Fair enough I don’t really know his stats but he just doesn’t strike me a a Jamie Vardy type (Young Vardy obviously)..
Premier League: Cristiano Ronaldo interview (Warning! It's another Messi V Ronaldo thread)
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Flaws? Such as his poor all-round play? Yet to see him do that.
Meanwhile, are you insinuating that De Gea hasn't worked on his?
Well it should.
Varane is a world-class professional, won the World Cup and the same Champions Leagues for Real as Ronaldo? Why is Ronaldo a world-class professional and Varane isn't?
What he has done in the past has absolutely no relevance to his ability/lack of now, at this exact moment in time.
Against, stop blaming others for Ronaldo's shitty play. It's pathetic. Literally any individual player would look better in a better team because it's easier for others to pick up your slack. But being in a bad team doesn't mean you can't play well. It's such a ridiculous argument.
About fecking time someone said it, and no-one better placed to do so than him. Far too many mercenaries at the club happy to rake in insane wages for failing season after season. That's the rot that has set in since Fergie left. Look at what Fergie achieved with squads of less quality than we arguably have right now?
That said, there's no doubting too that the quality of the league is at a new level, and mentality alone won't counteract that. You've probably got squads going deep into the lower half of the table capable of competing at a good European level, and City are simply a different beast altogether. But it will always start with the mentality of the club and squad, which is probably akin to teams for lower in the league than us. I honestly think Villa and West Ham (for example) are more expectant And demanding of their immediate success than we are.
That said, there's no doubting too that the quality of the league is at a new level, and mentality alone won't counteract that. You've probably got squads going deep into the lower half of the table capable of competing at a good European level, and City are simply a different beast altogether. But it will always start with the mentality of the club and squad, which is probably akin to teams for lower in the league than us. I honestly think Villa and West Ham (for example) are more expectant And demanding of their immediate success than we are.
I know those shitty 6 goals that dragged us through the CL knockout stages, who does he think he is, cnut!
That's all true, but that's not the fault of the individual players, it's a problem of team-building, squad planning, vision. I do agree that with Greenwood and Fernandes (Rashford too) you already had many attackers who like to be finishers, and that's why I think the Sancho addition was great (Greenwood, to me, has improved his overall play this season though). It could also mean that bringing back Ronaldo was overkill in terms of team balance (not could, it surely was), and the reasoning as well as the proceedings of how and why he was signed have to be questioned (merely not to let him go to City? Through the intervention of Ferguson? At the expense of a right back or midfielder?).
That's not the fault of Ronaldo though. He is with you, and he's fecking Ronaldo. Of course you don't expect him to play like Jesus or Firmino. It makes little sense to demand that from him, especially at his age and stage in his career. You want him to be in positions to score, that's what he's uniquely good at.
In general, people should stop scapegoating individual players. Everyone's in this together.
If he weren't on the pitch, someone else may or may not have scored them. Don't pretend you're a better team with him in, you're not. You're not worse, but not better either.
There is detailed stats that Ronaldo really hasn't been clinical for us. He's 37 year old Ronaldo, not prime Ronaldo. But yeah of course if we put the ball on a plate for him he will score. That much is obvious. He's our main striker. He still can't do what complete forwards do, like have great hold up play, dribble, create chances for others, press and create chances on his own. Is he still a poacher worth having in the squad? I think so, but I doubt for how long.
Over his career Ronaldo has continually reinvented himself and worked on aspects of his game that were not at the level, when he was first in it was a case of being more of a team player, then needing to bulk up, then needing to score more goals, then the ridiculous heading ability, then the integration from the wing into the middle as he got older.
And by contrast DDG has the exact same flaws in his game that he had when he was a teenager, in some aspects he's actually regressed such sweeping behind the defenders which he used to do but is now petrified of. He's still terrible on crosses into the box, his distribution has got worse, he's still incredibly weak however, he is a very good shot stopper, as he was when he joined us. Heck after Hoek left he even insisted on bringing his old coach from Atletico in and that was when some of those aspects began getting worse which would suggest he was being trained largely on what he was already good at rather than areas he needed to improve. So yeah, frankly, that's exactly what I'm insinuating.
he’s still good enough now. I honestly think putting prime pele or maradonna up front wouldn’t change a thing we see it over and over, these strikers are class but they need the ball. What the hell can a striker do if they can’t build up plays and cut a team open. I’m not saying he’s been amazing but he’s proven what I’m saying is the rest of the team are not. Need to get hold of the midfielder and dominate games only then will we see improvement. If he stopped playing tomorrow he’s go down in history as the greatest, can we say anyone will remember mctominay or Fred? We won’t remember them and rightfully so.
I’m going to say may not, considering they couldn’t hit a cow on the arse with a banjo and we continuously were getting knocked out the CL.
Yep, I don't personally blame Ronaldo but I blame the signing of him as a very stupid move, in my opinion given the context of not having a plan for him and buying him just so someone else couldn't have him.
But the scapegoating of individual players will still happen and you get talk like this from Shaw and Ronaldo about the "mentality" being the issue and intangibles, when really it's just a horribly balanced squad that is pretty much not salvageable and this season is close to being a write-off. I guess it's a talking point that allows people to express their frustration and what a terribly run elite club United is.
Umm, you can't just ignore goals and pretend other players would have scored them if he wasn't playing. It doesn't work like that.
Let’s be honest, he’s spot on but when Jose said it everyone gave him shit for it 
It’s no secret though that we don’t have those same leaders in our dressing room. When Ronaldo first came here at 18 he had Keane, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Butt, Van Nistelrooy, Ferdinand, and of course Sir Alex to turn to. Players who had been here for years, won it all, seen it all, done it all.
Who have Rashford and Greenwood got? Their captain is Maguire. The only thing he’s won is the championship play offs.
It’s no secret though that we don’t have those same leaders in our dressing room. When Ronaldo first came here at 18 he had Keane, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Butt, Van Nistelrooy, Ferdinand, and of course Sir Alex to turn to. Players who had been here for years, won it all, seen it all, done it all.
Who have Rashford and Greenwood got? Their captain is Maguire. The only thing he’s won is the championship play offs.
I get his point, but who on Earth are the 'young players' he's referring to? If anything, I'd say our biggest issues are centre back (no youth), right back (AWB isn't that young) and central midfield (no youth).
The areas we're weakest have 'prime age' players. Now, they're clearly not good enough either, but maybe everyone under 30 is now young to Ronnie.
His standards in training have to serve as motivation, surely, regardless of age. I always loved Rio's story about the rondos at United, adn wonder why all that toughness isn't still happening.
The areas we're weakest have 'prime age' players. Now, they're clearly not good enough either, but maybe everyone under 30 is now young to Ronnie.
His standards in training have to serve as motivation, surely, regardless of age. I always loved Rio's story about the rondos at United, adn wonder why all that toughness isn't still happening.
I don’t know for sure but I’d guess Rashford, Greenwood and Sancho.,
He hasn't addressed his poor overall play. The bolded bit it his flaw right now. And still hasn't addressed that.
So again, what makes him any more professional than De Gea?
Let’s be honest, he’s spot on but when Jose said it everyone gave him shit for it
It’s no secret though that we don’t have those same leaders in our dressing room. When Ronaldo first came here at 18 he had Keane, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Butt, Van Nistelrooy, Ferdinand, and of course Sir Alex to turn to. Players who had been here for years, won it all, seen it all, done it all.
Who have Rashford and Greenwood got? Their captain is Maguire. The only thing he’s won is the championship play offs.
He's right, and Mourinho was also right. About time our cry babies of players start looking at themselves.
They've got Ronaldo, Cavani, Varane, Fernandes. They've also got another two supposed world-class experienced players in De Gea & Pogba to turn to. They had players who had seen and won it all on the coaching staff to turn to such as Ole, Carrick, Fletcher etc. Rashford played alongside Rooney & Zlatan too.Let’s be honest, he’s spot on but when Jose said it everyone gave him shit for it
It’s no secret though that we don’t have those same leaders in our dressing room. When Ronaldo first came here at 18 he had Keane, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Butt, Van Nistelrooy, Ferdinand, and of course Sir Alex to turn to. Players who had been here for years, won it all, seen it all, done it all.
Who have Rashford and Greenwood got? Their captain is Maguire. The only thing he’s won is the championship play offs.
I appreciate this is nowhere near that level of changing room that Ronaldo joined but there certainly have been a lot of people to listen to in it.
If you can't see the difference between a player adapting their game multiple times over an 18 year career and a player that still to this day has the exact same flaws they had when they joined the club 12 years ago then it is pointless continuing the discussion.
He was right but he was also defending himself at the time and trying to survive. He also talked a lot of shite like the sevilla presser and how finishing 2nd was his best achievement, so no one really took him seriously.Let’s be honest, he’s spot on but when Jose said it everyone gave him shit for it
Different times.. the players are multimillionaires at the start if their careers now.
its one of the reasons why the likes of Mourinho dont work anymore.
I think “mentality” will become increasingly important in terms of player attributes. Talent + right mind set or keep well clear.
Not everyone has that fire and determination go succeed in any walk of life, especially when they are set for life in their early 20s
its one of the reasons why the likes of Mourinho dont work anymore.
I think “mentality” will become increasingly important in terms of player attributes. Talent + right mind set or keep well clear.
Not everyone has that fire and determination go succeed in any walk of life, especially when they are set for life in their early 20s
Honestly, a lot of our failings in the past few years were bound to happen after a 20 year spell of glorious dominance. How does anyone follow the immense players we had during that period? Bound to be some mentality issues I think. It’s very encouraging to me that we have one of those immense players back at the club and commentating on this mentality issue.
It certainly is pointless if you can't answer a simple question. His biggest flaw is his overall play. It's worse now than it's ever been, so he obviously hasn't addressed it. How does that constitute being more over a professional than David De Gea?
i think its a very, very, small factor in terms of Mourinhos failures
Granted they have experience, even Mata is a good one to add to your list. I just don’t think it’s the same really. Keane, Scholes, Giggs and the rest were United through and through. Cavani has been here for 12 months and has wanted to go back to Uruguay for 8 of them, Pogba has wanted to leave since about 2017, Fernandes hasn’t been here long and neither has Varane. Everyone knows Cavani, Ronaldo and Pogba will be gone soon. The continuity isn’t really there in the same way. Maybe that’s just a modern thing though - it’s rare to get that in the first place now.
Pogba and Varane are both world cup winners. Pogba was a main focus in a team the world cup champions and in a Juventus side that dominated Italian football for a good stretch.
There's no "supposedly" about it. Incidentally, why would anyone choose to listen to what Bruno has to say any more than Pogba?
Difference was a lot of the fan base hated Mourinho from the start and were always going to side with Pogba / Martial / Shaw. Ive never known anyone at United so personally disliked - Ronaldo is a club legend.
I think its the main one tbh - every time he did well was when players were running through brick walls for him - when he lost that connection with the dressing room there wasnt much left
He did, but he added that younger people in general don’t take constructive criticism well.
Indeed, I wasn't disagreeing with you, I think being at the club and passing on the experience of winning trophies at that club alongside the continuity it brought throughout Ferguson's teams was vital.
I just think it's important to note some of the players that they have played with and had the opportunity to draw on their experiences - I think if we were footballers we'd be all over those kind of players to try and take on as much advice as possible and it seems that our younger players just don't seem to be doing that.
His tactics are completely outdated and he seems unable to adapt, that's the biggest issue. Falling out with the players comes down the road, as he blames the results on players.
It definitely feels like nowadays when young players make it into the first team (and not just with us) they believe their own hype, they've achieved what they needed too and don't need to kick on or anyones help in doing so.
I base this on absolutely nothing.
I base this on absolutely nothing.
Just watching the interview and don't think he's said anything wrong, nor has he thrown anyone under the bus. Given the position we're in, I'd be worried if he didn't think changes and improvements needed to be made. It's not a case of us being unlucky or just needing a bit of time.
What a player with a very elite mentality
Hope the entire squad can learn from him
Hope the entire squad can learn from him
It's a reality for sure but it doesn't make it the right one. Besides Ronaldo is still performing at a good level this season,better than most of his teammates if not all of them bar DDG so what's the excuse for not listening to him ?
Are our players that deluded into thinking there is nothing he could teach them ?