Is ronaldo ironically creating the very same conundrum rvn caused the team

[Mercurial]

He can still score plenty with a good feed since he is so clinical, we need a proper midfield maestro and/or some world class DM to move ball. Literally looking at stats vs other big clubs we conceded a tiny bit more goals than the top and miss a few opportunities vs the top on offence / defensive metrics & statistics in order to win and to really hit it off. It's no point burning down the house when there's a glaring hole in the MF. Max priority should surely be a MF boost in order to up our chances created much more.

 

[LoneStar]

If Rashford/Greenwood/Martial were any good, you could make a comparison. As it stands, they're not fit to lace Ronaldo's boots.

I don't think Ronaldo coming to us has helped with the balance of the team and forced us to adapt to his strengths (or at least try to do that).

You are right though. The RVN take is flawed cause we had Rooney and Ronaldo that time. Now we have our donkey forwards instead. I think both United (at least the football men) and Ronaldo probably regret the move a bit.

 

[Idxomer]

He can still score plenty with a good feed since he is so clinical, we need a proper midfield maestro and/or some world class DM to move ball. Literally looking at stats vs other big clubs we conceded a tiny bit more goals than the top and miss a few opportunities vs the top on offence / defensive metrics & statistics in order to win and to really hit it off. It's no point burning down the house when there's a glaring hole in the MF. Max priority should surely be a MF boost in order to up our chances created much more.

This has become a myth, he isn't clinical anymore and feels rushed all the time whenever he has a chance to shoot.

 

[Gehrman]

Yeah, I think Ronaldo would score more goals if we had a world class team on form but we don't.

 

[Foxbatt]

If we were creating a lot of chances and he is failing then yes. But we do not even pass to him when he is in good positions.

 

[Gehrman]

If we were creating a lot of chances and he is failing then yes. But we do not even pass to him when he is in good positions.

Sancho not passing to him on that early chance was criminal.

 

[Mercurial]

Sancho not passing to him on that early chance was criminal.

It was criminal, and Ronaldo didn't throw arms up like manager instructed the team 'to keep positive body language' like a good team player. And for that credit where it's due. We create too little quality chances and the ones we do we are so high pressure to make something out of a miss like that stings. I still feel it's too premature to fault Ronaldo given we have a severely disjointed midfield.

 

[captaincantona]

Nah Ronaldo is a goal machine that's surrounded by greedy idiots. We won last night had Sancho made the obvious choice.

I’d say most strikers are goal machines if you give them enough chances. What type of arguement is that? It’s all it’s and buts.

fact, without him in the team we scored more or less thesame amount of goals. No it’s or buts. Fact.

therefore, any arguement about him being a goal machine but needing better supply is completely and utterly nonsensical. In this team he is mostly average. I don’t care how good he was or would be with city. I care about Man Utd and want 11 players on the pitch that are performing and building toward something....learning to win in a system that can be successful regardless of squad rotation - a big name who is always on the team sheet and “needs”to be supplied is not directly compatible with a squad based approach. You take that guy out, then what happens? This was the risk from the outset. I had doubts from the outset.

 

[Gehrman]

It was criminal, and Ronaldo didn't throw arms up like manager instructed the team 'to keep positive body language' like a good team player. And for that credit where it's due. We create too little quality chances and the ones we do we are so high pressure to make something out of a miss like that stings. I still feel it's too premature to fault Ronaldo given we have a severely disjointed midfield.

I'm not sure. I do feel Ronaldo poses a conundrum. He's a still a good poacher and an incredible header of the ball, but all the rest of his game is trash. Most big clubs main strikers are more complete.

 

[Mercurial]

This has become a myth, he isn't clinical anymore and feels rushed all the time whenever he has a chance to shoot.

I'm not sure. I do feel Ronaldo poses a conundrum. He's a still a good poacher and an incredible header of the ball, but all the rest of his game is trash. Most big clubs main strikers are more complete.

He is still Clinical in the way he nets them it seems, but more and more he is entered into each goal situation at the ever increasing mercy of teammates vs his own making like days past.
He has lost some pace for sure and has less impact due to it and a lot shorter windows of opportunity to act on, no longer can stellar pace gloss over and recover a poor chance. He is unique so not too many peers to compare him to at that age but he is no longer complete footballer, but in my opinion far from useless, he is such a legend it's hard to bench him.

 

[Gehrman]

He is still Clinical in the way he nets them it seems, but more and more he is entered into each goal situation at the ever increasing mercy of teammates vs his own making like days past.
He has lost some pace for sure and has less impact due to it and a lot shorter windows of opportunity to act on, no longer can stellar pace gloss over and recover a poor chance. He is unique so not too many peers to compare him to at that age but he is no longer complete footballer, but in my opinion far from useless, he is such a legend it's hard to bench him.

I don't know he has a goal conversion of 19%. Among the lowest on PL topscorer table. Not really sure if that means much. I don't think he's useless, but his wages and stature exceed his current ability. He's Ronaldo though so I'm sure he'll have more of his moments while he's here. Be interesting to see whether he can score the winners against Athletico Madrid or whether they will hammer us.

 

[NZT-One]

He is still Clinical in the way he nets them it seems, but more and more he is entered into each goal situation at the ever increasing mercy of teammates vs his own making like days past.
He has lost some pace for sure and has less impact due to it and a lot shorter windows of opportunity to act on, no longer can stellar pace gloss over and recover a poor chance. He is unique so not too many peers to compare him to at that age but he is no longer complete footballer, but in my opinion far from useless, he is such a legend it's hard to bench him.

Which is part of the issue isn't it... United accumulated and developed quite a few players of that ilk. Ronaldo is a legend, has to play therefor. Cavani getting old but is so good, we have to make use of him. Pogba is one of the most talented players in the squad, try and play him. Bruno has been one of the best tens in the world, we need to play him. Maguire cost 80 million and is the captain of the team, play him. Sancho has been bought for 70 million, we need to get him in form, play him please. Rashford is such a great human being and a very productive player in the past, try to play him.

It sucks big time because whatever you do, somebody is missing out. And form wise, everybody is damaged these days.

 

[Zed 101]

look at Juventus last season with Ronaldo and look at the similarities with us this season, I don't want to pile on Ronaldo but something doesn't feel right and it is the general attitude of the team, last season under Ole they had a really good team spirit even though our defence was at times still ragged, this season they seem disjointed, it is probably just coincidental with Ronaldo joining, but TBH I just don't know how to understand the nature of our performances this season

 

[Mercurial]

Which is part of the issue isn't it... United accumulated and developed quite a few players of that ilk. Ronaldo is a legend, has to play therefor. Cavani getting old but is so good, we have to make use of him. Pogba is one of the most talented players in the squad, try and play him. Bruno has been one of the best tens in the world, we need to play him. Maguire cost 80 million and is the captain of the team, play him. Sancho has been bought for 70 million, we need to get him in form, play him please. Rashford is such a great human being and a very productive player in the past, try to play him.

It sucks big time because whatever you do, somebody is missing out. And form wise, everybody is damaged these days.

Out o all of them for sure Ronaldo is in a untouchable position above the rest, even the EPL made a timely exception to free him the #7. Who knows if there is pressure from the hierarchy to play him or not every minute. With this much talent it's awful were in this downward spiral again.

 

[VP89]

I'd actually want to see us drop Ronaldo and test Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho as a front 3. Bruno in behind and keep McFred but implement the high press and strangle the opponent. Shaw up high, Dalot/AWB up high .

 

[Mercurial]

I don't know he has a goal conversion of 19%. Among the lowest on PL topscorer table. Not really sure if that means much. I don't think he's useless, but his wages and stature exceed his current ability. He's Ronaldo though so I'm sure he'll have more of his moments while he's here. Be interesting to see whether he can score the winners against Athletico Madrid or whether they will hammer us.

With Robaldo and that particular metric, it's hard to say I guess, I'm not familiar with it, a guess is that he creates chances others wouldn't and perhaps that dilutes it a bit? Perhaps a scholar of his career knows if thats normal or not for him. At the end of the day if he keeps winning matches and is the deciding factor he is paid to be it's all good, him and rest need to elevate for the UCL or all hell will break loose here.

 

[Gehrman]

With Robaldo and that particular metric, it's hard to say I guess, I'm not familiar with it, a guess is that he creates chances others wouldn't and perhaps that dilutes it a bit? Perhaps a scholar of his career knows if thats normal or not for him. At the end of the day if he keeps winning matches and is the deciding factor he is paid to be it's all good, him and rest need to elevate for the UCL or all hell will break loose here.

Sorry, all, this will be a long post.
I'll explain how Ronaldo is the biggest problem we have and how he no longer is what he used to be.

I'll start with the simple stuff: How is he doing as a striker when we have the ball compared to average strikers in the PL.

- Does he get enough service/is he good at finding himself in good scoring positions to finish off chances?

Ronaldo has the 3rd highest npxG90 in the League with 0,58 npxG90 (non penalty expected goals per 90 minutes. Calculated from every chance a player has had during this season and how many goals an average finisher in the top 5 leagues is expected score from those chance using different matrix), only beaten by Salah (0,75) and Jota (0,67), in the PL. In other words Ronaldo seems to get both good service and still be good at making himself available for service. Not like in the good old days, and his npxG90 has had a negative trend since his golden years at Real Madrid, but still good. Since 2014 his npxG90 has varied from 0,6-0,94 at Real Madrid and Juventus.

Let's compare his output with some random strikers in the PL (all the numbers given are per 90 minutes on the pitch):

Non penalty goals and full 90s played/Shots per 90/Shots on target per 90/nxpG90/non-penalty goals per 90/diff (goal - npgX90)

Ronaldo: 6 non penalty goals in 14,8 full 90s / 3,80 (56 shots)/1,29 (19 shots on target) /0,58 (npxG90) /0,41 (np Goals90)/ -0,17 (Underperforming his npxG90 by 29,3%)
Antonio: 8 non penalty goals in 18,4 full 90s / 2,93 (54 shots)/0,92 (17 shots on target)/0,44 (npxG90)/0,43 (np Goals90)/ -0,01 (Underperforming his npxG90 by 2,3%)
Dennis: 8 non penalty goals in 14,5 full 90s / 2,42 (35 shots)/1,38 (20 shots on target)/0,24 (npxG90)/0,55 (np Goals90)/ +0,31 (Overperforming his npxG90 by 129,2%)
Maupay: 6 non penalty goals in 14,3 full 90s / 2,24 (32 shots)/0,92 (9 shots on target)/0,36 (npxG90)/0,42 (np Goals90)/ +0,06 (Overperforming his npxG90 by 16,7%)
Watkins: 5 non penalty goals in 15,1 full 90s / 2,31 (35 shots)/1,06 (16 shots on target)/0,38 (npxG90)/0,33 (np Goals90)/ -0,05 (Underperforming his npxG90 by 15,1%)
+ dream target from Bundesliga:
Haaland: 10 non penalty goals in 10,0 full 90s / 4,10 (41 shots)/1,80 (18 shots on target)/0,65 (npxG90)/1,0 (np Goals90)/ +0,35 (Overperforming his npxG90 by 53,8%)

Ronaldo has the 2nd most finishes per 90 in the league (beaten only by Salah), the 3rd highest npxG90 and still sits on just 6 non penalty goals (shared 10th with 5 other players in the league). He is getting 2nd most service in the league, to claim anything else is just a lie. He has hit a couple of brilliant goals this season, but he misses more chances than most in the league.

Assists and setting up teammates inside the box:
PPA90 (completed passes into the penalty box excluding set pieces per 90)Assists/xA90/A per 90

Ronaldo: 0,41 completed passes into the penalty box per 90/3 assists/0,11xA90/0,20 assists per 90.
Antonio: 0,92 completed passes into the penalty box per 90/5 assists/0,24xA90/0,27 assists per 90.
Dennis: 0,62 completed passes into the penalty box per 90/5 assists/0,17xA90/0,34 assists per 90.
Maupay: 0,77 completed passes into the penalty box per 90/1 assists/0,11xA90/0,07 assists per 90.
Watkins: 0,66 completed passes into the penalty box per 90/1 assists/0,06xA90/0,07 assists per 90.
+ dream target from Bundesliga:
Haaland: 1,3 completed passes into the penalty box per 90/5 assists/0,31xA90/0,50 assists per 90.

Dispite a couple of brilliant headers to teammates he rarely looks for teammates when closing in on goal, compared to other forwards. Ronaldo and Dennis' teammates have made them look better than they are at creating chances by massively overachieving their chances from passes from them. His link up play simply hasn't been very impressive for us.
Bruno for instance has been let down by bad finishing from his teammates this season (0,28xA90 /0,18 assists per 90)

Now to the most depressing part: Pressing

Pressings per 90/successfull pressings per 90/pressings in the attacking 3rd

Ronaldo: 6,28 pressings per 90 / 1,69 successfull pressing per 90/ 2,84 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90 (!!)
Antonio: 13,3 pressings per 90 / 3,97 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,01 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Dennis: 20,8 pressings per 90 / 4,76 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,31 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Maupay: 19,9 pressings per 90 / 5,73 successfull pressing per 90/ 10,49 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
Watkins: 15,43 pressings per 90 / 4,17 successfull pressing per 90/ 7,48 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90
+ dream target from Bundesliga:
Haaland: 12,6 pressings per 90 / 3,6 successfull pressing per 90/ 8,5 pressings in the attacking 3rd per 90

His pressing is historically bad, that is why it is an issue and why we talk about it. If he just did the minimum, maybe the story would be different, but he doesn't even do half of the minimum in the attacking third. When we lose the ball he moans and throws his arms up in the air instead of chasing the ball. Most chances in football are created when you catch the opponent when it is unorganized, and the closer you get to the opponents goal when you gain possession the more unorganized the opponent is. The same goes for the faster you gain possession after you lose it the more unorganized the opponents are. Now look at the numbers above and explain to me how his workrate when lose the ball or when we in general do not have the ball doesn't affect our general play and chance creationrate.

Playing a striker like him means the following:
- We win the ball when the opponent is unorganized less often
- We play against organized defenses more often
- We let our opponents enter our half with the ball more often
- All our outfield player except Ronaldo gets a higher workload and must cover larger areas to cover for him, which leads to more room for our opponents and our players getting more pumped and plays worse football.

....and when, as showed above, he doesn't even add more goals or isn't more effective than an average PL striker.
What's the point!?

 

[Mercurial]

Thanks!

 

[NZT-One]

Out o all of them for sure Ronaldo is in a untouchable position above the rest, even the EPL made a timely exception to free him the #7. Who knows if there is pressure from the hierarchy to play him or not every minute. With this much talent it's awful were in this downward spiral again.

I agree, Ronaldo is in a different category but this special treatment for outside achievements, outside factors has to stop. If we want to keep Ronaldo in the team, we have to play to his strength and create for him. Then we have to be honest to Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford, that they are supposed to create for him. Because right now, it looks like everybody is playing for his own record. Short term I think, we have to bench Ronaldo for at least a match. He is 36, he needs to be rested from time to time. I don't give a flying f... if he agrees or not. Nobody is bigger than the club.

 

[Bestietom]

I don't think Ronaldo coming to us has helped with the balance of the team and forced us to adapt to his strengths (or at least try to do that).

You are right though. The RVN take is flawed cause we had Rooney and Ronaldo that time. Now we have our donkey forwards instead. I think both United (at least the football men) and Ronaldo probably regret the move a bit.

I think the manager should pull off whoever is not doing it on the field even if it is Ronaldo.

 

[Foxbatt]

I agree, Ronaldo is in a different category but this special treatment for outside achievements, outside factors has to stop. If we want to keep Ronaldo in the team, we have to play to his strength and create for him. Then we have to be honest to Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford, that they are supposed to create for him. Because right now, it looks like everybody is playing for his own record. Short term I think, we have to bench Ronaldo for at least a match. He is 36, he needs to be rested from time to time. I don't give a flying f... if he agrees or not. Nobody is bigger than the club.

This is the problem. I do not think benching Ronaldo is going to make much of a difference. They will still play for themselves. Neither Greenwood, nor Sancho or Rashford can play as a CF. Drop Ronaldo to the bench but then the only choice is Cavani as CF. Rashford does not deserve to even come on as a sub now.

 

[Mercurial]

I agree, Ronaldo is in a different category but this special treatment for outside achievements, outside factors has to stop. If we want to keep Ronaldo in the team, we have to play to his strength and create for him. Then we have to be honest to Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford, that they are supposed to create for him. Because right now, it looks like everybody is playing for his own record. Short term I think, we have to bench Ronaldo for at least a match. He is 36, he needs to be rested from time to time. I don't give a flying f... if he agrees or not. Nobody is bigger than the club.

Totti, Zanetti, Seedorf, Klose, Del Piero, Inzaghi (mostly Italy here of the top of my mind) all accepted the bench to some degree, but by that point a few of them were just more or less collecting pension or enforcing the locker room. Ronaldo seem to age by different physics.

 

[NZT-One]

This is the problem. I do not think benching Ronaldo is going to make much of a difference. They will still play for themselves. Neither Greenwood, nor Sancho or Rashford can play as a CF. Drop Ronaldo to the bench but then the only choice is Cavani as CF. Rashford does not deserve to even come on as a sub now.

Yeah, you might be right. The thing is, even when they play for themselves, there is a chance that we might become more energetic. And seeing the stats someone has provided in the Ronaldo thread, potentially we are not missing out that much. I am not asking to bin Ronaldo. Of course not, but he definitely shouldn't get some sort of exclusive treatment in a "has to always play" fashion. He is a certain type of striker, thats great, but some games require different types.

Totti, Zanetti, Seedorf, Klose, Del Piero, Inzaghi (mostly Italy here of the top of my mind) all accepted the bench to some degree, but by that point a few of them were just more or less collecting pension or enforcing the locker room. Ronaldo seem to age by different physics.

He does. And it is spectacular to witness in some aspects. But on others, we should do everything we can to avoid becoming the place where Ronaldo plays. We are gigantic football club. Ronaldo isn't its future. Rashford, Sancho and Greenwood are. I know, these three have their issues this season. But so does Ronaldo so everybody has to get the same treatment.

 

[Desert Eagle]

So Ronaldo is the teams problem then? Weird how every single attacking player in the team from Rashford to Sancho and Martial have been crap as well.

Theres nothing for a striker in this team at the moment we’re getting outplayed by the likes of Newcastle and Norwich 2 of the worst teams in the PL we’re creating absolutely nothing.

Our main route to goal, our biggest threat and number 1 weapon to score at the moment Is a AWB cross we’re fecking rubbish.

The teams problem is not some singular thing like malware in a computer . It is a combination of a bunch of things including individual players. I've seen him play 20 something games this season and it's clear to see he has a lot of limitations.

I think it helps the team overall if we play Cavani and Mason up front and bench Ronaldo.

 

[Red the Bear]

The dynamics are a lot different compared to the rud situation, rud was in his prime ending the league season with 21 goals scored so the most logical option was to build a team around him, but I imagine Fergie found that stifling as we've had both Ron and rooney knocking on the door , so? We cashed in and built a more dynamic attacking unit around them bois and the rest is history.

No one on the current team has that dynamic , Rashford while a good player is no rooney and the only talent comparable to those two is greenwood and he seems far from being ready to be the team's talisman.

One thing that people forget when making this comparison is that while we had a semi drought we were still a team of winners and former champions and almost everyone on that team had enjoyed previously winning titles with us , it simply was about taking next step , while now we are as far as winning as we've ever been , so deciding to pile up all these weight on our current young lads shoulder's will only lead to disappointment, don't forget that trio had gigs, Scholes,Rio,nevile,etc etc behind them offering support.

There is a long way to go with this squad bar a miracle

 

[Wolf1992]

Out o all of them for sure Ronaldo is in a untouchable position above the rest, even the EPL made a timely exception to free him the #7. Who knows if there is pressure from the hierarchy to play him or not every minute. With this much talent it's awful were in this downward spiral again.

There is pressure definitely, back in France 98 WC, R9 was having seizures before the final, and shouldn't have played the match, but as Nike was sponsoring Brazil NT and Adidas was sponsoring France, rumours say Nike forced R9 to play because he was biggest name in Brazil and they had a contract signed, so he should play if available.
That was in the 90s, when football wasn't as commercial as nowadays.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is some clause in Ronaldo's contract where he has to play 90 minutes whenever he is 'fit', because there is some agreement between Glazers and a couple of sponsors from some companies in the far east that want Ronaldo on the pitch for businesses and branding reasons.

Football is too much of a business nowadays, way too much money in it.

 

[NZT-One]

There is pressure definitely, back in France 98 WC, R9 was having seizures before the final, and shouldn't have played the match, but as Nike was sponsoring Brazil NT and Adidas was sponsoring France, rumours say Nike forced R9 to play because he was biggest name in Brazil and they had a contract signed, so he should play if available.
That was in the 90s, when football wasn't as commercial as nowadays.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is some clause in Ronaldo's contract where he has to play 90 minutes whenever he is 'fit', because there is some agreement between Glazers and a couple of sponsors from some companies in the far east that want Ronaldo on the pitch for businesses and branding reasons.

Football is too much of a business nowadays, way too much money in it.

While that may sound plausible, we don't know if it is true. I know, we like to bring in the owners because they are easy to blame but here it doesn't seem to be very convincing. I mean, had there been a huge transfer sum that only would have been accepted due to certain sponsors action, we have a different situation. But there was no transfer sum, wasn't it? The only fault I see with the owners is not making sure we have been led by better personal since Gill and SAF stepped down.

 

[Abraxas]

The problem we have with Ronaldo is that he is kind of in his own bubble. He doesn't run much, unless there's a chance in the offing. He doesn't really create, or hold the ball that well. He just kind of exists for the moment where he is required to finish or produce.

I think that's fine when you have a structured 10 players that can get the ball forward, get quality into him, work hard around him.

So I would not say Ronaldo is "causing" us the problem because the problem is already there and he isn't fundamental to it, it will exist when he's taken out of the team. It's true he's not going to particularly help us address some of our structural issues, but at the same time it's not as if we have a better option.

 

[dinostar77]

Ronaldo is the icing on the cake or the cherry on top, problem is our cake has collapsed. In all seriousness, our forwards need some lessons from the city forwards, who set each other up so selflessly. Greenwood passing to Ronaldo is a rare event. Its shouldnt be that hard, get Ronaldo into goalscoring opportunities and give him the ball. End of. But no we manage to balls that up as well.

 

[MUFC OK]

Nope, don't create chances for him, either with accurate through balls or crosses. What's he supposed to do?

Even in his prime he was requiring 4 or 5 shots per goal. We need to create a lot more.

 

[mitchmouse]

I've only seen this "Ruud caused the team problems" thing very recently and it seemed to be based on the fact that we didn't win the Prem eery single season he was with us. It was - to my mind - utter twaddle and utter twaddle now. People actually believe we shouldn't have the greatest player of all time in the side... wow, just wow

 

[Ixion]

I've only seen this "Ruud caused the team problems" thing very recently and it seemed to be based on the fact that we didn't win the Prem eery single season he was with us. It was - to my mind - utter twaddle and utter twaddle now. People actually believe we shouldn't have the greatest player of all time in the side... wow, just wow

I don't think Ronaldo is the problem but It is not that hard to understand that Ronaldo at 36 might not be as effective as Ronaldo at 26.

Eventually we had to lose Robson, Keane, Rooney etc. It happens regardless of what they've done in the past, even the greatest of all time.

 

[Red4Ever]

Still one of the only players who was running around in injury time trying to take quick throw ins etc

AWB is probably still trying to fetch the ball

 

[Lee565]

The thing is Ronaldo was seen as a instant success kind of signing but we ain't winning the premier league any time soon and top 4 is looking unlikely considering we are struggling to beat relegation fodder whilst looking inferior to my side in the top half of the table.

Keeping ronaldo consistently the side is doing us no favours long term planning in regards to Greenwood development and sancho with both having to make do with being played in unfavourable positions and getting rotated in and out of the team, even bruno's influence has greatly diminished since Ronaldo's return.

It would be interesting to see a front three of Greenwood, bruno as a false 9 and sancho. Use Ronaldo more sparingly for champions league games where he seems to come alive and also as a impact sub in most league matches, same with cavani.

 

[mitchmouse]

I don't think Ronaldo is the problem but It is not that hard to understand that Ronaldo at 36 might not be as effective as Ronaldo at 26.

Eventually we had to lose Robson, Keane, Rooney etc. It happens regardless of what they've done in the past, even the greatest of all time.

and, for me, that time is not yet

 

[ForeverRed1]

Ronaldo is the icing on the cake or the cherry on top, problem is our cake has collapsed. In all seriousness, our forwards need some lessons from the city forwards, who set each other up so selflessly. Greenwood passing to Ronaldo is a rare event. Its shouldnt be that hard, get Ronaldo into goalscoring opportunities and give him the ball. End of. But no we manage to balls that up as well.

exactly this. We don’t play for each other, we don’t really have a assist king on this team. The thought was maybe sancho could be that guy.. but he hasn’t even had 1assist yet! Wolves game summed it up perfectly, he was on perfectly to place the ball to a open Ronaldo but went for the weak shot instead.

we’re not a team. City don’t care who scores the goals aslong as they score them. These players have pure trophies in sight and that’s what matters above all else. Not individual stats. They want the big honours. The ones you look back on your career and it’s what matters.

no one cares who scored the most goals in 2009 or who got the golden boot. They want PL titles.

 

[Scarlett Dracarys]

Ronaldo has one purpose and one purpose only. Long term this isn't the type of football we should play but for now, it's necessary to get us out of this rut.

 

[Glorio]

Ronaldo is the icing on the cake or the cherry on top, problem is our cake has collapsed. In all seriousness, our forwards need some lessons from the city forwards, who set each other up so selflessly. Greenwood passing to Ronaldo is a rare event. Its shouldnt be that hard, get Ronaldo into goalscoring opportunities and give him the ball. End of. But no we manage to balls that up as well.

Are other forwards not allowed to shoot? If anything we seem to look for Ronaldo too much and have been becoming hopelessly predictable. Also, Ronaldo is part of the build up, mind you, it's not like we're supposed to do it all and gift wrap the ball in a nice package to him, he needs to not give away the ball himself, he needs to be able to hold up the ball, he needs to be able to create space and stretch the defence. Ruud did all those, Ronaldo doesn't.

By the way, he's missed a few clear chances. This feels like a mistake

 

[IhabX7]

This has become a myth, he isn't clinical anymore and feels rushed all the time whenever he has a chance to shoot.

The myth is that being "clinical" is converting all of your chances. he's not in good form at the moment, as everyone else aren't, but he will come good if the whole team starts producing.
Some of the goals he scored for us this season wouldn't be scored by any of our other players. That to me is real value.

 

[IhabX7]

Ronaldo is the icing on the cake or the cherry on top, problem is our cake has collapsed. In all seriousness, our forwards need some lessons from the city forwards, who set each other up so selflessly. Greenwood passing to Ronaldo is a rare event. Its shouldnt be that hard, get Ronaldo into goalscoring opportunities and give him the ball. End of. But no we manage to balls that up as well.

Greenwood is, for me, our 2nd best player after Ronaldo, and that shit should have been sorted early on. But it's still in issue, go figure what man-management is, if it's not for things like this.