Relegating him also runs the risk of blowing squad harmony apart. Martinez is damned whatever he does.
Cristiano Ronaldo - 979/1000 | Football only
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In the latest edition of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) discuss the absolute VAR shambles that lead to us losing the Manchester Derby.
But is it all on the VAR room? How much blame can be placed on Carrick and the players?
They also preview the 2 matches before the International Break and update on the struggles at MUWomen.
Pre-2008 and when Messi had his injury hit 2014. Other than that it's really been a one sided affair. Ronaldo should stop this now. It's gone past amusing to sad
He’s fecking pants. Portugal are getting nowhere with him. And Martínez is too scared to drop him. He’s like a footballing Trump.
That honestly sounds like a threat to the whole nation.
Dropped off another level since two summers ago. But this time it's untenable, bordering on the farcical. Surely he knows that his time is up?
Fancy Colombia to win the group. They have a number of very good players and a few who are top class on their day. They will also play together and with purpose going forward.
Do that and the entire campaign becomes a circus. Camera on his every reaction, every press conference and every question... some of it is not even his fault. The only way out was to drop him from the squad and he'd have been sacked for that. So yeah...
His ego is enormous, therefore should he not be able to see that this shit is tarnishing his own legacy? He’s bowing out not as a winner, but as a laughing stock.
Objectively scathing from Henry there.
Fair play.
Fair play.
Yeah i think thats pretty much bang on.
It cant be the Ronaldo show when you're dealing with a 41 year old version of Ronaldo who's been playing in the Saudi league for the last 3 years....
To respond to that other user that might be trolling.
I think Juventus fans don’t love him either but I might be wrong.
Real Madrid and Sporting fans sure but even a lot of sporting fans are mocking his performances for the national team.
Anyway he will probably score a tap in and a penalty against Urzbekistan and all will be well again.
I think Juventus fans don’t love him either but I might be wrong.
Real Madrid and Sporting fans sure but even a lot of sporting fans are mocking his performances for the national team.
Anyway he will probably score a tap in and a penalty against Urzbekistan and all will be well again.
He's playing as a number nine because that's the only position where one could make at least a theoretical argument why he should be starting, regardless of the fact that he never played like that in his career.
The whole schtick "Ah well Portugal doesn't have a striker, who else is going to play there?".
The answer: Anyone who's willing to run and has the legs to play as an actual striker. At this point, it seems they could hardly look worse with a random Portuguese average division one forward upfront. At least someone like that would do his supposed job to the best of his ability and wouldn't be a hindrance to the team.
The whole schtick "Ah well Portugal doesn't have a striker, who else is going to play there?".
The answer: Anyone who's willing to run and has the legs to play as an actual striker. At this point, it seems they could hardly look worse with a random Portuguese average division one forward upfront. At least someone like that would do his supposed job to the best of his ability and wouldn't be a hindrance to the team.
No, the narcissism won't let him see it.
It'll be everyone else's fault.
As Jay-Z said "With the same sword they knight you they gon' good night you with". Ronaldo has been praised his whole career for his hunger for goals and his sheer will and determination to achieve his personal targets. That same hunger has become selfishness and is crippling his team in successive tournaments.
He's always been one to lack self awareness but in his quest to be seen as the greatest, he's actually hurting his story now. History could remember him as the one who got in the way of the Portugal generation most likely to win a World Cup. This could be a year that he would be praised for winning a trophy with Al Nassr but if Portugal fail with him there it will do more damage to his legacy post 2022.
He shouldn't be in the team IMO but if he's been taken there should be an acceptance that he doesn't play every game and if he's ineffective he gets subbed.
He's always been one to lack self awareness but in his quest to be seen as the greatest, he's actually hurting his story now. History could remember him as the one who got in the way of the Portugal generation most likely to win a World Cup. This could be a year that he would be praised for winning a trophy with Al Nassr but if Portugal fail with him there it will do more damage to his legacy post 2022.
He shouldn't be in the team IMO but if he's been taken there should be an acceptance that he doesn't play every game and if he's ineffective he gets subbed.
It's a medical treatment, people thinking it's just some sort of magic bowl a la Obelix it's not even funny.
PD: BTW the idea it's not to IMPROVE your height, it's for kids to get at least near to THEIR height, with luck getting exactly there. Some people can do it with the treatment tilll they are 16/17 or around, others need their whole life their treatment because the deficiency affects them also in other aspetcs.
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Don't be so precious.
It's clear as day he's done everywhere but the Saudi League.
He's holding back a great team for selfish reasons.
The squad isn't blind, they can see what's up. If Ramos plays up front and is cac (a non zero possibility), then maybe throw on Ronaldo as a super sub and lump it in the box. No need to freeze him out.
Or maybe the squad is secretly happy that Ronaldo is the convenient scapegoat from their collective shortcomings. It is wild that a striker is getting the entire blame for Portugal drawing 1-1 against DR Congo (all due respect to the Leopards, but still).
Ignore the cameras. fecking skip press conferences if you can't ignore stupid questions. Wear sensory deprivation devices except at training or at film sessions or on the pitch. It's literally his job. I know it's Ronaldo so everything is polemic and he needs to save Martinez from doing his job... but no. For all his flaws he just wants to play and believes Portugal have the best chance of winning if he plays up front. He may be delusional but that's not a crime as a player. The crime here is the manager not doing his duty and selecting the best 11 (who can work as a team) for the 90 minutes of play.
And managers have had to make these difficult decisions. Ferguson, Wenger, Pep... even Tuchel (recently) have made their careers on these difficult decisions, opening themselves up to scrutiny from the media and fans. And even if the results were mixed or adverse they could never be accused of cowardice. This is literally cowardice. And people are shooting him bail because on the other side is someone that... isn't popular to say the least
If this was Dias starting up front this wouldn't be a question
Again, another take that is just off
He's a football player. You could argue that in addition to his talent, his self belief in his abilities is part of what has taken him this far in life. And however misplaced, every football player on that squad wants to start. Every player in a squad wants to start and play because they believe they can do a great job
And for 99% of players, guess who gets the criticism for wrong selections? Managers! And rightly so. Is John Stones selfish for not refusing to start against Croatia?
Martinez was roundly criticized while at Belgium. Do we think his flaws (including team selection) have not carried over to Portugal?
Probably true, but then again would anyone be surprised if the first question directed to a prospective new manager of Portugal happened to be "Are you alright with Ronaldo picking himself and deciding his own minutes?"
After all, there were rumors going around that the prime reason for Fernando Santos sacking was that he was bold enough to bench Ronaldo in the 1/8 finals of the World Cup.
After all, there were rumors going around that the prime reason for Fernando Santos sacking was that he was bold enough to bench Ronaldo in the 1/8 finals of the World Cup.
What has this got to do with him being a burden on the current team?
His ego won't see him on the bench, where he could make a difference.
This guy has built a cult around himself that can't take the critisism.
He was once great, now he's poor.
It has everything to do with what I'm saying.
Managers have their jobs because they have the birds eye view that a player doesn't have. A player wants to win but also believes that him playing in his preferred role is key to winning, and spoiler alert, that's ok. A good manager knows when that belief is correct and when it doesn't, and acts accordingly. If he doesn't, and lets a player drag down his team, then that's the manager's fault.
If you think Martinez had any choice in playing him, when it's obvious he can't play as a 9, then we're not going to agree.
Ronaldo is undroppable, and it destroyed Ole's United reign.
Then he should resign. As it is clear that he is not being allowed to do his job. If he's not willing to resign then he can't hide behind Ronaldo ("they" won't let me drop him... Do you hear yourselves???)
This is managing 101. The manager selects the starting 11. Everyone else sits on the bench until their number is called. The only other time in recent history this was questioned was Sarri and Kepa and it was a massive outrage. Any other player and it's not even a question as to who's at fault
Anyone claiming that he genuinely has his country’s best interests at heart or thinking that Martinez can actually drop him is tuned to the moon. Martinez is a yes man who’ll have been told he still has to use him, Ron wields far too much power over football in that country. Unless you really believe Martinez is genuinely happy watching performances like that today from his main striker? I know he’s not a brilliant manager, but I don’t think he’s blind or stupid either.
And obviously Martinez wasn’t going to say no to that gig, his stock is low and he was never going to be offered a bigger job than getting to take a really talented young Portuguese side to the World Cup, same way Portugal were never going to lure a manager with a better record and stronger personality; because those types of managers wouldn’t even entertain the idea of massaging the inflated ego of a 41 year old has been who’s best days are long behind him and who’s overall influence has become detrimental.
To be honest I don’t think it helps Ronaldo that he’s got a following and even media friends who feed his delusion by pointing the finger at everyone else, or claiming that his team mates are content to have him there because it means they can use him as a convenient scapegoat. Constantly having yes men in his ear telling him how brilliant he still is won’t help him to accept the reality of his situation and where he is in his career now.
And obviously Martinez wasn’t going to say no to that gig, his stock is low and he was never going to be offered a bigger job than getting to take a really talented young Portuguese side to the World Cup, same way Portugal were never going to lure a manager with a better record and stronger personality; because those types of managers wouldn’t even entertain the idea of massaging the inflated ego of a 41 year old has been who’s best days are long behind him and who’s overall influence has become detrimental.
To be honest I don’t think it helps Ronaldo that he’s got a following and even media friends who feed his delusion by pointing the finger at everyone else, or claiming that his team mates are content to have him there because it means they can use him as a convenient scapegoat. Constantly having yes men in his ear telling him how brilliant he still is won’t help him to accept the reality of his situation and where he is in his career now.
Almost every single United fan will categorically state that Scholes was better than Gerrard. Most of us would have Rio in our all time PL 11s. I can link you to a thead from 2 days ago where we had United fans staunchly backing Van Der Sar as a better GK than the likes of Courtois and Cech, when fan accounts from City and Liverpool supporters were disagreeing.
It shouldn't be that difficult for you to work out why Ronaldo is getting different treatment to the aforementioned players.
Well said
He's apparently now on a 10-game drought across Euros and WC.
He's like the founder/CEO who'd rather stay at the helm and tank his own company rather than step aside and risk seeing it thrive. It was clear at the last WC he was done at this level, even clearer at the Euros - the fact he is captain of that squad at 41 is dumbfounding.
He's like the founder/CEO who'd rather stay at the helm and tank his own company rather than step aside and risk seeing it thrive. It was clear at the last WC he was done at this level, even clearer at the Euros - the fact he is captain of that squad at 41 is dumbfounding.
The Portuguese Mike Ashley
He will presumably be seething with rage seeing all the other big name forwards cleaning up. Portugal need to part ways, but they won’t.
Now imagine that question being posed to someone like Tuchel. Or Don Carlo.
The media love to stir shit. If you're shirking away from that battle then you're not qualified for the job.
The rumors were not entirely true. Let's not forget that they were knocked out against Morocco. He also had questionable tactics apart from benching Ronaldo, and one could argue with his career post-Portugal that the sack was merited. The problem... hiring Martinez
For any of his faults, Ten Hag didn't shirk it. Martinez wishes he had Ten Hag's balls.
Heh
It'sh clear
Cant believe I forgot Ten Hag. Biggest club in the biggest league in the world, all the attention on him, and he simply tells Ronaldo, you're not playing. Ronaldo throws a tantrum but to zero effect. That was that
But obviously they have a bomb strapped to Martinez' family in some Porto basement
He is hurting the team but his ego, envy of Messi will not allow him to do the right thing. Step aside.
It’s possible it’s a different dynamic with the national team.
How can you not laugh?