this was the first time we played an funny half in a long time. It was a step up. We have many problems. Much sorting to do. But atleast we scored 3 goals. Our team certainly had more positives this time. Several players got dropped. And it was the right call.

Ronaldo wasnt at hes best. But he made 2 goal points, and when he gets more used to getting the ball from hes teammates he will get even more.

What is Ronaldo at his best in his current guise?

 

[Gehrman]

What is Ronaldo at his best in his current guise?

Good question. The one who scored a nice volley?

 

[D. Grayson]

A tap-in and a bad touch led to a brilliant shot from McTominay and people are praising him like a God. Awful footballer nowadays and unwatchable at times. How anyone over 15 years of age can love him, I don't know. We haven't had a good game when he has played yet. The sooner we get rid, the better we can play.

Dead right, the guy has come in and completely disrupted the teams flow.

 

[He'sRaldo]

His movement is still good, he is still fast for his age, but also he should be getting goals as our main striker.

Generally speaking, every striker we've had since Lukaku has been starved for chances because we don't create a lot, so I wouldn't take for granted the fact that he scores often.

Looking at our options, I don't expect anyone else we put out there bar Cavani to have the movement and experience to score consistently.

 

[Gehrman]

Generally speaking, every striker we've had since Lukaku has been starved for chances because we don't create a lot, so I wouldn't take for granted the fact that he scores often.

Looking at our options, I don't expect anyone else we put out there bar Cavani to have the movement and experience to score consistently.

Could be, but then why on earth would be keep them?

 

[Nordmore]

Generally speaking, every striker we've had since Lukaku has been starved for chances because we don't create a lot

You sure about this?

Last season we ranked second in number of goals scored in the PL. If we didn't create a lot how did that happen? We also ranked second in the number of assits. I'd say if our strikers were a bit more clinical we'd have scored a lot more.

 

[Idxomer]

You sure about this?

Last season we ranked second in number of goals scored in the PL. If we didn't create a lot how did that happen? We also ranked second in the number of assits. I'd say if our strikers were a bit more clinical we'd have scored a lot more.

The stats don't agree, we outperformed our xG by 13 goals last season.

 

[Ixion]

You sure about this?

Last season we ranked second in number of goals scored in the PL. If we didn't create a lot how did that happen? We also ranked second in the number of assits.

Penalties which were scored the most in the league and the 9-0 result padding the numbers.

 

[Nordmore]

The stats don't agree, we outperformed our xG by 13 goals last season.

That's interesting. Last season I still remember the caf bashing Rashford and Martial for missing chance after chance.

Anyway we ranked 4th in xG so imo we can't say we didn't create a lot.

How could we outperformed our xG that much if we supposed to have such bad strikers? This is pretty interesting imo.

Penalties which were scored the most in the league and the 9-0 result padding the numbers.

The xG you mentioned already included the xG for the pens. I had a look at the npXG and we ranked 5th.

 

[Oly Francis]

That's interesting. Last season I still remember the caf bashing Rashford and Martial for missing chance after chance.

Anyway we ranked 4th in xG so imo we can't say we didn't create a lot.

How could we outperformed our xG that much if we supposed to have such bad strikers? This is pretty interesting imo.


The xG you mentioned already included the xG for the pens. I had a look at the npXG and we ranked 5th.

Martial was way under xG, Rashford was above :

 

[Idxomer]

That's interesting. Last season I still remember the caf bashing Rashford and Martial for missing chance after chance.

Anyway we ranked 4th in XG so imo we can't say we didn't create a lot.

Do you have an idea how could we outperformed our XG that much if we supposed to have such bad strikers?

Martial did underperform his xG and he lost most of what made him good in 19/20. Rashford had good output last season and most of the complaints were regarding his workrate and decision making.

We scored last season a lot of low percentage goals, those earned us a lot of points which is basically one of the main reasons we got second.

The xG you mentioned already included the xG for the pens. I had a look at the npXG and we ranked 5th.

How good were we really at creating if we were 5th behind Leeds in npXG?