Its all Ronaldo's Fault?

[Red_Aaron]

I wouldn't say Ronaldo specifically but perhaps the weight of increased expectation, of which he will play a big part in as a serial winner, was too much for some of these players who had been happy trotting along finishing Top 4 and trying to win the Europa league

We've looked so mentally fragile this year, the players look scared shitless. Maybe Ronaldo had ramped up the pressure, maybe Varane had, maybe Ole had or perhaps it was just poor coaching which left us so easy to play against

either way everyone associated with the club must take some blame as they've all failed to rise to the challenge so far

 

[Roboc7]

It’s just so odd how people seem to try to blame everyone but Ole for his failures. They guy was just plodding along in Norway before he came here, it’s not too difficult to work out why he failed to be an elite manager seeing as he’s never even come remotely close to being one.

There are pros and cons with Ronaldo but amount of blame he gets is ridiculous, without him Ole would have been gone much sooner.

 

[Kostov]

There were lots of experts on this forum also thinking Ronaldo this or that, when in reality we had seen signs of this happening way before Ronaldo even signed.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

So many similar threads.

 

[Kellyiom]

I'm not going to fan the debate over Ronaldo. Personally I think the warning signs were there for a long time and we'd be hoping for Europa League without him.

In the press, I think a lot of this type of comment is driven by ex-players, even opponents, closing ranks and I don't begrudge them that tbh.

It was well past time for Ole but he'll always be a legend and he's definitely left the team in a better shape than he was given it imo.

 

[passtheball]

Did we play like terrified kittens against Seville in the Europa League semi-final a year ago because of Ronaldo?

Did we play like terrified kittens against Leicester in the FA Cup quarter-final this March because of Ronaldo?

Did we play like terrified kittens against Villareal in the Europa League final this May because of Ronaldo?

Did we play like sh*t against Southampon and Wolves in the league this season because of Ronaldo?

Were we going to play better without Ronaldo in the CL games in which he scored last-minute goals to keep us in the competition?

The answer to all these questions is a resounding NO.

Ronaldo will propel us to trophies under Poch/TH/Rodgers/whoever that is not an ex-United player.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Ha ha.

Ole has these periods every season, at least once or twice a season.
Unfortunately for Ole, the win that would usually have “turned a corner” was followed by another couple of tricky games, if we’d played Watford after Spurs, he may have fluked another apparent “turnaround”.

Let’s not forget we lost 4 of our final 7 games last season, drew 1, won just 2.

 

[arthurka]

That's such a bullshit it's unbelievable that they get paid for that shit. It's not like we covered ourselves in glory at the latter stages of last season. Ronaldo is the least of our problems.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

The best case scenario for Ole would've been slightly better results - and thus a postponement of the inevitable. Which wouldn't have helped us one little bit in the long term.

Hence, even if Ronaldo's arrival actually did lead to slightly worse results - it hardly matters. Ole just wasn't good enough - period.

 

[Ted1985]

Its not Christianos fault that Ole surrounded him self with coaches that are not good enough, its not Christianos fault that Ole kept favoring out of form players and its not Ronaldos fault that Ole didnt take a course in football tactics. Ole did this to him self, and the sympathy he is getting is just misplaced.

 

[Oranges038]

Looking at it.

It really is all Ole's own doing. Aside from a real lack of any cohesive playing style, there seemed to be no discipline or team work ethic amongst the players. It was almost like every man for himself out there at times and it all depended on whether or not they felt like showing up.

Making Maguire captain was a massive mistake. He never addressed the midfield problems, stuck with Fred and McT all along. That will go down as his biggest failing.

He was also afraid to make tough decisions, preferring to sit on the fence and take the easy option. De Gea for me is the biggest one, Lingard, Martial and Pogba another as well. Constantly giving these guys who let the team down time and time again more time on the pitch.

Stuck with underperforming players all the time, was afraid or unwilling to drop players not playing well. Never wanted to take off players who were playing shit. When you do stuff like that you are showing players you are wilĺing to accept them not doing their jobs properly. A lot of these guys just started to take the piss. Ultimately it showed in how they've played over the last 3 months and it cost him his job.

 

[Spoony]

Buying him was a mistake from a footballing point of view.

 

[Greck]

Let’s not forget we lost 4 of our final 7 games last season, drew 1, won just 2.

People even say it started right when he came. It's like our form to end last season never happened. so many heads collectively buried. If you want to say he isn't the ideal striker go ahead but putting it high on any list about where it went from for Ole is something else.

Others had been saying it since forever on here that those results we kept squeezing at the end of crap performances were never sustainable in the long term. Am even surprised it went as long as it did. Maybe the empty stadiums really did make a difference. Heck I might even have return of crowds higher on the list than Ronaldo's return.

 

[11101]

Imagine thinking one of the greatest players in the history of the game is the reason a team is rubbish. AND getting paid for that opinion.

 

[Zen86]

It's not Ronaldo's fault per se, but I don't think our downturn in form and apparent squad discontent is completely unrelated to his arrival.

 

[captaincantona]

This is like the 4th time we've put together a run like this in Ole's 3 years. He did his best to sack himself at every opportunity he got. The only difference Ronaldo has made this season is we're not bottom of our CL group.

No it isn’t to be fair...we have never lost this many games in such a short period including being smashed by Pool at home and walk over by city punctuated by being beaten by European minnows and snatching last minute results again most table CL opposition. If you’re honest with yourself...this season has been capitulation. That certainly wasn’t the case in previous seasons. In those seasons we looked slow and ponderous unless playing counter attacking football. We certainly never looked like being hammered unless down to ten men...in terms of how fragile we look this season is clearly and distinctly different. Again-so no one jumps on me- we were not functioning brilliantly before this season but we were much much more solid.

Ole just got to the point where he had to deliver a title challenge or he was out

we had plenty of other dodgy periods but he was given time because he hadn't built his squad

so nah, it was 100% Ole

also Ronaldo has played great since he got here

Ole didn’t need to deliver a title charge. The glazers would of kept him even after the Liverpool and city performances were not not for Watford. That has been widely publicised.

my feeling is that he spoke about and tried to play more on the front foot. He didn’t know how to and needed to fit Ronaldo into the team. As the folks on here have suggested, to get the best out of the lad he needs a strike partner so that means benching our other attacking talent. Anytime he has been a lone striker we have pretty much been made a show of. Whether you think Ronaldo has been good or not...his inclusion as the first name on the team sheet as a lone striker is a problem- fact. Playing with two up front is not what the squad was built for and young talent like Sancho and Amad and Greenwood and Rashford will be seeing more of the bench or become wing backs!

whatever your level of Ronaldo fandom, they are problems Ronaldo causes. That’s an equation the next manager will have to solve.

 

[Ondrej]

It’s the dumbest take on here. Signed arguably the best striker in the world and now you have to play around him? Oh no what a disaster.

 

[Smores]

Paul Merson thinks so, which tells you everything.

I've mainly seen this opinion from those who didn't see any issues before this season. It's a lazy analysis.

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

I'll believe it's Ronaldo's fault if we get a good manager in and still look crap.

As of right now, the people peddling this line are literally agreeing with Paul Merson. That's worth having a long, hard look at yourself.

 

[NotoriousISSY]

The narrative about it being Ronaldo or a midfielder too...it was deadline day.

Whoever thought we'd be okay going into the season with Fred, McTominay, Matic and VDB with Pogba and Bruno possibly able to play in a more reserved role (with limited success so far), they're the ones to blame. But there is absolutely no way we had a midfielder lined up on deadline day and had to give it up because of Ronaldo.

Ronaldo was an extraordinary signing, the type of investment you make outside of your normal budget because you know it's guaranteed revenue the other way.

Whilst there are plenty of errors across the team we can look at, there's no doubt in my mind that the primary error was having a first choice midfield of Fred and McTominay. An easy pair to bypass, and a pair of players who simply cannot play football through a team.

 

[captaincantona]

Did we play like terrified kittens against Seville in the Europa League semi-final a year ago because of Ronaldo?

No but we held our own and didn’t concede stupid goals.

Did we play like terrified kittens against Leicester in the FA Cup quarter-final this March because of Ronaldo

No but we held our own and didn’t concede stupid goals.

Did we play like terrified kittens against Villareal in the Europa League final this May because of Ronaldo?

No we dominated the game and couldn’t score. We didn’t get played

Did we play like sh*t against Southampon and Wolves in the league this season because of Ronaldo?

No. But Southampton we couldn't score - we didn’t get played through. Wolves basically Traore’d us but is the only point you have made I would accept.

Were we going to play better without Ronaldo in the CL games in which he scored last-minute goals to keep us in the competition?

We beat RB 5-0 and played one of our best ever games under Ole away to PSG last season. So we showed yes we were capable in CL games. We have be ATROCIOUS in all our CL games this season allowing much poorer opposition to dominate us and look like prime Barcelona at times. Nicking last minute goals is what he does. He is amazing at it- are you really saying his presence has improved our performances is Europe?

The answer is a little from colum A and a little from column B. He has not improved us and has created a dilemma. That’s not to say the right manager can’t solve it and we mightreap the rewards but I have my doubts.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

The answer is a little from colum A and a little from column B. He has not improved us and has created a dilemma. That’s not to say the right manager can’t solve it and we mightreap the rewards but I have my doubts.

Terrible terrible post all round that one.

”we didn’t concede stupid goals”, what fecking mental gymnastics are used to blame stupid goals on a striker?

 

[Ixion]

So a few things

• Since Boxing Day we have less than a 50% win rate
• We have only kept 2 clean sheets in the past 24 games
• We failed to get out of the CL Group Stage last season
• We have only won 2+ games in a row in all competitions once in the entirety of 2021
• In the Europa League Final we had 1 shot on target in 2 hours football which was a result of deflections going our way
• We won 3 of our last 9 games at the end of last season including Liverpool putting 4 past us at OT

There are a lot of warning signs that pre-date Ronaldo which the manager chose to ignore and have just been exacerbated by the 4-2-4 formation since his arrival

 

[Reapersoul20]

How the feck anyone can blame Ronaldo with the performances of our back four over the past few months is absolutely mind-boggling.

It's really just insanity. People just want CR7 to fail.

 

[thegregster]

2006 was Rooneys fault. It was a clear red. The little Englanders really need to move on.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

We would be bottom half and out the CL group stages by now if it wasn't for Ronaldo.

 

[captaincantona]

All these points about how we’re had problems and were shit before Ronaldo.

please go back to all your Own comments In match day threads last season. The issues that you yourselves were highlighting had nothing whatsoever to do with getting played through and looking completely fragile and conceding 4 goals in a game...it didn’t happen..

YOUR issues were to do with dominating possession and not having a clue what to do about a low block. Conceding first and having to always come back which more often than not we did.

At the very least, based on your own assertions last season, you must see the difference between scraping top four by winning fine margin games and this season- basically concedinggoals left right and centre and being dominated and put under the cosh by every team we play against.

it is not the same...we are significantly less stable. We are no better in any respect but significantly less stable definitely.

 

[hurricane thunderclap]

Of course it's not.

You don't need to be an expert to see the issues Ronaldo has brought. Anyone with some basic understanding of the modern game would. But surely it's not all his faults, Ole is for a big part too imo. For example his decision to play Ronaldo as a #9, and to play him 90' every matches despite his age. Both are obviously bad decisions imo.

Imo Ronaldo is one of the reasons top coaches would be reluctant to come to us. Ronaldo need a very good midfield and hard working, very hard working attacking players around to accommodate him. We don't have either. United has a very big fan base and also Ronaldo. If things don't go well the pressure would be huge, and might even ruin their whole reputation and career. So far only Poch seems interested and imo it's because he's currently is in a worse situation with Neymar, Messi, Mbappe etc. Our board is clueless and only cares for money. If I was one of them tbh I'd stay away from United for the moment.

Amazing, you blame ronaldo at the start and the more you write the further away you get for explaining your reasons.

 

[hurricane thunderclap]

It's not Ronaldo's fault per se, but I don't think our downturn in form and apparent squad discontent is completely unrelated to his arrival.

Care to expand rather than just expel?

 

[Winrar]

No but we held our own and didn’t concede stupid goals.


No but we held our own and didn’t concede stupid goals.

*flashbacks to Istanbul away and Tottenham home*

 

[DomesticTadpole]

So it was Ronaldo's fault we lost the EL final, it was his fault we kept going on bad runs. Rubbish. If anything he is highlighting what some of these players have been getting away with under Ole. He is more professional that a big number of them.

 

[glazed]

You can't blame Ronaldo for not fitting into the system when there is no system. Arguably he stops free flowing make it up as you go along football but really our crapness was down to lack of a defensive midfield.

That said if Poch tries to build a high press, its failure will undoubtedly be Ronaldo's fault. We will end up playing him against lesser teams as a flat track bully and he will get angry about it. But if he won't press then that's how it will have to be.

 

[Deery]

I wouldn’t call Paul Merson an expert..

 

[youmeletsfly]

Remove the goals Ronnie scored and Ole would've been without a job much sooner, so no.

 

[sullydnl]

Of course it's not. A lot of the problems that cost Solskjaer were clearly there before Ronaldo ever arrived. Last season we didn't get knocked out of the CL, lose the EL final and repeatedly go behind in games because of Ronaldo, it was because of Solskjaer.

That said, figuring out how to carry a goal-poacher who can't apply pressure is a tactical problem for a manager to solve. So thrusting that on a manager who isn't good tactically and has all those other problems already will obviously carry some negatives.

It's not like other teams don't have aging or non-pressing strikers though, even within our own league. Lukaku hardly kills it in that regard for Chelsea and the aging Vardy can't be a press monster either. But their managers find solutions, even if that solution is (unfortunately for some) not to press as much or as high as we'd ideally like.

 

[Dante]

The English media have been far kinder to him than the Italian media, to be fair.

 

[Bestietom]

You have to play to his strengths. Feed Ronaldo the right ball and he will score goals. If we have to change the way we play then do it.
Ole bought players he just didn't know how to use. He played Sancho on the left side and VdB couldn't get into the side. Rashford just walked back into the side and didn't perform. Greenwood was forgotten about, same as Cavani when Ronaldo came.
A manager should have control over all football matters, but it seemed at times that Ole was out of his depth, and afraid to offend the big players.

 

[Zen86]

Care to expand rather than just expel?

He's a big ego arriving on a massive wage and is an automatic starter in an already overcrowded squad. Not difficult to see how that could upset the squad harmony. Not to say things were perfect before, they weren't.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Easy scape goat for the media to get some clicks from. Ole lost Ole his job. Most these guys are saying it’s because Ronaldo doesn’t press. We don’t press and really never had, half These pundits for having played at the highest levels have no clue whatsoever.

You can generally see the different knowledge and technical understanding of these younger pundits they get in compared to some of these older fellows. The oldies haven’t moved on with the times.

 

[Jezpeza]

You dont have to press first of all. Its just a tactic you may or may not employ.

Cristiano is now a box player so the game is to create for him in and around the box. We couldnt do this because Ole was strong at coaching counter attacking football and poor at coaching possession football. We could never beat a low block under him for that reason. Its why we always looked like we struggled to put 5 passes together in some games.

This season we were forced to try and play possession football because we signed Varane, Sancho and Ronaldo and were expected to mount a title challenge and were never going to do that hitting every team in the league on the break.

if we get the right manager in who finds a system to utilise our best players, Ronaldo will be total fire it will be 2 or 3 goals a game for him.

this has just been Mersons little obsessed spiel since the start of the season i think hes back on the charlie