I'm about as big a fan of him as you'll find here, but tonight I was disappointed. He can do better than this.
I'm not writing him off just yet though. I believe in him.
I'm not writing him off just yet though. I believe in him.
7
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 38
- Goals
- 24
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 9
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) look forward to a new life under Ruben Amorim. What system will we be playing? What players will impress? and how will it all go? We also say goodbye to Ruud Van Nistelrooy and review United's 3-0 win at home against Leicester City.
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Any 3 from Rashford, Elanga, Sancho and Cavani works for me. Bruno as a false 9 worth a crack too.
However crap he may be though, he's still probably going to score a winner past Atleti.
Very frustrating watching him play the last few games. He shoots from anywhere, no matter the route to goal being blocked, no matter if someone else is in a better position. Understandably, in his youth he was scoring from anywhere, but that's no longer the case. His brain needs to catch up to his physique.
He's a luxury player and this is his curtain call before retiring, but it's going to continue to feck us trying to fit the system around him. He is useful in snatching victory from defeat with one good move, but I'm starting to think that if we had a more mobile player up top, we wouldn't find ourselves in the position of needing a last-ditch goal as often.
If he is going to keep starting, he needs to come off at the hour. That gives him license to spend all his energy in that 60 minutes rather than slow down the last 30. His ego won't like it, but too bad.
He's a luxury player and this is his curtain call before retiring, but it's going to continue to feck us trying to fit the system around him. He is useful in snatching victory from defeat with one good move, but I'm starting to think that if we had a more mobile player up top, we wouldn't find ourselves in the position of needing a last-ditch goal as often.
If he is going to keep starting, he needs to come off at the hour. That gives him license to spend all his energy in that 60 minutes rather than slow down the last 30. His ego won't like it, but too bad.
Unfortunately Cavani has been pretty shite for us recently too. He’s looked nearly past it himself. We’ve gone from having ridiculous attacking options to it all looking very threadbare.
37 tomorrow and he had to play 120 mins v a championship side because we don’t have a 2nd striker available
When Elanga was fouled on the edge of the box in a good position and this guy takes the ball, the ref waves play on, then Ronaldo proceeds to thump it tamely into the side netting shows who he thinks about, and it isn't the team.
Ha. By the 103th minute I expect every starter to play like garbage and the subs to try and carry them.
Man is nearing 40, maybe he shouldnt play ET. Neither did Scholes later in his career.
After last game was so disappointed to see him go back to goal hanging and doing absolute feck all in the build up. When players are looking for a forward pass Ronaldo refuses to make himself available, if he gets it he has no interest in setting others up. He only wants to be involved in goalscoring. Like a poor man's version of those outdated No.9s from when teams still played 442. Except now we can't even sub him. This bit is so irritating.
I find hilarious how he pretends to play past his 40s when he's already in this state at 37. Without his pace he isn't the danger he was in the past and his passing it's horrible most of the time. I hate how he just return the ball anytime there's not an obvious choice to pass. He don't help the team to move the attack forward.
Ronaldo wasn’t terrible tonight. The output of his finishing was, but otherwise he played his part in a very good team performance.
This. God forbid we get an opportunity and it's not him on the end of it.
This.
They were saying the same things about him at Juventus
You completely misinterpreted the data. The stats are for the PL only, and Ronaldo only has 6 goals in open play to Greenwoods 5
Ronaldo has had some massive stinkers, but the cries for Cavani to replace him must be a joke. He is even more finished.
We somehow need a new striker again.
Our frontline options are actually barren again somehow.
We somehow need a new striker again.
Our frontline options are actually barren again somehow.
How is Cavani 'more finished' than Ronaldo?
It was a mistake bringing him back I think anyone who doesn’t admit that is lying to themselves. Great for the nostalgia and for the brand but it’s destabilised the team massively, rightly or wrongly.
He actually turned 37 about 12 minutes ago.
He's had some great moments in the Champions League certainly but for the most part he doesn't look good at all these days and that contract for another year is going to be bad, especially when given his status you know he has to play.
Shit my joke fell flat.
His age is clearly showing, and has so, for a good while.
Ideally for United, he should be a substitute or rotation, not be starting almost every game at this point in his career, that would be better for both the club and Ronaldo himself.
But then, the only other number 9 is Cavani, who hasn't been good either this season, so, in the absense of a top class number 9, just split the time between them near 50/50?
Ideally for United, he should be a substitute or rotation, not be starting almost every game at this point in his career, that would be better for both the club and Ronaldo himself.
But then, the only other number 9 is Cavani, who hasn't been good either this season, so, in the absense of a top class number 9, just split the time between them near 50/50?
He was supposed to be our Tom Brady but it turns out he's just Marsha.
He will always have great moments but its clear his legs have gone. Even his control is bit off and his shooting is not what it was. He will get us goals but as a team we might not see any progress. He is a complicated problem to solve for the next manager.
He's been much worse this season.
I don't understand the adoration he has on here or how he's so highly rated. Even @Brwned has alluded to it.
He huffs and puffs(less than he did last season) and gives off an illusion he's still physically adept. Almost all of the flaws Ronaldo has, are the same ones Cavani has. Cavani is worse off physically, less durable and doesn't even want to be here. He's less of a goal-scoring threat(Ronaldo is looking worse and worse in this regard too tbf), and I'm not buying the argument that he'll let others thrive more than Ronaldo, because his movement has deteriorated this season too and his link-up play has never been something special.
Neither should be our main choice forward option next season.
Cavani won’t be here next season. Ronaldo shouldn’t be either. We will have to deal with two 35+ strikers until the summer.
The only benefit from signing Ronnie, is that he didn’t sign for City. But we’ve been mugged off with an awful deal that has formed an imbalance across the team. Needs to be dropped.
True but because it’s Ronaldo you assume he’ll score at least one of those chances.
But this sort of sums up the silliness of it, you don't sign a player because of how it impacts another team, build your own team and trust that it will be good enough. If he had gone to City he would have just been the cherry on top of the cake to take some of the huge number of chances they create because they're so dominant, we didn't have half the fecking ingredients yet. We're now in a situation where we're a couple of years away, at the very least, from being competitive and yet we're paying a 37 year old £500k a week to help us maybe scrape 4th.
One thing I seriously hope with Rangnick coming in as a consultant and Woodward leaving is that we stop making signings for optics or for the social media engagement or to stop others getting them and make signings with the focus of building a proper football team.
Yup. We need to get back to the football. Not worry about TikTok views, Twitter likes and engagement.
results matter, and we are well short again.
When he's not scoring goals, he's pretty crap.
Turns 37 today. Will probably be playing lots of games until the end of this season, but will be interesting what happens next season, assuming Ronaldo is still here then. If he is ready to accept to play less minutes and games, then he could be a very useful weapon in out attack even at 38. Think come summer of 2023, Cristiano will be going to LA Galaxy or some other team from MLS. Though Ibra is 40 and again in Europe, don't doubt Ronnie would be fine even at that age.
Rare to see him so many goal scoring opportunities. If was his normal him we would have won this easily.
The thing that makes it more of an issue is that he will obviously struggle to accept reduced minutes. We saw that recently with his complaints even at being subbed.
So he's either a first choice player (which he isn't good enough to be any more) or he needs to go. Unlike most players, there's no real in-between.
So he's either a first choice player (which he isn't good enough to be any more) or he needs to go. Unlike most players, there's no real in-between.
Absolute shell of himself. Sad to watch. He's one of the GOATs but he's 37 and he's no Ibra.
Need to bring a striker in and manage his game time next season but I fear we won't...
Cavani has barely been played this season due to fitness issues or simply being overlooked due to Ronaldos presence. However you'd be disingenuous to suggest Cavani even now doesn't possess more of a skillset that we need in a CF in the system we're trying to play.
Cavani brings more energy, presses more, creates more space for his teammates and generally causes more havoc in the box than Ronaldo does. If he played today in his usual role I'm sure we'd have put the game to bed. Ronaldo has never been the complete CF, just a goal machine hybrid who now offers very little off the ball.
Cavani is on vacation. How much energy can he bring from South America? Did he do this at the start of the year too -- go home and stay for a while?
When he is around to play, he looks rather meh, btw.
Yeah that bit really puzzles me. Is he so disinterested in everything outside of goals that he just lazily decides "ah, there's nothing on, you take it back and figure it out" or does he really lack the ability / confidence to try anything creative? Even at his peak he never had great vision but I'm sure he was a sharp passer and reliable in possession. You could ping it to him from anywhere and he'd bring it under control, and he might not try and split the defence, but he'd bring it forward and find someone in a better position. At least I think he did. I can hardly remember what the good version of Ronaldo used to do, outside of goals. This version of him is so stark. It's as if he doesn't think he has any responsibility to help make the attack function.
Oldmando. Shadow of himself throughout the season, sad to see, hoping his elite mentality spurs him on.
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