Think he’ll play through the middle mate.
Tactical analysis of Ronaldo leading Man City forward line....
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I expect it to be somewhere between this and horsechocker’s post, within a 50th percentile of accuracy.
From Fernando Santos' notebook
Did Paul Ince draw that?
From Fernando Santos' notebook
He'll be good just by virtue of forcing Guardiola to use a striker. City have enough chance creation, pressing and everything else they just need some to finish the tap ins. I expect him to be annoyingly good for them (or at least effective).
Not sure how you would think he doesn't suit them. They don't need him to track back or create or come deep. They need a poacher to be an elite goalscorer for them. He's as good as they come for it. My 2 nightmare signings for City would be Haaland or Ronaldo, precisely for this reason. He's exactly what they need. Their whole team apart from Sterling right now, likes being on the ball and coming short. None of them like playing off the ball and running in behind, none of them are natural goalscorers. Ronaldo is as good as football has seen with that, he's a big game player, has the CL pedigree more than anyone in the world... And he brings them a feck ton of fans. It's a signing that gives them a big hit on United too, unfortunately.
It's about as good a signing as they could do for the attack, for the 2 years that Pep is there.
It's about as good a signing as they could do for the attack, for the 2 years that Pep is there.
The deal makes more sense from the perspective of the Abu Dhabi Football Group, who probably want to send him to one of their other clubs after his season or two with City is up. Lampard had a similar deal and ended up at New York City FC.
All to do with sportswashing
Anyone condoning this is a big part of the problem
Anyone condoning this is a big part of the problem
Think I've nailed their new lineup, lads.
No. Lukaku will never reach Ronaldo’s goal tally. Complete nonsense.
He's offsides mate.
From Fernando Santos' notebook
I'm not sure what that's all about. I agree Kane would definitely suit City.
I think Messi moved to France for money, why moving to a lower league if is not for money? Moving to England would be a physical challenge for him that could had tarnished his legacy
I can confirm Ronaldo isn’t joining City. Do you think he’s played for great clubs with prestige and traditional values like Utd, Madrid, Juventus just to end up tainting his reputation by joining City? He hasn’t. He’s said before that out of loyalty to Utd he’d never join one of our rivals and that he wants to create history, not taint it by joining an oil club. Ronaldo playing in front of a bunch of plastics that aren’t even from Manchester? Bro, c’mon
Messi would have been a terrific signing under Pep. Not so sure about Ronaldo. Aguero is a better finisher and he didn't get games for Pep.
Would he take FKs over KDB or Mahrez ?
Now let's analyze the pressing. An inform Klopp team would eat him live with that half arsed pressing he has been doing at Juve.
Would Pep start him against Bayern or PSG or any high pressing side?
City is simply not the right team for him. Their game don't go through individuals while CR7 is solely about himself. The epitome of an individual player.
Interesting times ahead.
Would he take FKs over KDB or Mahrez ?
Now let's analyze the pressing. An inform Klopp team would eat him live with that half arsed pressing he has been doing at Juve.
Would Pep start him against Bayern or PSG or any high pressing side?
City is simply not the right team for him. Their game don't go through individuals while CR7 is solely about himself. The epitome of an individual player.
Interesting times ahead.
At last we will have someone who can actually score from a penalty...haha!!!
Why? Ronaldo is quite skilful, and he's really good on short passing (keeping the ball).
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He'll be great for them.
City hasn't been an active high pressing team for several years so the concerns about pressing don't seem all that relevant. They will try to recover the ball and keep you pinned in but if they can't get it quickly they are happy to fall back, eventually recover possession in their own end, and then keep it away from you for another five minutes.
City's biggest problem recently has been scoring goals against low blocks, especially teams that play five across the back line and therefore have enough players in the wide areas to deal with their wide overloads. For all the talk about Pep ball, their biggest problem is that they haven't had a top level box striker to reliably get on the end of cutbacks or crosses. Ronaldo is that guy.
City hasn't been an active high pressing team for several years so the concerns about pressing don't seem all that relevant. They will try to recover the ball and keep you pinned in but if they can't get it quickly they are happy to fall back, eventually recover possession in their own end, and then keep it away from you for another five minutes.
City's biggest problem recently has been scoring goals against low blocks, especially teams that play five across the back line and therefore have enough players in the wide areas to deal with their wide overloads. For all the talk about Pep ball, their biggest problem is that they haven't had a top level box striker to reliably get on the end of cutbacks or crosses. Ronaldo is that guy.
If he could scored around 36-37 goals per season for Juventus on slow, defensive football with no creativity from midfield, he surely could easily score 40+ goals a season in attacking City side with De Bruyne, Grealish etc supplying him all the chances. People say Serie A is weaker league, but look at Lukaku, who score less goals than Ronaldo in Italy, look like a perfect fit and unstoppable In his first PL game with Chelsea.
Not oily enough.
A team who has been scoring goals for fun 83,96,104,106 in the last 4 seasons and you claim they have trouble scoring goals ? Their issue is not against low block teams. It's the space that they leave behind . I really fancy us, Chelsea, Liverpool to pick them off if Ronaldo is playing. Especially Liverpool and Chelsea.
He will score goals and no one is denying it. But does it make their team better? No.
Messi legacy is earned already, he doesn't need to score against Burnley,Norwich, or Everton when he already trashed best english teams at his peak with Barcelona.
Scoring a hat-trick against Norwich, whose players no one recognizes outside of England, won't change anything.
Just like Cristiano getting knocked out by 10 men Porto the last UCL doesn't change anything, his legacy was already earned at United and Madrid.
Ummm because when Messi became available, it was a surprise for everyone; PSG swooped in faster than any one else and at the time Citeh were after Kane.
Ronaldo is an alternative to Kane for Citeh. His agent has been whoring him to clubs around Europe all summer including to Real. The moment Ancelotti came up with the statement refusing to sign him, Ronaldo came up with his non committal statement on social media.
I think it could backfire.
Ronaldo is still at his best playing off a striker. He's not the type to lead the line himself and his general play has deteriorated a lot lately.
I would be stunned if him and Pep got along.
Ronaldo is still at his best playing off a striker. He's not the type to lead the line himself and his general play has deteriorated a lot lately.
I would be stunned if him and Pep got along.
Of course it makes their team better. City lack someone to run in behind or be a goal scorer for them, get on the end of chances. Ronaldo does that better than anyone. For this year and next year, he's pretty much their ideal signing.
Why would it be a problem them getting along? Ronaldo is as professional and determined a player as they come. Literally every coach would love to have him. Every team carries some players defensively, not like Ronaldo does any less defensively than Grealish anyway. He's the perfect player for their needs to get on the end of chances and make runs behind the defence, unfortunately.
He's going to bang em in, don't know what you guys have been watching but City's system is designed for a poacher. They don't really play through the striker. They knock it wide, and across the box, Ronnie will be there to tap it in.
Thats all I am thinking too. I see a lot of false hope that he will be a negative for them.
The two have a history and it's 2 giant egos colliding.
Wouldn't be surprised if there was a falling out.
Look at the numbers you posted. Their goal scoring dropped off a lot last year and it got worse at the end of the season. Compared to other sides they are of course still potent offensively. But by their standards their threat really decreased and their lack of a real finisher in the box became glaring. It was not a surprise that they lost the CL final 1-0.
Just be prepared to watch him play as a DM in CL
You are judging on one game by Lukaku. Quadrilateral and Immobile were top scorers in serie A in Ronaldos first 2 seasons. Both of them are really mediocre. And Lukaku had more assists (send most in serie A).
I'm not saying Ronaldo won't score; after all City creat more chances than anyone but to say that he was a success in Juve is a monumental lie. He played for the most dominant team in serie A which has unfortunately become rubbish.
I know they need a striker but this is an odd buy. Ronaldo is not going to be pressing from the front and that’s such a major strength for City in recent years. The way they hounded PSG on the ball in the CL last season was crucial to their win over them. While I’m sure Ronaldo would bag goals from all those cut backs to the penalty spot that Pep loves so much, I wouldn’t be surprised if their general play went backwards. Maybe Pep had a special plan in store?
Over past 3 seasons in Italy, no one come close to Ronaldo in matching his goal tally:
1. Ronaldo - 101 goals in 131 games
2. Immobile - 83 goals in 137 games
3. Quagluarella - 51 goals in 101 games
Over past 2 seasons, similar:
1. Ronaldo - 73 goals in 90 games
2. Immobile - 64 goals in 85 games
3. Lukaku - 64 goals in 95 games
He is also top goalscorer in Euro this summer.
Yes it’s only 1 game for Lukaku, but one could already tell he is going to be huge and will score a lot in Chelsea.
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A huge mistake from Pep, arguably worse than buying Ibra in his prime.
Hope he goes there. They won't be able to press as much which means they will be easier to counter. They killed teams w/o a "finisher" last year.
Ronaldo won’t even have to move much for KDB to pick him out.
Such a frightening thought.
Such a frightening thought.
You have to add a keeper who is shouting "This is unstoppable!" in frustration.
From Fernando Santos' notebook
Always remembered, never forgotten @fontaine
Anyone who provides 20+ goals and multiple assists in a season is a difficult player to find and a great addition to any side.
Ronaldo gives you that even at 36, not to mention the massive commercial value.
So anyone believing this is a bad or average deal for City doesn't know football. Strange that United haven't gone all in for him, considering their history with the player and the fact that he could substantially improve them.
With his experience and winning mentality this could be a huge signing for City's UCL campaign.
Ronaldo gives you that even at 36, not to mention the massive commercial value.
So anyone believing this is a bad or average deal for City doesn't know football. Strange that United haven't gone all in for him, considering their history with the player and the fact that he could substantially improve them.
With his experience and winning mentality this could be a huge signing for City's UCL campaign.