What if Van Nistelrooy hadn't left in 2006?

[horsechoker]

I was meant to post this in the United forum.

If the Ronaldo incident had happened as well and Ruud stayed in 2006, how would this have changed the course of history?

Would we have been as successful as we were with Rooney, Saha and Ronaldo or was Ruud holding us back.

Prior to him leaving, Ruud wasn't in great form and I think he had some injury problems, however he would manage 33 goals in 47 appearances in his first season at Real and then after that his appearances would become fewer.

 

[Skills]

We win even more comfortably (maybe take the FA cup too). A lot of 06/07 was a struggle because of injuries and a player of Ruud's quality would've been great to have in that team.

 

[Raees]

We win even more comfortably. A lot of 06/07 was a struggle because of injuries and a player of Ruud's quality would've been great to have in that team.

Disagree. He needed to leave to turn United into a more modern free flowing side. If he had stayed I think we wouldn’t win UCL and even EPL is questionable too.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

We win even more comfortably (maybe take the FA cup too). A lot of 06/07 was a struggle because of injuries and a player of Ruud's quality would've been great to have in that team.

This but that is idealistic and not realistic because we have to consider squad morale and players ego too.

Ego
I highly doubt Ruud at that time won't throw tantrums nor behave in ways that is not professional (he did things which irks Fergie eg. him leaving the stadium early, problems in training sessions, growing frustrations, etc). He had huge ego. He'll behave more unprofessionally if he stay.

Ideally if he would behave like Berbatov after he get dropped to 2nd fiddle. Berba is still around, becoming more humble, putting in more effort and runnings, more of a team player than before and still chip in goals. But then we know Ruud won't. Massive ego he had before.

Squad morale
Son one hand we have his behaviors disrupting squad morale. Plus, if him staying and still getting picked, what does that say about Fergie's authority. Basically if you are a top start and have top talents you could challenge the boss with this behaviors with no repercussions. It's like how Pogba is having free wild rides letting his agent do all the talkings disrespecting the clubs, because there are no repercussions, the clubs still keeping him and manager Ole still playing him. Respect towards manager is part of squad morale.

Conclusion?
Ruud leaving is a must.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

I was meant to post this in the United forum.

If the Ronaldo incident had happened as well and Ruud stayed in 2006, how would this have changed the course of history?

Would we have been as successful as we were with Rooney, Saha and Ronaldo or was Ruud holding us back.

Prior to him leaving, Ruud wasn't in great form and I think he had some injury problems, however he would manage 33 goals in 47 appearances in his first season at Real and then after that his appearances would become fewer.

Always felt Ruud was holding us back. He wasn't a team player and had struggled to score in a lot of matches (not least because of poor service).

Whenever he was out of the team we looked much more threatening and able to break teams down. Despite his deadly finishing it seemed clear that relying on him at the time was not going to bear fruit.

The suspected friction with Ronaldo, who was clearly going to become something special, didn't help matters either.

That said, I've done a lot of drugs and some of my recollections may be warped by time and the drugs.

 

[Himannv]

Sir Alex always knew when it was the right time to move a player on. In most cases, history has shown that he was right in his judgement and they've generally gone on to have somewhat poorer performances in their next club. Stam was the only one that I think he made a mistake with and he didn't really want to sell Ronaldo.

Ruud played well for Real but it was a little bit like how Zlatan/Cavani played well for us. They perform well and add something that we didn't have in our attack but they're still past their peak.

 

[GuybrushThreepwood]

As a precursor to that, in 2004/2005 didn’t United largely play their best football and enjoy their best results during the middle portion of the season, when he was out injured for much of that period?

I think that the team were definitely more fluid, free-flowing, and more unpredictable and difficult to defend against after he left. Plus with his ego, would he have tolerated Ronaldo increasingly becoming the focal point of the attack and the ‘main man’? I doubt it to be honest.

That’s not to doubt his quality though. He is definitely one of the deadliest finishers I have ever seen, especially during his first 2 seasons at United. When we played against United, I was terrified whenever the ball came to him in the box, and always expected to see him celebrating moments later. Friedel vs. him was always interesting !