Cristiano Ronaldo (I stay)

[Bebestation]

Yeah, like in the Wolves game, where we conceded 15 shots and were saved by a couple of goal line clearances and then smash & grabbed the win with a flukey Greenwood shot that went under the keeper! And unless you think Henderson would’ve played the majority of games had Ronaldo not re-signed, you’re kind of agreeing with me….

I’m not denying he brought a bunch of issues with him, but the idea that we were so open and got thrashed so readily last season solely because one central striker didn’t press enough (a thing we never did under Ole anyway) just isn’t sensible - to me, at any rate…. And way too convenient.

I mean, if that was the case, why didn’t we play glorious free flowing football every time he was out of the side? When he flew back to Portugal for R&R and whatever? If the muscle memory was there, what was stopping us? Were we all traumatised by the spectre of Ronaldo that we instinctively played as if he was still there? If anything IIRC our stats were slightly worse without him. (Which isn’t to say he improved us btw, just that surely there would’ve been some difference if he was the main cause?)

For me, pressing is the least thing I was frustrated with Ronaldo’s by.

As a striker he has no link up play or hold up play which made our wider players have bad seasons as seen with Sancho’s first season even if he was settling in. No one was good out wide except him through the Centre.

What made us worse is that we became extremely predictable because we would only target Ronaldo with our passes as our main and only threat.

What would then happen with our main passes going to Ronaldo and having no link/hold up play as a striker ?

We would get cought on the counter and players like Lindelof and Maguire and De Gea would get caught out whenever they were playing a high line.

That’s why our defenders were extremely bad last year with no goal difference.

 

[Reapersoul20]

Then how do Bayern, Madrid etc get away with it? Because lewa and benzema’s pressing stats are similar to him. Also to keep singling him out for not pressing is such a lame and stupid thing to do. Have you seen the rest of our team’s pressing numbers? If yes, then why keep singling him out? Just stop with the agenda.

Don't bother with them, it's a pure hatred

 

[NewYorkRed]

Don't bother with them, it's a pure hatred

It honestly shocked me at first. But then I realised it for what it was Listen, I’m a 28 year old who grew up supporting United. My fondest memories are of us with Ronaldo as our best player. When he left, I was very sad but I can honestly say I never watched a single Madrid game, I’m United through and through (born a fan because of my father. Its in my blood). I’m dissapointed as much as anyone the way he’s handled it, and if he leaves, he leaves. We move on. But the hatred on here is something else. Its a bunch of younger fans who grew up loving messi/some older ones who still despise him for leaving back in 09.

But guys come the ferk on, most of what you guys are saying about him is pure rubbish. He was by far and away our best outfield player last season and with no time left to find a replacement, we should all hope he stays and we replace him next year. Yes, he’s thinking about himself and his CL record. Shock horror? Everybody’s known that about him. Look at most sports and most top, top players are like that (Jordan, Lebron, Kobe, Rodgers etc). Thats why they’re so good.

 

[Cal?]

Then how do Bayern, Madrid etc get away with it? Because lewa and benzema’s pressing stats are similar to him. Also to keep singling him out for not pressing is such a lame and stupid thing to do. Have you seen the rest of our team’s pressing numbers? If yes, then why keep singling him out? Just stop with the agenda.

Never let facts get in the way of a good old Ronaldo moan

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Then how do Bayern, Madrid etc get away with it? Because lewa and benzema’s pressing stats are similar to him. Also to keep singling him out for not pressing is such a lame and stupid thing to do. Have you seen the rest of our team’s pressing numbers? If yes, then why keep singling him out? Just stop with the agenda.

Post them?

 

[Bebestation]

It honestly shocked me at first. But then I realised it for what it was Listen, I’m a 28 year old who grew up supporting United. My fondest memories are of us with Ronaldo as our best player. When he left, I was very sad but I can honestly say I never watched a single Madrid game, I’m United through and through (born a fan because of my father. Its in my blood). I’m dissapointed as much as anyone the way he’s handled it, and if he leaves, he leaves. We move on. But the hatred on here is something else. Its a bunch of younger fans who grew up loving messi/some older ones who still despise him for leaving back in 09.

But guys come the ferk on, most of what you guys are saying about him is pure rubbish. He was by far and away our best outfield player last season and with no time left to find a replacement, we should all hope he stays and we replace him next year. Yes, he’s thinking about himself and his CL record. Shock horror? Everybody’s known that about him. Look at most sports and most top, top players are like that (Jordan, Lebron, Kobe, Rodgers etc). Thats why they’re so good.

Do you believe he has good hold up play and link up play to get the wingers involved in the match?

 

[sglowrider]

This is just as false a memory.

The reality is Ole was ok, and doing absolutely ok until last season. It’s that simple. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t atrocious. Most wanted it to work because it was Ole but in the end the wheels fell off, it’s fine, he went when he needed to and he remains a Manchester United legend. The league table at the end of a season doesn’t lie, however many excuses you want to make up.

The constant bleating on like he’s the worst manager in history is just so fecking boring because it’s blatantly absolute nonsense. He was ok, and now he’s gone, that’s it.

Amen. 100%

 

[tenpoless]

This is just as false a memory.

The reality is Ole was ok, and doing absolutely ok until last season. It’s that simple. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t atrocious. Most wanted it to work because it was Ole but in the end the wheels fell off, it’s fine, he went when he needed to and he remains a Manchester United legend. The league table at the end of a season doesn’t lie, however many excuses you want to make up.

The constant bleating on like he’s the worst manager in history is just so fecking boring because it’s blatantly absolute nonsense. He was ok, and now he’s gone, that’s it.

Ole wasnt the worst. Moyes was the worst. Ole is about the same level as Jose, which i dont consider a failure, but nothing special.

 

[desirere]

I really don’t get these “Ronaldo isn’t a united legend” claims. The man is one of 4 united ballon d’or winners and the the only one in the past 50 years. Most important player in our third champions league win, winning the double on the way while scoring 42 goals from the damn wing.

I can understand the sentiment that he gave his “best” years to Real, won more with them collectively and individually and played more. But understand two aspects of this. He came here as a boy, literally, went through such insane transformation going from strength to strength winning 2 league cups, an fa cup, three premier league titles (on the trot) and a champions league while becoming
the best player on the planet. The other thing being, Real got a very different player from the one we had. If I had to pick his best year to date, I would say the 07/08 season is his peak both as a goal scorer, creator and athlete. He was with us for 6 years before coming back for a seventh while being our best player and goal scorer at the age of 37. He is literally a united legend wether you like him or not.

Being a legend of two clubs isn’t inconceivable, it’s just very rare and rarely happens but… just to name a few Sedorf, VdS, Johan Cruyff, Xabi Alonso, Rui Costa… you could even argue Beckham, Ibra, Henry and some others could be called that.

 

[Bebestation]

I really don’t get these “Ronaldo isn’t a united legend” claims. The man is one of 4 united ballon d’or winners and the the only one in the past 50 years. Most important player in our third champions league win, winning the double on the way while scoring 42 goals from the damn wing.

I can understand the sentiment that he gave his “best” years to Real, won more with them collectively and individually and played more. But understand two aspects of this. He came here as a boy, literally, went through such insane transformation going from strength to strength winning 2 league cups, an fa cup, three premier league titles (on the trot) and a champions league while becoming
the best player on the planet. The other thing being, Real got a very different player from the one we had. If I had to pick his best year to date, I would say the 07/08 season is his peak both as a goal scorer, creator and athlete. He was with us for 6 years before coming back for a seventh while being our best player and goal scorer at the age of 37. He is literally a united legend wether you like him or not.

Being a legend of two clubs isn’t inconceivable, it’s just very rare and rarely happens but… just to name a few Sedorf, VdS, Johan Cruyff, Xabi Alonso, Rui Costa… you could even argue Beckham, Ibra, Henry and some others could be called that.

Yeah I like this post. I feel the same about Ole too - the guy is a legend and people talk about him like he set the stadium on fire when all he did was try his best.

I also felt the same for Rooney who is our top goal scorer - people don’t hold him too high because he thought about leaving the club one summer but still didn’t do it.

 

[RedTiger]

He'll get cheered tomorrow most likely, it's a friendly so imagine a lot of families and young kids will be present who will idolise him.

Be interesting how it goes once the season starts though, seems nailed to start on the bench against Brighton (Martial fitness permitting) so hopefully shouldn't disrupt things too much.

He'll have the excuse of not having had a decent pre-season due to the family matters.

 

[desirere]

Yeah I like this post. I feel the same about Ole too - the guy is a legend and people talk about him like he set the stadium on fire when all he did was try his best.

I also felt the same for Rooney who is our top goal scorer - people don’t hold him too high because he thought about leaving the club one summer but still didn’t do it.

Football fans tend to live in dreamland, when reality hits that players are employees just doing their job and that they have their own dreams, standards, ambitions and values that don’t necessarily align with the fans view of them. They tend to take this extremely to heart as when a child finds out Santa isn’t real, ruining that fairy tale element of every next Christmas. And love is just a step away from hate, so it’s quite easy to dislike the person that in your eyes failed you and dare I say betrayed you.

 

[NewYorkRed]

Post them?

Here:

https://fbref.com/en/players/70d74ece/Karim-Benzema

https://fbref.com/en/players/8d78e732/Robert-Lewandowski

https://fbref.com/en/players/dea698d9/Cristiano-Ronaldo

There is no significant difference. Compare that to someone who does actually press a ton:

https://fbref.com/en/players/178ae8f8/Diogo-Jota
Also keep in mind Ronaldo played under Ole mostly last year, had it been RR his number would be closer to the 7/8 range.

We don’t press as a team. If we did, you can actually get away with your main goal scorer not pressing as much. In an ideal world everyone would press of course, but the best forwards tend typically not to as much and as we’ve seen, the value of a goalscorer goes well beyond just pressing (an alien concept to this forum, I’ve realised).
We don’t press as a team. If we did, you can actually get away with your main goal scorer not pressing as much. In an ideal world everyone would press of course, but the best forwards tend typically not to as much and as we’ve seen, the value of a goalscorer goes well beyond just pressing (an alien concept to this forum, I’ve realised).

 

[Strelok]

The fact that a 37-year-old man makes a point to roll up his shorts like that to show off all his muscles is just so pathetic.

Yeah guy is fecking cringe.

Look like the twat gonna stay since no club is stupid enough. My only hope now is ETH has balls to bench this wanker. Otherwise the football will be as shit as last season.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

It's actually really easy to run a search on your posts. I'd say 90% of your posts in the last couple of months is focused on those two players. This is just two random pages....

Spoiler

Like damn dude...

And here's my second lapdog right on queue
I have never gone around searching someone's posts and I find it bizzare that anyone would care what another poster on the internet discusses but thanks for letting me posting critical posts about your hero irked you. I'll carry on doing that

 

[RedRonaldo]

So much hate in this thread, full of toxic bashing.

Just a friendly reminder, he was our player of the season and top scorer last season, and we simply can't last the whole season with inconsistency of Rashford/Martial as our only other option, plus we no longer have Cavani and Greenwood, 2 of our main goalscoring outlet in recent years. Unless we signed someone else, I am with the club decision of preferring him to stay for another season.

 

[Greck]

So much hate in this thread, full of toxic bashing.

Just a friendly reminder, he was our player of the season and top scorer last season, and we simply can't last the whole season with inconsistency of Rashford/Martial as our only other option, plus we no longer have Cavani and Greenwood, 2 of our main goalscoring outlet in recent years. Unless we signed someone else, I am with the club decision of preferring him to stay for another season.

Fair enough on the toxicity but regarding the rest, we were doing fine before Ronaldo joined. We won't capitulate. Even if we do, it's better this season than having to band aid serious issues. Martial and Rashford are nothing special but Ronaldo's impact is overstated. He's not easy to fit in. A poacher in a 433 system tasks the inside forwards to create with less central support. Basically forced to play like wingers. Frequently teammates look up for options and he's camped at the far post like we're supposed to just start pumping balls into the box.

It's not even close to a coincidence Ronaldo hasn't struck up good chemistry with any attacker in almost 12 months. We won't replace his goals but just about anyone can improve on his near zero build up contribution. We should keep him only if he can humble himself and play within the flow of the attack but nothing I've seen this summer tells me Ronaldo has learnt humility. He's going to continue to play like every attack should be designed to get him the goal.

edit Oh and good riddance to all his fanboys. Attacking supporters for getting thrown under the bus by a club legend.

 

[Bebestation]

Fair enough on the toxicity but regarding the rest, we were doing fine before Ronaldo joined. We won't capitulate. Even if we do, it's better this season than having to band aid serious issues. Martial and Rashford are nothing special but Ronaldo's impact is overstated. He's not easy to fit in. A poacher in a 433 system tasks the inside forwards to create with less central support. Basically forced to play like wingers. Frequently teammates look up for options and he's camped at the far post like we're supposed to just start pumping balls into the box.

It's not even close to a coincidence Ronaldo hasn't struck up good chemistry with any attacker in almost 12 months. We won't replace his goals but just about anyone can improve on his near zero build up contribution. We should keep him only if he can humble himself and play within the flow of the attack but nothing I've seen this summer tells me Ronaldo has learnt humility. He's going to continue to play like every attack should be designed to get him the goal.

edit Oh and good riddance to all his fanboys. Attacking supporters for getting thrown under the bus by a club legend.

Bingo. I just don’t get why people saying we hate him just because they don’t see the tactics a poacher like Ronaldo needs. Inverted forwards then become quite useless.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Fair enough on the toxicity but regarding the rest, we were doing fine before Ronaldo joined. We won't capitulate. Even if we do, it's better this season than having to band aid serious issues. Martial and Rashford are nothing special but Ronaldo's impact is overstated. He's not easy to fit in. A poacher in a 433 system tasks the inside forwards to create with less central support. Basically forced to play like wingers. Frequently teammates look up for options and he's camped at the far post like we're supposed to just start pumping balls into the box.

It's not even close to a coincidence Ronaldo hasn't struck up good chemistry with any attacker in almost 12 months. We won't replace his goals but just about anyone can improve on his near zero build up contribution. We should keep him only if he can humble himself and play within the flow of the attack but nothing I've seen this summer tells me Ronaldo has learnt humility. He's going to continue to play like every attack should be designed to get him the goal.

edit Oh and good riddance to all his fanboys. Attacking supporters for getting thrown under the bus by a club legend.

Well I simply don't trust Rashford/Martial as they have been hugely unreliable/inconsistence over past 18-24 months.

And in the past 12 months, none of our players have struck up good chemistry with anyone, we are basically totally disjointed as a team, with or without Ronaldo playing in the team last season (we only record 1 win in 11 games when Ronaldo is not playing/starting since he has joined us). I know its easy to blame everything on Ronaldo, but one could also blame everything on Sancho too using the same argument, as he has been in very poor form (4 goals 3 assists in 38 games) and was one of the key change of our team last season, and has played exact same number of games as Ronaldo too.

Not saying we should build our team around 37 year old player who is on downhill and couldn't press, but its still better than having Rashford/Martial as our only option next season. We will have to trust ETH to strike a balance on how to use them all over the course of the season, I trust he has the authority to bench anyone who doesn't fit his plan, and this including Ronaldo too. And I also think if we rotate Ronaldo with Rashford/Martial, this may fire up Ronaldo to reach his top form and to perform better for us, which could also be a good thing for us.

 

[sglowrider]

Fair enough on the toxicity but regarding the rest, we were doing fine before Ronaldo joined. We won't capitulate. Even if we do, it's better this season than having to band aid serious issues. Martial and Rashford are nothing special but Ronaldo's impact is overstated. He's not easy to fit in. A poacher in a 433 system tasks the inside forwards to create with less central support. Basically forced to play like wingers. Frequently teammates look up for options and he's camped at the far post like we're supposed to just start pumping balls into the box.

It's not even close to a coincidence Ronaldo hasn't struck up good chemistry with any attacker in almost 12 months. We won't replace his goals but just about anyone can improve on his near zero build up contribution. We should keep him only if he can humble himself and play within the flow of the attack but nothing I've seen this summer tells me Ronaldo has learnt humility. He's going to continue to play like every attack should be designed to get him the goal.

edit Oh and good riddance to all his fanboys. Attacking supporters for getting thrown under the bus by a club legend.

Spot on. I really don't understand people here who only look at his goals/output and think then the rest will follow on. It must be playing too much FIFA Manager or Moneyball that they don't seem to get how the game or philosophy has to be implemented.

As either Sancho or Rashford, during the Oz pre-seaon tour said; the ETH system is a lot more creative with multiple outlets. (I paraphrase.)

 

[RedRonaldo]

Spot on. I really don't understand people here who only look at his goals/output and think then the rest will follow on. It must be playing too much FIFA Manager or Moneyball that they don't seem to get how the game or philosophy has to be implemented.

As either Sancho or Rashford, during the Oz pre-seaon tour said; the ETH system is a lot more creative with multiple outlets. (I paraphrase.)

Well to be honest I think its more to do with manager rather than Ronaldo, consider he was part of successful attack trio such as BBC or Rooney Ronaldo Tevez in the past, and he has also been complaining our team of not having multiple outlets last season, with only him in the box. Even the season before at Juventus, in terms of attack he has Morata scoring 20 goals beside him and Chiesa playing well on the flanks too.

 

[FiiiiveTenHaaags]

I’m sitting in the Stretford End today so will be interesting to see what kind of reaction he gets.

Im heading into this wanting to boo him but I can’t lie if he scores I’ll be singing viva Ronaldo with everyone else.

As much of a prick as he’s acted it will be nice to have seen him play in person at least once.

 

[sglowrider]

Well to be honest I think its more to do with manager rather than Ronaldo, consider he was part of successful attack trio such as BBC or Rooney Ronaldo Tevez in the past, and he has also been complaining our team of not having multiple outlets last season, with only him in the box. Even the season before at Juventus, in terms of attack he has Morata scoring 20 goals beside him and Chiesa playing well on the flanks too.

You are comparing 20yr old Ronaldo with an immobile, almost 38y.o? They are almost different players other than the face.

Maybe that was Ole's mistake because his dream was always to re-create that interchangeable front 3 from 2007. But I doubt that he is even that dumb to think that you can't compare a 20y.o with a 37y.o player.

 

[Bondi77]

Then how do Bayern, Madrid etc get away with it? Because lewa and benzema’s pressing stats are similar to him. Also to keep singling him out for not pressing is such a lame and stupid thing to do. Have you seen the rest of our team’s pressing numbers? If yes, then why keep singling him out? Just stop with the agenda.

Everyone has lifted their game since the arrival of Erik so Ronnie will have to do the same and if he does then all will be well.

 

[Strelok]

You are comparing 20yr old Ronaldo with an immobile, almost 38y.o? They are almost different players other than the face.

Even the face is different. I don't think back then he's anywhere near good looking as he is now. I still remember his teeth.

 

[noelyman]

And here's my second lapdog right on queue
I have never gone around searching someone's posts and I find it bizzare that anyone would care what another poster on the internet discusses but thanks for letting me posting critical posts about your hero irked you. I'll carry on doing that

I don't think lapdog means what you think it means. Shamans or anyone else doing a quick search on the forum (which is an easily utilised feature) by way of backing up their claims does not a lapdog make him. Someone who spends their time lurking on a forum to only ever post about Ronaldo v Messi debate, by way of showing their 'top fan' status might be a bit more akin to it. Honestly some people would be better off starting a fan club than posting on a man united forum.

 

[Josep Dowling]

Everyone has lifted their game since the arrival of Erik so Ronnie will have to do the same and if he does then all will be well.

Why should United give Ronnie a chance? He’s missed the entire pre-season trying to move away from the club. Never keep players who don’t want to be here. He should have been shown the door already other than the fact that leaves us with one useless striker and a board not willing to sign players.

 

[sglowrider]

Even the face is different. I don't think back then he's anywhere near good looking as he is now. I still remember his teeth.

He had English teeth back then. That's why he integrated well.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

I don't think lapdog means what you think it means. Shamans or anyone else doing a quick search on the forum (which is an easily utilised feature) by way of backing up their claims does not a lapdog make him. Someone who spends their time lurking on a forum to only ever post about Ronaldo v Messi debate, by way of showing their 'top fan' status might be a bit more akin to it. Honestly some people would be better off starting a fan club than posting on a man united forum.

Following a poster around and digging up his posts, unprompted, definitely makes someone a lapdog.

But enough derailing the thread. Do you have anything to contribute regarding Ronaldo, because that's what this thread is about?

You are comparing 20yr old Ronaldo with an immobile, almost 38y.o? They are almost different players other than the face.

Maybe that was Ole's mistake because his dream was always to re-create that interchangeable front 3 from 2007. But I doubt that he is even that dumb to think that you can't compare a 20y.o with a 37y.o player.

Not only is Ronaldo nowhere close to what he was in 2007 (as you pointed out, he doesn't even play the same way) but neither of the others is Rooney. I don't think we can replicate that front trident in 2022.

 

[Strelok]

He had English teeth back then. That's why he integrated well.

 

[Bondi77]

Why should United give Ronnie a chance? He’s missed the entire pre-season trying to move away from the club. Never keep players who don’t want to be here. He should have been shown the door already other than the fact that leaves us with one useless striker and a board not willing to sign players.

Because the club don't want to sell him and until we get someone else in we are short on numbers.

 

[RedRonaldo]

You are comparing 20yr old Ronaldo with an immobile, almost 38y.o? They are almost different players other than the face.

Maybe that was Ole's mistake because his dream was always to re-create that interchangeable front 3 from 2007. But I doubt that he is even that dumb to think that you can't compare a 20y.o with a 37y.o player.

He was part of BBC at age 30-33 too, which won multiple CL.

Anyway there is clearly problem with our attack play last season, and he was part of it no doubt as he is part of our attack, among our other players. But I believe big part of it is due to manager and coaching - we are unable to produce any coherent play with or without Ronaldo, we are simply a team of individuals, even back to Ole best days.

 

[georgipep]

Yeah, like in the Wolves game, where we conceded 15 shots and were saved by a couple of goal line clearances and then smash & grabbed the win with a flukey Greenwood shot that went under the keeper! And unless you think Henderson would’ve played the majority of games had Ronaldo not re-signed, you’re kind of agreeing with me….

I’m not denying he brought a bunch of issues with him, but the idea that we were so open and got thrashed so readily last season solely because one central striker didn’t press enough (a thing we never did under Ole anyway) just isn’t sensible - to me, at any rate…. And way too convenient.

I mean, if that was the case, why didn’t we play glorious free flowing football every time he was out of the side? When he flew back to Portugal for R&R and whatever? If the muscle memory was there, what was stopping us? Were we all traumatised by the spectre of Ronaldo that we instinctively played as if he was still there? If anything IIRC our stats were slightly worse without him. (Which isn’t to say he improved us btw, just that surely there would’ve been some difference if he was the main cause?)

You are honestly asking why a team has not trained two completely different tactics for the occasion when the starter is not around?

Also, results speak much louder than words. Second and a third place without Ronaldo, 6th and two managers out the door with him. Fantastic signing.

 

[RedRonaldo]

You are honestly asking why a team has not trained two completely different tactics for the occasion when the starter is not around?

Also, results speak much louder than words. Second and a third place without Ronaldo, 6th and two managers out the door with him. Fantastic signing.

Then we should sell Sancho too, according to your logic. Second and a third place without Sancho, 6th and two managers out the door with him. Fantastic signing. At least Ronaldo produce goals, Sancho produce feck all.

 

[Longshanks]

Here:

https://fbref.com/en/players/70d74ece/Karim-Benzema

https://fbref.com/en/players/8d78e732/Robert-Lewandowski

https://fbref.com/en/players/dea698d9/Cristiano-Ronaldo

There is no significant difference. Compare that to someone who does actually press a ton:

https://fbref.com/en/players/178ae8f8/Diogo-Jota
Also keep in mind Ronaldo played under Ole mostly last year, had it been RR his number would be closer to the 7/8 range.

We don’t press as a team. If we did, you can actually get away with your main goal scorer not pressing as much. In an ideal world everyone would press of course, but the best forwards tend typically not to as much and as we’ve seen, the value of a goalscorer goes well beyond just pressing (an alien concept to this forum, I’ve realised).
We don’t press as a team. If we did, you can actually get away with your main goal scorer not pressing as much. In an ideal world everyone would press of course, but the best forwards tend typically not to as much and as we’ve seen, the value of a goalscorer goes well beyond just pressing (an alien concept to this forum, I’ve realised).

The thing is pressing is only part of the problem.

Benzema and lewandoski are both proper number 9's. Top quality hold up play and positional discipline two things Ronaldo has never had.

Ronaldo will score goals, but at what cost? You could carry him when he would be scoring 2 goals every game, but he's not that player anymore. If he dosent score, he offers almost nothing else and the days he dosent score are becoming more and more frequent as father time catches up with his body.

Benzema and lewandoski can have very good games where they don't score, but the teams still wins. Ronaldo is only classed as playing well if he scores. He will never have a good game where he dosent score. Thats the problem with him.

 

[Plant0x84]

You are honestly asking why a team has not trained two completely different tactics for the occasion when the starter is not around?

Also, results speak much louder than words. Second and a third place without Ronaldo, 6th and two managers out the door with him. Fantastic signing.

I take your point and by and large I agree but harsh to pin the managers on Ronnie. Solskjaer did himself no favours sticking with the same 11 that tanked week in week out, and Ralf was only ever a short term appointment. Cristiano was a highlight of an utterly awful campaign.
Benefit of hindsight and with current situation in mind you can argue signing him was a mistake, which would be fair but if you went back I still think we sign him, and there was no way he was ever going to City.

 

[Jazz]

I’m sitting in the Stretford End today so will be interesting to see what kind of reaction he gets.

Im heading into this wanting to boo him but I can’t lie if he scores I’ll be singing viva Ronaldo with everyone else.

As much of a prick as he’s acted it will be nice to have seen him play in person at least once.

Please no booing. It's ETH\s first game at OT, let's welcome him properly.

Best thing is to ignore Ronaldo. If he scores, then sure do your thing

 

[georgipep]

I take your point and by and large I agree but harsh to pin the managers on Ronnie. Solskjaer did himself no favours sticking with the same 11 that tanked week in week out, and Ralf was only ever a short term appointment. Cristiano was a highlight of an utterly awful campaign.
Benefit of hindsight and with current situation in mind you can argue signing him was a mistake, which would be fair but if you went back I still think we sign him, and there was no way he was ever going to City.

Ralf changes the players, to no result. One constant in selection was Ronaldo. And our overall play, attacking output and team cohesion suffered massively. Confidence was shot, form was shot, morale was shot.

I think City were never really in for him and that was Mendes doing a brilliant job. But anyway, I still hope he goes to Sporting.

 

[georgipep]

Then we should sell Sancho too, according to your logic. Second and a third place without Sancho, 6th and two managers out the door with him. Fantastic signing. At least Ronaldo produce goals, Sancho produce feck all.

Yep, and we know that Sancho was the one that squared to Maguire for captain. Sancho was the reason we couldn't press from the front. Sancho was the player who demanded every ball and then threw his arms in the air in frustration because he is a prima donna.

Totally! Let's sell Sancho! not...

 

[Xaviboy]

So will our fans treat him like a King today at Old Trafford?