[troylocker]

Don't be a dick. The data doesn't really show that. Last season we had 54.8 NPxG across 38 games, for 1.44 NPxG per match. This season we have 26.12 NPxG across 19 games, for 1.37 NPxG. It's lower, but we've not gone from a potent attack to an impotent one. We still had fewer players than City, Chelsea and Liverpool ranking high on build up metrics even last season.

So your hypothesis is that if United ditch Ronaldo and just play Cavani and/or Martial up top, all the other problems in the side will dissipate and we will at least be back to where we were last season (even though the data suggests they are less effective goalscorers and even all-round centre forwards)? Presumably, we would be even better given the positive comments on the suitability of the Varane and Sancho signings you have made in the last 24 hours, in contrast to the signing of Ronaldo?

Take away the 3 matches we played before Ronaldo came this season:

The 3 first matches (without Ronaldo): 1,62 npxG per game and 0,99 xGA per game (expected goals against)
This season with Ronaldo: 1,33 npxG per game and 1,63 xGA per game

So the real difference in created chances this season with Ronaldo vs. last season is 0,11 npxG per game. Ronaldo has underachieved his npxG by 29%, which means that the difference in actual non-penalty goals per game with Ronaldo this season (1,31) vs. actual non-penalty goals scored per game last season (1,66) is 0,35 goals per match or around 13 goals over a season. That is a lot of points lost in a season.

.....but, the main problem is, like I said, what we do when we don't have the ball and what we do when we lose possession and how that affects our output in both ends of the pitch. And that starts with the worst presser in the top 5 leagues:

Last season: 41,92 xGA (expected goals against)/1,10 per 90.
This season: 29,08 xGA / 1,53 per 90.

 

[TMDaines]

Take away the 3 matches we played before Ronaldo came this season:

The 3 first matches (without Ronaldo): 1,62 npxG per game and 0,99 xGA per game (expected goals against)
This season with Ronaldo: 1,33 npxG per game and 1,63 xGA per game

It's a small sample, so I wouldn't place too much importance on it. I only referenced it because Pogue and I had previously mentioned the three games before Ronaldo joined, and the XGBuildup90 data was similar to the rest of this season.

So the real difference in created chances this season with Ronaldo vs. last season is 0,11 npxG per game. Ronaldo has underachieved his npxG by 29%, which means that the difference in actual non-penalty goals per game with Ronaldo this season (1,31) vs. actual non-penalty goals scored per game last season (1,66) is 0,35 goals per match or around 13 goals over a season. That is a lot of points lost in a season.

Agree somewhat. He's definitely not been clinical in the league this season, but it's quite a volatile metric, which generally very few forwards overperform for a long period. I definitely fall into the camp of believing that a forward's finishing ability isn't the most important attribute, somewhat counterintuitively. I'm definitely in the camp of wanting my goalscorer to keep getting chances, and as long as he gets them, the goals will come. Ronaldo has always been a forward whose strength lies in the volume of chances and xG he finds for himself (like Lewandowski or Benzema) than someone more clinical who is proven to overperform his xG (like Messi or Kane).

.....but, the main problem is, like I said, what we do when we don't have the ball and what we do when we lose possession and how that affects our output in both ends of the pitch. And that starts with the worst presser in the top 5 leagues:

Last season: 41,92 xGA (expected goals against)/1,10 per 90.
This season: 29,08 xGA / 1,53 per 90.

Agreed, but not sure what that has particular got to do with Ronaldo. Replacing him with any of Sancho, Greenwood, Rashford or Martial is going to be make virtually no difference looking at their defensive output.

 

[yamo123x]

Looks like he is trying but no quality around him at all. No service.

I think some of the squad are resenting him joining....i hate to say this but its the impression i get.

He looks a frustrated figure, he'll leave for Sporting Lisbon at the end of this season IMHO.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Agreed, but not sure what that has particular got to do with Ronaldo. Replacing him with any of Sancho, Greenwood, Rashford or Martial is going to be make virtually no difference looking at their defensive output.

Not true. Ronaldo averages 7 pressures and 0 tackles/game. Rashford averages 13 and 1 respectively. Not good but still a hell of a lot better (18 and 1 for Mason, 27 and 1 for Sancho)

 

[captaincantona]

Looks like he is trying but no quality around him at all. No service.

I think some of the squad are resenting him joining....i hate to say this but its the impression i get.

He looks a frustrated figure, he'll leave for Sporting Lisbon at the end of this season IMHO.

Before you start talking about the quality around him perhaps try talking about his quality first. His touch and his hold up and his passing have been awful...and of course his finishing. Why on earth would you want to discuss what’s going on around him when he is very far from performing at a good level?

most mad...when anyone else is shite we just talk about them being shite.

 

[troylocker]

Agree somewhat. He's definitely not been clinical in the league this season, but it's quite a volatile metric, which generally very few forwards overperform for a long period. I definitely fall into the camp of believing that a forward's finishing ability isn't the most important attribute, somewhat counterintuitively. I'm definitely in the camp of wanting my goalscorer to keep getting chances, and as long as he gets them, the goals will come. Ronaldo has always been a forward whose strength lies in the volume of chances and xG he finds for himself (like Lewandowski or Benzema) than someone more clinical who is proven to overperform his xG (like Messi or Kane).


Agreed, but not sure what that has particular got to do with Ronaldo. Replacing him with any of Sancho, Greenwood, Rashford or Martial is going to be make virtually no difference looking at their defensive output.

Agreed that his main strenght is to generate xG by smart movement and being available for service, but he used to overperform his xG on regular basis up to 2016. Not since though and this season he's underperforming by 29% so....

Defensive output:
Ronaldo: 6,28 pressings per 90 / 1,69 successfull pressing per 90/ 2,84 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90 (!!)
Greenwood: 11,30 pressings per 90 / 3,13 successfull pressing per 90/ 4,52 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Cavani: 12,65 pressings per 90 / 4,49 successfull pressing per 90/ 5,51 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Sancho: 16,21 pressings per 90 / 4,27 successfull pressing per 90/ 4,27 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Rashford: 14,48 pressings per 90 / 4,48 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,12 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Martial: 11,74 pressings per 90 / 4,35 successfull pressing per 90/ 5,65 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90

How would it not make a lot of difference? He literally makes half the defensive runs our alternatives makes and even less compared to the averages in the league. He used his energy moaning about a missed pass to him rather than chasing the ball and applying pressure. It's mindblowing that he get's away with it in the PL in 2022.

 

[passing-wind]

I'd personally get rid, Ronaldo is the wrong type of player needed for this club's circumstances at this current moment in time. There's a good young crop of attacking players at this team a the new manager can mould.

I think this is where Arteta is having much success this season, he's working with players who are easier to influence compared to telling the likes of Willian etc what to do when at the latter end of their careers they already have a made up mind.

I'm not saying Ronaldo doesn't have anything to offer but he's suitable for a team that has all its faculty in place and just needs someone upfront to polish putting the ball in the back of the net because that's all Cristiano offers.

 

[Ali Dia]

We’ve added over a million a week to our wage bill with Sancho Varane and Ronaldo and we are worse. Only at Utd

 

[The Irish Connection]

Clearly none of those players influenced the squad chemistry in the way that Ronaldo has, and the reason people talk about Ronaldo is about the knock-on effects he has on the team, which stack on top of his individual contributions. It's a team game so it's right that people pay more attention to a player's wider influence beyond his individual contributions. There's a lot of subjectivity, reading between the lines, etc. in assessing those more indirect contributions but you can't seriously be suggesting his role is comparable to e.g. Cavani.

Cavani had to work for his place, even against a desperately out of form Martial, and he worked hard to build up the young players' confidence. Ronaldo strolled into the team and shredded their confidence, questioned their work ethic, demanded to be centre stage, and was perfectly comfortable knowing that stealing the limelight from Bruno and co. might harm their individual contributions, it didn't matter because his eyes were firmly set on his own "47 goals". The fact those 47 goals came in a year where both of his teams drastically underperformed bothered him, but mostly because he can't add another medal to his own cabinet.

There's no-one else in the team that puts himself above the club so obviously, and so unapologetically. It's pretty obvious why that can hurt more than it helps in certain situations.

Where are you getting the information for your middle paragraph? Most of that is just your opinion and not based on any facts.

If I was a young player in the United squad and Ronaldo came in, I’d be delighted and more confident about winning. And they all said as much.

if Ronaldo had joined City, we’d all be crying now as I’m sure he’d have scored even more goals up front in a well functioning side.

On Cavani, I’d bin him off to South America after ignoring Greenwood yesterday, that was unforgivable for me.

 

[Garethw]

He’s given feck all service. So bad in fact that it’s embarrassing.

Remember the days when we used to consistently create 15-20 good chances a game? Our strikers are lucky to get 1-2 chances per game at the moment.

 

[VivaObertan]

He’s given feck all service. So bad in fact that it’s embarrassing.

Remember the days when we used to consistently create 15-20 good chances a game? Our strikers are lucky to get 1-2 chances per game at the moment.

Yeah this, who gives a shit about pressing contributions when you're talking about Cristiano Ronaldo... we've not had truly pressing CFs since Rooney 10 years ago. If the players behind him are up to standard, his output will improve immensely.

 

[troylocker]

if Ronaldo had joined City, we’d all be crying now as I’m sure he’d have scored even more goals up front in a well functioning side.

If Ronaldo joined City we'd all be laughing at them now, instead of the whole world laughing at us and the mess we're in.
Ronaldo wouldn't get a minute for City unless it was contract-bound. He wouldn't get a single minute for any team that wants to play with high pressing or gegen-press. I can't see how it's even possible to have a well functioning side with a player like him in it. His status is too big and his contributions are too small....

 

[Chesterlestreet]

His npxG in the league is identical to Salah's.

If it's really true that he gets feck all service, then what's the explanation? He's significantly better than Salah - the most lethal player in the league by quite some distance - when it comes to making clever runs into the box, taking up the right positions, etc?

 

[the_cliff]

It’s genuinely ridiculous the amount of stick Ronaldo is getting. It’s mind boggling (like a lot of things with this club I suppose)
Cavani was far worse than him. Sancho, Mctominay and Rashford also.
If Ronaldo had been in the position Cavani was and didn’t pass to Greenwood, there would be burning effigies. Sancho should have played him in on goal in the first half.
I’m far from a Ronaldo fan boy but he is not the problem.

Well we are in the Ronaldo thread mate, we're discussing Ronaldo's performance, I'm sure if you enter the Cavani thread you'll see similar things being said.

Just because the others were shit doesn't give Ronaldo a pass on being shit too.

 

[NZT-One]

I genuinely am a bit confused what people are expecting from Ronaldo. He's a centre forward. If you want your lethal spearhead to be effective, you also need to fashion a decent shaft to have a potent weapon. We right now are attaching our sharp spearhead to a bundle of twigs and wondering we aren't causing any damage.

The most heartbreaking thing is, that this is something, that should have been somewhat predictable before he joined the club. I agree in general though, we didn't went from being an attacking force into what we are now, we went from an average attack with talented individuals in form to a slightly less average attack with even more talented individuals absolutely out of form.

Well, no, we haven't improved in an attacking sense since signing Ronaldo, but Ronaldo's signing and presence in the team is a causal oversimplification for explaining all of our issues. Regardless of whether we have buyer's remorse or not, he still a player available to us at the club and we still have to find the best solution available to us with the players that we have.

Which means, that he shouldn't get any form of special treatment. And if he had 60-70 minutes of trying his thing against an opponent, he should be hooked for somebody else if it isn't working. Which is something, most people will agree to.

Agreed, but not sure what that has particular got to do with Ronaldo. Replacing him with any of Sancho, Greenwood, Rashford or Martial is going to be make virtually no difference looking at their defensive output.

Ronaldo, if we want that or not, acts as some sort of role model. He is the idol of Rashford, I am sure, Greenwood liked him as well (not so sure these days). If your leading figure is performing like that, it won't really inspire others. Therefor, I am sure, we would see a difference without Ronaldo. He is a player like everybody else, give him fair chances but if it doesn't work, get him off the pitch and try something different. I agree with you - Ronaldo isn't our problem, but he does is fair share of highlighting the existing problems. The general form of the team isn't helping just like Ole's (apparent) non-tactics or Rangnicks (supposedly) stubborness with the new system.

 

[TMDaines]

If Ronaldo joined City we'd all be laughing at them now, instead of the whole world laughing at us and the mess we're in.
Ronaldo wouldn't get a minute for City unless it was contract-bound. He wouldn't get a single minute for any team that wants to play with high pressing or gegen-press. I can't see how it's even possible to have a well functioning side with a player like him in it. His status is too big and his contributions are too small....

City are the lowest volume pressing side in the league. You don't need to press frequently when you monopolise possession of the ball. Most of City's forwards do a comparable amount to ours in this regard. It's more impactful though given they don't regularly concede possession and spend much time chasing it.

There's a reason why Pep was very happy to see City signing him, and a bit miffed in the infamous press conference when it was dawning that United had secured his services.

It amazes me that people think that Cristiano Ronaldo, the skinny little runt who transformed himself into arguably the greatest goalscorer of all time, is somehow afraid of hard work and adapting his game in the pursuit of individual and collective success. Ronaldo is pretty much testament to what you can achieve by absolute dedication to your craft. I don't doubt for a minute that he would have tailored his game to deliver what Guardiola would have wanted from him, i.e. primarily goalscoring with just enough defensive action to make his contribution to the wider unit.

 

[troylocker]

He’s given feck all service. So bad in fact that it’s embarrassing.

Remember the days when we used to consistently create 15-20 good chances a game? Our strikers are lucky to get 1-2 chances per game at the moment.

You do know there is statistical data on this stuff, right? I dear you to dig up one game where we created 20 good chances in our PL history.
Statistical evidence suggests he gets the 2nd best service of any striker in the league......

Why bother with facts when you can make your own truth?

 

[NZT-One]

If Ronaldo joined City we'd all be laughing at them now, instead of the whole world laughing at us and the mess we're in.
Ronaldo wouldn't get a minute for City unless it was contract-bound. He wouldn't get a single minute for any team that wants to play with high pressing or gegen-press. I can't see how it's even possible to have a well functioning side with a player like him in it. His status is too big and his contributions are too small....

That sounds a bit too absolute in my ears. We don't know, if Pep would be able to integrate him. I have my fair share of doubts but if Pep really wanted to go for him, then he would have had some ideas how to incorporate him. City doesn't have the biggest egos seemingly, maybe they would have flourished working out chances for him or would have the attention defenders have to give to him instead of themselves.

 

[The Irish Connection]

If Ronaldo joined City we'd all be laughing at them now, instead of the whole world laughing at us and the mess we're in.
Ronaldo wouldn't get a minute for City unless it was contract-bound. He wouldn't get a single minute for any team that wants to play with high pressing or gegen-press. I can't see how it's even possible to have a well functioning side with a player like him in it. His status is too big and his contributions are too small....

I disagree. There’s been plenty of times in the last few games where a better or noticed pass would have given Ronaldo a big chance and likely bagged him a goal.
Sancho last night, or better crossing from Wan Bissaka. Ronaldo in that City team would score goals for fun and they wanted him.
This thing about him not pressing is skewed too.Rangnick commented that his work rate was good in the game before he took over. And watching him, even last night, he’s cutting off passing lanes and chasing players down fine. Salah for the scousers isn’t the most aggressive presser but he does enough.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

You do know there is statistical data on this stuff, right? I dear you to dig up one game where we created 20 good chances in our PL history.
Statistical evidence suggests he gets the 2nd best service of any striker in the league......

Why bother with facts when you can make your own truth?

Yeah, it's also not forbidden to make your own chances with a great dribble or pass or interplay but he rarely does that anymore.

 

[the_cliff]

That sounds a bit too absolute in my ears. We don't know, if Pep would be able to integrate him. I have my fair share of doubts but if Pep really wanted to go for him, then he would have had some ideas how to incorporate him. City doesn't have the biggest egos seemingly, maybe they would have flourished working out chances for him or would have the attention defenders have to give to him instead of themselves.

I think Pep wanted him mainly for the UCL, where his game is suited more than the epl. Against the majority of EPL teams having a player like Ronaldo as your cf is a liability. He would also be rotated often as City are doing now.

 

[Gehrman]

His npxG in the league is identical to Salah's.

If it's really true that he gets feck all service, then what's the explanation? He's significantly better than Salah - the most lethal player in the league by quite some distance - when it comes to making clever runs into the box, taking up the right positions, etc?

What is npxG?

 

[The Irish Connection]

Well we are in the Ronaldo thread mate, we're discussing Ronaldo's performance, I'm sure if you enter the Cavani thread you'll see similar things being said.

Just because the others were shit doesn't give Ronaldo a pass on being shit too.

I know, I just find it bizarre the amount this thread gets bumped with negative stuff when Cavani’s doesn’t as much, despite clearly costing us a huge chance last night and otherwise being worse than Ronaldo.

 

[IhabX7]

Train wreck of a thread. Absolute nonsense. Every manager in the PL would love to have Ronaldo in their team.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

That sounds a bit too absolute in my ears. We don't know, if Pep would be able to integrate him. I have my fair share of doubts but if Pep really wanted to go for him, then he would have had some ideas how to incorporate him. City doesn't have the biggest egos seemingly, maybe they would have flourished working out chances for him or would have the attention defenders have to give to him instead of themselves.

We don't know that Pep wanted him, though, do we?

It was rumoured that Ronaldo's people (as in, Mendes) were in contact with City regarding a possible transfer. Precisely what this actually means, however, is not clear. Perhaps they - City, not necessarily Pep personally - liked the idea of it from a PR viewpoint.

United certainly did not like the idea of it from a PR viewpoint (him going to City, I mean).

All things said and done, I find it a bit odd that Pep would've been very keen on signing Ronaldo. I'm sure he could have managed to get some mileage out of him if he had to - but actively wanting him? I dunno about that.

 

[Gehrman]

Ronaldo is a bit of conundrum. His overall ability is so limited, but he's still our main goalscorer. It would be interesting to see if we went a few games without whether we would improve or not.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

What is npxG?

Expected goals without penalties.

 

[Gehrman]

Train wreck of a thread. Absolute nonsense. Every manager in the PL would love to have Ronaldo in their team.

This isn't really prime Ronaldo. I don't know how many would break their wage structure for him. If he was still a beast, then everyone would in for him if he was free.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Ronaldo is a bit of conundrum. His overall ability is so limited, but he's still our main goalscorer. It would be interesting to see if we went a few games without whether we would improve or not.

Rather than just compare him to our current strikers we should also compare him the CFs we can replace him with him, ones that would actually fit a modern style of football.

 

[the_cliff]

We don't know that Pep wanted him, though, do we?

It was rumoured that Ronaldo's people (as in, Mendes) were in contact with City regarding a possible transfer. Precisely what this actually means, however, is not clear. Perhaps they - City, not necessarily Pep personally - liked the idea of it from a PR viewpoint.

United certainly did not like the idea of it from a PR viewpoint (him going to City, I mean).

All things said and done, I find it a bit odd that Pep would've been very keen on signing Ronaldo. I'm sure he could have managed to get some mileage out of him if he had to - but actively wanting him? I dunno about that.

It's funny how City 'wanted' Sanchez but spent more to get Mahrez. They also 'wanted' Fred but spent more to get Rodri.

With Ronaldo however, they 'wanted' him but in the end decided against signing any other striker despite their unlimited funds.

 

[Josh 76]

Train wreck of a thread. Absolute nonsense. Every manager in the PL would love to have Ronaldo in their team.

In the squad probably , no way in the team!

 

[Idxomer]

We don't know that Pep wanted him, though, do we?

It was rumoured that Ronaldo's people (as in, Mendes) were in contact with City regarding a possible transfer. Precisely what this actually means, however, is not clear. Perhaps they - City, not necessarily Pep personally - liked the idea of it from a PR viewpoint.

United certainly did not like the idea of it from a PR viewpoint (him going to City, I mean).

All things said and done, I find it a bit odd that Pep would've been very keen on signing Ronaldo. I'm sure he could have managed to get some mileage out of him if he had to - but actively wanting him? I dunno about that.

Yeah, all we know is that Mendes talked with City and they didn't want to pay any transfer fee and never even agreed on salary for him.

He was offered to Madrid and PSG before that and they both declined the chance to sign him, United were his only and last option.

 

[Josh 76]

I know, I just find it bizarre the amount this thread gets bumped with negative stuff when Cavani’s doesn’t as much, despite clearly costing us a huge chance last night and otherwise being worse than Ronaldo.

Cavani is a great squad player, Ronaldo is not a great squad player. That’s why Cavani doesn’t get as much crap as Ronaldo.

 

[troylocker]

City are the lowest volume pressing side in the league. You don't need to press frequently when you monopolise possession of the ball. Most of City's forwards do a comparable amount to ours in this regard. It's more impactful though given they don't regularly concede possession and spend much time chasing it.

There's a reason why Pep was very happy to see City signing him, and a bit miffed in the infamous press conference when it was dawning that United had secured his services.

It amazes me that people think that Cristiano Ronaldo, the skinny little runt who transformed himself into arguably the greatest goalscorer of all time, is somehow afraid of hard work and adapting his game in the pursuit of individual and collective success. Ronaldo is pretty much testament to what you can achieve by absolute dedication to your craft. I don't doubt for a minute that he would have tailored his game to deliver what Guardiola would have wanted from him, i.e. primarily goalscoring with just enough defensive action to make his contribution to the wider unit.

One of City's main principles is to win the ball back as quickly as possible when you lose it. Only one way to do that....

Ronaldo: 6,28 pressings per 90 / 1,69 successfull pressing per 90/ 2,84 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90 (!!)
Jesus: 14,55 pressings per 90 / 3,22 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,08 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Foden: 16,96 pressings per 90 / 5,20 successfull pressing per 90/ 9,22 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Silva: 16,30 pressings per 90 / 4,50 successfull pressing per 90/ 5,56 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Sterling: 12,46 pressings per 90 / 3,20 successfull pressing per 90/ 4,51 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Mahrez: 11,70 pressings per 90 / 3,40 successfull pressing per 90/ 4,57 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Grealish: 12,29 pressings per 90 / 4,41 successfull pressing per 90/ 6,10 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90

When they average 63,5% in possession, you are right, they don't have to apply pressing as much because they have the ball as much as they do, but still they all press a hell of a lot more then Ronaldo.

 

[Wolf1992]

I disagree. There’s been plenty of times in the last few games where a better or noticed pass would have given Ronaldo a big chance and likely bagged him a goal.
Sancho last night, or better crossing from Wan Bissaka. Ronaldo in that City team would score goals for fun and they wanted him.
This thing about him not pressing is skewed too.Rangnick commented that his work rate was good in the game before he took over. And watching him, even last night, he’s cutting off passing lanes and chasing players down fine. Salah for the scousers isn’t the most aggressive presser but he does enough.

You have Cristiano on your team, and he hasn't improved the team at all, he doesn't offer anything outside of the penalty box, if his name wasn't Ronaldo he would have been benched already.

You are kinda accepting that United didn't have a plan for Ronaldo, it was just a panic buy to prevent City to get him.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

It's funny how City 'wanted' Sanchez but spent more to get Mahrez. They also 'wanted' Fred but spent more to get Rodri.

With Ronaldo however, they 'wanted' him but in the end decided against signing any other striker despite their unlimited funds.

Yeah - I'm not exactly a conspiracy theorist...but I fully believe they did that thing just to feck with us. The fact that Pep seemingly bemoaned their lack of funds ("Oh, we wanted him - but we just couldn't match United's insane money") made it all the more obvious they were taking the piss.

 

[NZT-One]

We don't know that Pep wanted him, though, do we?

It was rumoured that Ronaldo's people (as in, Mendes) were in contact with City regarding a possible transfer. Precisely what this actually means, however, is not clear. Perhaps they - City, not necessarily Pep personally - liked the idea of it from a PR viewpoint.

United certainly did not like the idea of it from a PR viewpoint (him going to City, I mean).

All things said and done, I find it a bit odd that Pep would've been very keen on signing Ronaldo. I'm sure he could have managed to get some mileage out of him if he had to - but actively wanting him? I dunno about that.

Yeah as I said, I'm kind of doubtful about that as well. Think Harry Kane would suit Pep to a tee but who knows, maybe he was fecked up by constantly not getting the striker he needs and therefor jumping on a chance to get the best goal scorer available in Ronaldo. Figuring out a way to incorporate him later. We will never know. I have no doubts, he would score loads for City as well. But there is also a big chance, that Ronaldo and Pep would get into arguments about role, involvement, obligations, possession losses and so on.

 

[Josh 76]

We’ve added over a million a week to our wage bill with Sancho Varane and Ronaldo and we are worse. Only at Utd

An overrated winger
An aging Striker
An injury prone defender
Great signings !

 

[NZT-One]

Yeah - I'm not exactly a conspiracy theorist...but I fully believe they did that thing just to feck with us. The fact that Pep seemingly bemoaned their lack of funds ("Oh, we wanted him - but we just couldn't match United's insane money") made it all the more obvious they were taking the piss.

But Pep bought Sanchez for Barcelona as well. I think, the way he played there would have fitted the City squad even better.

 

[bakalhau]

Train wreck of a thread. Absolute nonsense. Every manager in the PL would love to have Ronaldo in their team.

Bruno Lage 2 days ago:
"If they are not happy with him, I have a place for him here," he joked. "But I know they are happy with him."
"He is a massive player, I think any team in the world would want a player like him."

3rd manager that gets asked about Ronaldo, 3rd manager that basically says they'd be happy to have him (Ranieiri, Gasperini, too).

Every manager would take him, including Pep himself (let's get real, City wouldn't go for him if Pep clearly stated he'd be of no use), except a good portion of Juve and Utd fans. We sit around here going in circles while every manager would take him in a heartbeat.