198 posters don’t think he is finished though, but not a single one of them posted recently to explain why they don’t think he is finished
Do you believe Ronaldo is finished as a top level player?
- Thread starter Fortitude
- Start date
Mostly his defenders are new accounts which makes me think they are PR guys from the firm he hired. They gone silent since he got back starting games198 posters don’t think he is finished though, but not a single one of them posted recently to explain why they don’t think he is finished
We would've won today if he didn't play
OK yeah he's done. I voted "No" originally but he has been fecking awful in virtually every game he's played since. His touch and shooting have all but deserted him. It's like watching a character from the original Space Jam where the cartoon alien drain the basketball players' ability!
Even if he isn't finished, we're wasting our time with him now. Let him go and bounce back somewhere else, what we need is something completely different to him
Didn't he go through a period last season for a couple of months of failing to score?
Yeah that should have been red flags
Yup its been coming for a while.This is a steady decline not some sudden unforseen event.
Painfully obvious he is. Not really surprising given his age. Last season's return was almost super human for someone at that stage of his career. Father Time has called sadly.
Handing over the captaincy to whoever player is the manager's prerogative. After his episode Ten Hag should have handed the armband to someone else, that's a show of strength.
Him not doing anything and hiding behind the already established hierarchy comes off as passive and meek from Ten Hag. All he's done as it pertains to Ronaldo's situation so far is only fold.
There's some posters in that list that I'm not shocked about at all given their posting histories on Ronaldo recently.198 posters don’t think he is finished though, but not a single one of them posted recently to explain why they don’t think he is finished
I’m one of them and still stand by my vote.198 posters don’t think he is finished though, but not a single one of them posted recently to explain why they don’t think he is finished
His struggles this season is simply because our current team is not built to accommodate him. Even in his prime, Ronaldo would not have been phenomenal in that Barca team.
Secondly, former team mates at Juve came out in interviews after he joined us to question his attitude because at Juve he refused to play as a Centre Forward.
I’m not arguing the team should be structured to get the best out of him. God no, all I’m saying the way we are trying to play will not get the best out of him nor do I think we should be heading that way.
From Cole to Rashford right to Ronaldo the situation at United had always been consistent ie if a player loses preseason training then most probably he'll spent the rest of the season playing badly. At age 37, Ronaldo couldn't afford that. His arrogance will probably cost us the season and might cost him the reminder of his career.
Give it up his time at the top is OVER
Along with those yankee doodles dictating terms
At age 37 most of his pace is gone. He can only play as a goal poacher and to be so he needs to be lethal in front of goal. He's not doing that. One needs to be very careful with players like him, Ibra, RVN etc as they tend to monopolize attention. That means that his team mates will be pressured to pass him the ball even if there are better options around. That used to happen with Cantona as well which lead to Lippi once saying that United are quite predictable as you only have to shut Giggs and Cantona out. A player of that magnitude needs to be delivering at top top level to remain effective. Ronaldo isn't doing that.
Bringing Ronaldo back was a mistake. The signs of his decline were already showing at Juventus. Ronaldo would shine there but the team would suffer. The reality is that Ronaldo had always put himself above anything. That was fine when he was a one man team but things had since changed. Ronaldo is not good enough anymore to build the team around him.
They'll be back the next time he puts away a penalty or scores a tap in. They'll laugh at us all for daring to question his ability
Yeah be glad when this finally ends,ideally he doesn't play for us again,however horrible feeling he will be here past January
I fear that as well. Its becoming increasingly likely that United does not want to spend money in January + Ronaldo will not move unless he's guaranteed CL football. Honestly I can't understand why we don't give space to the likes of McNeill and Hugill. Surely they can't be worse then some 37 washed up player
Give youth a chance needs to be Erik's mantra
@GifLord any footage of him trying that step over in the second half? Can't remember the minute.
The geriatric cannot go past a player to save his life.
The geriatric cannot go past a player to save his life.
What's there to 'believe'? Just have a look at any of his recent performances. It’s a fact.
A part of me thought its possible this is due to lack of preseason. Then against Omonia he had quite a few chances, and I was like maybe he is finding himself and then he scored against Everton I was a bit more encouraged.
But now, it's so bad, it would be better to play with 10 men.
But now, it's so bad, it would be better to play with 10 men.
He did sanction Ronaldo after the Spurs incident. And prior to said incident he showed a clear willingness to drop Ronaldo (even though this predictably pissed off Ronaldo and his camp considerably). Plus, we have no idea what's been said behind closed doors. So - no, I can't agree with that at all.
The reason why he's played so much lately is mainly because of the injury situation, I see no reason to doubt that personally. If he keeps starting/getting 90 mins after certain players are available again, I'll be very worried. But for now I'm not. Granted, I pretty much think that a random pub player could do the "job" Ronaldo does at the moment, so there's that: I don't 100% understand why it's necessary to play him much at all (rather than Elanga, say) - but that's different.
As far as the captaincy is concerned, yes - he could have handed the armband to someone else (as part of the reaction to the Spurs incident). But Ronaldo wasn't, and has never been, the actual captain: he's third choice. I'm not sure how much strength it would've showed if ETH had said: "Oh, by the way, you're not third choice captain anymore, ye old diva". Arguably, that would've been a bit petty more than anything.
Yeah, I agree.
To be honest I don't see how favouring anyone over Ronaldo would hurt either ETH's long term plans for the team or our immediate chances of getting top four.
As far as I'm concerned what we saw yesterday is what you get currently with Ronaldo. He makes it harder to play the way ETH prefers - and he isn't actually a goal threat either. It's a perfect shit storm at the moment. Why not play someone, anyone who would - at the very least - not make it harder to play ETH's way (even if that player doesn't offer much beyond basic pressing)?
Yes, I've said so before: even an utterly mediocre striker is better than Ronaldo at the moment if that striker can help us keep the shape/contribute with basics according to ETH's preferred game plan.
Again, what we saw yesterday is the current version of Ronaldo. That's what we're talking about replacing here - not some theoretical version who is still a good finisher/aerial threat/potential match winner...or whatever. He isn't any of that anymore, he's just a liability.
Surely he has to go in January. We can’t keep this god awful farewell tour up.
I still think he will do alright in a weaker league. I think the few issues we have at the moment is that there is an obvious physical delcine due to age, a lack of decent supply which for someone who is nothing more than a goal scorer is what he needs, and then there's probably a lack of motivation and a chip on his shoulder based on the fact he doesn't actually want to be here.
We need to get him out of the club asap either way.
We need to get him out of the club asap either way.
Yeah, it has hit him like a brick wall. He can't even score a decent amount of goals to mask it, some of the efforts he's missing are guaranteed goals for him in the past.
He needs to see out his footballing twilight years in a warm climate and less physical style of play. I think he was motivated purely by greed than any sense of loyalty. Rainy Manchester never suited him, but was a good springboard. Unfortunately it still doesn't suit him and this time his powers have deserted him.
Chap is finished. Shot himself in foot missing all of pre season. Showing now, at his age hard to play catch up fitness missing out on a pre season.
Offers nothing upfront for us.
Offers nothing upfront for us.
When your speed goes that's it, his runs are few can't move away from defenders. He's still very good in or around the box, and in the air, but these attributes are getting worse as well, header To keeper on Sunday . Chip over bar on Thursday. This guy has scored so many goals from half chances, now it looks like he needs the keeper to jump out of the way to score. Last 3 games he's been a passenger at times, not his fault not ETH either, needs must and he had to play. The guy has gone on for so long because he's always FIT to play , just wish some more were like he was and is. Legend time is up though. But something tells me he hasn't finished yet !
Yeah Martial needs to stay fit for once then that would be a positive start at least
Umm.
For us, yes, but I voted no. My reason is, while he may not be suited to our style and the pace of the PL, he could still be effective for a top team in another league.
Screw Ronaldo this is the biggest problem we have - living in the past. All his supporters on Twitter and the like just remember the old days, an overarching problem with the club and fanbase as we struggle to move on from figures like SAF putting them in pointless "think tank" roles.
I personally don’t want him in the team. Last season I hung my head in shame because he somehow delivered to an extent but also did believe him to be a key reason we were poor as a team.
The fact I don’t want him here doesn’t mean he can’t do job for another team. My arrogance doesn’t take me as far as seeing Utd as the benchmark to top level football.
100% needs to go in the winter. Irrespective of him scoring goals the team play better without him. It is also reflective in the statistics.
Or maybe, just maybe become a creator instead of chasing goal numbers. Historically most top strikers evolve their game into being a creative hub. Due to a drop in all those physical attributes you mentioned. Setting unrealistic goal expectations makes no sense from both the player and his employers. We should be happy for him to get us 5 goals a season at this age but no, we want him to win us the league.