Ruud, Ruud, Ruud!
Still hate that f*cking cnut Keown.
Still hate that f*cking cnut Keown.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy appreciation thread
- Thread starter Adisa
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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?
You then changed it to poor. Predators make goals with their movement and finishing. A good striker can make more of an average cross than an average striker. Van Nistelrooy could score those kind of goals too.
I'm not sure you can easily separate the breakdown of their relationships with Fergie from their lack of success. I think Fergie might have tolerated them for longer had they had the effect that, say, Cantona, Keane and Ronaldo had. As it is, yes he fell out with them but only ditched them when he found a suitable (better) replacement - Ronaldo for Ruud, Van Persie for Rooney.
Do you think? I would say he was a great player but i wouldn't even really have him down as a club great.
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I think you can (specially in Rooney's case). Once a player couldn't work under SAF, if the possibly to get rid of him, he'd take it, without necessarily looking for a replacement. He did with Beckham (sort of), he did it with Keane.
I needn't say anymore than my name tag. What a dude
Well Becks and Keane weren't angels in all the other years either. It's not that in 2002/03 and 2005/06 all of a sudden Fergie got annoyed. For different reasons there were a few challenges with both players from time to time, but no way was Fergie getting rid off Becks between 97 and 2001 or Keane until 2003.
But to get rid of Becks in 2003 when he was slightly declining and a bit less focused on football and Keane when he was declining and injuries increased is more understandable. Especially when there was a fall-out on top of that.
Same way he kept Rooney in 2010 as he was still good and we had just lost Ronaldo. A few years later and he wouldn't have kept Rooney either.
Watched that interview a while back, it's pretty good. He's asked whether he regrets leaving United or not, and the answer he gives makes a lot of sense.
My favorite player back then.
Saha wasn't even in the same league as RVN.
Van Nistelrooy is by far the best striker we've ever had. A striker's job is to score goals and his records speak for itself.
Then who is?He's never, ever to blame for the famine during the mid 00's. Anyone attributing our success after him, to him leaving have lost the plot. Ronaldo became great, Sir Alex finally settled on a functioning midfield, Giggs learned how to play the left midfield role to a T, Vidic and Rio created what's possibly the greatest centre back pairing in club history. Evra came in and developed into arguably the best left back in world football. Ruud was unfortunate in that he left when things clicked. It was merely coincidence rather than cause and effect. Ruud tried all he could during those years to get us to the promise land but sadly the rest of the team wasn't to the required standard. Apart from him, Rooney and Scholes post Becks, the others didn't quite look like the knew what they were supposed to be doing.
I always remember us as successful while Nistelrooy was here, but he won shockingly little at United
He made Martin Keown peer too deep into the primordial swamp from which he was birthed. Scored some belters along the way and had the foresight to fall out with Ronaldo to allow him to become the best player in the world.
Ruuuuuuuuuuud.
Ruuuuuuuuuuud.
Best pure striker I've ever seen in a United shirt. Remarkable talent and was still somewhat underrated by the wider footballing community.
It was wise to move him on regardless as it benefited our playing style.
It was wise to move him on regardless as it benefited our playing style.
Fox in the box if there ever was one. One of my favourite players.
Same here.
I am 41 yrs old. I've seen a lot of strikers in my time, but I've not seen a goal machine like RVN (well, maybe Shearer).
My first United away game was that FA Cup match against Villa where he came on and scored two in two minutes. Never heard a noise like the celebrations for his second since.
Will always be the first striker in my United all time lineups, but started hating him towards the end of his tiime here. He simply gave up on the pitch like Di Maria after his issues with Fergie. You could tell by his body language that he did not give a crap towards the end.
That was an incredible turn around. What a game to be at, he jumped in with the fans as well I remember. I remember ol Luke Chadwick getting subbed on and then off as well.
Had a slightly better goal record for us than Ronaldo did. 44 in a season, I think.
He didn't need to after the second goal, a good portion of the crowd were already on the pitch with him.
God that little laughing icon is the go to emoji of people with nothing worth while to say.
He left the club under a cloud and acted a bit of a prat. He also played during our least successful period under fergie in the prem, so his great goal scoring counted for little really. It also coincided with me being at uni where i attended almost no matches so never saw him score live (which for me makes a difference).
Where as cole, teddy and ole are all legends in my mind, with yorke being a club great as well, ruud isn't for me. Hughes, cantona and rooney all come above him for me as well of prem strikers at united.
Don't get me wrong he was class, but that doesn't equate to him being a club legend. I often forget he played for us.
Goal machine up there with Shearer in terms of premier leagues best goal scorers. What a player him a Becks were great together.
I was gutted when he was sold, but Fergie got it just about spot on. He only had one consistently good season immediately after he left, then it was very patchy due to injury.
He really deserved to have more trophies during his career. Especially in Europe.
He really deserved to have more trophies during his career. Especially in Europe.
Beautifully worded, mate. Poetically app to describe one of the best striker of all time.
He is a legend. No way would Madrid have won the league in 2007 without him, as he had an excellent season that year. Only Casillas came close to him that season in terms of contribution. He scored a lot of goals that I loved, but the ones against Steaua Bucharest and Valencia are my favourite.
I remember when we signed him and it flashed up on teletext, what a day....
Best finisher we've had at UTD IMO!
Best finisher we've had at UTD IMO!
What a player, complete striker. The right player at the wrong time. Shame our team was going through such a change for him to thrive and win a lot more, had we a decent core squad he was the best in the business. Caused issues internally but he admitted his errors after he left and realised.
What an incredible player. Shame it was between a period where there was slightly less success but still. I loved him.
Ruud's issue was that his peak arrived when he was playing for a United side slightly on the wane in terms of hunger and intensity. If he was in the 99 team, we would still have won the treble in my opinion but he arrived when the side was winning way too easily and cracks started to appear in the squad.
Stam left, the Veron debacle, Schmikes/Irwin gone.. and our midfield quartet, Giggs wasn't at the races, Beckham's head was elsewhere and Keano was not what he once was physically. So the side he was brought to fit in with, was falling apart by CL winning standards, whereas Arsenal were getting better and better.
The new signings we were bringing in, were poor and thus the old guard and Ruud were still being relied upon heavily. Now once Rooney and Ronaldo arrived, suddenly we had bit more about us as a team but they were both too young and by this stage Ruud himself was losing a yard of pace. Those two were also very 'modern' and liked playing in a different style and to get the best out of them, an ageing Ruud was not the one to link up with them and that is why a Saha was much better suited.
Ruud left at the right time, but I would never classify him as overrated or a key factor why we suffered from 01-06. He was just very unlucky to feature for a United in transition. He proved at Madrid, just what enduring class he did indeed have. Type of guy who I am sure if he was playing for a AC Milan at his peak, he would have been smashing goals for them and winning CL titles.
I wouldn't say he was United's greatest striker.. for me that is Denis Law. But he is probably second.
Stam left, the Veron debacle, Schmikes/Irwin gone.. and our midfield quartet, Giggs wasn't at the races, Beckham's head was elsewhere and Keano was not what he once was physically. So the side he was brought to fit in with, was falling apart by CL winning standards, whereas Arsenal were getting better and better.
The new signings we were bringing in, were poor and thus the old guard and Ruud were still being relied upon heavily. Now once Rooney and Ronaldo arrived, suddenly we had bit more about us as a team but they were both too young and by this stage Ruud himself was losing a yard of pace. Those two were also very 'modern' and liked playing in a different style and to get the best out of them, an ageing Ruud was not the one to link up with them and that is why a Saha was much better suited.
Ruud left at the right time, but I would never classify him as overrated or a key factor why we suffered from 01-06. He was just very unlucky to feature for a United in transition. He proved at Madrid, just what enduring class he did indeed have. Type of guy who I am sure if he was playing for a AC Milan at his peak, he would have been smashing goals for them and winning CL titles.
I wouldn't say he was United's greatest striker.. for me that is Denis Law. But he is probably second.
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Easily my favourite player of all time. The goal scoring consistency was frightening.
I so hope we had a better GK and defence during his years. His partnership with Becks was possibly among the greatest Winger-Striker partnerships I have witnessed.
I so hope we had a better GK and defence during his years. His partnership with Becks was possibly among the greatest Winger-Striker partnerships I have witnessed.
Henry was a better finisher imo
RVN was badass, I absolutely loved the goal celebration from the fans "RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD." however, the problem with such dominant poaching strikers is that the teams then tend to base their attack around getting the ball to them. When he is boxed out, the attack becomes limited. Our matches were usually cagey affairs back then if RVN didn't score a goal in the 1st half. It always felt like once he scored a goal early then we were going to smash a team but if he didn't score then no one else was going to.
He was also unfortunate to have his peak years in a relatively poor team.
He was also unfortunate to have his peak years in a relatively poor team.
My favorite striker. Was very sad to see him leave in 2006. But i am glad him and fergie got to sort out their differences and It was Ruud who actually directly called Fergie. Love him.
Ruud was one of those players you felt, get it to him in the box and he will vanish.
I felt when Beckham got sold that Ruud lost a few goals because Beckham would find him several times a game, when Beckham left you had Ronaldo who was still maturing.
Top player though, I remember the 3 Rs being branded in the media.
Funniest thing is that team with Beckham, Keane, Veron, Giggs, Van Nistelrooy up front was probably the most balanced United team in terms of midfield, the 08 comes very close it was less balanced but much better attacking.
I felt when Beckham got sold that Ruud lost a few goals because Beckham would find him several times a game, when Beckham left you had Ronaldo who was still maturing.
Top player though, I remember the 3 Rs being branded in the media.
Funniest thing is that team with Beckham, Keane, Veron, Giggs, Van Nistelrooy up front was probably the most balanced United team in terms of midfield, the 08 comes very close it was less balanced but much better attacking.
I was just watching the video posted on the United facebook and he had really good pace in his early years with us. Such a complete striker. You just had to get the ball into the box and he will take care of it.
So did Best. I suppose by your logic, he's not a legend either?
Apart from winning the Premier League, FA Cup, Carling Cup, you mean?
With the exception of Eric, those guys are not even close to RVN. Sheringham... a United legend? I beg to differ. He scored the tap in against Munich but besides that, I wouldn't have up there as a "United Legend". Especially not above Van Nistelrooy. Sheringham would be more of a Spurs Legend.
Cole and Yorke were a good partnership but individually, they weren't as good as RVN. And Solskjaer was a bench warmer for the majority of his time here. Good super sub but never the main man.
How can you be a United fan and forget Ruud van Nistelrooy...?
Still one my favourite ever United players. He was my first case of muppetitis. I was doing a paper round in the summer when we nearly bought him and I used to stop in a park along my route and just read the reports about him joining us. I was devastated when it fell through, despite never having seen him play or even heard of him beforehand.