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Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal flag

2021-22 Performances

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5.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
38
Goals
24
Assists
3
Yellow cards
9
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Yeah, Ronaldo was a really good dribbler and at his best one of the best in the world, but arguably the weakest dribbler out of the main GOAT contenders (Pele, Messi, Maradona, Cruyff), who were all another level for dribbling.

Ronaldo’s dribbling stats now are closer to a goalkeeper’s than to his old self, never mind those players.
 
Finished at the required level.Those two headers against Burnley,Ronaldo of old would have buried.Please leave at the end of the season.No disrespect.
 
I’m not a Ronaldo fan, but I think he did ok when he came on. That’s what his role should be now.
 
Ruud89 said:
If we dont make top 4 then he is not going to stay himself
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Even if he wants to leave who will pay a transfer fee AND his astronomical wages? I don't think he has a pick of teams fighting for him, especially if he has declined so much this season.

Ruud89 said:
Truth is he is too good for us and we are only bringing him down.
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How is he too good for us? He is a part of the problem. Poor ball retention, average pace, poor stamina, average passer, shooting has also gone in the last 9-10 games ... How many assists does he have? Is he going to even touch 25 goals this season?
 
shamans said:
I would say Messi and Hazard were much better dribblers, wouldn't even compare. I think Neymar and Di Maria are ahead but not by much. I think Ronaldo was a better dribbler than Iniesta.
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Nah ineista's close control plus his masterly use of the la croqueta made his dribbling special.
 
Guapa said:
Finished at the required level.Those two headers against Burnley,Ronaldo of old would have buried.Please leave at the end of the season.No disrespect.
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Exactly this.

At first I was on the fence. He's had little service a couple of games ago, but the stats still showed his finishing to be crap.
Last 2 games he gets feds more than my British shorthair. If he still can't score he serves no purpose. Cause this version of Ronny is so limited you do have to play around him.
 
You just know the Glazers thought they could be cheap and wait until Ronaldo was so old that he cost only 20m to buy and really believe they could still get away with it.

It will look even more shocking next season when Man City get Haaland. We aren’t even in the competition for the worlds best strikers anymore. Let’s just hope it’s end game for the Glazers.
 
Oly Francis said:
Not really. He was a very good dribbler no doubt but his touches were far less smooth than dribblers like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo Nazario or Neymar. He wasn't very creative (compared to top dribblers) and mostly relied on pace and burst even if he had a couple of tricks like his famous "Ronaldo chop" (even if it was invented 50 years earlier). There's nothing wrong with that since it's very efficient. Mbappé uses the same style (but he's not as good a dribbler as Ronaldo was) and it's very efficient. It's just not as refined and "in control" as the very best.
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Ronaldo had no control or creativity at dribbling? Find that a very odd opinion. The guy was full of tricks and has used them to great impact up until recently. He definitely didn't just have a "couple of tricks".
 
When he arrived he used more tricks than in his fourth year at United. If you see compilations on Youtube from its early years, it has good dribbles, but in most cases it is the acceleration and speed that really made the difference. If you look at Ronaldo pre-2014, this is very clear. Classic of the fast players that when they lose that yard, the difference is abysmal. In any case, it is not understood that simple passes cost him so much. That should not be missed, although it was never really his strongest point in his entire career.

Having Ronaldo in the team is not a big problem, except for his salary, which is too much for a 37-year-old player. The problem is that he won't be able to be on the bench supporting the team from there. It will always have to be the main focus, that's the biggest problem.
 
shamans said:
Ronaldo had no control or creativity at dribbling? Find that a very odd opinion. The guy was full of tricks and has used them to great impact up until recently. He definitely didn't just have a "couple of tricks".
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He was not a close control dribbler he was more of a kick and run dribbler who did a bit of showboating.
 
shamans said:
Ronaldo had no control or creativity at dribbling? Find that a very odd opinion. The guy was full of tricks and has used them to great impact up until recently. He definitely didn't just have a "couple of tricks".
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Compared to the players I mentionned no, he did not. He didn't give this feeling that the ball was glued to his feet like prime Messi, Ronaldinho or Neymar (for exemple, there's others). He rarely gave this wow feeling that makes you say "what is he going to invent this time". It was more "how is he going to beat his defender", which is also very efficient, sometimes even more that pure dribbling. After all, football is about beating your opponent so it doesn't really matter how he did it even if he relied more on his power.

GifLord said:
He was not a close control dribbler he was more of a kick and run dribbler who did a bit of showboating.
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Exactly. He was still a very good dribbler compared to the average player but that's not really what made him so good.
 
Does he have any goals from a header this season? For several years, he was looking like the best offensive header in the world.
 
ronaldinhoisagoat said:
Even if he wants to leave who will pay a transfer fee AND his astronomical wages? I don't think he has a pick of teams fighting for him, especially if he has declined so much this season.


How is he too good for us? He is a part of the problem. Poor ball retention, average pace, poor stamina, average passer, shooting has also gone in the last 9-10 games ... How many assists does he have? Is he going to even touch 25 goals this season?
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He's on 14 goals so far, wouldn't be surprised if he gets to 25, we just need to have better quality in our service to the strikers not just Cristiano, we do a good build-up but at the killer moment we either cross badly or send the wrong pass, any striker would suffer with our poor quality in the final third, fix that and Ronaldo will score, we should be playing around him like we did for RVP, not defending his recent antics but again I would trust someone with 800+ goals to his name to lead the line...
 
Fredo said:
He's on 14 goals so far, wouldn't be surprised if he gets to 25, we just need to have better quality in our service to the strikers not just Cristiano, we do a good build-up but at the killer moment we either cross badly or send the wrong pass, any striker would suffer with our poor quality in the final third, fix that and Ronaldo will score, we should be playing around him like we did for RVP, not defending his recent antics but again I would trust someone with 800+ goals to his name to lead the line...
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The challenge there is, RvP was a player in his prime and this version of Ronaldo is in decline. It’s dangerous to build our game plan around a 37 year old, IMO. We have many deficiencies in other areas of the field as well, without a genius like SAF at the helm, when the competition in the league is fierce. I don’t think we have the luxury of building around a declining Ronaldo.
 
Fredo said:
He's on 14 goals so far, wouldn't be surprised if he gets to 25, we just need to have better quality in our service to the strikers not just Cristiano, we do a good build-up but at the killer moment we either cross badly or send the wrong pass, any striker would suffer with our poor quality in the final third, fix that and Ronaldo will score, we should be playing around him like we did for RVP, not defending his recent antics but again I would trust someone with 800+ goals to his name to lead the line...
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We should build our play around a 37 year old..... RVP's touch and hold up play was still way better than current Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a usefull squad player, but trying to make him the key player I think won't work.
 
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Bet he regrets turning city down. Utd being in a much worse state than he originally thought.

Doubt there will be any takers for him this summer, not with mbappe going to madrid and haaland going somewhere.
 
dinostar77 said:
Bet he regrets turning city down. Utd being in a much worse state than he originally thought.

Doubt there will be any takers for him this summer, not with mbappe going to madrid and haaland going somewhere.
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He'd have a title for sure and a good shot at the CL. Still not really a Pep player at this stage. Would lose his United fanbase though.
 
Probably better off going to Sporting next year so he can have an emotional return back to where it all started.
Hopefully he doesn’t keep spitting the dummy there!
 
dinostar77 said:
Bet he regrets turning city down. Utd being in a much worse state than he originally thought.

Doubt there will be any takers for him this summer, not with mbappe going to madrid and haaland going somewhere.
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He'd have been a bit part player at City. Unlike us they aren't prepared to make sentimental decisions that are to the detriment of the team. As soon as it was clear he offered very little outside of being a poacher, Pep would've moved him to the bench. I expect City are glad he turned them down in hindsight, as the sulking would've been an unwanted distraction in what appears to be a very driven and motivated squad.
 
Bondi77 said:
Probably better off going to Sporting next year so he can have an emotional return back to where it all started.
Hopefully he doesn’t keep spitting the dummy there!
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Has he ever talked about returning to Sporting?
 
As much as it pains me to say it and I absolutely loved Ronaldo in his first stint here. I was wrong saying he was gonna be a success this time.

This older version of him just isn’t even half the player he used to be. I don’t think he’s actually good enough to start for us and the way we wish to play the game now.

Haaland for example would offer us so much more as a striker obviously as he’s coming into his peak with more power and physicality. Ronaldo just can’t compete with that sadly despite still been a top finisher if given a chance (when on form).
 
Gehrman said:
We should build our play around a 37 year old..... RVP's touch and hold up play was still way better than current Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a usefull squad player, but trying to make him the key player I think won't work.
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I think that's what Ole did, indulged Ronaldo and the team started conceding or looking like conceding 4-5 goals per game. Rangnick at least has the team looking more like a team again, even if it's to detriment to Ronaldo's stats.
 
Gehrman said:
Has he ever talked about returning to Sporting?
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I don’t know but I can’t imagine him going to the States or returning to Spain or Italy so I think it is feasible that he may go back to his homeland as lots of players in their last year or so tend to do.
 
I'l just share here I had a weird dream Ronaldo does a madness from here until the end of the season :lol:
 
Fun fact: Most of United's lowest scoring seasons under SAF's title winning/competing days happened when Ronaldo was at the club first time around. Including 64 league goals scored in 2003-04 and an awful 58 in 2004-05.

Ronaldo and Van Nisterooy together were the stuff of nightmares. I'm not convinced United ever accommodated him particularly well or that he ever suited United.
 
troylocker said:
Not even elite mentality or being one of the GOAT can help you there. It's so easy to forget how to trap a ball, make 10 yard passes and shoot when you're forced to press and fall a bit deeper on the pitch. Even jumping, sprinting and staying on your feet gets tough then....

...or maybe he's 37 and in heavy decline.

Right now the only thing he does well is getting into good positions and be available for service, everything else is gone.
With his low workrate and with the loss of touch and acceleration he no longer fits in a top team in modern football even if he found his shooting boots again. There isn't room for players who can do only one thing anymore, even if they do it well. Even if he scores 40 for us this season I'd make a strong case for how he makes us weaker as a team.
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Regards the positioning. The players around him or not good enough to put the ball where he needs it. Take a look at by Munich, and they way they work with Lewandowski.
 
I love Ronaldo but it hasn’t really worked has it. No regrets though, glad I got to be at OT for his return against Newcastle.

He might have done better coming back in to a well oiled machine, but then again that hasn’t always worked either has it (Veron and Berbatov come to mind). I won’t mind if he moves on at the end of the season.
 
Having showdown talks with his agent if we are being lead to believe, looking like he’s off..
 
His return has gone exactly how expected. He will bag goals (he has 14 this season, was on for 30 goals before recent injury) but the shit show around him will obviously mean he isn’t going to be as successful here second time around winning everything. Combine that with the fact he obviously isn’t as good as he was here the first time, people will start to question why we bought him. Was inevitable.

At the moment we could sign anybody and there would be question marks over whether they’re a flop. When was the last great signing we made? Even Fernandes is starting to look like a meh player when people were comparing his impact to Cantona at one point.

This place is hilariously fickle. At one point Ronaldo was carrying us. He’s done perfectly well for a 37 year old. 4/6 of our group stage CL games he scored a decisive goal in the last 15 minutes.
 


RON-STOPPABLE Cristiano Ronaldo’s son Cristiano Jr, 11, unveiled as Man Utd youth player and handed dad’s iconic shirt

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/17618843/cristiano-ronaldo-jr-man-utd-academy/

I hope he's as good as his dad! Future GOAT :drool:

just think.. in 5 or 6 more years we could see Manchester United Academy product Cristiano JR making his Manchester United Debut and saving the club a fortune! Future GOAT in the making! The legend continues :devil:
 
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SonyaCross493 said:


RON-STOPPABLE Cristiano Ronaldo’s son Cristiano Jr, 11, unveiled as Man Utd youth player and handed dad’s iconic shirt

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/17618843/cristiano-ronaldo-jr-man-utd-academy/

I hope he's as good as his dad! Future GOAT :drool:

just think.. in 5 or 6 more years we could see Manchester United Academy product Cristiano JR making his Manchester United Debut and saving the club a fortune! Future GOAT in the making! The legend continues :devil:
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:lol: :lol:
 
SonyaCross493 said:


RON-STOPPABLE Cristiano Ronaldo’s son Cristiano Jr, 11, unveiled as Man Utd youth player and handed dad’s iconic shirt

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/17618843/cristiano-ronaldo-jr-man-utd-academy/

I hope he's as good as his dad! Future GOAT :drool:

just think.. in 5 or 6 more years we could see Manchester United Academy product Cristiano JR making his Manchester United Debut and saving the club a fortune! Future GOAT in the making! The legend continues :devil:
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I'm sure he'll go with his dad at the end of the season. I don't think there's any real affection for Manchester United in the Ronaldo family and he'll probably enjoy spells at clubs in sunnier climates before turning pro, if he ever does.
 
The Mighty Gatekeeper said:
Fun fact: Most of United's lowest scoring seasons under SAF's title winning/competing days happened when Ronaldo was at the club first time around. Including 64 league goals scored in 2003-04 and an awful 58 in 2004-05.

Ronaldo and Van Nisterooy together were the stuff of nightmares. I'm not convinced United ever accommodated him particularly well or that he ever suited United.
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Yeah if you pretend 2008 and 2009 didn't happen and focus on the year Ronaldo joined as a raw 17 year old when we were in massive transition.
Ridiculous revisionism.
 
carlbcfc said:
Regards the positioning. The players around him or not good enough to put the ball where he needs it. Take a look at by Munich, and they way they work with Lewandowski.
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Lewandowsky knows where he needs to be on the pitch, he's a striker and doesn't try to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Ronaldo is a box player that rarely wants to be in the box. That's the big problem with him nowadays, he doesn't realize his role needs to be different now that he's aging and that he needs to play to his strengths. The amount of silly shots he takes that are easily blocked by a defender shows that he's not aware of his own limitations. It was the same way at Juventus last years when he scored 5 more goals than Lukaku while taking twice the amount of shots Lukaku took.
 
The Mighty Gatekeeper said:
Fun fact: Most of United's lowest scoring seasons under SAF's title winning/competing days happened when Ronaldo was at the club first time around. Including 64 league goals scored in 2003-04 and an awful 58 in 2004-05.

Ronaldo and Van Nisterooy together were the stuff of nightmares. I'm not convinced United ever accommodated him particularly well or that he ever suited United.
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3 Premier Leagues
FA Cup (scored in final)
2 League Cups (scored in final)
FA Community Shield
Champions League ( scored in final)
FIFA Club World Cup

PFA POTY (twice)
Premier League Golden Boot
European Golden Shoe
Balon D'or


As you can see him and United were pure poison together.
 
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