Cristiano Ronaldo | Match Discussion thread 2021/22

Mr C said:
I think there is a counter argument to that in that before he arrived we were playing better football and weren't so reliable in getting the ball to our centre forward.

You could say, if we hadn't signed him we wouldn't have struggled so much in those matches
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I guess it’s hard to say how we would be doing if we hadn’t have bought Ronaldo. You can’t really rely on Cavani to be fit week in week out, Rashford and Martial aren’t number 9’s and inconsistent as hell. Had high hopes for Greenwood being the number 9 and if I remember correctly he started the season there.

Also were we playing better football? We have relied on individual brilliance for a few seasons now. There are times when we’ve looked good under Ole and Ralf but those are less often than what we would like.

I believe we always needed a striker to complement the young guys, Ronaldo probably wasn’t the right guy in hindsight but I don’t think he’s been as bad a signing as made out. There are more pressing problems at the club than Ronaldo.
 
I think the sad reality is that we need to bring in two top quality players every year, regardless of anything else happening just to not go backwards. People say we need 2 every year because it's just a fact. The players reach the end of their peak at different times and we should just build into our planning that every year = 2 new starters.

So, say this year we had brought in Neves and Haaland: next year we would still need 2 top players, we can never rest. Signing Ronaldo, Cavani, and even Varane were stopgap measures and not any sort of long term planning. Slightly more considered than panic buys, but far from being part of a winning blueprint.

Ronaldo is the 800 pound gorilla who is used to getting his way, and Ralf is going to need to figure out how to use him effectively without alienating him. Ronaldo should not start every game, and he should not finish those he does start.

Go on, Ralf, earn your corn.
 
Mr C said:
I think there is a counter argument to that in that before he arrived we were playing better football and weren't so reliable in getting the ball to our centre forward.

You could say, if we hadn't signed him we wouldn't have struggled so much in those matches
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is that true though? before he arrived we had that mad Leeds game, a tight draw with Southampton and scuffed a win vs Wolves. We were pretty dull in the second half of last season in a lot of games.

I don’t think the game plan is to get the ball to the centre forward to score goals which is why Ronaldo gets very few chances in the games he does play. We aren’t exactly flooding the box with crosses for him to get on the end of. He’s got 8 in 18 in the league for a team thats struggled to create chances 5 in 6 in CL so he’s around 1 goal every 2 games.

He’s scored goals that the other players in this squad don’t have the ability to score he’s fed off scraps.
 
There's always a scapegoat. So often it has been Pogba but he's been injured so instead it is now Ronaldo. And look that's not to say that Ronaldo doesn't cause an issue in terms of his approach and how the team sets up. But if you have a goal scorer like Ronaldo you play to that and I'm not sure United are doing that.
 
For me it comes down to this.

Has he made us better? No
Has he made us worse? No

We are just a different version of a pretty good but not great team with him in it instead of Martial or Cavani.

Until we stop focusing on one player as the problem or solution to all of our problems we won’t get anywhere.

It needs a team approach.
 
was he the signing we needed, no

He's not even half the player he once was.

Another poor purchase/waste of money
 
Even half of the Ronaldo at his peak is still one of the best centre forwards in the world though.

Chelsea done £100m on Lukaku and he's done nothing same with Grealish, Arsenal just had to give Aubameyang a free transfer to get rid of him.

Ronaldo was another short term fix to a long term problem.

Given Cavani has barely been available, Martial clearly isn't up to the standard, Rashford isn't a striker and Greenwood is now suspended it's a good thing we did get him.
 
We got a striker that scores at a rate of 1 in 2 games for £12m with I'll admit very high wages. Seen reports that all in that deal will cost us £60m over the two years so £30m a year on the books and we know he does return a lot of that through income he generates it's why he's paid a premium.

We obviously don't know what happens without him this season but lets assume that Martial contributes what he contributed last season which was naff all and Cavani's injury problems were the same I think he has been a short term fix. With CL football there's no way we could rely on Cavani to play 50 games in a season.

Now I do agree the club probably need to think about making his 2 year deal a 1 year deal and move on in the summer but when you need to buy a whole new midfield can we also be expecting the club to buy a brand new centre forward as well.
 
United have failed to win every league game Ronaldo hasn't started this season since he signed.

If that's him being the problem what's the soluation.

a 0% win rate when he's not on the pitch and people say without him we look a better side. You can't make this stuff up.

Games without Ronaldo starting since he signed:

Lost 1-0 to West Ham in the cup
Drew 1-1 with Young Boys
Drew 1-1 with Everton
Drew 1-1 With Chelsea
Drew 2-2 with Aston Villa
Beat Aston Villa in the cup in a performance some on here call the worst they've seen.
Drew 1-1 with Burnley

I mean we are literally relegation candidates without him based on results when he's not in the side.
 
The big name always gets the biggest focus.

I don't think he's made us a worse team but he hasn't been able to solve the problems we had last season.

Ronaldo can't be held responsible for pretty much every member of the squad having a massive drop in their own form in the first half of the season.
 
IDFD said:
United have failed to win every league game Ronaldo hasn't started this season since he signed.

If that's him being the problem what's the soluation.

a 0% win rate when he's not on the pitch and people say without him we look a better side. You can't make this stuff up.

Games without Ronaldo starting since he signed:

Lost 1-0 to West Ham in the cup
Drew 1-1 with Young Boys
Drew 1-1 with Everton
Drew 1-1 With Chelsea
Drew 2-2 with Aston Villa
Beat Aston Villa in the cup in a performance some on here call the worst they've seen.
Drew 1-1 with Burnley

I mean we are literally relegation candidates without him based on results when he's not in the side.
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Out of interest what is United’s record in the games he has started?

He hasn’t helped to improve United and was an unnecessary signing.

He’s finished at Premier League level. He’s lost pace, mobility, touch and his finishing has deserted him. I read a stat that he has had the second most shots after Salah in the league. If true the notion that he hasn’t had the service is untrue. He has 8 in 18 in the league; 3 in the first 2 games and then 5 in 16.

He’s been poor for months and should judged like any other player.
 
Started 22

Won 12
Drawn 3
Lost 7

So with him it's 1.77 points a game without its 1.14 points per game. And with the exception of Chelsea he's mainly been rested for the 'easy' games.

Of the 22 he's started in he's scored in 11.

He certainly isn't having the greatest of seasons but when he's scored in 50% of the games he's started he's hardly finished and when we have won 1 of 7 without him he certainly isn't the problem.
 
9 goals from open play and 2 penalties.

The stats are largely irrelevant because it’s a team sport. How many points have we won with Harry Maguire in the team? Fred? McTominay?

Ronaldo is a player who has seriously declined. My eyes tell me that, not stats.
 
Sideshow Bob said:
9 goals from open play and 2 penalties.

The stats are largely irrelevant because it’s a team sport. How many points have we won with Harry Maguire in the team? Fred? McTominay?

Ronaldo is a player who has seriously declined. My eyes tell me that, not stats.
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Of course he's declined. But he's still the best striker at the club.

And whilst your eyes tell you he's declined the stats show you we are awful without him too so it's clearly not him that's the issue.

I mean what did your eyes tell you about Cavani on Tuesday?
 
Best striker at the club is faint praise. Neither Cavani or Ronaldo should be at the club/starting games.
 
Premier League: Manchester United 1-1 Southampton - 12th February 2022

What does Ronaldo offer if he isn’t scoring goals?
 
Nothing, stops the front three pressing as a unit. What also surprises me is how easily he is pushed off the ball now.
 
thing is we feed him the ball like he’s Zlatan he’s never been aback to goal striker then get surprised when defenders push him off it.

He drops deep and turns but he hasn’t got the acceleration anymore to then beat players in one vs one situations.

This is the most physically demanding league in the world defenders here are faster and stronger than any other league it really is the last place you want to be as a 37 years old centre forward.

He can still be clinical with chances but he is a problem for the team as he just can’t be an outlet for them and they aren’t good enough to control a game in midfield and play most the game in the opponents half.
 
I have to say... Ronaldo is probably my favourite United player of all time but he looks washed up. His pace isn't there at all, he gets bullied and his touch is off big time.
 
Hattrick today methinks if he starts.

Followed by the yeah but it was only Leeds, and he's still sh*t comments.
 
Sideshow Bob said:
He didn’t even score against a sh*t Leeds. If that isn’t evidence he’s done…
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Always with the negatives.

He is a shadow of the player he was coming back to the prem was a bad idea as physically he’s miles off it now.
 
SuperRash said:
I mean, your dislike for Ronaldo meant that post could of been taken either way.
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I don’t dislike Ronaldo, I would be delighted if he scored in every game. He’s just good enough anymore and was an unnecessary signing, midfield should have been reinforced before resigning him.
 
Thought he had a good game, more of a team player than he's given credit for.

And Atletico will suffer for him being taken off early, mark my words.
 

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