Agreed. While he lacked pace and agility, his movement and basic technique were at an elite level. It's a shame that he played through the Colony Capital era because it is one of these players that deserved better, he was a class act on and off the field.
Great players that are not Legends at any club
- Thread starter Nico87
- Start date
Eto'o
Van Persie
Di Maria
Matic
Pogba
Milner
Van Persie
Di Maria
Matic
Pogba
Milner
Definitely a United legend. Probably our best ever pure no.9.
Why at Madrid? He had 2 good years and won 1 league title, given your illustrious history, others have been more prolific, won more, stayed longer etc.
Was unsure if we’d class him as one but as @Eendracht maakt macht pointed out to me before he’s one for PSV.
I think, to the extent that Ronaldo can be called a Real Madrid legend, it would be because he was part of the Galacticos project which was pretty famous and how lots of people got into the club. It's not really on merit per se.
No, never.
Look at the three years after…it’s pretty damming evidence that he made the biggest difference.
Cesc Fabregas? Great player for Arsenal, spent many years there, and played his best football there. I love him but I am not sure if he is considered as a legend in Arsenal. Same for Van Persie (I never blame him for leaving. He did it with a good reason back then)
R9? A legend as a player, but I am not sure if he is considered as a legend at any club. Real Madrid fans may be able to answer it.
R9? A legend as a player, but I am not sure if he is considered as a legend at any club. Real Madrid fans may be able to answer it.
Errrr your words.
Because he's Ronaldo
Is that not the most important thing for 'legend' status?
I wouldn't class Lukaku as a great player. He was nothing special and had far too many flaws in his game to be considered one of the greats. Bit of a dickhead to boot.
Ronaldo played 292 games for us in his first spell. Far more than some legends. What an absolutely ridiculous claim to try and ignore 137 appearances from that time 27 goals a league cup and an FA Cup win to suit your agenda and cut his time in half. I’m sorry you felt that he ‘wasn’t established’ but that is frankly an absurd claim. That’s an average of 45 games a season for 3 seasons…’not established’
Ronaldo played for us for six seasons, you can’t cut that in half and shave a season off at the end to suit your narrative, we won an FA Cup (04) where he was man of the match in both the semi and the final. The league cup in 05 where he played well and scored. Then we won three league titles on the bounce, the CL, league cup, world club cup all of which he was key to. Look at what happened after he left, all the other players were still there and we didn’t play with 10.
Main point being though…if your shaving off 50% of the time someone spent at the club to suit your narrative then you know your making it up.
Ronaldo is not a United Legend. As soon as he hit his peak he fecked off and then there was all that nonsense with Piers Morgan when he came back. He left in disgrace and I can't see him getting any statues.
Probably the bit we overrate the most.
I don't think Ronaldo was here long enough to be considered our greatest player ever. Also you are overstating Ronaldo's importance to that team. Ronaldo was a part of a great team. The addition of Vidic, Evra, and Van Der Sar was just as important as Ronaldo's rise. I'm not saying Ronaldos performance wasn't importance to us, but if you look at that team their was so many world class players who were so important to that team and so many players that were not world class that were important to that team. Just as Ronaldo learned at Juventus, it takes a team to win trophies.
Also he left us just as he was getting to his prime and spent his best years at Madrid. So Ronaldo is a tough one. I think he is a Man Utd legend but way down the list of Man Utd Legends if we were to give them a ranking. And I also understand if someone wouldn't consider him a Man Utd Legend after all that happened.
He achieved all he could with United. He won everything he could with/for United. He even stayed one more year with United because of SAF. You can't blame him for leaving for a new adventure/experience for his career. Whether he is a United Legend is for United fans to decide of course. As an outsider I would say he is.
Ronaldo isn’t Uniteds greatest player, but he’s arguably the greatest player to have played for us. I’d say Best was better from what I’ve seen, but in terms of status.
There is absolutely no way that I am overstating Ronaldo’s importance. You aren’t one of the greatest players to have ever played the game without being the talisman for your club. That’s not to say that Vidic, Evra and many more like Scholes, Giggs, Rooney weren’t great players or indeed greater players for the club overall…BUT Ronaldo was the talisman of that team and a level up from his peers. The drop off in success is evident as soon as he left.
Like I said, I think that is crazy. He scored 42 goals and won the Balon D’Or in a Champions League winning season.
It’s perfectly valid to have him on a legends list on that alone. Only the most legendary of names have accomplished that at United.
Anelka is still the best answer to this.
Being a legend isn't just about achievements, it's largely based on affect and how the player is emotionally linked to a club and a fanbase. Ronaldo deemed that United was beneath him, he pushed for a move in a fairly disrespectful way before hitting his prime, he endorsed the claim that United treated him like a slave, he continuously used United's name to get bigger contracts with Real Madrid and we are not going to talk about his comeback or his attempt to join City.
Ronaldo was mainly brilliant for United but he isn't a legend, it's a player who happens to be good at Football and played for United. But is a legend for Real Madrid.
On point. For example: Claudio Pizarro is a Bayern legend. Lewandowski, though 5 times the player, is not.
I would say Dimitar Berbatov would probably fall in this category too, as much as I love him.
He was actively looking to engineer a move out of the club, while scoring those goals. He doesn't get Legendary status because he won the Balon D'Or anyway, especially not when he was batting his eye-lids at Real Madrid at the time.
Both times he left under a sour note, as others have pointed out the slavery comments were a piss-take and the Piers Morgan fiasco was worse. As far as I'm concerned you can't be a club legend when you show such disdain for the club.
Yep, but I guess always associated the term 'legend' relating to footballers as the status and bond they had with the club and supporters. Not (simply) their achievements.
This is a great question, and tough to answer.
The problem is everyone has a subjective opinion of what it means to be a club legend. For me, it means you're in a club's all-time first eleven. That criteria might be a bit harsher than many would feel necessary, but the more players you call club legends, the more that word loses its meaning.
Are Toni Kroos and Luka Modric club legends at Madrid? It'd be hard to choose either of them ahead of Zidane or Di Stefano.
The problem is everyone has a subjective opinion of what it means to be a club legend. For me, it means you're in a club's all-time first eleven. That criteria might be a bit harsher than many would feel necessary, but the more players you call club legends, the more that word loses its meaning.
Are Toni Kroos and Luka Modric club legends at Madrid? It'd be hard to choose either of them ahead of Zidane or Di Stefano.
You've just mis-characterised what I said deliberately. On the previous page you did the same when replying to @G3079.Ronaldo played 292 games for us in his first spell. Far more than some legends. What an absolutely ridiculous claim to try and ignore 137 appearances from that time 27 goals a league cup and an FA Cup win to suit your agenda and cut his time in half. I’m sorry you felt that he ‘wasn’t established’ but that is frankly an absurd claim. That’s an average of 45 games a season for 3 seasons…’not established’
Ronaldo played for us for six seasons, you can’t cut that in half and shave a season off at the end to suit your narrative, we won an FA Cup (04) where he was man of the match in both the semi and the final. The league cup in 05 where he played well and scored. Then we won three league titles on the bounce, the CL, league cup, world club cup all of which he was key to. Look at what happened after he left, all the other players were still there and we didn’t play with 10.
Main point being though…if your shaving off 50% of the time someone spent at the club to suit your narrative then you know your making it up.
Is there actually something wrong with you where you can't accept that someone might not hold Ronaldo in as high as regard as you do?
I've stated that what makes a legend is down to the collective but starts at the individual, that I've no problem with others thinking a player is when I don't but for some reason you can't have that courtesy for others. Twice in 2 pages arguing back against a strawman/mis-characterisation of what people said. It's really sad.
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Somebody mentioned Figo on the first page. Think that’s a good shout. Utterly brilliant player forever tainted by that switch of clubs. Although maybe for that alone he is considered a Real Legend.
Hagi is a Galatasary legend I would have thought
I reckon so, he was the first Galactico I thought as well.
I don’t believe I have in either case. Firstly with regards to G3079, here is his literal qoute
“Without emotion, you're down to pure statistics in judging who is a legend and who isn't,”
Beyond the qoute his entire post talks only with regards to statistics.
As for your post, having re-read it, I can more see where you’re coming from with your reply, however it still remains valid that what you’re trying to do is narrow down the timescale significantly from six years to three and begrudgingly at that. There’s absolutely no reason, to make a caveat beyond Ronaldo playing for the club for six years, winning what he won, having a 42 goal season. The amount of players who have ever had three seasons for united at the level of Ronaldo 06-09 would be counted on one hand. But the three years before that…There’s only a handful of teenage/early 20 year olds that have had three seasons at those standards either. All of it was part of that spell.
I agree that it’s fine to have a different opinion but when you’re mis-characterizing a six year spell into 3 years, and classing 3 x 45 game seasons with two trophies, goals in both finals as ‘not established’ don’t be surprised to get called out on it.
Fergie literally didn’t win his last title with us without RVP! Maybe he’s more cult hero status but he’s important to the club. Also the way he left Arsenal for us and did what he did. The way he took the club to his heart, even now he talks about United like it was his club, not Arsenal. He’s not welcome at Arsenal. He’s iconic
I said he wasn't established as a top player for his first 3 years, you keep bringing up appearance numbers, and are deliberatly omitting the word "top" as though I said he wasn't established in the team.
You did it again in this latest post. That's 3 times now you've repeated back the word established to me while doing that.
Honestly, I'm going to leave you to it.
Berbatov
Gascoigne (Rangers perhaps but only 2 and a bit years, seems ropey)
Cafu - More of a Brazlian legend than a legend at any one club imo, Roma might try and claim him from their league winning squad given how little them winning it happens.
Gascoigne (Rangers perhaps but only 2 and a bit years, seems ropey)
Cafu - More of a Brazlian legend than a legend at any one club imo, Roma might try and claim him from their league winning squad given how little them winning it happens.
Zlatko Zahovic: did some hist best years at Porto, went to Valencia while the club was still a top 4 club and came to Benfica, but not really considered a legend in any of his former clubs despite being a very skilled nr10.
I think Cafe he is highly rated by Milan fans.
Probably is, but In my own opinion I think you have to do more than 5 years to be a certified club legend
Depends how well the season went. Look at Mário Jardel: both Porto, Sporting and even Galatasaray fans rate him very highly, despite the fact he wasn't that long on those clubs.
He was playing for Man United and starring for Portugal all the way to international finals? If you mean he wasn’t yet the best player in the world…ok. But he was still doing things that 99% of players who ever played for us do.I said he wasn't established as a top player for his first 3 years, you keep bringing up appearance numbers, and are deliberatly omitting the word "top" as though I said he wasn't established in the team.
You did it again in this latest post. That's 3 times now you've repeated back the word established to me while doing that.
Honestly, I'm going to leave you to it.
Why are you trying to find a format that omits half of his time at United first time around?