[I'm David Moyes damnit]

What left is there to say? The guy is a liability. We need to play Rashford as striker till the end of the season. Ronaldo was never a central striker to begin with.

Ronaldo is more of a CF than Rashford, plus Rashford has been largely awful for quite some time now (much worse season than Ronaldo). He’s absolutely not the answer.

 

[jm99]

What left is there to say? The guy is a liability. We need to play Rashford as striker till the end of the season. Ronaldo was never a central striker to begin with.

Definitely a good idea, drop the guy who's scored 15 goals this season for the guy that's scored 5

 

[Ali Dia]

What left is there to say? The guy is a liability. We need to play Rashford as striker till the end of the season. Ronaldo was never a central striker to begin with.

Thats a pretty strange take I have to say

 

[KennyBurner]

Ronaldo is more of a CF than Rashford, plus Rashford has been largely awful for quite some time now (much worse season than Ronaldo). He’s absolutely not the answer.

Definitely a good idea, drop the guy who's scored 15 goals this season for the guy that's scored 5

Im not sure we are all watching the same games. Ronaldo is like a corpse out there. No movement or activity from him. As bad as Rashford has been this season I have no doubt he would do much better than Ronaldo. I’m very critical of Rashford and don’t think he is the answer but both him and Elanga will do a much better job leading the line.

 

[Grande]

Im not sure we are all watching the same games. Ronaldo is like a corpse out there. No movement or activity from him. As bad as Rashford has been this season I have no doubt he would do much better than Ronaldo. I’m very critical of Rashford and don’t think he is the answer but both him and Elanga will do a much better job leading the line.

I’m not watching the same game as you. I think you’re watching Night of the Living Dead.

 

[RuudtheRed]

He was ok. I think he's not as clinical / prolific as he used to be and has lost half a yard of pace, but at least he is getting into positions to score.

I'm sure Ronaldo is even more frustrated with himself missing chances than any of us are. Hopefully he can turn it up in the next few games to come

 

[Freak]

It’s strange how he keeps missing chances that he would have been putting away easily before.

 

[troylocker]

Definitely a good idea, drop the guy who's scored 15 goals this season for the guy that's scored 5

Rashford has 2 non penalty goals from 204 minutes (102 minutes/goal) playing CF this season, Ronaldo has 13 non penalty goals from 2328 minutes (179 minutes/goal) playing CF.
Since 20/9 Ronaldo has 4 non penalty goals in 1566 minutes (392 minutes/goal) in the PL.

Ronaldo's career record against the top 3:
City: 5 goals and 2 assists in 15 games
Liverpool: 3 goals and 2 assists in 13 games
Chelsea: 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games
Total: 9 goals and 6 assists in 44 games - 0,20 goals/game - 0,34 goals+assists/game

Rashy against top 3:
City: 4 goals and 1 assist in 14 games
Liverpool: 5 goals and 1 assist in 12 games
Chelsea: 5 goals and 3 assists in 14 games
Total: 14 goals and 5 assists in 40 games - 0,35 goals/game - 0,48 goals+assists/game

Definitely a good idea, keep playing the 37 year old who doesn't score, doesn't press and offers extremely little besides poacher movement when we have the ball. Especially considering that our entire midfield and attack has to put in extra shifts to cover for him defensively and the fact that stats show that we in general create more chances and concede fewer chances without him on the pitch.....

Some key numbers from yesterdays match against our dream-opponent:
We made a total of 45 pressings in the final 3rd - Ronaldo made 3 of those - Fernandes made 13.....
Our midfield and attack made a total of 119 pressings - Ronaldo made 4 of those - Fernandes made 28....
We made a total of 57 succesful pressings - Ronaldo made 1 of those......
Out of the 15 successful dribble we made, Ronaldo made 0
Out of the 39 progressive carries we made, Ronaldo made 2 - Sancho made 9
Out of the 14 carries we made into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 5
Out of the 7 carries we made into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 3
Ronaldo was the player that was targeted the 2nd most in our team with passes - 41 times (Only Sancho was targeted more often with 47) - 20 (49%) of those passes ended with us losing possession.
Loss of possession for passes targeting other players: Lindgard 43%, Elanga 29%, Fernandes 20%, Sancho 19%, Pogba 15%, McFred 7%.
We made 14 key passes, Ronaldo made 2 of them.
We completed 26 passes into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 1 of them.
We completed 8 passes into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 of them.
Ronaldo had 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, was our only player going off-side (twice), was the starting player with the fewest ballrecoveries (4 our of 99)

Yes, he did have the pre-pre-assist to the 3rd goal, but what did he actually do in yesterdays match to justify a starting spot and his wages?

I'd rather play an out of form Rashford (that is a part of our future) into form than playing the 37 year old myself.

 

[philipos]

I thought his all round play yesterday was better than it had been for a while. Not saying it was great but better. Expecting him to improve over the coming weeks.

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

Im not sure we are all watching the same games. Ronaldo is like a corpse out there. No movement or activity from him. As bad as Rashford has been this season I have no doubt he would do much better than Ronaldo. I’m very critical of Rashford and don’t think he is the answer but both him and Elanga will do a much better job leading the line.

This is just not true at all. I think Ronaldo can be criticised a lot for not pressing but this idea that he is not making runs is absolutely ridiculous & completely false. In fact forget about just focusing on him I can say that every game the commentators mention that Ronaldo made a run but not spotted

 

[Mac1997]

Im not sure we are all watching the same games. Ronaldo is like a corpse out there. No movement or activity from him. As bad as Rashford has been this season I have no doubt he would do much better than Ronaldo. I’m very critical of Rashford and don’t think he is the answer but both him and Elanga will do a much better job leading the line.

Thank God you are not the manager, what a simply awful and completely clueless idea.

 

[Skyhightrees]

The good thing is that no matter how much clueless stuff is spewed here, Ronaldo is on the team sheet everytime.

He's been out of form, but slowly getting better, having better link-up, scoring (last game), yesterday he was anonymous, yet created a chance for Sancho and was part of the third goal. Not anywhere enough for Ronaldo's reputation but was solid at times.

Then clowns come here spam Finished. I say cry more about it, he will still be playing.

Remember when everytime the team was bad it was his fault? Well the team is playing better with him on the pitch, in his "bad" CF position.

 

[Idxomer]

His stats for the game yesterday are pitiful and show how little he offers to the team in general.

 

[DWelbz19]

This man lives for the CL. If he can’t pull back the years against Atletico then he's definitely done.

 

[Adam-Utd]

It’s strange how he keeps missing chances that he would have been putting away easily before.

That's the worrying thing for me.

I can handle him not pressing, I can handle him not making 100 runs off the ball like Jamie Vardy.

But missing tap ins, headers, hitting shots straight at the keeper? why exactly are we playing him if he's not even going to take his chances.

 

[Swoobs]

Rashford has 2 non penalty goals from 204 minutes (102 minutes/goal) playing CF this season, Ronaldo has 13 non penalty goals from 2328 minutes (179 minutes/goal) playing CF.
Since 20/9 Ronaldo has 4 non penalty goals in 1566 minutes (392 minutes/goal) in the PL.

Ronaldo's career record against the top 3:
City: 5 goals and 2 assists in 15 games
Liverpool: 3 goals and 2 assists in 13 games
Chelsea: 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games
Total: 9 goals and 6 assists in 44 games - 0,20 goals/game - 0,34 goals+assists/game

Rashy against top 3:
City: 4 goals and 1 assist in 14 games
Liverpool: 5 goals and 1 assist in 12 games
Chelsea: 5 goals and 3 assists in 14 games
Total: 14 goals and 5 assists in 40 games - 0,35 goals/game - 0,48 goals+assists/game

Definitely a good idea, keep playing the 37 year old who doesn't score, doesn't press and offers extremely little besides poacher movement when we have the ball. Especially considering that our entire midfield and attack has to put in extra shifts to cover for him defensively and the fact that stats show that we in general create more chances and concede fewer chances without him on the pitch.....

Some key numbers from yesterdays match against our dream-opponent:
We made a total of 45 pressings in the final 3rd - Ronaldo made 3 of those - Fernandes made 13.....
Our midfield and attack made a total of 119 pressings - Ronaldo made 4 of those - Fernandes made 28....
We made a total of 57 succesful pressings - Ronaldo made 1 of those......
Out of the 15 successful dribble we made, Ronaldo made 0
Out of the 39 progressive carries we made, Ronaldo made 2 - Sancho made 9
Out of the 14 carries we made into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 5
Out of the 7 carries we made into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 3
Ronaldo was the player that was targeted the 2nd most in our team with passes - 41 times (Only Sancho was targeted more often with 47) - 20 (49%) of those passes ended with us losing possession.
Loss of possession for passes targeting other players: Lindgard 43%, Elanga 29%, Fernandes 20%, Sancho 19%, Pogba 15%, McFred 7%.
We made 14 key passes, Ronaldo made 2 of them.
We completed 26 passes into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 1 of them.
We completed 8 passes into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 of them.
Ronaldo had 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, was our only player going off-side (twice), was the starting player with the fewest ballrecoveries (4 our of 99)

Yes, he did have the pre-pre-assist to the 3rd goal, but what did he actually do in yesterdays match to justify a starting spot and his wages?

I'd rather play an out of form Rashford (that is a part of our future) into form than playing the 37 year old myself.

This is going to reality check many defenders here. I was thinking myself, if you take those pens away and gave it to bruno, would bruno scored more (didnt check, probably not but probably close)

 

[KennyBurner]

This man lives for the CL. If he can’t pull back the years against Atletico then he's definitely done.

We both know nothing extraordinary will happen against athletico. Ronaldo has always been consistent most of his career. His recent terrible performances will continue tomorrow. We need activity upfront and Rangnick needs to make the adjustment.

 

[#07]

This man lives for the CL. If he can’t pull back the years against Atletico then he's definitely done.

Ronaldo hat-trick incoming...

He's missed some sitters lately but in the Champions League he's a different animal. Its as if the Champions League theme song puts him into the zone or something.

 

[captaincantona]

Rashford has 2 non penalty goals from 204 minutes (102 minutes/goal) playing CF this season, Ronaldo has 13 non penalty goals from 2328 minutes (179 minutes/goal) playing CF.
Since 20/9 Ronaldo has 4 non penalty goals in 1566 minutes (392 minutes/goal) in the PL.

Ronaldo's career record against the top 3:
City: 5 goals and 2 assists in 15 games
Liverpool: 3 goals and 2 assists in 13 games
Chelsea: 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games
Total: 9 goals and 6 assists in 44 games - 0,20 goals/game - 0,34 goals+assists/game

Rashy against top 3:
City: 4 goals and 1 assist in 14 games
Liverpool: 5 goals and 1 assist in 12 games
Chelsea: 5 goals and 3 assists in 14 games
Total: 14 goals and 5 assists in 40 games - 0,35 goals/game - 0,48 goals+assists/game

Definitely a good idea, keep playing the 37 year old who doesn't score, doesn't press and offers extremely little besides poacher movement when we have the ball. Especially considering that our entire midfield and attack has to put in extra shifts to cover for him defensively and the fact that stats show that we in general create more chances and concede fewer chances without him on the pitch.....

Some key numbers from yesterdays match against our dream-opponent:
We made a total of 45 pressings in the final 3rd - Ronaldo made 3 of those - Fernandes made 13.....
Our midfield and attack made a total of 119 pressings - Ronaldo made 4 of those - Fernandes made 28....
We made a total of 57 succesful pressings - Ronaldo made 1 of those......
Out of the 15 successful dribble we made, Ronaldo made 0
Out of the 39 progressive carries we made, Ronaldo made 2 - Sancho made 9
Out of the 14 carries we made into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 5
Out of the 7 carries we made into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 3
Ronaldo was the player that was targeted the 2nd most in our team with passes - 41 times (Only Sancho was targeted more often with 47) - 20 (49%) of those passes ended with us losing possession.
Loss of possession for passes targeting other players: Lindgard 43%, Elanga 29%, Fernandes 20%, Sancho 19%, Pogba 15%, McFred 7%.
We made 14 key passes, Ronaldo made 2 of them.
We completed 26 passes into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 1 of them.
We completed 8 passes into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 of them.
Ronaldo had 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, was our only player going off-side (twice), was the starting player with the fewest ballrecoveries (4 our of 99)

Yes, he did have the pre-pre-assist to the 3rd goal, but what did he actually do in yesterdays match to justify a starting spot and his wages?

I'd rather play an out of form Rashford (that is a part of our future) into form than playing the 37 year old myself.

Excellent in providing some much needed context to the sweeping “Ronaldo is playing better the last few games” narrative.

A blind man could have seen this coming.

 

[KennyBurner]

Rashford has 2 non penalty goals from 204 minutes (102 minutes/goal) playing CF this season, Ronaldo has 13 non penalty goals from 2328 minutes (179 minutes/goal) playing CF.
Since 20/9 Ronaldo has 4 non penalty goals in 1566 minutes (392 minutes/goal) in the PL.

Ronaldo's career record against the top 3:
City: 5 goals and 2 assists in 15 games
Liverpool: 3 goals and 2 assists in 13 games
Chelsea: 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games
Total: 9 goals and 6 assists in 44 games - 0,20 goals/game - 0,34 goals+assists/game

Rashy against top 3:
City: 4 goals and 1 assist in 14 games
Liverpool: 5 goals and 1 assist in 12 games
Chelsea: 5 goals and 3 assists in 14 games
Total: 14 goals and 5 assists in 40 games - 0,35 goals/game - 0,48 goals+assists/game

Definitely a good idea, keep playing the 37 year old who doesn't score, doesn't press and offers extremely little besides poacher movement when we have the ball. Especially considering that our entire midfield and attack has to put in extra shifts to cover for him defensively and the fact that stats show that we in general create more chances and concede fewer chances without him on the pitch.....

Some key numbers from yesterdays match against our dream-opponent:
We made a total of 45 pressings in the final 3rd - Ronaldo made 3 of those - Fernandes made 13.....
Our midfield and attack made a total of 119 pressings - Ronaldo made 4 of those - Fernandes made 28....
We made a total of 57 succesful pressings - Ronaldo made 1 of those......
Out of the 15 successful dribble we made, Ronaldo made 0
Out of the 39 progressive carries we made, Ronaldo made 2 - Sancho made 9
Out of the 14 carries we made into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 5
Out of the 7 carries we made into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 3
Ronaldo was the player that was targeted the 2nd most in our team with passes - 41 times (Only Sancho was targeted more often with 47) - 20 (49%) of those passes ended with us losing possession.
Loss of possession for passes targeting other players: Lindgard 43%, Elanga 29%, Fernandes 20%, Sancho 19%, Pogba 15%, McFred 7%.
We made 14 key passes, Ronaldo made 2 of them.
We completed 26 passes into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 1 of them.
We completed 8 passes into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 of them.
Ronaldo had 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, was our only player going off-side (twice), was the starting player with the fewest ballrecoveries (4 our of 99)

Yes, he did have the pre-pre-assist to the 3rd goal, but what did he actually do in yesterdays match to justify a starting spot and his wages?

I'd rather play an out of form Rashford (that is a part of our future) into form than playing the 37 year old myself.

Good post. It should be pinned so everyone can read how detrimental he is to the team Currently. Rashford is in terrible form right now but we need the body. We are playing with 10 men out there. Even Elanga would be fine.

 

[DJ_21]

Starting to think we would be much better without him. Yes he’s bailed us out a few times with some crucial goals but it’s not what we need for the long term, I think we need a quick young striker and play a fluid front 3 alongside rashford/sancho… our next manager will hopefully be someone that likes to press and will like a lot of movement in his front line and Ronaldo doesn’t offer us that.

 

[Swoobs]

We both know nothing extraordinary will happen against athletico. Ronaldo has always been consistent most of his career. His recent terrible performances will continue tomorrow. We need activity upfront and Rangnick needs to make the adjustment.

Oh don’t bet on that. As bad as Ronaldo has been, Oblak is even worse than that. A save % of low 20s is easy meat for any team which is creating decent amount of chances

 

[captaincantona]

Thank God you are not the manager, what a simply awful and completely clueless idea.

Why is that a bad idea? What is Ronaldo giving us currently? What, if he stays, will he offer next season? We have lost Greenwood and are losing Martial and Cavani in the summer.

We desperately need a pair of midfielders as well as most probably a CB. Even if we buy a CF- will that be enough? There is such a thing a playing someone into form. I would much rather see Rashford given the type of game time and opportunities Ronny is being given now and try to regain at least some of the effectiveness he has shown over the years with a view to him actually having a role to play for us next season. Ronaldo is giving us nothing. Nothing. Rashford at least offers hope that his career can get back on track.

 

[KennyBurner]

This is just not true at all. I think Ronaldo can be criticised a lot for not pressing but this idea that he is not making runs is absolutely ridiculous & completely false. In fact forget about just focusing on him I can say that every game the commentators mention that Ronaldo made a run but not spotted

I don’t remember the minute but in the first half he passed the ball to lingard and lingard signaled for him to make a run but he just stood there. They both passed to themselves three times back and forth with Ronaldo finally releasing it backwards.

This is just an example of the man’s laziness in our buildup. He might make the occasional poachers run but that is not enough from a United forward. We are going to soon regret not dropping him out of the team for another player willing to play to their fullest. March is soon coming and I guarantee we won’t make it with Ronaldo leading us.

Look that the damning stats @troylocker just posted.

 

[KennyBurner]

Definitely a good idea, drop the guy who's scored 15 goals this season for the guy that's scored 5

How many has he scored in the last 5 games?

 

[captaincantona]

Definitely a good idea, drop the guy who's scored 15 goals this season for the guy that's scored 5

If only football were as simple as this comment makes out.

 

[Josh 76]

Let’s say Ronaldo at 37 was bang on form and playing great for the team. There would be people saying he can’t play every week and needs to be rested.

So when people say he can’t be dropped because he is Ronaldo, (A Ronaldo who is declining rapidly) it is very bizarre!

 

[VivaObertan]

Thought he was pretty good yesterday, and that chance wasn't easy at all given how much the ball slowed up before reaching him.

 

[jm99]

Rashford has 2 non penalty goals from 204 minutes (102 minutes/goal) playing CF this season, Ronaldo has 13 non penalty goals from 2328 minutes (179 minutes/goal) playing CF.
Since 20/9 Ronaldo has 4 non penalty goals in 1566 minutes (392 minutes/goal) in the PL.

Ronaldo's career record against the top 3:
City: 5 goals and 2 assists in 15 games
Liverpool: 3 goals and 2 assists in 13 games
Chelsea: 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games
Total: 9 goals and 6 assists in 44 games - 0,20 goals/game - 0,34 goals+assists/game

Rashy against top 3:
City: 4 goals and 1 assist in 14 games
Liverpool: 5 goals and 1 assist in 12 games
Chelsea: 5 goals and 3 assists in 14 games
Total: 14 goals and 5 assists in 40 games - 0,35 goals/game - 0,48 goals+assists/game

Definitely a good idea, keep playing the 37 year old who doesn't score, doesn't press and offers extremely little besides poacher movement when we have the ball. Especially considering that our entire midfield and attack has to put in extra shifts to cover for him defensively and the fact that stats show that we in general create more chances and concede fewer chances without him on the pitch.....

Some key numbers from yesterdays match against our dream-opponent:
We made a total of 45 pressings in the final 3rd - Ronaldo made 3 of those - Fernandes made 13.....
Our midfield and attack made a total of 119 pressings - Ronaldo made 4 of those - Fernandes made 28....
We made a total of 57 succesful pressings - Ronaldo made 1 of those......
Out of the 15 successful dribble we made, Ronaldo made 0
Out of the 39 progressive carries we made, Ronaldo made 2 - Sancho made 9
Out of the 14 carries we made into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 5
Out of the 7 carries we made into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 - Sancho made 3
Ronaldo was the player that was targeted the 2nd most in our team with passes - 41 times (Only Sancho was targeted more often with 47) - 20 (49%) of those passes ended with us losing possession.
Loss of possession for passes targeting other players: Lindgard 43%, Elanga 29%, Fernandes 20%, Sancho 19%, Pogba 15%, McFred 7%.
We made 14 key passes, Ronaldo made 2 of them.
We completed 26 passes into the final 3rd, Ronaldo made 1 of them.
We completed 8 passes into the opposition penalty area, Ronaldo made 0 of them.
Ronaldo had 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, was our only player going off-side (twice), was the starting player with the fewest ballrecoveries (4 our of 99)

Yes, he did have the pre-pre-assist to the 3rd goal, but what did he actually do in yesterdays match to justify a starting spot and his wages?

I'd rather play an out of form Rashford (that is a part of our future) into form than playing the 37 year old myself.

Well he laid a great chance onto Sancho with a back heel, not to mention his movement regularly drags defenders out of position allowing others to make runs. Then against Brighton he laid two great chances on, one for Bruno, one for Sancho. So could have had an extra 3 assists in the last two games, which would paint a much different picture, but was based on others not finishing.

Why would you be including carries into final 3rd and passes into final 3rd when Ronaldo is the focal point and not playing deeper?

Also seems a bit strange to include from 20/9 so basically if you remove some of Ronaldo's goals then your argument seems stronger.

The reason ronaldo has so many more minutes is unlike rashford and cavani he's available to play every game.

It's also a bit disingenuous to use minutes per goal, remove penalties to make Ronaldo look worse, and also considering that he regularly plays 90 mins up front which obviously isn't going to have as high a goals per minute ratio as someone who's subbed on to play 20 mins up front. Or over a small sample size like 200 minutes.

I'm not saying Ronaldo has been amazing but you're clearly manipulating the statistics to make him look worse than he is

 

[Bebestation]

Ronaldo should be played to get us to the CL final and then bench him on the final.

He should be coming off the bench in the PL.

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

Ronaldo should be played to get us to the CL final and then bench him on the final.

He should be coming off the bench in the PL.

Coming off the bench for who? Cavani is never available and Rashford can hardly be arsed. I would much rather have Ronaldo anyday

 

[Sayros]

Oh don’t bet on that. As bad as Ronaldo has been, Oblak is even worse than that. A save % of low 20s is easy meat for any team which is creating decent amount of chances

Not to take this thread too off-topic, but having not followed much of Atletico, I've heard how poor Oblak's become this season, how is that possible to have such a drop off?

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

Well he laid a great chance onto Sancho with a back heel, not to mention his movement regularly drags defenders out of position allowing others to make runs. Then against Brighton he laid two great chances on, one for Bruno, one for Sancho. So could have had an extra 3 assists in the last two games, which would paint a much different picture, but was based on others not finishing.

Why would you be including carries into final 3rd and passes into final 3rd when Ronaldo is the focal point and not playing deeper?

Also seems a bit strange to include from 20/9 so basically if you remove some of Ronaldo's goals then your argument seems stronger.

The reason ronaldo has so many more minutes is unlike rashford and cavani he's available to play every game.

It's also a bit disingenuous to use minutes per goal, remove penalties to make Ronaldo look worse, and also considering that he regularly plays 90 mins up front which obviously isn't going to have as high a goals per minute ratio as someone who's subbed on to play 20 mins up front. Or over a small sample size like 200 minutes.

I'm not saying Ronaldo has been amazing but you're clearly manipulating the statistics to make him look worse than he is

Also think at this level you have to focus more on the process rather than just the results. Ronaldo has missed a few big chances recently which is very unlike him and you have to believe that he is getting into the right positions & the goals will come

 

[captaincantona]

Well he laid a great chance onto Sancho with a back heel, not to mention his movement regularly drags defenders out of position allowing others to make runs. Then against Brighton he laid two great chances on, one for Bruno, one for Sancho. So could have had an extra 3 assists in the last two games, which would paint a much different picture, but was based on others not finishing.

Why would you be including carries into final 3rd and passes into final 3rd when Ronaldo is the focal point and not playing deeper?

Also seems a bit strange to include from 20/9 so basically if you remove some of Ronaldo's goals then your argument seems stronger.

The reason ronaldo has so many more minutes is unlike rashford and cavani he's available to play every game.

It's also a bit disingenuous to use minutes per goal, remove penalties to make Ronaldo look worse, and also considering that he regularly plays 90 mins up front which obviously isn't going to have as high a goals per minute ratio as someone who's subbed on to play 20 mins up front. Or over a small sample size like 200 minutes.

I'm not saying Ronaldo has been amazing but you're clearly manipulating the statistics to make him look worse than he is

Stats bomb.....incoming!

 

[Escobar]

Question is, are we better or worse with him? My feeling I had when we signed him, worse, seems to be true

 

[jm99]

Also think at this level you have to focus more on the process rather than just the results. Ronaldo has missed a few big chances recently which is very unlike him and you have to believe that he is getting into the right positions & the goals will come

Yeah even at Madrid Ronaldo wasn't super clinical, he was a good finisher but he'd regularly have the most shots per goal among the league's top scorers. Now some of that was because he would take shots from 25-30 yards when he had the chance, but more to the point was that his finishing despite being good wasn't his best attacking attribute

By far his strongest attribute is his movement, and unlike at Madrid, if you look at our game Vs Newcastle, he makes runs that people don't spot regularly. And sure he'll still score some goals because he's a good finisher but what his real shining attribute is and what made him one of the GOATs is his movement but it doesn't get picked up here the way it did at madrid

 

[bakalhau]

Yeah even at Madrid Ronaldo wasn't super clinical, he was a good finisher but he'd regularly have the most shots per goal among the league's top scorers. Now some of that was because he would take shots from 25-30 yards when he had the chance, but more to the point was that his finishing despite being good wasn't his best attacking attribute

By far his strongest attribute is his movement, and unlike at Madrid, if you look at our game Vs Newcastle, he makes runs that people don't spot regularly. And sure he'll still score some goals because he's a good finisher but what his real shining attribute is and what made him one of the GOATs is his movement but it doesn't get picked up here the way it did at madrid

Very good post in my opinion. 100% subscribed.

Edit: also, some things never change with age, off the ball movement, 360° awareness, concentration, even the simple act of knowing how to split step well in every occasion, those things are in your brain, not your body. I always keep an eye on him during the game, and another on the ball, and the quality of his positioning, movement, anticipation, etc, is nothing short of incredible, these things that aren't so palpable have always been the stuff that I truly appreciated in him.

Even in the last game, in the 3rd goal, even before receiving the ball he looks to the right, spots his teammate there and a gap, and he just casually first touches the ball into open space, then immediately shoots forward dragging 2 defenders along with him, opening space into Fred on the left.

 

[Greck]

He wasn't great, it's just that when he does get involved good things happen making it absolutely important that he doesn't just goal hang and take himself out of the game. The layoff to Fred was one of the few occasions he got involved and held the ball and found someone in a better position. Unfortunately he spends most of the game doing the opposite. There was one opportunity in the first half where he ignored a square pass to an arriving Bruno to blast the ball into the defender, like dude, why were you getting so frustrated with Greenwood just to do the same thing? Commentator was absolutely shocked a GOAT would make such a decision.

He's goal hungry but he's no longer that Balon d'or beast that justified the play style and it's imperative we offload him because we're turning into PSG where individuals get to trump the system. Someone plays the ball into a channel that drags Ronaldo away from goal, hold up the ball and wait for an arriving option right? Nah let me just blast it from whatever acute angle I touch it.

 

[troylocker]

Well he laid a great chance onto Sancho with a back heel, not to mention his movement regularly drags defenders out of position allowing others to make runs. Then against Brighton he laid two great chances on, one for Bruno, one for Sancho. So could have had an extra 3 assists in the last two games, which would paint a much different picture, but was based on others not finishing.

Why would you be including carries into final 3rd and passes into final 3rd when Ronaldo is the focal point and not playing deeper?

Also seems a bit strange to include from 20/9 so basically if you remove some of Ronaldo's goals then your argument seems stronger.

The reason ronaldo has so many more minutes is unlike rashford and cavani he's available to play every game.

It's also a bit disingenuous to use minutes per goal, remove penalties to make Ronaldo look worse, and also considering that he regularly plays 90 mins up front which obviously isn't going to have as high a goals per minute ratio as someone who's subbed on to play 20 mins up front. Or over a small sample size like 200 minutes.

I'm not saying Ronaldo has been amazing but you're clearly manipulating the statistics to make him look worse than he is

Stats bomb.....incoming!

Yeah even at Madrid Ronaldo wasn't super clinical, he was a good finisher but he'd regularly have the most shots per goal among the league's top scorers. Now some of that was because he would take shots from 25-30 yards when he had the chance, but more to the point was that his finishing despite being good wasn't his best attacking attribute

By far his strongest attribute is his movement, and unlike at Madrid, if you look at our game Vs Newcastle, he makes runs that people don't spot regularly. And sure he'll still score some goals because he's a good finisher but what his real shining attribute is and what made him one of the GOATs is his movement but it doesn't get picked up here the way it did at madrid

You do have some points, I'll give you that, but here's some more context for you:

Ronaldo had that nice backheel to Sancho, that gave Sancho a 0,13 xG-chance. The 2 he had against Brighton was much better, and on average 3 passes like that would end up in 1 goal combined (1,12 xA). So yeah, it could have been three if every chance were converted. This season Ronaldo has produced and xA of 3,55 and his teammates has converted 3 of his passes to goals. 0,55 goals less than expected over the entire season, so it's not like his teammates has massively let him down. The funny thing is that in the 20 games he played before that Brighton game he had produced a combined 2,32xA and his teammates had overperformed a bit up to that.
The most common way to define a players actual goalthreat and contributionrate is to add up his non penalty goals per 90 with his expected assists per 90 (npG90 + xA90). That way you measure only the factors that the player can influence himself (his own finishing, but not his teammates finishing). In the PL this season Ronaldo has produced a goalthreat of 0,54 npG90+xA90, which places him 26th in the PL for players with 500 minutes or more this season, and 3rd in our squad, behind Bruno (0,7) and Rashford (0,69).

For comparison with the best of the best (npG90+xA90):
Salah (1,00), Mbappe (0,85), Lewandowski (1,3), Haaland (1,29), Benzema (1,04)

It's quite extraordinary for a player with only 3 players above him in npxG90 (Salah, Mane and Jota) and only one player above him (Salah) in shots per 90 in the entire league to have the 26th best actual goalthreat in the league. His finishing has been that bad in the league this season.
Take away the first 2 games (Newcastle and West Ham) and the Brighton game, and he would be outside the top 50 in the league based on the other 19 league games (0,37npG90+xA90) this season....

Then comes the lack of defensive workrate and the other parts of his game that leaves a lot to be desired.

He's still very good at making himself available for service, but that is pretty much the only thing he does well these days.

 

[TwoSheds]

I think he's going to turn up tomorrow. 2 goals.