Cristiano Ronaldo - Man Utd Player

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Pogue Mahone said:
Jonathan Wilson seems convinced he’ll make us worse, after making Juventus worse.

Apparently his “pressures” were consistently in the lowest 2% in Europe. That’s… not great?
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That article was just drivel. Look at this passage:

Ronaldo was signed to take Juventus, who had lost in two Champions League finals in the previous four seasons, to European glory. Instead they lost in the quarter-final to Ajax, then in the last 16 to Lyon, then in the last 16 to Porto.

He makes it seem as though it was down to Ronaldo, that Juve didn't achieve anything. But on the contrary, he was the reason they even reached that far. Ronaldo scored a hattrick in 2018/19 against Atletico, for them to then get knocked out to Ajax where he again was the only man to score Juve's two goals. Then Juve got knocked out to Lyon in 19/20 on aggregate 2-2 due to away goals - but who scored those two Juve goals? Yeah... Ronaldo. It's only in 20/21 CL, that Ronaldo failed to really deliver in the playoff. He also goes on and says:

Not only has his relative immobility, his reluctance to contribute to the press – he was in the bottom 2% of forwards in Europe’s top five leagues in terms of pressures per 90 minutes last season – held Juve back tactically

Sure. Juve's tactical failures are down to their top scorer... or... maybe the fact that Juve has had three different managers during Ronaldo's three years there - all wildly different from one another.

I'm all for a nuanced look at transfers. I too don't think Ronaldo will win us the league and you have to be daft to not be aware of Ronaldo's lack of say pressing (just like with Messi). The man is 36 and of course, he won't be the 24-year-old we parted ways with back in 2009. We all know that. But rewriting history and pin all Juve's misfortune on Ronaldo is beyond embarrassing, and that's exactly what Jonathan Wilson does.
 
Amar__ has been in denial since Thursday, almost look like he doesn't want Ronaldo at United. His post history suggests that :rolleyes:
We have Ronaldo Out already? jesus. Man hasn't even signed the contract.
 
Can anyone really have seen City telling Ronaldo that he won't be an automatic starter, and that he might be left on the bench? Ronaldo on the bench??? :lol: :lol:
 
Nep77 said:
Premier League website has gone with that solution. Website has listed him as a player, this points towards deal has been officially completed.
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Yeah, surely the club must have got his contract signed and have him registered for the PL to list him as our player?
 
glazed said:
Very true. Will be an interesting season



Yeah - same guy we sold for being a bit rubbish. Can't believe the hype round him.
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Ultimately you keep saying you're very worried about the Ronaldo deal. I don't know why. He guarantees goals in and around the penalty area. The game against Southampton was a classic example of what we miss without a player like that so I'm unsure what your reservations are.

Yes he's 36 but he just won the golden boot at the Euros and his finishing and football brain doesn't vanish overnight. Of course he's lost some athleticism but compared to others he's physically superb so it won't be as much as your average 36 year old footballer. He still has pace and can still travel with the ball at speed. His movement on and off the ball will attract players and open up space for the likes of Sancho, Bruno, Greenwood, Rashford, Cavani in and around him. We aren't short of quick players. He's also a winner and will teach our younger players so much on and off the pitch.

It's a 2 year contract at the end of the day. If you can't get excited about this, mixed in with the nostalgia and emotion of his return, it's probably worth giving up football for crown green bowling.
 
We could have signed prime Ronaldo and Messi in the same window and there would always be someone saying "buT tHeY dOnT tRaCk bAcK eNoUgH".

People just can't enjoy the moment
 
Guess we’ll soon see with Cavani being on the bench. If he gets in the pitch as #7 I doubt it can be changed, I wonder if he’s wearing a different number
 
Castia said:
Guess we’ll soon see with Cavani being on the bench. If he gets in the pitch as #7 I doubt it can be changed, I wonder if he’s wearing a different number
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What number does he wear for Uruguay? Might go for that one if it’s available
 
Am I the only one that thinks a lot of our fans are under rating Ronaldo's current ability to play on the left wing, the guy is a freak of nature and still has a great amount of pace and power in him and he hasn't lost it with his dribbling ability either. He may not track back but we never worried about that when he was here previously and it's not like martial or pogba on the left put in any real defensive graft either.
 
One of the bigger issues I see with us signing Ronaldo is definitely his ego and whether Ole has it in him to be a bigger, more authoritative personality to keep him in check. Like, if he doesn't perform well enough, does Ole have the courage to bench or drop him? And will Ronaldo himself be a disruptive figure in the dressing room if he is indeed dropped? This is of course, the worst case scenario.

I'm seeing the first signs of this with the fanbase unsure whether he'd be our primary FK and penalty taker even though Bruno has deservedly staked a claim to that. No matter how big the player, the manager should pick the best guy for the job. I just wonder if he's *too* big.
 
RedSinha said:
One of the bigger issues I see with us signing Ronaldo is definitely his ego and whether Ole has it in him to be a bigger, more authoritative personality to keep him in check. Like, if he doesn't perform well enough, does Ole have the courage to bench or drop him? And will Ronaldo himself be a disruptive figure in the dressing room if he is indeed dropped? This is of course, the worst case scenario.

I'm seeing the first signs of this with the fanbase unsure whether he'd be our primary FK and penalty taker even though Bruno has deservedly staked a claim to that. No matter how big the player, the manager should pick the best guy for the job. I just wonder if he's *too* big.
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No matter how big you are, when you go back to your beginnings, it humbles you.

Ole played with him, then coached him to greatness. Sir Alex watching from the stands. Rio, Keane, Scholes, Evra, Gary Nevillle all watching in the back seats as senior players he looked up to.

I think it will be difficult for him to be a big diva at this particular club.

Mind you , as THE senior player now, I do expect him to give the likes of Rashford, Greenwood and Sancho a bollocking if they are not up to standard.
 
glazed said:
I know Souness is a cnut but he made some good points in The Times today. Ronaldo was effective at bullying the smaller team but ineffective against the bigger ones. And that's why Juve didn't win the title or do well in Europe, unusually for them. He was playing for Sampdoria aged 35 of course, so he knows a bit about it.

We don't know how it will go. I'm just rather wary of the whole thing.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...ven-the-greatest-stars-can-defy-age-2jpckgv3m
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Juve didn't do well in Europe or in Serie A because it has a non-existing midfield. Betancur - Rabiot - McKennie - Bernardeschi - Aaron fecking Ramsey is really awful at creating and pressing as a unit
 
glazed said:
I know Souness is a cnut but he made some good points in The Times today. Ronaldo was effective at bullying the smaller team but ineffective against the bigger ones. And that's why Juve didn't win the title or do well in Europe, unusually for them. He was playing for Sampdoria aged 35 of course, so he knows a bit about it.

We don't know how it will go. I'm just rather wary of the whole thing.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...ven-the-greatest-stars-can-defy-age-2jpckgv3m
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He did do well in big games.
 
TheReligion said:
It's a 2 year contract at the end of the day. If you can't get excited about this, mixed in with the nostalgia and emotion of his return, it's probably worth giving up football for crown green bowling.
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I don''t like sentimentalism. That's why I support Manchester United, not Liverpool.
 
TheReligion said:
You've no idea about the club you're meant to support then sadly.
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What because I don't assume a 36 year old is going to tear up the Premier League. That's just stella fueled Top Red talk.

He might work out. Just really hard to say.
 
'do we know If he's signed yet? :nervous::lol:
 
glazed said:
What because I don't assume a 36 year old is going to tear up the Premier League. That's just stella fueled Top Red talk.

He might work out. Just really hard to say.
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No. Because if you don't associate United with football romanticism and emotion then you've not a clue about the club or its history.

You're so far off the mark it's quite staggering to be honest. United and Liverpool are very similar.
 
TheReligion said:
No. Because if you don't associate United with football romanticism and emotion then you've not a clue about the club or its history.

You're so far off the mark it's quite staggering to be honest. United and Liverpool are very similar.
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Romaticism yes, stupidity no. That's Liverpool. I mean we nod politely for the top reds but we don't take them too seriously.

For me SAF was the ultimate realist. Never any room for sentiment.
 
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