I'm going to write the following and then shut TFU about it and support the team, hoping I'm wrong. But I'm not at all happy to see Ronaldo returning to United.
First of all, it's not a "homecoming" because it's pretty clear that United has never been Ronaldo's team. As soon as he reached world class status, he wanted to go to Madrid. He wanted to stay there throughout his peak years. United were a stepping stone for him, even if he looks back at his time here with affection. He's not connected to United like Robson, Cantona or Scholes. Even when he was at the club I didn't feel quite the connection I did with some other players. I always felt that team success was a means to an end for him: his incredibly focused ambition (his superpower) was ultimately about him, not the team. Every elite athlete has to be selfish on some level, but there was something about Ronaldo's self-centred manner that alienated me - something I didn't get from Rooney or Ruud, for instance.
All the above is subjective and almost irrelevant to whether it's a good idea to bring him back to United now. I start with that mainly to acknowledge that my views could well be biased because I never really liked the guy. So, onto the footballing reasons for scepticism.
First, I said the above is *almost* irrelevant. But it does feed into my concern about the impact Ronaldo will have on the culture of the dressing room and the reset we've had under Solskjaer (which most people credit as a positive shift even if they don't rate him as a coach). We've gone from a position where we had a lot of expensive players who didn't gel to a greater sense of no one being bigger than the team, excellent togetherness, and recruitment emphasising character as well as talent and reasserting the United tradition of youth. There's never been an accusation that Ronaldo is a bad influence in the dressing room or training ground. You'd expect he'll set high standards. But I do wonder whether the need to feed the ego on the pitch will destabilise the no-one-bigger-than-the-team culture.
Particularly as Ronaldo isn't as mobile as he was, so the team needs to expend greater resources to feed that ego. As I wrote elsewhere, an undroppable but less mobile Ronaldo could make us a bit one-dimensional in attack, ironically like RVN did when Ronaldo effectively retired him. 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 had Cavani's movement and finishing for a more structured attack, and Greenwood learning to play through the middle (which I guess we'll see less of now). We already had sufficient quality, depth and options how to set up an attack that Amad was looking to go out on loan, and we'd have been fairly relaxed about shipping Dan James.
Which brings me to priorities. We started to look as though we had a coherent recruitment policy: addressing the areas where the squad needed improvement, and taking the time to get the right players at the right price. We invested money where it could make the biggest net impact. Sancho and Varane were excellent signings. Our reported interest in Trippier was logical. We also clearly need options and quality in midfield. The right DM would transform our side in terms of ability to play higher up the pitch and manage transitions faster without becoming unacceptably vulnerable to counter-attack. We can be pretty sure buying Ronaldo was driven by the business end rather than an analysis of team building requirements. Opportunistic transfers can be justified. The money might genuinely not be there for a DM, whereas the investment in Ronaldo potentially gives such returns on commercial revenue that it's a no-brainer according to the accounting software. But for me that's a reminder that the club us run by the Glazers according to objectives that aren't the same as mine as a supporter.
So from a footballing perspective, I expect he'll score goals, but I do fear that we won't be better as a team overall. And maybe not as exciting going forward as we could be with a younger, faster forward line.
But there's one more thing, which is uncomfortable to talk about. Not warming to his persona as a footballer is one thing. Reading the Spiegel reporting about the Las Vegas accusation is another. No one knows the exact truth of what went on in the hotel or whether it satisfies the criminal definition of rape. But if you read the most damning of Ronaldo's own (contradictory) witness statements, you struggle to think of him as a great guy you're proud to have wearing your team's shirt. If I had a daughter and he did to her what he said in his own words (let alone what is alleged), I'd want to kick the sht out of him. You can find more if you read the whole of the article here: https://www.spiegel.de/international/cristiano-ronaldo-kathryn-mayorga-the-woman-who-accuses-ronaldo-of-rape-a-1230634.html
Not celebrating the 'homecoming'
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!
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."