https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATrK3WMnc-o
Ronaldo coming back reminds me of the last good times we had.
Ronaldo is last member of 07-08 side to be still playing.
That is for the players that played the final.
We’ve lacked a focal point in attack for years and suffered for it. Ronaldo gives us that better than anyone we had or were likely to get this summer.
He will also show the likes of Rashford, Greenwood et al what it takes to be the best. You can’t go to training for 2 hrs in the morning then spend the afternoon playing Xbox if you want to be the best. If I think about the players we’ve had in the squad, especially since Greenwood, Rashford and Martial were in the side, we’ve never had that superstar example. In my opinion that’s part of why Rashford and Martial plateaued despite their obvious potential.
Appreciate the comparison with Ruud, but on the other side of that coin is RVP.
I'm not a fan of nostalgia acts and hope Ole has the balls to drop him if he's not performing.
I'm still in 2 minds on the transfer and think it could go either way but like many have said I find it an exciting transfer and willing to take the risk.
He clearly left us because he felt Real were a bigger and better team and fair enough he went there broke all the record and won 4 CLs. But I think he still cares about this club (and especially Ferguson) quite a lot and the prospect of coming back to a club where he's loved (by most fans) was probably a huge reason as was the money.
Yes he isn't the player he was but he's still a great striker and IMO basically an upgrade on Cavani (who most fans like at the club) with better fitness. I've never been a huge fan of Ronaldo and your point about the rape allegation is worrying but he is the ultimate professional andI think the players will benefit from him being around. You can see they're buszzing by all the social media posts by the players.
It's clearly a short term solution, something this club seem to not want to be doing recently but lets not forget that Ole knows him well and will know exactly what he can bring to the club.
My main worry is Greenwood and how it'll effect his development but it's happened now so we'll just have to see how it goes.
I agree with you RR. I've said before he wasn't my favourite person, plus I don't really think he's what wr need.
I am excited about the signing though, which is kind of odd.
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 4 hours, 12 minutes ago
I appreciate I'm probably in a minority in my views and also that I could be wrong. I'd be interested to read the counter-arguments behind the 1-star votes!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Can't help you there RR, my most thought out posts always get a minimum of a one star, often more. But you will get a five from me as you often do
I’ve added 5 stars to this article, to counter the 1 star bandits, thought it was a good well thought out post. And 52, don’t let the eejits and Culer’s of the world put you off- your reminiscing articles are always a good read..
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 4 hours, 47 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 1 minute ago
He scored 5 more in the league last season than Lukaku, who everybody is hailing as the signing of the summer.
He is a leader and a winner, things we desperately need with our young attack. Look how much better we look with Cavani.
He isn't what he was, but he is still a goalscorer and ticks a lot of boxes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I get that, and wouldn't be surprised if he scored more goals this season than any individual United player has for a while. I'm interested whether you think there could be any trade offs in terms of the lack of mobility or the tendency to defer to Ronaldo as focal point that could come along with that scoring power?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps, I guess only time will tell.
If though he isn’t the powerhouse he was, his movement will still be fantastic for the likes of Pogba Bruno to find.
We were shaping up nicely to play an interchangeable, rapid front three with combinations of Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford (or Martial), which we won't see as often now.
-----------------
We really weren't though, as today again showed.
If we're going to play this rubbish football, then someone clinical like Ronaldo make all the difference.
comment by N2 (U22280)
posted 1 minute ago
We were shaping up nicely to play an interchangeable, rapid front three with combinations of Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford (or Martial), which we won't see as often now.
-----------------
We really weren't though, as today again showed.
If we're going to play this rubbish football, then someone clinical like Ronaldo make all the difference.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today underlined the fact that we don't have the personnel to control midfield or to screen effectively if Pogba plays in a two. I don't see much evidence that Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford couldn't be an exciting front three in a game where Rashford didn't play and Sancho is feeling his way into the team and match fitness.
It’ll be funny/frustrating if it actually ends up being Sancho who’s the one who’ll miss out with Ronaldo arriving. While I’ve been worried about Greenwood he’s been so good so far maybe his place is more secure than Sancho’s.
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by N2 (U22280)
posted 1 minute ago
We were shaping up nicely to play an interchangeable, rapid front three with combinations of Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford (or Martial), which we won't see as often now.
-----------------
We really weren't though, as today again showed.
If we're going to play this rubbish football, then someone clinical like Ronaldo make all the difference.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today underlined the fact that we don't have the personnel to control midfield or to screen effectively if Pogba plays in a two. I don't see much evidence that Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford couldn't be an exciting front three in a game where Rashford didn't play and Sancho is feeling his way into the team and match fitness.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That fluidity existed in Ole's first two months. We didn't see much of it last season. Of course the front line is capable of playing that way, and it's a pity we don't.
comment by Ole-dirty-baztard - You want ole in, ole out, in, out, in, out, shake it all about. Do the ole Koke-Penited (U19119)
posted 1 day, 18 hours ago
The potential lack of defending/pressing he will do is a concern. As the article highlights, it means added onus on the rest of the team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From Michael Cox's article about the tactical conundrum of signing Ronaldo in the Athletic:
"The statistics in this situation are quite remarkable — fbref.com’s data suggests he is in the bottom one per cent of forwards (taking into account those in Europe’s major five leagues) in terms of pressuring opponents, and in the bottom four per cent in terms of tackles."
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Not celebrating the 'homecoming'
Page 2 of 2
posted on 29/8/21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATrK3WMnc-o
Ronaldo coming back reminds me of the last good times we had.
posted on 29/8/21
Ronaldo is last member of 07-08 side to be still playing.
posted on 29/8/21
That is for the players that played the final.
posted on 29/8/21
We’ve lacked a focal point in attack for years and suffered for it. Ronaldo gives us that better than anyone we had or were likely to get this summer.
He will also show the likes of Rashford, Greenwood et al what it takes to be the best. You can’t go to training for 2 hrs in the morning then spend the afternoon playing Xbox if you want to be the best. If I think about the players we’ve had in the squad, especially since Greenwood, Rashford and Martial were in the side, we’ve never had that superstar example. In my opinion that’s part of why Rashford and Martial plateaued despite their obvious potential.
Appreciate the comparison with Ruud, but on the other side of that coin is RVP.
posted on 29/8/21
I'm not a fan of nostalgia acts and hope Ole has the balls to drop him if he's not performing.
posted on 29/8/21
I'm still in 2 minds on the transfer and think it could go either way but like many have said I find it an exciting transfer and willing to take the risk.
He clearly left us because he felt Real were a bigger and better team and fair enough he went there broke all the record and won 4 CLs. But I think he still cares about this club (and especially Ferguson) quite a lot and the prospect of coming back to a club where he's loved (by most fans) was probably a huge reason as was the money.
Yes he isn't the player he was but he's still a great striker and IMO basically an upgrade on Cavani (who most fans like at the club) with better fitness. I've never been a huge fan of Ronaldo and your point about the rape allegation is worrying but he is the ultimate professional andI think the players will benefit from him being around. You can see they're buszzing by all the social media posts by the players.
It's clearly a short term solution, something this club seem to not want to be doing recently but lets not forget that Ole knows him well and will know exactly what he can bring to the club.
My main worry is Greenwood and how it'll effect his development but it's happened now so we'll just have to see how it goes.
posted on 29/8/21
I agree with you RR. I've said before he wasn't my favourite person, plus I don't really think he's what wr need.
I am excited about the signing though, which is kind of odd.
posted on 29/8/21
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 4 hours, 12 minutes ago
I appreciate I'm probably in a minority in my views and also that I could be wrong. I'd be interested to read the counter-arguments behind the 1-star votes!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Can't help you there RR, my most thought out posts always get a minimum of a one star, often more. But you will get a five from me as you often do
posted on 29/8/21
I’ve added 5 stars to this article, to counter the 1 star bandits, thought it was a good well thought out post. And 52, don’t let the eejits and Culer’s of the world put you off- your reminiscing articles are always a good read..
posted on 29/8/21
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 4 hours, 47 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 1 minute ago
He scored 5 more in the league last season than Lukaku, who everybody is hailing as the signing of the summer.
He is a leader and a winner, things we desperately need with our young attack. Look how much better we look with Cavani.
He isn't what he was, but he is still a goalscorer and ticks a lot of boxes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I get that, and wouldn't be surprised if he scored more goals this season than any individual United player has for a while. I'm interested whether you think there could be any trade offs in terms of the lack of mobility or the tendency to defer to Ronaldo as focal point that could come along with that scoring power?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps, I guess only time will tell.
If though he isn’t the powerhouse he was, his movement will still be fantastic for the likes of Pogba Bruno to find.
posted on 29/8/21
We were shaping up nicely to play an interchangeable, rapid front three with combinations of Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford (or Martial), which we won't see as often now.
-----------------
We really weren't though, as today again showed.
If we're going to play this rubbish football, then someone clinical like Ronaldo make all the difference.
posted on 29/8/21
comment by N2 (U22280)
posted 1 minute ago
We were shaping up nicely to play an interchangeable, rapid front three with combinations of Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford (or Martial), which we won't see as often now.
-----------------
We really weren't though, as today again showed.
If we're going to play this rubbish football, then someone clinical like Ronaldo make all the difference.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today underlined the fact that we don't have the personnel to control midfield or to screen effectively if Pogba plays in a two. I don't see much evidence that Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford couldn't be an exciting front three in a game where Rashford didn't play and Sancho is feeling his way into the team and match fitness.
posted on 29/8/21
It’ll be funny/frustrating if it actually ends up being Sancho who’s the one who’ll miss out with Ronaldo arriving. While I’ve been worried about Greenwood he’s been so good so far maybe his place is more secure than Sancho’s.
posted on 29/8/21
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by N2 (U22280)
posted 1 minute ago
We were shaping up nicely to play an interchangeable, rapid front three with combinations of Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford (or Martial), which we won't see as often now.
-----------------
We really weren't though, as today again showed.
If we're going to play this rubbish football, then someone clinical like Ronaldo make all the difference.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today underlined the fact that we don't have the personnel to control midfield or to screen effectively if Pogba plays in a two. I don't see much evidence that Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford couldn't be an exciting front three in a game where Rashford didn't play and Sancho is feeling his way into the team and match fitness.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That fluidity existed in Ole's first two months. We didn't see much of it last season. Of course the front line is capable of playing that way, and it's a pity we don't.
posted on 31/8/21
comment by Ole-dirty-baztard - You want ole in, ole out, in, out, in, out, shake it all about. Do the ole Koke-Penited (U19119)
posted 1 day, 18 hours ago
The potential lack of defending/pressing he will do is a concern. As the article highlights, it means added onus on the rest of the team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From Michael Cox's article about the tactical conundrum of signing Ronaldo in the Athletic:
"The statistics in this situation are quite remarkable — fbref.com’s data suggests he is in the bottom one per cent of forwards (taking into account those in Europe’s major five leagues) in terms of pressuring opponents, and in the bottom four per cent in terms of tackles."
Page 2 of 2