[RepardReece]

We were a quite good counterattacking team just 8 months ago.

Our pressingnumbers against Arsenal (from the attackers):

Ronaldo: 6
Sancho: 8
Elanga/Lindgard/Rashford: 16
Bruno/Mata: 16

Total: 46

Total pressings in the attacking 3rd: 17 (Ronaldo: 1!)

Arsenal vs us:

Nketiah: 21 !!
ESR/Martinelli: 12
Saka (73 minutes): 14
Odegaard: 24

Total: 71

Total pressings in the attacking 3rd: 46 (Nketiah: 16!!)

Even when dominating possession they pressed >50% more than us (almost 300% more in the attacking 3rd) and they forced many errors on our defense. Of course pressing from the front is important for game dynamics and it's one of many weapons you must have in your locker. Without it you start almost all your possession from the back against balanced defenses.

We don't have that weapon with Ronaldo leading the line.

As you point out: The defense has been terrible and error-prone, Elanga is too lightweight to start every match, Rashford is totally out of form and Bruno has been less effective lately. So it's not entirely down to Ronaldo. That doesn't change the net negative playing a player like him brings.

I don't know what you were watching but in my eyes, Ronaldo was not a problem at all against Arsenal. Arsenal really didn't play that well and got 3 goals from terrible defending and solo mistakes. We win that game if the other players finish their chances and they dont make the mistakes. It's literally as simple as that. There was no coaching issue, no Ronaldo issue, just on an individual level it was tragically bad.

The fact we are discussing pressing numbers against Arsenal is really illogical, as it had nothing to do with our loss.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Do you think he’s going to leave next season?

I doubt he would want to play for a club without CL football, he still has it scoring goals in CL for sure, he may want to further extend his record/legacy.

But then, we will have WC by end of the year, he may not want to change club/place and start everything all over again, just months before WC.

Plus, there’s not many place he could go now, only PSG or Sporting I reckon. If Mbappé stays he won’t join for sure, while Sporting just couldn’t afford his wage, and he wouldn’t want to go to play in Portugal league yet.

 

[Glorio]

Been impressed with him recently, and not just the goals, his general play has been really sharp.

There were periods this season where he couldn't control a ball, couldn't find a pass, and coupled with his loss of pace and some physicality, he really did seem like a waste of a position. I firmly believe if we had Ronaldo in this form when we had that run of "easy" games, we'd be a lot higher in terms of points.

As folks have mentioned already though, this is probably due to circumstance rather than just chance. I reckon the fact that we were playing 2 games a week then was a big factor in that long period of horrendous performances.

 

[bakalhau]

Been impressed with him recently, and not just the goals, his general play has been really sharp.

There were periods this season where he couldn't control a ball, couldn't find a pass, and coupled with his loss of pace and some physicality, he really did seem like a waste of a position. I firmly believe if we had Ronaldo in this form when we had that run of "easy" games, we'd be a lot higher in terms of points.

As folks have mentioned already though, this is probably due to circumstance rather than just chance. I reckon the fact that we were playing 2 games a week then was a big factor in that long period of horrendous performances.

He "should have never" played those 120 mins in the FA Cup, and was being sitted on the bench for the FA Cup until then, but then again I understand why he had to play that game, literally no one else to fill the role... I guess it's part of a game where context changes week to week. I think a bit after that, for a while, his confidence was low as well. Against Arsenal he was pulling out some crazy difficult technical passes, it's not like he couldn't do them around January-March, but he was playing just by the books and playing small passes and for a while there I wondered where that Ronaldo I know had gone. I'm glad I've seen that come back lately. I'd rather have a more creative, confidence filled, erratic Ronaldo, that wants to play through balls, attempt one v ones around the box and try crazy shots (even if he sometimes fails at those) than the subdued version of him of the first months of the year.

 

[Marwood]

It's a real shame that some fans, largely due to pundits and their love of a buzzword, have reduced football to pressing.

Imagine witnessing one of the all time greats, performing pretty well in a poor team and being concerned only about his pressing stats.

Such a miserable take on the game.

 

[SportingCP96]

We just lost 3-1 to Arsenal and this thread fills up 3 pages with praise to Ronaldo. Nice goal by the way.

Our club has literally been in free fall since we signed him.
We haven't been in a worse place since the 80's, and it's all happened to us since September.
If only a small part of the rumors about the dressingroom environment is true, it's a f'ing catastrophy.
We have no room for bigger than the club profiles at this club.

"....in the middle of garbage..."
You're a Ronaldo fan, not a Manchester UNITED supporter.

Do you not agree that this Manchester United team is fecking trash?

You want these guys in the team next season? Cause that’s the reason you lot have been piss poor all season.

I count at the absolute most 4-5 players I would keep on this team.

Everyone else needs to be sold in a fire sale.

 

[UnitedSofa]

Do you not agree that this Manchester United team is fecking trash?

You want these guys in the team next season? Cause that’s the reason you lot have been piss poor all season.

I count at the absolute most 4-5 players I would keep on this team.

Everyone else needs to be sold in a fire sale.

De Gea
Varane
Maguire (He's still one of the best CB's we got)
Shaw (If his form can return)
Fred
McT
Ronaldo
Bruno
Sancho
Rashford (if his form can return)

I'd keep those, you need solid squad players too, you can't all have two first 11's. Only City can probaby atest to that.

 

[Berbasbullet]

We just lost 3-1 to Arsenal and this thread fills up 3 pages with praise to Ronaldo. Nice goal by the way.

Our club has literally been in free fall since we signed him.
We haven't been in a worse place since the 80's, and it's all happened to us since September.
If only a small part of the rumors about the dressingroom environment is true, it's a f'ing catastrophy.
We have no room for bigger than the club profiles at this club.

"....in the middle of garbage..."
You're a Ronaldo fan, not a Manchester UNITED supporter.

Disaster post.

 

[SportingCP96]

De Gea
Varane
Maguire (He's still one of the best CB's we got)
Shaw (If his form can return)
Fred
McT
Ronaldo
Bruno
Sancho
Rashford (if his form can return)

I'd keep those, you need solid squad players too, you can't all have two first 11's. Only City can probaby atest to that.

Shaw and Mctom are bench players.

De Ges, Sancho, varane, Bruno, Ronaldo. That’s it really.

Maguire should not be anywhere near this team he is god awful. Rashford is not United level, he would fit great in this Everton team that’s about to be relegated. Fred can rock the bench but he will and should be sold in the next 2 summers.

The 5 I mentioned should be the guys United should add to and try to put something together with. Everyone else is transfer fodder.

 

[Red the Bear]

I took a look again , wasn't his second goal actually valid?

 

[MUFC OK]

Btw, since he returned to full fitness since the hip problem that he was playing with for 2 months, it's 7 goals in 5 games for this poor United side.

 

[Sandikan]

Still amazed Rooney said he's been a failure and we should be looking to build around young guys like Lingard and Mctominay

We could build a pretty solid top 12 team with those 2 as the best players.

 

[Sandikan]

I took a look again , wasn't his second goal actually valid?

From behind the goal he seemed to be well offside. But looking at the stills after, it's a bit dodge to say the least. Same as that one in the home game v Liverpool.

And as for that Elanga non given pen, what a joke.

 

[Sandikan]

It's a real shame that some fans, largely due to pundits and their love of a buzzword, have reduced football to pressing.

Imagine witnessing one of the all time greats, performing pretty well in a poor team and being concerned only about his pressing stats.

Such a miserable take on the game.

People who constantly bore on about stats and the worst of all, that bloody expected goal thing are the absolute pits.
It's like they don't actually watch the games, and just look at stats later. Must be the championship footy manager type people.

 

[NewYorkRed]

We were a quite good counterattacking team just 8 months ago.

Our pressingnumbers against Arsenal (from the attackers):

Ronaldo: 6
Sancho: 8
Elanga/Lindgard/Rashford: 16
Bruno/Mata: 16

Total: 46

Total pressings in the attacking 3rd: 17 (Ronaldo: 1!)

Arsenal vs us:

Nketiah: 21 !!
ESR/Martinelli: 12
Saka (73 minutes): 14
Odegaard: 24

Total: 71

Total pressings in the attacking 3rd: 46 (Nketiah: 16!!)

Even when dominating possession they pressed >50% more than us (almost 300% more in the attacking 3rd) and they forced many errors on our defense. Of course pressing from the front is important for game dynamics and it's one of many weapons you must have in your locker. Without it you start almost all your possession from the back against balanced defenses.

We don't have that weapon with Ronaldo leading the line.

As you point out: The defense has been terrible and error-prone, Elanga is too lightweight to start every match, Rashford is totally out of form and Bruno has been less effective lately. So it's not entirely down to Ronaldo. That doesn't change the net negative playing a player like him brings.

Your post proves that you know nothing about football and are just another person obsessed with the word pressing.

If there was ever a game that showed your stats were horsecrap surely it was that one.

 

[UnitedSofa]

 

[sullydnl]

No Ronaldo doesn't mean we'd be playing with 10 men.

Granted, the 11th man we'd be playing with would be some absolute shitebag. But still, it's a stupid stat.

 

[NewYorkRed]

No Ronaldo doesn't mean we'd be playing with 10 men.

Granted, the 11th man we'd be playing with would be some absolute shitebag. But still, it's a stupid stat.

Agree, but its not as stupid as the pressing stat that poster threw at us above. No Ronaldo doesn’t mean the team is suddenly going to press a ton more.

The only stats that matter are goals scored and goals conceded. Ronaldo currently is a huge part of the former for us/in the prem overall.

 

[GifLord]

Agree, but its not as stupid as the pressing stat that poster threw at us above. No Ronaldo doesn’t mean the team is suddenly going to press a ton more.

The only stats that matter are goals scored and goals conceded. Ronaldo currently is a huge part of the former for us/in the prem overall.

And yet he was also part of the problem when he couldn't hit a barn door or control the ball

He was also one of the main culprits why we went out of the Fa cup vs Boro missed a ton of chances + a pen

 

[Gehrman]

Agree, but its not as stupid as the pressing stat that poster threw at us above. No Ronaldo doesn’t mean the team is suddenly going to press a ton more.

The only stats that matter are goals scored and goals conceded. Ronaldo currently is a huge part of the former for us/in the prem overall.

Well even with Ronaldo's goals we are having our worst season since fergie retired. Yay!

 

[NewYorkRed]

Well even with Ronaldo's goals we are having our worst season since fergie retired. Yay!

Yeah the guy who banged in 20+ is the sole reason for that. Definitely not the truck we have playing CB who couldn’t beat my grandma in a race or Rashford forgetting how to spell football or Shaw rekindling his romance with KFC or AWB having more speeding fines than runs forward……..

 

[NewYorkRed]

And yet he was also part of the problem when he couldn't hit a barn door or control the ball

He was also one of the main culprits why we went out of the Fa cup vs Boro missed a ton of chances + a pen

Yeah, he had a bad patch. That’s a fact and I’m not denying it. He’s 38, think if you know who was still at the club maybe we could have survived that run with his goals.

 

[Gehrman]

Yeah the guy who banged in 20+ is the sole reason for that. Definitely not the truck we have playing CB who couldn’t beat my grandma in a race or Rashford forgetting how to spell football or Shaw rekindling his romance with KFC or AWB having more speeding fines than runs forward……..

Never said he was. Manager and most of the team is at fault. Especially the defense.

 

[JB7]

And yet he was also part of the problem when he couldn't hit a barn door or control the ball

He was also one of the main culprits why we went out of the Fa cup vs Boro missed a ton of chances + a pen

So you've selected two groups of games where you're saying Ronaldo didn't play well and was a big problem.

The first group of games saw Bruno sky an injury time penalty, Ronaldo not starting against Everton followed by two of the worst defensive & goalkeeping performances you're likely to see.

The second group of games saw him miss 2 games and in the middle of that we probably have one of our best runs of form of the season with 4 wins & 2 draws in 6 games (and in one of the draws he was benched for Cavani who missed an open goal from two yards).

He did have a poor game against Middlesbrough, you are correct, however the reality is that their goal shouldn't have stood so it was a joke that we didn't win that game 1-0, once again though the miss of the game was Bruno's open goal unfortunately for him.

This is all despite playing a position he's literally never played for any consistent period of time in his near 20 year club career. Because Manchester United really are stupid enough to sign one of the greatest players in the history of the game and ask him to play a different role to the one he's been scoring non-stop for 15 years in.

 

[Smores]

And yet he was also part of the problem when he couldn't hit a barn door or control the ball

He was also one of the main culprits why we went out of the Fa cup vs Boro missed a ton of chances + a pen

If only we had one of those strikers who never goes through bad patches in a season eh.

Imagine circling 4 games one of which he played 33mins as some kind of proof of anything.

 

[Red the Bear]

From behind the goal he seemed to be well offside. But looking at the stills after, it's a bit dodge to say the least. Same as that one in the home game v Liverpool.

And as for that Elanga non given pen, what a joke.

Yeah , the whole thing was a mess.
Didn't they a make a whole show of it saying how they would count this as a goal in the New system and all that?
Thats English refereeing for ya.

 

[RedRonaldo]

De Gea
Varane
Maguire (He's still one of the best CB's we got)
Shaw (If his form can return)
Fred
McT
Ronaldo
Bruno
Sancho
Rashford (if his form can return)

I'd keep those, you need solid squad players too, you can't all have two first 11's. Only City can probaby atest to that.

That's my list, but only after crossing out a few.

But I do have doubts on Bruno playing for ETH, he doesn't seem to be good at playing possession football at all, he just doesn't involve much in build-up play. I don't think ETH likes that.

 

[GifLord]

If only we had one of those strikers who never goes through bad patches in a season eh.

Imagine circling 4 games one of which he played 33mins as some kind of proof of anything.

There's more than enough evidence that he was very poor in at least 1/3 of all matches he played. We're paying him over 500k per week to do what he's supposed to do - score goals. We already had issues in the past with Martial, Rashford, Kaku.. who coudln't score when it mattered that same issue has happened again. If we hadn't dropped 6 points in February we'd now still be in the top 4 race...

 

[Irwin99]

4 games left and 4 goals short of 20 in the premier league; he would be the first since Robin Van Persie to get 20 league goals in a season for United if he did it.

 

[Smores]

There's more than enough evidence that he was very poor in at least 1/3 of all matches he played. We're paying him over 500k per week to do what he's supposed to do - score goals. We already had issues in the past with Martial, Rashford, Kaku.. who coudln't score when it mattered that same issue has happened again. If we hadn't dropped 6 points in February we'd now still be in the top 4 race...

Bar stand out seasons from the likes of Kane and Aguero most strikers go through runs of 'bad' form each season. They're all paid to score goals too funnily enough.

There's nothing bad about what you've highlighted.

 

[DJ_21]

Piers Morgan trying to persuade Ronaldo to join arsenal If he leaves us mate it certainly won’t be to join yous.all this nonsense about us being in the bottom halve without Ronaldo contributions is nonsense. Who do they think sets him up? Most of his goals wasn’t created by himself. That’s like saying without a goalkeeper in net you’ll concede every shot.Wtf Mann

 

[Jackal]

4 games left and 4 goals short of 20 in the premier league; he would be the first since Robin Van Persie to get 20 league goals in a season for United if he did it.

The disrespect Ronaldo gets from the media and some of our fans are laughable.

Ronaldo(at 37) is outscoring Kane, Lukaku, Sterling, Mane, Jesus, etc but the criticism heightens about his pressing. Without him, United would be at the other end of the table conveniently. Rashford is past his peak, Elanga is still wet behind his ears, Greenwood is suspended, Martial is on exile, Cavani is permanently ill, Lingard has hit 'diminishing returns'.

The squad needs to be gutted. About 15 players need to be get rid of. There are too many freeloaders in the club that are getting paid for doing next to nothing to help the United cause.

 

[ilrm]

Our club has literally been in free fall since we signed him.
We haven't been in a worse place since the 80's, and it's all happened to us since September.

Because your defense is trash. Because your midfield is poor at retaining possession. Because Sancho/Rashford have been a major letdown and are not even on the level of Jota/Diaz this season ... Literally second tier players at Liverpool bought to ease the pressure off their main 2 players.

If only a small part of the rumors about the dressingroom environment is true, it's a f'ing catastrophy.

Ronaldo is an absolute treasure. If ETH has half a brain he would build the team around Ronaldo for the next 2 years. It will be easier to make players follow instructions if Ronaldo were to champion them. Ronaldo as the captain would command instant respect and intimidate non-compliant members into following orders.
As captain Ronaldo has the ability and mental strength to lead by example. He isn't afraid of pressure, he isn't afraid of big moments, he may not always play well but he can never be accused of hiding. He is literally the only player in the squad that has the credibility to outright demand high levels of performances from other players. Do Rashford, Maguire & Shaw have any standing to sit and argue with Ronaldo? His name is enough to make them shut up and work.
Also you can't be the 3rd highest scorer in the EPL by being an average player ... especially in a team as dysfunctional as United.

We have no room for bigger than the club profiles at this club.

This classic small club mentality. You think Barca, Madrid, Juve, Bayern and City have weak individuals who don't think they're the best thing to have happened to the club? All these clubs have ways of making it work. You do it by incentivizing professionalism. You do it by selling them a story.

 

[Irwin99]

The disrespect Ronaldo gets from the media and some of our fans are laughable.

Ronaldo(at 37) is outscoring Kane, Lukaku, Sterling, Mane, Jesus, etc but the criticism heightens about his pressing. Without him, United would be at the other end of the table conveniently. Rashford is past his peak, Elanga is still wet behind his ears, Greenwood is suspended, Martial is on exile, Cavani is permanently ill, Lingard has hit 'diminishing returns'.

The squad needs to be gutted. About 15 players need to be get rid of. There are too many freeloaders in the club that are getting paid for doing next to nothing to help the United cause.

The thing is he was actually pressing during the first few games under Ralf but i distinctly remember him doing it and then looking around at his teammates and finding that the wingers weren't pressing their spaces so in fact it became an absolute waste of time. A press is useless if it's not coordinated.

The most critical i've been of him this season was during that drought where his form was off, i've honestly never had a problem with his effort at all. The pressing game was abandoned pretty much after 4 or 5 games when Ralf came and whilst Ronaldo might have been a factor in that (he's 37) he was definitely not the only reason we abandoned it. Look at how pathetic our pressing was in the Liverpool game to realise this is not a Ronaldo-only issue.

 

[Gehrman]

Because your defense is trash. Because your midfield is poor at retaining possession. Because Sancho/Rashford have been a major letdown and are not even on the level of Jota/Diaz this season ... Literally second tier players at Liverpool bought to ease the pressure off their main 2 players.


Ronaldo is an absolute treasure. If ETH has half a brain he would build the team around Ronaldo for the next 2 years. It will be easier to make players follow instructions if Ronaldo were to champion them. Ronaldo as the captain would command instant respect and intimidate non-compliant members into following orders.
As captain Ronaldo has the ability and mental strength to lead by example. He isn't afraid of pressure, he isn't afraid of big moments, he may not always play well but he can never be accused of hiding. He is literally the only player in the squad that has the credibility to outright demand high levels of performances from other players. Do Rashford, Maguire & Shaw have any standing to sit and argue with Ronaldo? His name is enough to make them shut up and work.
Also you can't be the 3rd highest scorer in the EPL by being an average player ... especially in a team as dysfunctional as United.


This classic small club mentality. You think Barca, Madrid, Juve, Bayern and City have weak individuals who don't think they're the best thing to have happened to the club? All these clubs have ways of making it work. You do it by incentivizing professionalism. You do it by selling them a story.

Building around Ronnie for the next 2 years? I'm comfortable with him seeing out his contract for another year but building around him until he's past 39 is a bit mental.

 

[Red the Bear]

If and if he doesn't drop off a huge cliff next season, we could actually get a decent amount of goals from him if we build a semi functioning midfield, needs a decent partner as well.

We can't afford too many freeloaders though, so he can be the only one who doesn't need to run his head off.

 

[lex talionis]

Ronald is not only not The Problem, he is not A Problem. The job of a striker is, above all else, to score goals and Ronaldo gives us that. The party will end someday but it hasn't ended yet and he's not only been one of our better players this season, he's undeniably been our best outfield player.

Going into next season I hope we see ETH manage his minutes, perhaps even to the point where we rarely see him play in EL action. I'd like to see us bring in a top young striker like Nunez, but there's still room in the squad for Ronaldo. But if Ronaldo and ETH agree that he's not part of the plan for 22/23, I'm fine with that too.

 

[Sandikan]

The disrespect Ronaldo gets from the media and some of our fans are laughable.

Ronaldo(at 37) is outscoring Kane, Lukaku, Sterling, Mane, Jesus, etc but the criticism heightens about his pressing. Without him, United would be at the other end of the table conveniently. Rashford is past his peak, Elanga is still wet behind his ears, Greenwood is suspended, Martial is on exile, Cavani is permanently ill, Lingard has hit 'diminishing returns'.

The squad needs to be gutted. About 15 players need to be get rid of. There are too many freeloaders in the club that are getting paid for doing next to nothing to help the United cause.

Lingard has stayed at the same level he was always at you mean?

 

[ilrm]

Building around Ronnie for the next 2 years? I'm comfortable with him seeing out his contract for another year but building around him until he's past 39 is a bit mental.

Why is it mental? Firstly Ronaldo is one of the top-10/15 attackers on the planet. Who is better than him, will perform in the EPL immediately, that is willing to join a United that may not even be in the conference league next season? If ETH can use Haller upfront, I'm certain he can do the same with Ronaldo.
Secondly Ronaldo is the only captain-material in this squad currently.
ETH will take at least 2 seasons to make United play in the style that he wants. Making Ronaldo the focal point is one of the least riskiest things to do during this transitional period.

 

[Gehrman]

Why is it mental? Firstly Ronaldo is one of the top-10/15 attackers on the planet. Who is better than him, will perform in the EPL immediately, that is willing to join a United that may not even be in the conference league next season? If ETH can use Haller upfront, I'm certain he can do the same with Ronaldo.
Secondly Ronaldo is the only captain-material in this squad currently.
ETH will take at least 2 seasons to make United play in the style that he wants. Making Ronaldo the focal point is one of the least riskiest things to do during this transitional period.

Depends on what building around means. If he's our first choice striker, we should obviously create for him. But his game is looking more limited each season and he's not getting younger. I'm all for him seeing out his contract but I want to see how he performs next season before even contemplating keeping him until he's 39