If all a striker does is make 'numerous runs' then he's probably had a rubbish game.
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Yeah, Cavani played quite well. He was by no means amazing but best of a bad bunch. While Ronaldo was worst of a bad bunch!
Good post. Agreed.
What’s maddening is how obvious it was that managing such a unique footballer through his decline was going to be an absolute nightmare. And we fecking deliberately walked into the bullet headed in City’s direction!
This is the 2nd highest points total we've had at this stage in recent years. If you want to put the complete disaster of a season the likes of Shaw, Maguire and AWB have had so far on Ronaldo then cool. You would have to completely ignore large portions of last season where this team performed poorly, and several seasons before that for a lot of these players but ok.
This team wasn't playing well before and it's not playing well with him. Part of the problem? Yeah, he's in a team playing badly and is under performing himself, but you're kidding yourself if you think this is all because of Ronaldo.
Juve must be overjoyed though, they've gone back to crushing the league without him!
I thought Greenwood was worse but it's not a fun game to play.
It’s obviously more to it than just Ronaldo, but I genuinely believe we would improve quite a lot by just removing him from the squad.
Lukaku wasnt getting into positions to score for us. Vs Newcastle Ronaldo was in positions to score and the pass was fluffed at least twice
That doesn't mean his overall game was great. A striker though can have a stinker score goals and win the game. Which should have happened vs Newcastle
Not sure how relevant the DM is to a CB in this scenario. A CBs job isn't to getting into positions anticipating a DM will do his defending. Pretty silly analogy
Wouldn’t surprise me at all. They think because Tom Brady came back and won with Tampa buccaneers that they can copy the same strategy here with Ronaldo. Problem is that they have done it 5 years too late (to try and do it on the cheap). There’s a reason Ronaldo only cost 18m, I think the board have learnt a lot this season, more than any other. If we finish outside of top 4 then that will be the ultimate reality check for them.
Especially when you add in the fanbase that effectively follows Ronaldo around obssessed with defending him as part of some imagined ongoing war with Messi(and his own toxic followers) both of whom are more interested in their guys success than any teams.
Fair enough, so which one is better?
What is amazing is that people think or thought that Ronaldo in front as a 9 for City would make that team better.
Can you imagine Ronaldo's poor touch as a striker and his bad passes effecting City?
Those weren't positions to score. He was literally making a few runs in behind. Every striker does that (and whines after apparently).
He did have a quite rubbish game as he had little contribution to us scoring, defending.
However, he could have had a better game if our players were useful and could play some basic passes.
Try Martial.
That’s the problem, but not in the way you think it is.
He’s so painfully obvious one of the problems with your side. When he was scoring everyone posted the laughing emojis in that thread about signing Ronaldo being a mistake, but he was completely right. His goals let you think he was the same old Ronaldo but he’s not. He’s not someone who can start every game, but he’s Ronaldo and he will. He’s a headache to fit into the system.
These aren’t teething problems, he’s 37 in two months.
He would've been amazing at city no doubt though. They're very much a team at the peak of their power and the way that they control games would have given Ronaldo the freedom to save his energy and poach the goals. He'd have won the golden boot with them.
But you can't play high press with a player who doesn't run as much as the coach wants. Definitely bring him on with 20-30 minutes to go if the game isn't going our way, but if you look at Vardy who is a poacher, he still runs his socks off when on the pitch.
You say it’s painfully obvious that Ronaldo is the problem but how is it painfully obvious when there isn’t one player in team can take away any credit from recent performances apart from the goalkeeper.
It would be a different story if the team were playing well and Ronaldo wasn’t pulling his weight or playing terribly but to say he is painfully obvious the problem is just pure bias, he more or less dragged us through the CL group stages by himself.
What about players like Bruno, Rashford, Martial, who weren’t playing well even before Ronaldo was even in the team.
it's all really simple to me. if you're the best player in the world playing in "just" a good team (Messi's last 2 years in declining Barca for example), it can work. if you're older player on decline, but you're playing in elite team, that can work as well. it is something we would probably see had Ronaldo signed for City. but current United - current Ronaldo is just not a combination that will work in EPL. because this is what we are, a good team - not elite. and Ronaldo is still a good player at current age - not elite. we also have good manager, not elite one. the main issue is - in EPL good teams fight for top 4, nothing else. Fergie's last title winning team had plenty of flaws as well, but such teams aren't winning anything these days - or as long as Guardiola, Klopp and Tuchel are managing here.
I think he’d be much more likely to be getting splinters on his arse alongside Grealish on the bench. Football is a team sport and Pep’s approach takes this team ethic to the most extreme possible approach. It’s why he couldn’t find a place for peak Zlatan. Over the hill Ronaldo is the absolute antithesis of what that team was about. Which made it so weird to see them interested in him. After the whole Sanchez disaster you’d almost wonder if they’re deliberately fecking with us! Didn’t we also gazump them to sign Maguire?!
That video shows 5 forward runs where an extremely difficult to execute pass might have put him through on goal. 5 runs in 90 minutes. That’s one every 18 minutes!
“literally everything you’d want your striker to do”
Not surprised how poorly most interpret data just to come to a conclusion that fits their confirmation bias
Nothing more than a reality check. Many of my United friends thought of him as still the great all round attacker of the SAF years, now they are watching what many have known for the past 5 years. If there are no goals from him, there will be nothing much else most of the time. May still work in the SerieA where everything is slower, but will not work in the EPL.
Another thing is, given his influence, younger players will no longer dare to try things, as it is better to pass to him rather than try things,fail and get glared at. Reminds me of Suarez in his Barcelona last years, where he was crap barring the goals, yet a toxic teammate to the younger players, screaming at them for poor passes when his basic touches were worse than theirs.
Another thing is, given his influence, younger players will no longer dare to try things, as it is better to pass to him rather than try things,fail and get glared at. Reminds me of Suarez in his Barcelona last years, where he was crap barring the goals, yet a toxic teammate to the younger players, screaming at them for poor passes when his basic touches were worse than theirs.
True, vardy is also quicker than Ronaldo is now and has played as a loan forward for much of his career so it better in the role. I also couldn't imaging vary playing for Chelsea, Liverpool or City at this stage of his career because he doesn't offer enough in terms of his all round game
Apart from a handful I don’t think many fans really were calling for the return of Ronaldo over last couple of years. I certainly never expected it to happen. But it was hard not to get caught up the excitement when he did sign. It is clear now it was a mistake and his signing has upset the squad which ultimately caused ole his job.I am also quite sure if it was PSG looking to sign him Utd would not have intervened. We look a significantly inferior team than last season.
Pep would willingly take that bullet right up his arse if it got him 6 PL goals in 5 games.
I genuinely believe Ronnie couldve doubled that number had he played for City in groups.
Dead wrong on the Zlatan thing. Messi turned against him.
Presume you mean CL goals not PL goals? Because Ronaldo’s goals per game in the league is crap (unlike City’s, which is exceptional).
City topped their group in the CL. They had absolutely no need for any contribution from Ronaldo. Also worth considering that his CL injury time heroics often came after a crap team performance. The same sort of crap team performance we’ve seen repeatedly in the league that has so many people questioning whether we’re a better team than we were before we signed him.
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With the way people talk about Ronaldo saving us, you'd have though we'd get relegated without him. You'd have thought we're performing exponentially better than last season when we were without him.
The way Ronaldo fans work is if he did go to City and they won the league it'd be all because of Ronaldo like it was at Juve (Despite them winning the previous 6).
Now. Right now. At this exact moment in time: Look at Chelsea with Lukaku. They're winning and Lukaku has scored. Yet they're being comprehensively outplayed by Brighton.
You've got the same issue with Ronaldo. His goals make up for the issue he partially creates.
You've got the same issue with Ronaldo. His goals make up for the issue he partially creates.
The problem with your viewpoints is that it's results based analysis. Ronaldo comes in, we're playing worse, so it's Ronaldo's fault. That only works if Ronaldo is the only variable.
It works against Ronaldo as well. It's not like we would have had the same CL games with 6 fewer goals had we not signed him.
The squad imploding wasnt Ronnie, the player's fault. Ole had been found out and he'd lost the dressing room, which is why we have been worse than last season. And I don't want to hear this "he doesnt press" shite. Last season Martial was our no 1 CF. It doesnt get more lazy than that.
It's one thing getting outplayed occasionally, we've been outplayed the whole season. Other than the Spurs game where they were actively trying to get their manager sacked we have been 'outplayed' every single game.
Now the problem is Ronaldo isn't scoring every game to 'make up' for it.
What’s the difference between old Ibrahimovic and old Ronaldo I’ve heard said, the main one is that Ibrahimovic wins more than twice as many aerials as Ronaldo (can still hold the ball up because of his height and size). His build up play is much better than Ronaldo.
But really I wouldn’t want current Zlatan here either, he would cause similar problems by being slow, never pressing and being centre of everything. There are plenty of forwards that actually work a bit and are still good.
But really I wouldn’t want current Zlatan here either, he would cause similar problems by being slow, never pressing and being centre of everything. There are plenty of forwards that actually work a bit and are still good.
No point replying if you haven't watched it properly.
2 chances to score at least. One where Cavani I believe is trying to chip it into goal when Ronaldo is standing on the pen spot waiting for the pass. The other where he makes a run by the last defender and someone with only a single defender to bypass fluffs the pass to put him one on one with the keeper and plays an under hit pass which is easily cut out by the defender
Lukaku is a poacher. He’s shite for the most part outside the box, hovers in the box and gets goals. Watched him tonight and thought the same.
Haaland is similar, doesn’t have great hold up play but has lethal movement and finishing in the box. He is more lethal and direct than Lukaku obviously but he is still a glorified poacher.
Ronaldo can and does play on his own up front, it’s only since Rangnick has come that he has played in a two. Ronaldo is still capable of carrying the ball and winning penalties.
Lewandowski isn’t that great outside the box, his game is keeping it neat before beating defenders with great movement and finishing inside the box.
Comparing ourselves to Dortmund and Leicester is kind of where we’re at nowadays and the original statement was that no other top team has a poacher up front. Leicester won the league with a poacher up front. Man City, the greatest team ever in the universe, wanted to sign the poacher Ronaldo.
That video shows 5 forward runs where an extremely difficult to execute pass might have put him through on goal. 5 runs in 90 minutes. That’s one every 18 minutes!
“literally everything you’d want your striker to do”
“extremely difficult to execute pass”. I did not know our players were picked up from the local park They didn't really want him, his agent Mendes offered him to City and they had talks. City did not initiate contact
Ronaldo would have hit double digit goals now if he played for that City team that is creating chances for fun. If their short players can still bury those crosses imagine what the best header ever could have done with them. They would ran away with the league and favourites to win the CL. Imagine thinking someone like Pep cant accomodate his tactic for Ronaldo
We'd sign him next season had he not joined us last transfer window regardless. Ronaldo coming home was inevitable, i was just not expecting this (where we are dragging him to our level instead of the other way around). Was expecting Ronaldo to be the cherry on top but as it is we are still baking the cake.
I feel like what's happening to Ronaldo and to some extent also Messi is that they are being made obsolete not just by their age but also the changes in football. Gegenpressing is the current game paradigm, and there is barely a team these days that doesn't incorporate it in some form. The problem is for it to work, you can't really have the luxury players of old in your squad, because one player not doing his job can make the entire pressing trap collapse and leave you wide open. Which means no team can afford to really have a Ronaldo or Messi, who never work defensively, and play a modern style of football. This happened before to the classic number 10. To the Libero. To the classic winger, and the list goes on and on.
We also beat them to Berbatov which, ultimately, gave them Tevez. They've really been playing us for years.
Agreed.
Think about all the great strikers who had to move to a lesser team or lesser league once they started to get old and ask why. The answer is not because they stopped to make the smart runs. With all their experience and scorer instinct of course they still could make those runs. The answer is rather their legs couldn't keep up with what they wanted or supposed to do. Which is imo pretty much what we're witnessing with the current Ronaldo, unfortunately.
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