[TOKUGAWA-X]

ETH must show he is the boss, he must sell the diva now or his reign would probably go down really quickly.

Ronaldos presence is damaging the club, someone has to do something, if the glazers make the call they would do something positively for the first time in a decade.

 

[Isotope]

Haaland had 8 EIGHT touches in their last match, and people understand it. It’s not his job to be massively involved in the build up play. Ronaldo actually makes himself available to receive the ball and even played left back for Shaw at one point. Still he is criticized.

Sadly, he was one of our better players.

Is that true number? Pathetic from a striker there, and should be get rid. Lazy bastard n won’t suit ten haag’s total football.

 

[Rossa]

Is that true number? Pathetic from a striker there, and should be get rid. Lazy bastard n won’t suit ten haag’s total football.

Reported in Norway and Britain, so I assume the number is correct.

 

[troylocker]

Just checking -- did the rest of the team look happy on Saturday? What is the approved body language and facial expression for losing 4-0 in the 1st half to Brentford?

To me, it looks like the team has worked on pressing drills, defensive stuff -- with no obvious improvement, btw. There's zero sign that they've done any attacking drills -- there's no passing, no give and go's. Ronaldo (and Bruno and everyone else) look like they're shooting from long because no one is running, supporting, showing for the ball.

Absolutely not, and they shouldn't. That sentence was more to sum up his general qualities than anything else to be honest.

We can agree in some degree on the pressing. Ronaldo does have the lowest pressing numbers in the top 5 leagues, and the general intensity of our pressing is too low. We need to increase the intensity of our pressing a lot and improve the interactions in the press a lot if we want to play progressive high pressing football and hurt teams in their half. Compare the intensity of our pressing game with Brighton's last weekend, Brentford's this weekend or Liverpool's with 10 men against CP yesterday. That starts with Ronaldo. We struggled to get out of our own half at times against both Brighton and Brentford. Look at how Brentford swarmed Ronaldo when he lost the ball leading up to the first goal on Saturday, that's how we want our players to press. Look at how Crystal Palace couldn't stitch 3 passes together against 10 Liverpool players last night. That's how we want to our players to press.

Do you think we can hurt other teams like that with Ronaldo leading the line?

That said. Our defense and midfield needs to improve their ability to absorbe pressure a lot. We lose the ball way too easily in dangerous positions. If we can't handle pressing against us we can't insist on playing out from the back. It has hurt us too many times the last couple of seasons.

 

[steffyr2]

Absolutely not, and they shouldn't. That sentence was more to sum up his general qualities than anything else to be honest.

We can agree in some degree on the pressing. Ronaldo does have the lowest pressing numbers in the top 5 leagues, and the general intensity of our pressing is too low. We need to increase the intensity of our pressing a lot and improve the interactions in the press a lot if we want to play progressive high pressing football and hurt teams in their half. Compare the intensity of our pressing game with Brighton's last weekend, Brentford's this weekend or Liverpool's with 10 men against CP yesterday. That starts with Ronaldo. We struggled to get out of our own half at times against both Brighton and Brentford. Look at how Brentford swarmed Ronaldo when he lost the ball leading up to the first goal on Saturday, that's how we want our players to press. Look at how Crystal Palace couldn't stitch 3 passes together against 10 Liverpool players last night. That's how we want to our players to press.

Do you think we can hurt other teams like that with Ronaldo leading the line?

That said. Our defense and midfield needs to improve their ability to absorbe pressure a lot. We lose the ball way too easily in dangerous positions. If we can't handle pressing against us we can't insist on playing out from the back. It has hurt us too many times the last couple of seasons.

To be honest I think the ball has to get out of our end for Ronaldo's pressing to be leading anyone anywhere. Last weekend, Utd couldn't get out of our own half and Ronaldo (and presumably all the other forwards) were back being used as assistant defenders.
As much as your complaints refer to one named player, Ronaldo, and 10 other nebulous "players" -- the last 2 games are still really bad examples of your point.
At some point those defenders need to be able to hold onto the ball or dump it into a safe place, not to pass a slow roller for the other team to run onto 10 feet outside DDG's goal. Presumably you're as critical of every other player who played in the last game?
I expect Ronaldo will score goals btw. That will hurt the other team.

 

[troylocker]

To be honest I think the ball has to get out of our end for Ronaldo's pressing to be leading anyone anywhere. Last weekend, Utd couldn't get out of our own half and Ronaldo (and presumably all the other forwards) were back being used as assistant defenders.
As much as your complaints refer to one named player, Ronaldo, and 10 other nebulous "players" -- the last 2 games are still really bad examples of your point.
At some point those defenders need to be able to hold onto the ball or dump it into a safe place, not to pass a slow roller for the other team to run onto 10 feet outside DDG's goal. Presumably you're as critical of every other player who played in the last game?
I expect Ronaldo will score goals btw. That will hurt the other team.

Isn't that a bit strange since Brentford had 139 of their 389 involvements total in their defensive 3rd (Ronaldo made 3 pressings there) and 127 in the mid 3rd (Ronaldo made 0 pressings there)? Don't tell me he never had the chance to press.

Would you agree that the first goal also is partially on Ronaldo (mostly on DDG of course), losing the ball in a dangerous position trying to control a ball in a crowded area in stead of just flicking it up the pitch?

This is the Ronaldo thread after all so I would expect most of the content in this thread to be about his part in the games.
That said, noone will disagree that we had a mare all over the pitch, the game was pretty much over after 2 horribly easy goals following huge individual mistakes the first 19 minutes, we are not good at playing out from the back when we play against teams that apply high pressing etc.
Ronaldo will score goals, but Manchester United will score more goals if we play with a more fluid attacking three, with more than one focal point and win the ball back more often in favourable areas on the pitch with a forward that presses....We will also not concede as many by giving the opponents at least some resistance in their half of the pitch.

 

[André Dominguez]

Will end his career tagged as "almost as good as Messi" after this season, for sure.

 

[Ayoba]

So anyone have a copy of his notebook?

 

[lex talionis]

Isn't that a bit strange since Brentford had 139 of their 389 involvements total in their defensive 3rd (Ronaldo made 3 pressings there) and 127 in the mid 3rd (Ronaldo made 0 pressings there)? Don't tell me he never had the chance to press.

Would you agree that the first goal also is partially on Ronaldo (mostly on DDG of course), losing the ball in a dangerous position trying to control a ball in a crowded area in stead of just flicking it up the pitch?

This is the Ronaldo thread after all so I would expect most of the content in this thread to be about his part in the games.
That said, noone will disagree that we had a mare all over the pitch, the game was pretty much over after 2 horribly easy goals following huge individual mistakes the first 19 minutes, we are not good at playing out from the back when we play against teams that apply high pressing etc.
Ronaldo will score goals, but Manchester United will score more goals if we play with a more fluid attacking three, with more than one focal point and win the ball back more often in favourable areas on the pitch with a forward that presses....We will also not concede as many by giving the opponents at least some resistance in their half of the pitch.

Not disputing your broader thesis, but I have to object to assigning anything less than 100% of the blame on De Gea for the first goal. Yes, a shot on goal can be traced back to Ronaldo, but the shot on goal was as nothing of a shot as can be and De Gea is 100% responsible for the howler. I'm even going to give De Gea 99% of the blame for the second goal due to the poor decision on his part to make that pass in light of Eriksen being completely covered before the pass was made.

But this is the Ronaldo thread and you and the last several posters are spot on identifying Ronaldo as wholly unfit for ETH's tactical scheme. Ronaldo probably does have the engine, even at his age, to press but the problem is that if you are a GOAT you're just not going to press like a donkey. Messi isn't asked to press, but he never would. Other recent legends of the game such as Ronaldo I and Zidane would never, ever have pressed. It's just not in the psychological makeup of prima donnas to chase and chase in the last third. Tracking back, sure, and we actually saw Ronaldo track back even into his own third last season, but chasing and pressing high up the pitch -- we can't even Rashford and Sancho to do that kind of work and maybe with the exception of Rooney I can't think of a United striker or forward in the last 30 years who would have committed to that kind of work.

 

[steffyr2]

Not disputing your broader thesis, but I have to object to assigning anything less than 100% of the blame on De Gea for the first goal. Yes, a shot on goal can be traced back to Ronaldo, but the shot on goal was as nothing of a shot as can be and De Gea is 100% responsible for the howler. I'm even going to give De Gea 99% of the blame for the second goal due to the poor decision on his part to make that pass in light of Eriksen being completely covered before the pass was made.

But this is the Ronaldo thread and you and the last several posters are spot on identifying Ronaldo as wholly unfit for ETH's tactical scheme. Ronaldo probably does have the engine, even at his age, to press but the problem is that if you are a GOAT you're just not going to press like a donkey. Messi isn't asked to press, but he never would. Other recent legends of the game such as Ronaldo I and Zidane would never, ever have pressed. It's just not in the psychological makeup of prima donnas to chase and chase in the last third. Tracking back, sure, and we actually saw Ronaldo track back even into his own third last season, but chasing and pressing high up the pitch -- we can't even Rashford and Sancho to do that kind of work and maybe with the exception of Rooney I can't think of a United striker or forward in the last 30 years who would have committed to that kind of work.

I went looking for Troylocker's critique of the other outfield players' pressing for the last game. Couldn't find it -- in the performance forum, but I didn't look everywhere.
It would be interesting to see such a discussion, but the player bashing forum doesn't seem to be the place for that.

 

[lex talionis]

I went looking for Troylocker's critique of the other outfield players' pressing for the last game. Couldn't find it -- in the performance forum, but I didn't look everywhere.
It would be interesting to see such a discussion, but the player bashing forum doesn't seem to be the place for that.

What's done is done and we need to think more about the present and future than on the past, but this is the player performance forum, which can only be a series of observations on the past, and it is the Ronaldo thread and I only wanted to point out that it goes too far to blame even just partial responsibility on Ronaldo for the first goal, which is clearly 100% on De Gea. Brentford still had a lot of work to do after the dispossession from Ronaldo and the shot that resulted was weak and ordinarily routinely saved. I'm on board with taking a swipe at Ronaldo for his lack of pressing and this is the thread to point this out, as many others have done. We can discuss the deficiencies in other players on their threads.

 

[Member 125352]

He has been lighting up the season in all the wrong ways. Terrible attitude, destroying his own image and the bond he had with fans. What a way to end a career.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This is a great read.

Can it be just less than a year?

September 11th 2021, Manchester United 4-1 Newcastle United. Cristiano Ronaldo’s first game back. Four months after an angry mob stormed Old Trafford in protest about the aborted Super League, the owners, the demoralising effects of globalisation, the privations of lockdown…whatever it was about, the day Ronaldo came back, the stadium shook and reverberated with pure, ecstatic, cleansing joy.

The great American sportswriter Wright Thompson was there. He wrote an epic story about what it all meant, the joyful homecoming in the midst of deepening fury about the hollowing out of the club’s soul since the takeover by the Glazer family in 2005.

“The crowd kept singing, and chanting, and cheering,” Thompson wrote about the reaction to the first of Ronaldo’s two goals that day. “The noise was a catharsis as much as anything, part celebration of the rebirth offered by a newly signed star, part prayer that this rebirth might be one that lasts…The past 16 years slipped from their shoulders. Alienation and decline were held at bay.”

11 months on and alienation and decline are back, baby, and the prodigal son is more like a cantankerous maiden aunt you are desperate to stick in a home.

 

[Toshey]

The moment this guy leaves, all will go upwards.
Please, Dortmund, make it happen!

 

[united for life]

Arguably the best player of all time, great achievements in his career, a proven goal scorer even in a terrible united team. He’s exceptional, but let’s admit, him being at the club hurts more than helps at the moment. Lots of speculation, him being away for “personal reasons”, then the rumors around his agent looking for a club for him, ronaldo’s tweets that media lies, his attitude on the pitch…it’s better that both player and club move on.

 

[Judge Red]

Those are all the minutes he’d be getting in the Champions League this season.

It almost worked too. He got a chance.

 

[kouroux]

Something tells me this game will make Ronaldo leave now.

 

[Relevated]

The man was working against us for all the time he came on

 

[sincher]

Came on and twice tried to shoot when he should have passed.

 

[Idxomer]

Politely feck off.

 

[Mailo]

All about himself. Needs to be booted out to an Eastern European club that plays in the CL.

 

[100]

The Bruno 95th minute outside of the foot Hollywood pass summed up how we play when he features.

 

[Lay]

Not needed.

 

[Pronewbie]

Didn't look like his heart was in it. I counted 2 occasions where he was happy to sit down while Liverpool transitioned from defence to attack.

 

[spiriticon]

I think he should be a sub for the left or right wing spot if he doesn't start as CF.

He can do a lot of damage with his skill and he only has to sprint around for about 10-15 min which I'm sure he can still manage.

Bringing him on as a CF not effective.

 

[Jev]

I think he should be a sub for the left or right wing spot if he doesn't start as CF.

He can do a lot of damage with his skill and he only has to sprint around for about 10-15 min which I'm sure he can still manage.

No way are we keeping Ronaldo around as a super sub. Will create so much noise. If we consider Martial our starting striker now, which we very much should, then it's in the interest of both parties for Ronaldo to leave.

 

[shamans]

I think he should be a sub for the left or right wing spot if he doesn't start as CF.

He can do a lot of damage with his skill and he only has to sprint around for about 10-15 min which I'm sure he can still manage.

Bringing him on as a CF not effective.

He could have been an impactful veteran playing his last season for us making sporadic appearances if he didn't pull off the drama in the summer.

Ronnie, I loved you and will always love you as a player but you need to go and age gracefully somewhere else.

 

[Strelok]

I fecking hate it when the camera focusing at him in the middle of the fecking match. I want to watch football not his fecking face

 

[The Firestarter]

I fecking hate it when the camera focusing at him in the middle of the fecking match. I want to watch football not his fecking face

Would you like the focus on Maguire instead ?

 

[HJ12]

I'm probably reading into it too much but his lack of effort when we needed pressing and closing down in the last 10 minutes seemed very noticeable.

 

[Castia]

We’d probably save about 20m this season on his wages.

Let it be known he’s available for free, best for everyone if he goes now.

 

[RedOrange]

The man was working against us for all the time he came on

He certainly wasn't putting any effort at all into pressing.

The strange thing is a lot of the time it's the way other players react to him being on the pitch that's the problem. Bruno will pass up easy, obvious through balls to unmarked runners in the final third to instead force the ball to a completely surrounded Ronaldo.

I'm probably reading into it too much but his lack of effort when we needed pressing and closing down in the last 10 minutes seemed very noticeable.

It was. It would have been useful for him to at least hurry Liverpool's back line up when they were moving the ball around, instead he just jogged at a walking pace from side to side.

 

[Lecland07]

I'm probably reading into it too much but his lack of effort when we needed pressing and closing down in the last 10 minutes seemed very noticeable.

Selfish shooting also. He could have held the ball at one point and the other Fernandes was available, but he decided to make a room for a shot.

 

[Water Melon]

Hope he fecks off and we sign Antony.

 

[Real Name]

Get Antony and Gakpo.

Let him go.

 

[Strelok]

Would you like the focus on Maguire instead ?

Neither. But it's the first time and I don't think they will show his face next time when he's on the bench so I'm less angry about Maguire's face. Ronaldo anytime he doesn't start the camera simply can't stop showing his fecking face which prevent me from watching the game

 

[Adisa]

He needs to be shown the door as a matter of urgency.

 

[Greck]

The Bruno 95th minute outside of the foot Hollywood pass summed up how we play when he features.

Came on and twice tried to shoot when he should have passed.

These two actions are our entire playbook when he's on.

 

[CloneMC16]

It's really annoying that he tries those really low percentage shots. He never scores them and just gives the opposition the ball back. He cares about himself way more than this team. Chelsea, please do your thing.

 

[harms]

Such a smart player, you could see him conserving his energy for a chance of potential counter-attacking sprint. Too bad it haven't happened in the 8 minutes he was on the pitch but maybe in the next game...