The comprehensive Ronaldo thread

BarstoolProphet

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Peak Ronaldo was a better player than Cantona but we had to put up with 3/4 years of pointless stepovers, theatrical diving, running down blind alleys, and bleached spaghetti hairstyles before he started to be a player who could actually contribute the way the man he replaced (Becks) did. Cantona strolled in to OT and was incredible straight off the bat. That makes a difference to the perception.

The other thing is that, contrary to what his fanbois seem to believe, Ronaldo is a charisma vacuum. Cantona was possibly the most charismatic player I've ever seen. Eric was cool, Ronaldo is cringeworthy. Again, that makes a huge difference in how they are perceived.

Ultimately, Cantona gave his best years to our club and retired on top when he felt that he could no longer maintain his standards. Ronaldo claimed he was a slave to engineer a move away from our club and then rejoined us just in time for him to do the footballing equivalent of shitting his pants publicly and then blamed his manager and teammates for it. One is the among the most legendary of our legends, the other is just one contributor of many to a successful period under our greatest manager.

Good post. Cantona is our greatest ever player, while Ronaldo is probably the best ever to play for us.
 

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Peak Ronaldo was a better player than Cantona but we had to put up with 3/4 years of pointless stepovers, theatrical diving, running down blind alleys, and bleached spaghetti hairstyles before he started to be a player who could actually contribute the way the man he replaced (Becks) did. Cantona strolled in to OT and was incredible straight off the bat. That makes a difference to the perception.

The other thing is that, contrary to what his fanbois seem to believe, Ronaldo is a charisma vacuum. Cantona was possibly the most charismatic player I've ever seen. Eric was cool, Ronaldo is cringeworthy. Again, that makes a huge difference in how they are perceived.

Ultimately, Cantona gave his best years to our club and retired on top when he felt that he could no longer maintain his standards. Ronaldo claimed he was a slave to engineer a move away from our club and then rejoined us just in time for him to do the footballing equivalent of shitting his pants publicly and then blamed his manager and teammates for it. One is the among the most legendary of our legends, the other is just one contributor of many to a successful period under our greatest manager.
Close the thread. This guy summed it up.
 

Foxbatt

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Di Stefano played his last game almost 60 years ago.
Safe to say, anyone under the age of 80 doesn’t really have a clue there.
Cryuff gets better with every year of his retirement, has now become an extremely popular hipster choice. In reality he’s on a level with the likes of Michael Laudrup, an absolutely incredible and influential footballer, but absolutely not in the list of the top 5 best players ever.
I have seen both of them at their best. Laudrup is not even close to Cruijff.
 
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Peak Ronaldo was a better player than Cantona but we had to put up with 3/4 years of pointless stepovers, theatrical diving, running down blind alleys, and bleached spaghetti hairstyles before he started to be a player who could actually contribute the way the man he replaced (Becks) did.
Little bit of bending the truth here hey? He was the best player by a mile in the FA Cup final win in his first season.
 

DrogaPortoroz

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Wow.
What a car crash of the topic. Ronaldo made United? If any "modern" moment made "modern" UTD it was 99 or Cantona.
And people do not realise how big United as even before EPL.
Just few days ago my FIL(big Hajduk Split suporter,they live for that club) did tell me story how he did go to Sarajevo to watch Manchester United. And you should see him talking about match when they hamered United 6-0. Manchester UTD was always a big club. Ronaldo is just another great player in club history. And yeah , he is a prick.
 

Foxbatt

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To me that's not even it, the conversation was about who gave more and who gave more memorable moments. To me it's clearly not Ronaldo for two reasons, first because United is club that has all time greats as some of their long standing players, these players by definition gave more to United than someone that has given us 3 great years. The other thing and it's probably going to interpreted as an agenda or something similar but the 2007-2009 version of Ronaldo is in opinion not exciting and I don't actually many memorable moments, he was already very robotic and cynical in the way he played. Rooney's or Nani's best moments were in my opinion more exciting, they were lesser players, less consistent but more memorable.
I have a similar opinion when it comes to Mbappé, while I can see that these players are great I don't really find them mesmerizing, let alone the most mesmerizing bar none.
The two moments I remember are the free kick he scored against Arsenal and the header in the CL Final. My most memorable moment was the goal he scored against West Ham and it has got nothing to do with him why it was memorable.
 

Chief123

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He did Portuguese media pointed out that the only player who did not celebrate was……Joao Cancelo who appeared visibly upset of not starting.
Do you have any excuses left for Ronaldo walking off the pitch alone at the end of the game like a miserable melt while the rest of the team walked over to the fans to celebrate?
 

JPRouve

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Now I know why this thread has gone the way it has. I entirely agree with you on this.
People are losing their minds or they don't know who played for United.
 
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I have seen both of them at their best. Laudrup is not even close to Cruijff.
Cryuff won 1 La Liga in 5 seasons, scoring 48 goals. Laudrup was extraordinarily, completely turned the tide of El Classico matches in a quite comical fashion after moving between the clubs.

Won 4 consecutive la liga titles at Barca, moved to Madrid and won his 5th. Scoring 53 goals in his la liga time.
Laudrup was so good, in 2002 Madrid fans voted him the 12th best player in the club’s history despite only spending 2 seasons there :lol:

Bullshit it’s not close.
 

Gehrman

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Do you have any excuses left for Ronaldo walking off the pitch alone at the end of the game like a miserable melt while the rest of the team walked over to the fans to celebrate?
Yesterday? I just caught his reaction after the final whistle and he looked pissed off, but i just think he was pissed off with himself. He's never going to be a starter now in this wc.
 

Chief123

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Nope, Ronaldo still had a huge impact in how United set up the team. Ask all of the players in your list, they will all agree that without Ronaldo they didn't win that 2008 final
What a stupid post. If we had any of our key players missing we probably don’t win it.

The irony is Ronaldo was the one who missed his penalty in that final yet our other players scored. :lol:
 

Josh 76

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Cryuff won 1 La Liga in 5 seasons, scoring 48 goals. Laudrup was extraordinarily, completely turned the tide of El Classico matches in a quite comical fashion after moving between the clubs.

Won 4 consecutive la liga titles at Barca, moved to Madrid and won his 5th. Scoring 53 goals.

Bullshit it’s not close.
Just checked into this thread to see any updates on Ronaldo’s fiasco, how the feck did it get to comparing Cryuff and Laudrup?
 

Chief123

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Yesterday? I just caught his reaction after the final whistle and he looked pissed off, but i just think he was pissed off with himself. He's never going to be a starter now in this wc.
It’s just another shitty egotistic Ronaldo act trying to make it about himself. After a fantastic win, a momentous occasion for his replacement scoring a hat trick, his whole team going to enjoy the victory with the fans…but Ronaldo has to distance himself from them all to make it about himself.

 

BarstoolProphet

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Seriously? Cantona is above Best, Sir Bobby Charlton, Law or Captain Marvel?
I should have written 'for me' but didn't expect it to be so controversial. Bear in mind I never saw the Holy Trinity in action, but grew up with Robson and later Cantona. Robson was great but not on the same level as Cantona for me - but to Robson's defense he never had the quality around him as Cantona did (his best teammates preferred the pub instead). Cantona was the final piece in the jigsaw that catapulted the club to the status it has today. It's a combination of perfect timing for the club, accessability to football (was almost impossible to see majority of United games before PL came along and then United were shown pretty much every weekend) and me being in the period in life where I was most influenced by football.
 

Gehrman

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Cryuff won 1 La Liga in 5 seasons, scoring 48 goals. Laudrup was extraordinarily, completely turned the tide of El Classico matches in a quite comical fashion after moving between the clubs.

Won 4 consecutive la liga titles at Barca, moved to Madrid and won his 5th. Scoring 53 goals.

Bullshit it’s not close.
Barcelona hadnt won the league in 14 years when he got there and he wasnt playing for (Cryuff's) dream team when he was there. You also left out his individual achievements at Ajax and his achievements with the team where they won the European cup three times in a row or how influential he was in winning league titles with Ajax or a final league title with Ajax arch rivals when he was really old(for a footballer).
 

JPRouve

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Cryuff won 1 La Liga in 5 seasons, scoring 48 goals. Laudrup was extraordinarily, completely turned the tide of El Classico matches in a quite comical fashion after moving between the clubs.

Won 4 consecutive la liga titles at Barca, moved to Madrid and won his 5th. Scoring 53 goals in his la liga time.
Laudrup was so good, in 2002 Madrid fans voted him the 12th best player in the club’s history despite only spending 2 seasons there :lol:

Bullshit it’s not close.
These are two completely different Barcelona. Barcelona the juggernaut are a relatively recent thing which stems from Cruijff making structural changes when he rejoined them as manager in 1988.
 
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Barcelona hadnt won the league in ages when he was there and he wasnt playing for (Cryuff's) dream team when he was there. You also left out his individual achievements at Ajax and his achievements with the team where they won the European cup three times in a row or how influential he was in winning league titles with Ajax or a final league title with Ajax arch rivals when he was really old(for a footballer).
I’m not doubting how good he was, I rate Laudrup as one of the best ever.
Neither are in the discussion for top 5.
Cryuff as I say, gets better with every year of his retirement.
 
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These are two completely different Barcelona. Barcelona the juggernaut are a relatively recent thing which stems from Cruijff making structural changes when he rejoined them as manager in 1988.
Absolutely, and I think that post career success is part of the reason people now rate him higher than he deserves.
 

BarstoolProphet

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Cryuff won 1 La Liga in 5 seasons, scoring 48 goals. Laudrup was extraordinarily, completely turned the tide of El Classico matches in a quite comical fashion after moving between the clubs.

Won 4 consecutive la liga titles at Barca, moved to Madrid and won his 5th. Scoring 53 goals in his la liga time.
Laudrup was so good, in 2002 Madrid fans voted him the 12th best player in the club’s history despite only spending 2 seasons there :lol:

Bullshit it’s not close.
Can't comment on how good Cruyff was compared to Laudrup, but love that someone is giving Laudrup the recognition he deserves. He was the Iniesta of that time, pulled off the la croqueta better than anyone in history :drool:
 

JPRouve

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Absolutely, and I think that post career success is part of the reason people now rate him higher than he deserves.
That's not correct. Cruijff was seen has the best European player ever until Platini came around and even then Platini never clearly took that spot. Cruijff as a player was only behind Pelé and maybe Di Stefano. If anything the opposite of what you are suggesting happened, with time Cruijff is one of the few all time great that has clearly lost ground specifically with the addition of Platini, Maradona, Ronaldo and Messi at the top of all time rankings.
 

Foxbatt

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I’m not doubting how good he was, I rate Laudrup as one of the best ever.
Neither are in the discussion for top 5.
Cryuff as I say, gets better with every year of his retirement.
Have you seen Cruijff? I have seen both of them live many times.
 

Gehrman

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I’m not doubting how good he was, I rate Laudrup as one of the best ever.
Neither are in the discussion for top 5.
Cryuff as I say, gets better with every year of his retirement.
I honestly dont knw where you get this hipster thing from or getting better every year of his retirement. He's been in the top 3 list for decades by most sports journalists and the greatest players and managers ever. Like I said its only more recently that he's not in the top 3 with mainly Messi pushing him out and then some have Ronnie over him. Van Basten said recently that those who think Ronaldo is better than Messi know nothing about football but also said that Messi doesnt make his top 3 because he feels Messi lacks the warrior spirit of the 3 traditional guys at the top. But anyway Cryuff won 9 erevedise titles being the key player in all of them. Its not like he won jack shit. Barcelona hadnt won the league in 14 years when they bought him
 
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Gehrman

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Can't comment on how good Cruyff was compared to Laudrup, but love that someone is giving Laudrup the recognition he deserves. He was the Iniesta of that time, pulled off the la croqueta better than anyone in history :drool:
Best passer ever imo, best vision and one hell of a dribbler.
 

Judge Red

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Cantona will always be first on my legends team sheet. Sure, I never experienced Best, Law and Charlton as well as Duncan Edwards but how good Cantona actually was doesn’t matter, there has and never will be a feeling like having him on the pitch and in your team.

Ronaldo will be nowhere near it. I don’t blame him for walking off alone last night, though. Not only did he play no part in the victory, I got the impression his team mates didn’t want to help him score. Portugal went to shit after he came on and it wasn’t all his fault.
 

Gehrman

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It’s just another shitty egotistic Ronaldo act trying to make it about himself. After a fantastic win, a momentous occasion for his replacement scoring a hat trick, his whole team going to enjoy the victory with the fans…but Ronaldo has to distance himself from them all to make it about himself.

He just keeps showing the world what a wanker he is. Portugal has as good a chance as any in winning the WC though. He'll retire with a world cup and say its proof hes the ever evrn though he won it from the bench.
 

redcucumber

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Cantona will always be first on my legends team sheet. Sure, I never experienced Best, Law and Charlton as well as Duncan Edwards but how good Cantona actually was doesn’t matter, there has and never will be a feeling like having him on the pitch and in your team.

Ronaldo will be nowhere near it. I don’t blame him for walking off alone last night, though. Not only did he play no part in the victory, I got the impression his team mates didn’t want to help him score. Portugal went to shit after he came on and it wasn’t all his fault.
This seems like nonsense. A team doesn't (or shouldn't) exist to serve the goalscoring interests of one individual player. And besides, there were loads of moments where his teammates tried to set him up, either with through balls or giving him freekicks.
 

The United Irishman

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Let's put things into perspective on Ronaldo's behaviour, remember when Mourinho was benching Mata and leaving him out of match squads, there was actually a match I remember when Mata got subbed on late in the 2nd half and was subbed off again for tactical reasons....Did Mata throw his toys out of the pram, do interviews, slate the manager, slate his team-mates, moaned everything is unfair, refused to be subbed on, walk off in a pathetic strop.....The answer is no. The man behaved professionally and was probably upset but kept it behind the scenes like it should be.
 

Devil81

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Don't rule out the possibility Ronaldo could walk out of this squad before the end of this tournament. Or even the possibility something could happen in training that could result in Portugal removing him.

I honestly wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if something like that was to happen. How many times can he disrespect his teammates and managers before they enough is enough.
 

Chief123

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Don't rule out the possibility Ronaldo could walk out of this squad before the end of this tournament. Or even the possibility something could happen in training that could result in Portugal removing him.

I honestly wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if something like that was to happen. How many times can he disrespect his teammates and managers before they enough is enough.
I’d imagine the manager and most of the team wouldn’t mind that happening either.

But Ronaldo is desperate for a World Cup medal so he’ll probably just throw his toys around for now.
 

sugar_kane

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It’s just another shitty egotistic Ronaldo act trying to make it about himself. After a fantastic win, a momentous occasion for his replacement scoring a hat trick, his whole team going to enjoy the victory with the fans…but Ronaldo has to distance himself from them all to make it about himself.

I don't like the guy and am glad he's left our club, but in that video of him walking off I see a guy who is clearly quite emotional trying to hold it together.

The glee everyone is taking in his downfall makes me really uncomfortable, it's a shame we can't rise above it. As far as the club is concerned now he's history so let's move on.

As for all the 'banter' Twitter accounts they can get fecked. Run by losers who have probably never achieved anything in their life who were probably doing Phil Jones memes until the world woke up and realised it's a shitty thing to publicly mock people who are struggling.
 

DomesticTadpole

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Also if any player added to the global modern popularity of Man United, it was definitely Beckham more than Ronaldo. Beckham was a different ball game to Ronaldo for worldwide marketing - at least compared to younger Ronaldo that was at United. Previously as you said, the Busby Babes era but George Best again would have that celebrity to make United known around the world.
Going back a long time, if Manchester United was mentioned abroad, everyone said Bobby Charlton, someone venerated for his talent and dignity.
 

fishfingers15

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YESHHHHH, We'll GOOO for it.
I don't like the guy and am glad he's left our club, but in that video of him walking off I see a guy who is clearly quite emotional trying to hold it together.

The glee everyone is taking in his downfall makes me really uncomfortable, it's a shame we can't rise above it. As far as the club is concerned now he's history so let's move on.

As for all the 'banter' Twitter accounts they can get fecked. Run by losers who have probably never achieved anything in their life who were probably doing Phil Jones memes until the world woke up and realised it's a shitty thing to publicly mock people who are struggling.
I was indifferent to Ronaldo but by God, the man keeps terrible company. Piers Morgan, Jordan B Peterson, throwing everyone under the bus except himself and on and on. It's a team game and he can get fecked. I'm not rising above it. When he goes low, we go lower.
 

romufc

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What's the Ronaldo fan boys saying now? Is the Portugese manager disrespecting him?

They have had their best performance without Ronaldo... I dont think any United fan is surprised about that.

Ronaldo is not just washed, he now is having a massive negative impact on the teams he plays for. Look at how self centred he is, winning but not celebrating with fans because he didnt play.