sullydnl
Ross Kemp's caf ID
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2012
- Messages
- 34,820
I voted stay but on second thought, I am not seeing how it is viable. Ronaldo will never accept a role that is anything other than guaranteed starter for the games he wants to play. The man is a champion.
The people saying he does not need to press are getting it wrong imo. You bring a manager with a specific way of playing and with a mandate to instill that playing style. Right from the get-go, you are asking him to compromise. Look at Norwich's second goal yesterday. At no point did Ronaldo or any of the forwards engage the Norwich player on the ball or off it until it was to late. Our performance off the ball has never been great but it has gotten considerably worse this season. For all Ronnie's magic, you'd be naive if you think he hasn't contributed in any way towards it.
We have now hired a manager whose team presses harder than Klopp's for that matter. I think it's unfair on him if he's forced to play a guy who can't/won't press. He's 37 and wants to play till he's 40. I can't see how he accepts that kind of strain on his body. There have been reports over the last few days that ETH doesn't see Ronaldo as part of his plans and I can't blame him. Ronaldo could be tough player to handle if he isn't or is playing.
Agree.
It would be less of an issue if Ronaldo was willing to gracefully accept being dropped from the first eleven, because at that point the new manager could have his cake and eat it to a certain extent. Have a first 11 that can function the way he wants it to but without having to immediately get rid of Ronaldo from the squad.
Because we don't believe Ronaldo will accept that, the new manager has to make a big call on him immediately. Play him as much as he wants and the manager has to fundamentally compromise the approach we brought him in to instill and slow our progress in adopting that style of play. Sell him and risk the early lack of goals (and ire of Ronaldo's more cultish fans). Or try for that middle ground and risk a season of negativity and petulance from your highest profile player.