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Ronaldo wasn’t the problem….
- Thread starter UnitedSofa
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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?
Two things can be true. The dressing room may have had the wrong attitude, but so did Ronaldo towards the end. He was a whiny prick and his legend status has been revoked.
Ronaldo was insubordinate and more importantly was no longer at the requisite level for PL level. He had to go, blud.
It's as simple as that.
He was a big problem. We played far better once he left. Felt like a relief when he left.
What are this high standards?
The guy himself was a stumbling block to how the team plays.
Then add his scorched earth policy, with the 'club' being his enemy.
Plus Ronaldo himself alone couldn't bridge the gap between United and City maybe, thus the club needed everyone to pull it's weight behind it to push further in becoming a better team. Something that Ronaldo was unwilling to do.
All in all, Ronaldo second return as ill advised and miscalculation by the club.
The guy himself was a stumbling block to how the team plays.
Then add his scorched earth policy, with the 'club' being his enemy.
Plus Ronaldo himself alone couldn't bridge the gap between United and City maybe, thus the club needed everyone to pull it's weight behind it to push further in becoming a better team. Something that Ronaldo was unwilling to do.
All in all, Ronaldo second return as ill advised and miscalculation by the club.
Absolutely. I wouldn't think Phelan is the best authority on the matter either. The eye test showed he was done at this level and his reaction to being subbed (when Rashford came on and scored) was pathetic.
He both had high standards and demanded a lot of his teammates - which is great, but he also is an ego-maniac and it is all about him, which is far from ideal.
The thought of him watching Portugal score 9 against Luxembourg is funny though, I bet he was fuming.
One amongst several, yes.
Is this even surprising when you hear that the likes of Sancho couldn’t be arsed in training?
Imagine being Ronaldo, a multi time ballon dor and champions league winner who’s used to training with the likes of Scholes and Giggs seeing this CoD addicted wimp walk in, clearly sleep deprived and fumbling around at rondos.
Imagine being Ronaldo, a multi time ballon dor and champions league winner who’s used to training with the likes of Scholes and Giggs seeing this CoD addicted wimp walk in, clearly sleep deprived and fumbling around at rondos.
It was the final feck you from Ed Woodward to Manchester United. Well, at least until the details of Harry Maguire's contract emerged.
Rolando couldn't perform to those high standards
He was a problem
He was a problem
You can demand high standards but you have to meet those standards yourself. It’s becomes poison if you’re demanding high standards but not performing to those standards.
I also have high standards. Doesn’t mean I can walk into the dressing room and demand stuff while I myself barely look like a footballer and don’t care or play about the team at all. Now Ronaldo is one of the GOATs and I am not, but that’s doesn’t mean anything when it comes to his performances since 2021/22.
This, simple.
Not to defend Ronaldo, as he wasn't at the level required to compete at the top (at least relative to his stature and wages), but I think the insubordination may have stemmed from him being unable to accept substandard efforts from our players.
I mean, look at Sancho and co. now. . .
Ronaldo's ego desperately wanted to win 'something' with United, to show the world his importance and be the 'homecoming hero', so to speak. But these lazy players putting in poor levels of effort drove him insane, to the point he lashed out and acted inappropriately.
To reiterate: I'm not defending Ronaldo's behaviour at all. It was clearly unacceptable. But I genuinely believe it stemmed from the lack of application and the low standards running through the dressing room. He just couldn't deal with it and wanted out.
Additionally, there's also the point where he couldn't accept his own level dropping. That will have contributed to his outbursts, sure, but I'm not so sure it was the root cause.
I mean, look at Sancho and co. now. . .
Ronaldo's ego desperately wanted to win 'something' with United, to show the world his importance and be the 'homecoming hero', so to speak. But these lazy players putting in poor levels of effort drove him insane, to the point he lashed out and acted inappropriately.
To reiterate: I'm not defending Ronaldo's behaviour at all. It was clearly unacceptable. But I genuinely believe it stemmed from the lack of application and the low standards running through the dressing room. He just couldn't deal with it and wanted out.
Additionally, there's also the point where he couldn't accept his own level dropping. That will have contributed to his outbursts, sure, but I'm not so sure it was the root cause.
Not him again ffs
Having high standards but also insisting the style of play be tailored exactly to him, at the detriment of team cohesion, can certainly mean that his "high standards" were in fact a problem. Why do people think so black and white about things?
About the only player who performed in his first season back. There’s probably only the likes of Shaw, Martinez, Varane who have performed to a high enough standard on a regular basis and that hasn’t changed since Ronaldo left.
That's just conjecture.
Both things can be true. He was not the Ronaldo that left, but we all knew that when he signed for the club. I think he was frustrated that it was also not the sigma Manchester United he left too.
It's might be a little like the Roy Keane thing.. his level dropped off massively.. but his standards hadn't.
That said, Keane is a legend and Ronaldo is a whiny piece of shit. He was moaning about leaving all summer too. Also, Keane kept it in house. Ronaldo went crying to Piers Morgan. He can feck off.
Phelan probably has a soft spot for Ronaldo.. understandable.
That said, Keane is a legend and Ronaldo is a whiny piece of shit. He was moaning about leaving all summer too. Also, Keane kept it in house. Ronaldo went crying to Piers Morgan. He can feck off.
Phelan probably has a soft spot for Ronaldo.. understandable.
I told you all it was going to be a total shitshow that would undo a lot of the positives we had seen previously. I was laughed at. I fell for the hype once he got his first few goals but all in all a terrible mistake. Madrid wouldn’t have ever sold him if he was at the same level or about to start going down. Ditto with Juve. Same problem we will have with Casemiro and Varane next even though they seem like good guys.
Most football related observations are conjecture.
It was widely reported at the time that Ronaldo challenged ETH on the merits of pressing and was resistant to doing it because it didn't suit HIM.
This article ignores the very obvious truth that Ronaldo didn’t understand or accept his physical decline. It’s very easy to have high standards, it’s not easy to follow them.
It’s inspiring to have someone who sets the ultimate standards for themselves and adheres to that, it would be so toxic to be in a team with someone who had standards for everyone else they could even match.
It’s inspiring to have someone who sets the ultimate standards for themselves and adheres to that, it would be so toxic to be in a team with someone who had standards for everyone else they could even match.
What does Mike Phelan actually do now?
I used to play football with a guy like that. Easily my least favorite kind of team mate. He'd misplace more than half his passes and constantly get dispossessed. And 90% of the time he'd blame his team mates for this out loud. He may have had a weird mix of autism and narcissism.
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Jesus Mikey
He commits phelanies together with Fellaini.
No Mikey, no! That was so not right!
No one thing was the problem.
But Ronaldo was absolutely a problem. Both in terms of what he was offering as a player (particularly last season) and his personality off the pitch. People who aren't problems don't give Piers Morgan interviews because they've been correctly left out of the side by the manager.
Also, frankly, given the issues we've had with Greenwood and Antony in recent times I'm not in any way sad that this other player who had his own high-profile allegation against him is no longer part of the surrounding narrative at the club. The less of that we have at the club, the better.
But Ronaldo was absolutely a problem. Both in terms of what he was offering as a player (particularly last season) and his personality off the pitch. People who aren't problems don't give Piers Morgan interviews because they've been correctly left out of the side by the manager.
Also, frankly, given the issues we've had with Greenwood and Antony in recent times I'm not in any way sad that this other player who had his own high-profile allegation against him is no longer part of the surrounding narrative at the club. The less of that we have at the club, the better.
.... but the problem was Ronaldo
#iamthemaincharacter
I love these international breaks!! 
There's only one entity that can be described as THE problem, and that's the owners. Beyond that we have many problems, and Ronaldo used to be one of them
Regardless of his falling out with his team mates in the dressing room and high standards he went on TV with the biggest cnut around to publicly take on the manager, that isn’t high standards and is simply being a insubordinate whiny cnut who complained because he wasn’t an automatic starter due to the fact his legs had gone so couldn’t play PL standard football anymore and why no European club wanted him.
I will always love Ronaldo from his first stint with us but the one that came back wasn’t the same player or same personality, he lost any bit of humility he once had and believed he was bigger than the club. Does anyone honestly think Ronaldo would have acted the same way if Sir Alex was in charge ? If Sir Alex had dropped him because of his ability on the wane Ronaldo would NEVER have took him on but he believed he could take on ETH and found out the hard way that he couldn’t then lost.
I will always love Ronaldo from his first stint with us but the one that came back wasn’t the same player or same personality, he lost any bit of humility he once had and believed he was bigger than the club. Does anyone honestly think Ronaldo would have acted the same way if Sir Alex was in charge ? If Sir Alex had dropped him because of his ability on the wane Ronaldo would NEVER have took him on but he believed he could take on ETH and found out the hard way that he couldn’t then lost.
I think the events of his personal life played a part in his actions.
But, it's a similar situation to Roy Keane, when he was in the dressing room with the new wave of players Fergie had brought in. He had standards that he himself wasn't able to meet anymore and he couldn't adjust or realise that he just wasn't the same player he once was. That frustration boiled over and he ended up acting like a dick.
In the end he had to go.
But, it's a similar situation to Roy Keane, when he was in the dressing room with the new wave of players Fergie had brought in. He had standards that he himself wasn't able to meet anymore and he couldn't adjust or realise that he just wasn't the same player he once was. That frustration boiled over and he ended up acting like a dick.
In the end he had to go.
This. Everything had to go through him. He wasnt a team player anymore.
Thats a good question. Is he still at Utd even?
Too bloody professional, if anything.
Should Phelan really be saying that?