An obsession of this place.. "anonymous for most of the game". If you go back and watch a few games of 2007-2009 season you will see this to be true of Ronaldo even then. And it's true for Messi and it's true for everyone. Barring few, every main goalscorer is heavily marked and the opposition succeeds in their plan to stop him. The genius find a few moments to break through this and make a difference anyway. If people understood this, the matchday thread would be a lot bearable.
Unpopular opinion: Ronaldo will be a huge miss
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An obsession of this place.. "anonymous for most of the game". If you go back and watch a few games of 2007-2009 season you will see this to be true of Ronaldo even then. And it's true for Messi and it's true for everyone. Barring few, every main goalscorer is heavily marked and the opposition succeeds in their plan to stop him. The genius find a few moments to break through this and make a difference anyway. If people understood this, the matchday thread would be a lot bearable.
Yes, but our current players usually are anonymous for most of the game, and still don't come up with the goods in the end.
True, but there's a difference between being anonymous and being dreadful for most of the game. If a player can't find a pass when he isn't making a difference or is miscontrolling balls and being dispossessed and the only thing that can save that performance is a goal, then we have an issue.
Cristiano was not anonymous. He played by the left, right and as a forward. He was trying a lot. The team, as a unit, was not performing well. But he was leading the way. When the team was able to find him in the area... He's done it. If there is a player that NEVER hides himself... Is Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano tried eight shots, four of them... On target. So... He was really trying.
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My main concern is how Bruno will work with him. It seems that the Portugal manager has decided they're not compatible. I don't think Ole will decide that, obviously, but it is a little worrisome.
I dont understand the wages argument. When someone asks... just answer with: "You can get paid 500k a week after you do what Ronaldo has done". It's pretty simple. Nobody is going to look at him and think it's unfair for him to be paid that much. It's not like us jumping the gun and giving Martial a 200k per week deal before he made it as a top player. He's literally one of the top 2 players of all time.
In terms of hold up play.. Ronaldo is very safe with the ball and has a great touch. Cavani isn't really much of a hold up play guy but his link up is very good, as is Ronaldo's. Not like he takes the ball under pressure and holds off defenders ever, Martial is the only one in our squad capable of that when he's on it. Don't think it's much of a difference.
The pressing is different to Cavani sure, but I don't think it'll make a huge impact to be honest. Far more of a benefit will be his movement in the box. You write off poaching goals as if it's some easy thing, yet we consistently fail to have players who know how to poach goals at key moments to decide games and end up drawing constantly. Ronaldo bringing regular goals will be a massive difference in forcing results through with his relentless movement in the box.
In terms of hold up play.. Ronaldo is very safe with the ball and has a great touch. Cavani isn't really much of a hold up play guy but his link up is very good, as is Ronaldo's. Not like he takes the ball under pressure and holds off defenders ever, Martial is the only one in our squad capable of that when he's on it. Don't think it's much of a difference.
The pressing is different to Cavani sure, but I don't think it'll make a huge impact to be honest. Far more of a benefit will be his movement in the box. You write off poaching goals as if it's some easy thing, yet we consistently fail to have players who know how to poach goals at key moments to decide games and end up drawing constantly. Ronaldo bringing regular goals will be a massive difference in forcing results through with his relentless movement in the box.
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I believe that is not the case. Fernando Santos was not having a great night as a manager. Was the first time he pulled Bruno out, like that. And it has nothing to do with Cristiano. Bruno had very bad performances at Euro's... And I guess Fernando Santos just made it clear. Nothing to worry about. Bruno is first choice. Just wasn't his night.
Meh they'll be fine. They're both class players. The Portugal manager isn't good at all and tries to fit in Bernardo Silva, Bruno, Jota and Ronaldo in together. Bruno will work with Ronaldo just like he worked with Cavani last year, just fine.
Is that more down to the providers out wide, or the movement in the middle? For me, it's a definite movement in the middle thing. We've seen a noticeable difference with Cavani in the middle with all the headers he scored, yet he only started 13 games last season. Ronaldo is on another level to him, and we'll have a full season of Cavani or Ronaldo essentially.
I wouldn't blame the lack of creation solely on team performance or providers. We have Sancho, Bruno, Pogba in the team, they'll have the delivery. It's the movement in the middle, a player to stay in the box and know how to find space and score goals, just like he did for Portugal today, and has done throughout his career. And that's exactly what we need. Look at our games without Cavani - the box is empty so often, and we have no aerial presence in there so it's no wonder we look stale sometime. The elite goal scorers will find a way to get their chances and the ball tends to just fall to them wherever they play. That's why Ronaldo still scored so many in a struggling Juve team. He's still one of the most elite goalscorers in world football.
The expectations of some people are unfair.
Ronnie isn't the player he was but he is still world class at what he does.
If Kane or Haaland put in the same performance and scored two goals to win the game everyone would be hyping them up.
He doesn't need to be the greatest creative player, he needs to be a goal scorer.
Ronnie isn't the player he was but he is still world class at what he does.
If Kane or Haaland put in the same performance and scored two goals to win the game everyone would be hyping them up.
He doesn't need to be the greatest creative player, he needs to be a goal scorer.
I am not sure if there’s anyone really expecting to see an all action Ronaldo in his prime, who will keep on running all over opponents area and keep trying things out throughout the match and scoring hattricks. He is not that kind of player anymore, not in the past couples of years.
He is now just a 36 year old modest striker, who only managed to score 45 goals over the past 12 months. He is just a Mbappe or Haaland level of player now in terms of scoring goals, and no longer matching the prime level of Pele or Maradona, so don’t expect too much.
He is now just a 36 year old modest striker, who only managed to score 45 goals over the past 12 months. He is just a Mbappe or Haaland level of player now in terms of scoring goals, and no longer matching the prime level of Pele or Maradona, so don’t expect too much.
Yes and I didn't see the Portugal game and I was replying to a post complaining about him being anonymous. What you are saying is also true.
It's always funny to me when people complain about a striker being invisible until they scored. As long as he isn't actively losing possession repeatedly or doing other stuff to harm the side, I don't mind that he's not on the ball a ton. That's a much bigger issue for a creative player, but for a player who's main goal is to score and be in the box it's not as much of a problem.
I’ll happily take a poacher who is a successful dribbler, successful at long passes, and makes most of his touches outside the box (despite being barely given the ball, like tonight)
To me, a poacher does none of those 3.
The wage argument is stupid regardless, I genuinely don’t understand why football fans care about what the club pays its players especially since
1 - we never know the ‘true’ wage these guys get, only an estimate that includes bonuses, sponsorships etc, that were never privy to
2 - there’s little to no evidence that player B is affected by player A’s salary except for tabloids gossiping, basically. And even then, refer to point 1
3 - it’s literally not our money
I think a lot of the underlying argument comes down to “I don’t think this player deserves x amount of money and the club are stupid if they give him that much” based on little else but opinion & biases.
This, Even if we assume hes going to be a total failure on the pitch, the signing will
- Stimulate a massive sale in shirts and other merchandise. Even with sky high wages the club will earn that money right back
- Hes the biggest club legend in recent times. Us getting him ahead of City, even though they clearly are the more succeful club the last 10 years is incredibly important for the clubs reputation
- As you mentioned, the younger players will learn so much from him. The man oozes profesionalism self discipline and determination
Portugal manager barely gets a time to train them, also Bruno is not important player for them. Also he plays deeper role at Portugal, at ManUtd he will play as attacking mid and will play to his strengths.
1. Ronaldo is no Sanchez, Pogba, or DDG. Ronaldo is Ronaldo, one of the top 2 players of his generation. If anybody wants his wages, they will have to show it on the pitch.
2. Are you seriously comparing Ronaldo to Martial? Martial can be lazy. Ronaldo is never lazy. His movement will keep defenders busy. Nobody is going to let him go the way they can afford to let Martial go.
3. Neither does Cavani. And United don't play in a hold-up style anyway; we are all about flicks and one-touch passing in the final third.
4. This is possible, but then that will be on Ole and his lack of authority and proactiveness. A manager worthy of United will win the league with this squad. If Ole loses his job because he could not fit a still-stupendous Ronaldo in this side, then that will be his fault. Stop the feckin excuses for Ole already.
Very brave starting the thread. I posted something similar in the signing thread and got about 30 responses in 2 minutes ranging from dismissive to mocking.
People just can’t cope with anything negative regarding Ronaldo at the moment. Give it a few months then at least some people maybe capable of having a vaguely sensible combination about whether signing him was a good idea.
All 30 responses were dismissive and mocking?
Agreed.
Imo he surely will strengthen our squad but let's see if he'd earn himself an undisputed starting slot. Some here may think it's crazy but imo every player gotta earn his place regardless of who he is. That's how a healthy squad should be. We'll never know how he'd fare until he plays a couple of games for us. I don't worry at all about Ole being shy from dropping him if it's a right thing to do.
Yes you are.
I have a hunch that Ole will not be able to get the best out of him, but that will not be on Ronaldo, it will be a tactical/coaching issue.
Imo it's a bit harsh on Ole.
Ronaldo is no longer the player that the whole team would have to serve him or our tactical system would have to change to accommodate him. He must adapt himself to our current system not the other way around. If he can't then it's not Ole's fault imo.
He still scored 36 goals last season, he has shown no sign of physical decline, he was Portugal's best attacker and if Bernardo could've unPep'd himself and Jota would not be so selfish, he'd have like 8 goals in the competition.
Also, are you really advocating that the greatest goal scorer of all time should "adapt" to suit the style of play (whatever that is) suggested by a manager who's best season is 2nd place finish and EL runner up?
Yeah Cavani added something in the box and we loved him for it. Ronaldo is so much better in the air, and almost everything else Cavani does, that I think a lot of people will be blown away by how much Ronaldo offers us. Surprised to see so much negativity towards him as if he’s just a token signing. He’s probably our best player!
It’s not just two goals, but two unstoppable finishes, at a key moment, off the back of an unusually poor game. Ronaldo wasn’t actually that good at this when he was with us, it was only really in his 30s that he became incredibly decisive even when he wasn’t in a good flow. That’s such an asset to have in a team.
Yeah I really can’t think of another player that had anything close to Ronaldo’s “hang time”. Supposedly that’s not a real thing and it’s just a great jump but I just see him float. That he gets higher than anyone else helps, but it’s the fact he’s just waiting there well before the ball reaches him that makes it impossible to even challenge him. I’m sure great headers’ like Drogba, Vieri, even Ramos or Terry, they couldn’t do anything similar?
Ole has a lot of flaws, but one thing he has been good at is keeping a happy camp and managing personalities. So I’m pretty hopeful he’ll keep everyone happy. But I do think it’s likely Ronaldo will steal his thunder. He just seems too deferential to him. Ole can help but I think it’s mostly on Bruno to work through.
this. some on here must have misarable lifes when they cant even see the positive in signing one of the best players of all time who just was the top scorer in serie a
So trueIf Bruno is no longer going to command set pieces, then I feel he will quickly lose his talisman status. He could well eventually be no longer an automatic selection. Whether United will be a better or worse team for that, I don’t know.
Would love for Ronaldo and Bruno to thrive together though. Just not sure they will.
Yes.
A manager is responsible to bring out the best of all the players, not just a single player.
The best of Ronaldo of the old day was bigger than the best of the rest of the team so SAF changed his system to accommodate him. But imo not this current Ronaldo. I don't think the best of the current Ronaldo is bigger than the best of the rest of the team. It might be, but he gotta earn that. His reputation and records do not play, he does. So his reputation and records don't earn him that, he must. We'll see.
We are obviously worse without Bruno in the team. Despite your long-held weird opinions on him.
I don't understand this, we bought Ronaldo because he is a goal scorer, we bought him because we know what he's capable of, how is it wise to ask him to play differently now? If Ole wants a certain type of player, then he should've bought that player, not Ronaldo.
Jesus…I get a feeling this is going to turn into Ronaldo v Bruno all season.
You should read the Ronaldo transfer thread in the Transfer Forum to actually understand why we bought him.
Anyway, the idea of buying a player but you must let him play as he wish, not as the manager want to is kinda weird imo. It's not how football works.
It’s about timing, isn’t it? Not only being able to jump very high but timing that jump so he’s reaching the apex at the exact moment the ball reaches him. That precise timing seems to set him apart from the many other footballers who can presumably jump as high as him.
Yes but this is Ronaldo we're talking about, who is the best in the world at what he does, I'm sure managers can consider that when deciding his role. This is why SAF was so successful, he let the players be themselves and had other hardworking/disciplined players balance it out.
I'm amazed that you're being serious here, the guy literally scored two goals out of half decent crosses yesterday, but you want him to do something else? Like what?
It wasn't a complaint. I'd have been delighted if Ireland kept him quiet all night. I also don't see a huge correlation between performances at international and club level. It may as well be a different sport as far as I'm concerned. You're reading a lot into my post and are coming to your own conclusions, but then you didn't watch the game.
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Yes, Ronaldo will be a huge miss.
We will miss him a lot when his contract gets over.
We will miss him a lot when his contract gets over.
Clearly quite a few do not actually grasp the reality, that Man Utd have actually signed arguably, the greatest player of all time.
Ronaldo is a one off, a force of nature, and he is still breaking records regardless of age. which is obviously just a number,
It probably bodes very well for Utd this season the more Ronaldo is written off.
Ronaldo is a one off, a force of nature, and he is still breaking records regardless of age. which is obviously just a number,
It probably bodes very well for Utd this season the more Ronaldo is written off.
So anyone who is excited by, and believes Ronaldo adds to our team, is therefore not “vaguely sensible”?
People are just as much in their right to have a positive opinion just as you are to have a negative one - but this is a forum for discussion. If you’re in the minority of people who hold that view, it’s common sense to expect a rapid response overwhelmingly unfavourable to your post.
And your air of condescending superiority in your post can do one.
Anyway, my overall view is that it depends what people are expecting. We aren’t going to get the Ronaldo of yesteryear, bombing down the wing with 10 step overs taking on his man. He isn’t going to dominate the full 90 minutes in a game. So if that’s what people are expecting, then yes they will see him as a miss. However what I am hoping for is someone who:
a) behind the scenes sets a great example of how to be a professional and work hard and train hard, which will hopefully allow players like Martial and Rashford and Greenwood and Sancho reach their potential,
b) galvanises the team in a Cantona-esque way, meaning his signing alone just brings positivity and excitement across the club and fanbase.
c) score key goals. I’m not expecting him to dominate games, but what I do hope is in games like Southampton, his quality can bring that one moment of magic to break a deadlock - and I wouldn’t expect that every time, and it’s not an easy yardstick to measure against of course, but that’s what I hope.
I was looking forward to seeing Rashford Greenwood and Sancho as a 3…..
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