As per the title, if Cristiano Ronaldo had absolutely zero interest in moving to Spain and was 100% commited to us, how would we have fared post his exit. Obviously we'd have been a great side for many more years, but how much better, do we think? More PL titles, many more CL trophies etc?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
I'd have loved to see Moyes coach Ronaldo.
"Run with the ball lad. Here, watch how Mirallas does it. Try to score, like Kevin did."
"Run with the ball lad. Here, watch how Mirallas does it. Try to score, like Kevin did."
If he still stayed at the club till now we would've definetly won another title, the one in 2011/12, and the transition from fergie to the new manager would've been much easier. However I doubt we would've got Martial and Rashford would've been brought in but I could see Mourinho working with Ronaldo quite well.
A Ronaldo-Lukaku duo would be devastating, but at the cost of Rashford/Martial.
A Ronaldo-Lukaku duo would be devastating, but at the cost of Rashford/Martial.
This is like asking what if Sir Alex never retired or if Rooney looked after himself better.
But I can imagine that we would probably have won another CL and would never have signed RVP because we wouldn’t have lost the league on goal difference to City. If Ronaldo didn’t leave when he did then he would have left later anyway.
But I can imagine that we would probably have won another CL and would never have signed RVP because we wouldn’t have lost the league on goal difference to City. If Ronaldo didn’t leave when he did then he would have left later anyway.
Reckon we'd have had enough to beat Jose's Inter in 2010 if we got past Bayern. The 2009/10 and 2011/12 league titles go without saying given how close we actually came, and we'd have most likely gone at least a couple of rounds further in the CL in 2012/13.
We would call for him to be benched for the future ballon dor winner.
If we had kept Ronaldo, Martial wouldn't get a game and Lukaku and Zlatan would have never signed for us, as Ronaldo's partnership with Rashford would be the most devastasting striking force football ever saw. I also believe Ronaldo coul've extended Rooney's prime. Rooney would likely never leave us aswell.
I reckon we would have won the 2010 and 2012 league titles and the 2010 Champions League.
Pretty hard to imagine Ronaldo being here post-Ferguson. I'd say Ronaldo's peak form was in 13/14 and that's when we had Moyes so christ knows how we would have fared with him in the team but Moyes as the manager.
He was always destined to leave though so we're living in a complete alternative universe here where Moyes may not have even got the job if we were the 7 times in a row champions (which we would have been if Cristiano stayed).
What I always think about is how great it would have been if we'd signed RVP 4 or 5 years before we did.
Pretty hard to imagine Ronaldo being here post-Ferguson. I'd say Ronaldo's peak form was in 13/14 and that's when we had Moyes so christ knows how we would have fared with him in the team but Moyes as the manager.
He was always destined to leave though so we're living in a complete alternative universe here where Moyes may not have even got the job if we were the 7 times in a row champions (which we would have been if Cristiano stayed).
What I always think about is how great it would have been if we'd signed RVP 4 or 5 years before we did.
I think we’d have another champions league, I just wonder if he’d have turned into a more central striker as early. Easy to say he wouldn’t have scored as many goals but he could easily have hit 30 goals in the league every season. I think the injuries he’s had might have come a bit sooner and more frequent.
It's not just his individual skills that would have benefitted us. When he played for us, we were able to play a certain way with confidence. That confidence equaled fear in opponents and that fear won us games and titles
You guys would have won the 2010 CL and the 2010 and 2012 league titles.
22/4 instead of 20/3
How Ronaldo would have behaved in 2013/14 under Moyes when he was at his peak is a complete mystery.
Who knows, it's a ripple effect. If Ronaldo stayed then maybe SAF would have build the team around him and United would not have declined as much post-2013. Also, maybe if CR7 stayed then it would have been Mourinho to manage United after SAF instead of Moyes.
22/4 instead of 20/3
How Ronaldo would have behaved in 2013/14 under Moyes when he was at his peak is a complete mystery.
Who knows, it's a ripple effect. If Ronaldo stayed then maybe SAF would have build the team around him and United would not have declined as much post-2013. Also, maybe if CR7 stayed then it would have been Mourinho to manage United after SAF instead of Moyes.
We'd probably have won every title since 2010, the 2010 CL and possibly more.
He wouldn't have allowed himself to be managed by Moyes, Jose might have taken over straight after Sir Alex.
He wouldn't have allowed himself to be managed by Moyes, Jose might have taken over straight after Sir Alex.
At the time I could never understand why we sold him. We had him under contract for 4 more years. We should have kept him for at least two more years then sold if he really needed to go or had him see out the four years. The moment we sold the greatest player in the world and didn't reinvest in the squad was the moment I knew United was more interested in profits rather than success. Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern they don't voluntarily sell their top player for any price. We should have held onto him for longer. I think if he stays we would have won another CL for sure. Selling Ronaldo will forever be a dark day in United history. Makes me sad thinking about it!
We already got one extra year in exchange for that contract though didn't we. Although it was definitely painful, I suspect it would've been quite painful too to have a whiny and unhappy star around for a year or two more.
With Ronaldo, we would have won the league every year until Fergie retired. After that, we would still be a top 3 side. Our signings would also have been better since many players would love the chance to play with Ronaldo. For example, Moyes wanted Bale and Fabregas and they might have joined us if Ronaldo had been here.
We had have at least won one more CL IMO. Won't affect our league titles much since we still won most of them after he left anyway but he would have been crucial for us in CL and I'm pretty sure he would have helped us winning it one more time.
I don't really see how that is so, unless Ronaldo staying would somehow motivate Rooney to look after himself better
Rooney had to do a lot of dirty work with Ronaldo here, and I think if he would have stayed, Rooney would have been expected to keep up that level of play instead of becoming a passenger later on. The physical side of his game, his clever runs and hard work simply is not there anymore, and those were the things that made Rooney one of Ronaldo's favourite teammates. Without those runs creating space for Ronaldo or making up for his lack of defensive responsibility, I just don't see how it could have prolonged his United career
We certainly wouldn't have finished 2nd due to goal difference that's for certain.
De Gea
Smalling Bailly Jones
Valencia Matic Pogba Young
Rashford Lukaku Ronaldo
Smalling Bailly Jones
Valencia Matic Pogba Young
Rashford Lukaku Ronaldo
It's been 8 years since he left and United only won 2 Premier League titles in that period. You would have done much better than that, it would have completely changed things as you wouldn't have signed the same players and I doubt the managers would have been the same too so it's impossible to say exactly after such a big period of time. You'd have probably won the league and reached the CL final in 2010, and things would have never gotten nearly as bad as they did after Fergie left.
Looking back, selling him was one of the worst sales a top club has ever made. Not only because of what he adds on the pitch but because of the whole impact of selling a player like him to a club like Real Madrid. It's very possible you'd have had 5 Champions League titles to Real Madrid's 9, instead of the current 3 to 12.
Looking back, selling him was one of the worst sales a top club has ever made. Not only because of what he adds on the pitch but because of the whole impact of selling a player like him to a club like Real Madrid. It's very possible you'd have had 5 Champions League titles to Real Madrid's 9, instead of the current 3 to 12.
We would have one one or even 2 more champions league title. We wouldn't have been this crap after sir alex had retired .
It's not like we wanted to sell him
We'd have a couple more champions leagues, a few more league titles and Moyes would probably still be in charge.
I guess some sacrifices are worth making.
I guess some sacrifices are worth making.
Ahh everything would be different.
Pep, Klopp or even Jose could be here earlier, we'd of attracted more and better quality players. We'd probably never of bought RVP and Sanchez would be here with us instead. Flabs the glory huntin cnut would be here now... naaaa pizzagate not forgotten. But Bale? Maybe too.
You get the point. We'd be the destination of choice for our targets and they would mostly come. Rooney would probably be here still playing well having broke the record 2 years earlier than he did. All of our players who left would not have gave up the ghost as fast. He'd of kept us dangerous and inspired others not to drop their standards. Which did happen. City would of found it harder to attract players over us and I'd of hoped the class of 92 would be more around the club and more involved building a dynasty and a culture round the club to build further upon the likes of the 3 Sirs.
I'd give us 1 more CL and at least 3 leagues more and the odd cup.
In all likelyhood we'd of bought Kane this summer gone for a record fee and Ali would have signed long since as a kid, Pogs would never of gone to Juve wanting to be Ronaldos successor. All these kind of things is what probably would of happend if not the exact name someone of that ilk. It would just change so much.
Pep, Klopp or even Jose could be here earlier, we'd of attracted more and better quality players. We'd probably never of bought RVP and Sanchez would be here with us instead. Flabs the glory huntin cnut would be here now... naaaa pizzagate not forgotten. But Bale? Maybe too.
You get the point. We'd be the destination of choice for our targets and they would mostly come. Rooney would probably be here still playing well having broke the record 2 years earlier than he did. All of our players who left would not have gave up the ghost as fast. He'd of kept us dangerous and inspired others not to drop their standards. Which did happen. City would of found it harder to attract players over us and I'd of hoped the class of 92 would be more around the club and more involved building a dynasty and a culture round the club to build further upon the likes of the 3 Sirs.
I'd give us 1 more CL and at least 3 leagues more and the odd cup.
In all likelyhood we'd of bought Kane this summer gone for a record fee and Ali would have signed long since as a kid, Pogs would never of gone to Juve wanting to be Ronaldos successor. All these kind of things is what probably would of happend if not the exact name someone of that ilk. It would just change so much.
And what exactly could we do? Let him run down his contract? He stayed one more year here just because Fergie promised him he will let him leave that summer.
I agree. Not really your fault since he forced the move and at the time that kind of money made sense.
But looking back at it, with how the market evolved and at the present of Real Madrid and Manchester United makes it a lot worse.
If Ronaldo stayed we would've won leagues in 2010 and 2012 I reckon. The Champions League from 2010-2013 is also a possibility if we're talking about keeping Ronaldo along with his upper trajectory increase in form when he left. It's also possible he would not have been as selfish as he was in the 2009 final v Barca, although either way we were completely outplayed that night.
Hypothetically then you'd have to look at whether Fergie would've retired when he did. It's also likely that with Ronaldo in record breaking form, we'd have been able to attract a much higher calibre of player and manager in the post-Fergie years, leading to greater success.
Hypothetically then you'd have to look at whether Fergie would've retired when he did. It's also likely that with Ronaldo in record breaking form, we'd have been able to attract a much higher calibre of player and manager in the post-Fergie years, leading to greater success.
This thread makes me sad 
You see what kind of effect Ronaldo has had on Real Madrid over the last 8 years, that would have been us
Perhaps this wouldn't be true but I feel the standard of our signings would have improved had we kept Cristiano. A lot of players would want to play in a side with one of the best players of all time. Maybe, we'd have signed Gareth Bale, Fabregas, Vidal and a few others we were interested in at the time.
I've always viewed the departure of Ronaldo as the start of United's decline. Yes Fergie stayed 4 more years and won another 2 titles but those titles always seemed more workmanlike than previous ones, won more with sheer personality and the fear factor fergie instilled in rival managers. The class of 92 had gone or would retire in the next year or so and very few were coming up through the youth team. Don't get me wrong, we still quality players but we lost that blistering counter attacking football which personified so many of the great United teams. If Ronaldo had stayed, i would have expected at least 2, probably more PL titles and maybe another 1 or 2 CL trophies.
I don't think we would get Lukaku if Ronaldo stay for us and being loyal to the club, he'd be central forwarder instead of winger so Rashford/Martial can play on wings, we can even rotate Martial/Rashford and Ronaldo for central forward and left wing
If Ronaldo stay for us, we would reach champions league final 2009-10 season 3 times in a row for 3 years if we defeated beat Bayern Munich in quarter-final and could reach champions league final again in 2013 vs Bayern Munich
City would lose title to us in 2011/12
City would lose title to us in 2011/12
I see what you mean. Obviously we were still excellent during that period and we'd love to be able to return to that level now, but there was definitely a change post-Ronaldo, as you'd expect.
Between 06-09 we were often imperious and in 07/08 we were the best team in world football until Guardiola's Barca came along. Attack-wise we became a lot more reliant on Rooney, who was terrific but obviously never quite Ronaldo, and whenever he was out we often had some noticeable weaknesses as an attacking unit.
He would be sitting on 350 goals for us and noone would get near that record .
Yep.You see what kind of effect Ronaldo has had on Real Madrid over the last 8 years, that would have been us
A lot of the bang average players we've signed since then never would've been purchased, as the standard would've remained much higher.
Rooney and Ronaldo at that time were unstoppable, the CL semi's against Arsenal just 1 example to emphasise that. And yes, the United team after that were still very very good, just in a slighty different way. Still can't believe we spent a chunk of the Ronaldo windfall on Obertan ffs