Has Ronaldo ruined his legacy for you?

[Shai-Hulud]

Never liked him as a person. The narcissism was clear to see already in 2004 and 2006.

Never considered him a United legend when he left to give his best years to another club after calling himself a slave here.

 

[BAMSOLA]

His legacy for United has been tainted the second he left at his peak for an inferior team.

You mean that inferior team he ended up winning 4+ European cups with?

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Just look at Bale going back to Tottenham, horrific. Can't think of many examples of players returning and it being a good move.

Hummels and Bonucci are the ones that did okay.

 

[Varun]

Ruined his United legacy for me when he went to Real Madrid. Legend of the game. Real Madrid legend. Not a United legend.

Same. I never cared much for him as a Utd legend

 

[IhabX7]

After one of our best performances since Fergie left, the post match thread was shorter than a thread about Ronaldo leaving before the match ended. That should tell you that the toxicity comes from the online fans, and it will never have any influence on how most people around the world view him. It’s getting incredibly silly.
I understand Ronaldo and feel for him, he’s hell bent on his records and has worked to get them for 20 years. He’s the greatest of all time. He wants to be a real part of the success on the field like he always has been. It’s not working at the moment and his action do not reflect well on him.

 

[OleTheGreat]

He obviously thinks too much of himself even at 37 but I do think a player needs to have that kind of confidence to survive at the elite level.

Walking out on the team and his coach yest was totally uncalled for and I think he should be axed and sold in the winter. For once, we have a coach who's thinking for the betterment of the squad and the future of Man United.

 

[Idxomer]

You mean that inferior team he ended up winning 4+ European cups with?

At the time yes it was an inferior team to the one United had.

He won his first European Cup with Madrid 5 years after leaving United, it was a different Madrid team than the one he joined.

 

[Guapa]

He was dead to me when he left us for his beloved RM.Even Fergie persuading him to stay for one more season was cringe worthy when it was clear he wanted out.Now yesterday's non performance is a sackable offensive in my book.Hope we've seen the last of him at this club.

 

[MadDogg]

I'm trying not to let it hurt his legacy. Right now it's hard, but I hope in a few years I can separate the periods and almost forget this one. Just remember the joy and amazing times he gave me in his first period.

It's especially frustrating to me. As an Aussie, I took a couple weeks holidays and flew down to Melbourne to watch the preseason games that Utd had here. The first time I've actually got to watch Utd live, and I hoped the chance to actually watch one of the greatest of all time in the flesh. Only for him to decide not to come.

I put that aside and defended his performances to some extent for the first bit of the season. Despite him struggling, I still think him at striker was better for the team as a whole than Rashford for most of the season so far (partly due to their respective performances at striker, and partly due to Rashford then being able to play on the left where he was much better). I do think some of the criticism he got during those games were a bit exaggerated. Rashford has started looking a little better recently (indeed he was truly good in the second half against Spurs) so even that's changing.

But these last two games definitely pissed me off. The pathetic way he was shaking his head the entire time he was being subbed, and then for another minute or two while he was sitting on the bench, against Newcastle. And then his actions again here. It's hurting his legacy here and it's got to be annoying his teammates. It doesn't even make sense from his selfish point of view, as these actions are just making it more and more unlikely that any decent team will want anything to do with him. If he sucked it up, kept his head down and just acted professionally and tried his best to get back into form, other teams would be looking at that and thinking that he can play an important role for them. But he's actively destroying his chances of that. Absolute stupidity from him and everybody loses.

 

[Adisa]

You need to grow up if you care about footballers' legacies. He isn't showing us anything he didn't duruing his first stint. I couldn't give less of a feck about him since he left the club in 2009.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

Nobody with a brain and a functioning pair of eyes would ever consider him the greatest player of his generation, let alone of all time.

whatever hipster, half the world thinks he's the greatest ever player, but I guess you know better

 

[Jeppers7]

No....won us CL, 3 leagues in a row and balon dor. Came back and scored 25 goals last season. Anyone saying yes probably had an agenda against him from 2003

 

[Spoony]

whatever hipster, half the world thinks he's the greatest ever player, but I guess you know better

He's far behind Messi let alone Maradona.

His fans eh?

 

[Lay]

If we go by FM they have legends, icons and favourite personal. I think he belongs in the icons list. Legends are Charlton, Best, Law, Cantona

 

[RORY65]

After one of our best performances since Fergie left, the post match thread was shorter than a thread about Ronaldo leaving before the match ended. That should tell you that the toxicity comes from the online fans, and it will never have any influence on how most people around the world view him. It’s getting incredibly silly.
I understand Ronaldo and feel for him, he’s hell bent on his records and has worked to get them for 20 years. He’s the greatest of all time. He wants to be a real part of the success on the field like he always has been. It’s not working at the moment and his action do not reflect well on him.

He didn't turn up for preseason, how does indicate he wants to be part of the success? The team was winning last night and playing well and he sulked off like a child despite being a middle aged man. He's only interested in stat-padding for the last few years of his career.

His last year or so here the first time was largely made miserable by the circus around him and him wanting to leave almost becoming bigger than how good that team was, we don't need his nonsense at the club now as we try to rebuild under the most promising manager we've had since Ferguson.

 

[Chaky_Best]

United legend on his first spell. Came as a boy, left as a ballon d or.

Then his comeback was a pure mistake from both side. He never wanted to come back first, and we shouldnt have bought him.

Hopefully he will leave in January, let this dressing room and good luck in Inter Miami mate.

 

[Giggsy13]

No. His last 3 years at United produced some of the best individual performances we‘ll ever see from a United player. His legacy is intact but he is not bowing away gracefully and he cannot accept that he is not the footballer he was once before. That shouldn’t change our view of him though.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm trying not to let it hurt his legacy. Right now it's hard, but I hope in a few years I can separate the periods and almost forget this one. Just remember the joy and amazing times he gave me in his first period.

It's especially frustrating to me. As an Aussie, I took a couple weeks holidays and flew down to Melbourne to watch the preseason games that Utd had here. The first time I've actually got to watch Utd live, and I hoped the chance to actually watch one of the greatest of all time in the flesh. Only for him to decide not to come.

I put that aside and defended his performances to some extent for the first bit of the season. Despite him struggling, I still think him at striker was better for the team as a whole than Rashford for most of the season so far (partly due to their respective performances at striker, and partly due to Rashford then being able to play on the left where he was much better). I do think some of the criticism he got during those games were a bit exaggerated. Rashford has started looking a little better recently (indeed he was truly good in the second half against Spurs) so even that's changing.

But these last two games definitely pissed me off. The pathetic way he was shaking his head the entire time he was being subbed, and then for another minute or two while he was sitting on the bench, against Newcastle. And then his actions again here. It's hurting his legacy here and it's got to be annoying his teammates. It doesn't even make sense from his selfish point of view, as these actions are just making it more and more unlikely that any decent team will want anything to do with him. If he sucked it up, kept his head down and just acted professionally and tried his best to get back into form, other teams would be looking at that and thinking that he can play an important role for them. But he's actively destroying his chances of that. Absolute stupidity from him and everybody loses.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

He's far behind Messi let alone Maradona.

His fans eh?

Those are opinions, that myself, and many others, disagree with.

 

[Spoony]

I've always thought that(frog and scorpion) was a tad unfair. People can change, Pogue!

 

[norm87cro]

Even in his prime, he was loyal to Fergie rather than the club. He begrudgingly stuck around to pay back his father figure but he's never really given a shit about us. I honestly couldn't care less what stats are thrown around, I want something extra from a great player if I'm going to start calling them a club legend. We've had loads of top, top players. They weren't all legends.

Someone like Harry Gregg, who pulled teammates from the wreckage at Munich, or Robson, who stuck with us despite us being beneath him in terms of quality, deserve the accolade. Not some preening egotistical tit who barely gives a passing thought to anything but his own legacy. Feck him and his weird band of teenage stans.

My man you just said it all and I totally agree.

 

[Gehrman]

He's 37.. 37! and acting like a man-child. His strops could be condoned more when he was young and taking the world by storm.

Don't forget his interview last season talking about mentality and maturity and the lack of maturity of our young players only to go on to have a hissy fit when he subbed off vs Bradford. It's kind of incredible he can't see the hypocrisy, but he's always been petulant and narcissistic. It doesn't take away from his ability(in his prime), but at his age you'd expect something different. Captain material my ass.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I've always thought that(frog and scorpion) was a tad unfair. People can change, Pogue!

You'd think so. Then you see Ronaldo with the exact same slapped arse face I remember whenever things didn't go his way as a teenager, aged 37 years old!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Don't forget his interview last season talking about mentality and maturity and the lack of maturity of our young players only to go on to have a hissy fit when he subbed off vs Bradford. It's kind of incredible he can't see the hypocrisy, but he's always been petulant and narcissistic. It doesn't take away from his ability(in his prime), but at his age you'd expect something different. Captain material my ass.

Ha! Great point.

One of the big upsides of signing him was supposed to be the way his extreme professionalism would rub off on the rest of the squad. How's that working out?!

 

[Gehrman]

Ha! Great point.

One of the big upsides of signing him was supposed to be the way his extreme professionalism would rub off on the rest of the squad. How's that working out?!

I'm sure Elanga and Rashford are super duper insipired.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm sure Elanga and Rashford are super duper insipired.

Really sucking up the benefit of all of his experience. This is how you try to undermine your manager, through the medium of mime.

 

[Someone]

Definitely ruined the remaining admiration I had for him. The definition of a club legend will change from one person to another, and for me even though he gave us some great years, his attitude towards the club has always been poor. He asked to leave the club twice, and the second time was the pure definition of jumping ship. A legend should at least be loyal.

 

[Marwood]

Honestly mate, some absolute snowflakes on here. I dread to think what would have happened if the cafe was around in the days of Best turning up smashed to games. To Keane and Schmeichel smashing each others faces in or as you said Scholes who literally refused to play and told Sir Alex to his face he wouldn’t play in a league cup game. Or maybe Roy Keane slagging off his team mates in 2006. Or you know Cantona kicking someone in the face and being banned for nine months. Or Wayne Rooney walking into Sie Alex’s office and telling him the team was too shit and he needed to bring better players in. But oh no Ronaldo walked down the tunnel with five minutes left. Legendary status now shattered.

Honestly people on here need to get a fecking grip. He acted like a brat, big fecking deal.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Honestly mate, some absolute snowflakes on here. I dread to think what would have happened if the cafe was around in the days of Best turning up smashed to games. To Keane and Schmeichel smashing each others faces in or as you said Scholes who literally refused to play and told Sir Alex to his face he wouldn’t play in a league cup game. Or maybe Roy Keane slagging off his team mates in 2006. Or you know Cantona kicking someone in the face and being banned for nine months. Or Wayne Rooney walking into Sie Alex’s office and telling him the team was too shit and he needed to bring better players in. But oh no Ronaldo walked down the tunnel with five minutes left. Legendary status now shattered.

Honestly people on here need to get a fecking grip. He acted like a brat, big fecking deal.

Wayne Rooney got dog's abuse from fans on here (and every other United message board) over what he did (despite never letting his unhappiness show on the pitch)

Almost all of the other stuff was pre-internet but you can bet your arse there were many fans with strong feelings at the time, even though they didn't get to vent on redcafe.

 

[VP]

You can just tell that the Ronaldo fanboys are the insecure pricks who worship Jordan Peterson.

 

[Gehrman]

You can just tell that the Ronaldo fanboys are the insecure pricks who worship Jordan Peterson.

It's painful to see the top lobster slip down the hierarchy.

 

[Oldyella]

He ruined his legacy with me when he called himself a slave and fecked off to Madrid. Not given a shit about him since.

A-fecking-men.

 

[Spark]

Not really, he's been like this for ever. In all honesty, I'm scratching my head at why he stormed off because he's actually been on the bench loads this season and whilst he's obviously a massive prima donna, he's shown glimpses of backing the team when we've scored goals and on the pitch (from the bench). I think something must have been said to him or maybe he got told he was going to play and then got overlooked. Probably missed out on some cash bonus too (ever since Iwobi's hilarious wages at Arsenal got leaked years ago I cynically think that every celebration from players is basically because they've netted £20k or hit some random bonus despite already earning mental basic wages).

Fundamentally, he's 37 going on 38 and cannot be expected to be the focal point of our team anymore regardless of what Ronaldo himself clearly thinks. Freeing up his wage and getting in a hungry no.9 - would still love Ivan Toney regardless of his scouse leanings - is what we need. We all need to move on.

 

[kouroux]

Not at all. I can separate his current behavior with what he's accomplished for the club. He's never been a legend for me, the way he whored himself to go to Madrid ruined him for me

 

[Swoobs]

whatever hipster, half the world thinks he's the greatest ever player, but I guess you know better

Cannot even get half the votes in a United forum when being compared to one other player in the same era, but ya “half the world” and “of all time”. Where did you get your half the world and of all time stats from? A sample size of 20 in Portugal?

 

[afrocentricity]

Looking back I'd rather him never returned even if that means we have to rely on the injury prone Twang because now I can't look at Ronaldo the same anymore. Sure he's always been arrogant but his abilities used to make up for it. You could say it's part of his charm, arrogant but top professional. Now he's fecking bad and doesn't want to admit it, guy is older than 90% of premier league and still thinks he needs to start every game. On top of performance issues, he keeps leaving matches early (disrespecting the manager).

Not to mention he also disrespected the club by bitching about not being in CL and wanting out even though he knew the state of the club before joining. It's the risk he took, which he got paid handsomely for and yet he has the audacity to be a spoilt old baby demanding CL football when no CL club wants him anyway. As far as I know, no one at United has ever disrespected him since his return. Even Ten Hag is still giving him chances.

I don't despise him but it's hard to see him as a club legend anymore. When he joined Real Madrid, at least we got money. Now he's not only draining money in salary but also stalling the progress of the squad as he's not suitable for Ten Hag tactics.
You can argue that if he left Juve for City, his legacy will also be ruined but at least he won't be our problem and City was going to win it with or without him anyway.

Very reasonable OP..... not what I was expecting. Personally I will probably scrub it from memory, similar to how I did when he was with us the first time around. Consequently he'll probably remain one of my favourite players.

 

[norm87cro]

You mean that inferior team he ended up winning 4+ European cups with?

Yeah that one that was s... between 10 and 12 while we lost to Barca in the CL final. After that Real was better but not excactly after that c... left

 

[harms]

I can't say that this stint changed a lot in my perception of him. I fell out of love with him when he forced his way out using slavery as an argument — and never got convinced that he cared about a club or about anything & anyone but himself. And his general behavior since that didn't help it at all — narcissism and arrogance that don't come paired with a good sense of humour (like it does in the case of Cantona or older Ibrahimovic) make it hard to feel anything but complete indifference towards him.

Some of his performances last year were genuinely great and I was glad for him and for the club but the love didn't came back, which is a plus, I guess, since the pre-season mess (he was supposed to explain it all and prove his doubters wrong come September, wasn't he?) and his other escapades like the one from last night don't hurt at all.

It feels incredible that someone who achieved so much at United isn't a club legend in my book but Cristiano is really one of a kind, I guess.

 

[OldTrevil]

I lost all interest in the guy long ago the moment he decided to change his game in pursuit of goal numbers, so I'm not surprised by his egotistical antics

 

[Gavinb33]

His legacy was always built on himself if only United fans could accept it, for me it's been since the "I'm a slave" comments.

Even when he played well for us in his 1st stint after 07 I always viewed it as a one way relationship all to him and none back to the club or the fans