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The reason why...

A lot of us do not want Ronaldo in the team is because we cannot play that way when he is in it. He's a club legend but cannot press with the intensity shown yesterday and help us defend from the front.

Also interesting that Maguire and Shaw's absences made the back 4 more composed and coordinated.

Not trying to knock anyones favourites, I'm just highlighting why many others believe there is a lot more to come from these players when the right team is selected.

Always good to beat the scousers and I will just end on this note;

LAL = Laugh at Liverpool

posted on 23/8/22

comment by Darren The King Fletcher (U10026)
posted 3 minutes ago
Apparently he did, as well as Rangnick wanting the Austria job.

It’s why all the crying about Rangnick being kicked out for ‘exposing the club’ was just hysterical nonsense. Where I think the value of his role would have been would have been in identifying where the problem areas are behind the scenes and looking to bring them up to a more professional standard - that’s clearly a transferable skill from his time working in Germany and Austria.

But as far as squad building is concerned, his advice is limited when it comes to building a squad suitable for a club like Manchester United to compete. He just doesn’t have any expertise in this area.

Just to illustrate the point, Monchi at Sevilla was revered as the best sporting director in football by many. He went to Roma and did an awful job of recruitment because he had to shop in a different market, with a club with different challenges and expectations.

That’s not to suggest we are making the right decision by placing too much responsibility on ETH and Murtough, just that Rangnick (as an advisor I might add) was not the panacea many have made him out to be either. And if his vision doesn’t align with the club and the manager then what would be the point of keeping him around?
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I’ve also heard that the Glazers are quite Trump-esque in that they do not like being told bad news. Rangnick probably told too many truths about the organisation’s operational set up being a shambles from top to bottom.

posted on 23/8/22

I’ve also heard that the Glazers are quite Trump-esque in that they do not like being told bad news

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Interesting. I've never come across that before (and haven't heard very much about the inner workings of the Glazers in general). Is there a profile article or something you can point me to?

posted on 23/8/22

Possibly, but I’m not too sure how much that played a part in him leaving. After all, United have/are making a lot of changes behind the scenes now.

Will be interesting to hear what Rangnick has to say on the matter years down the line.

comment by Ali - (U1192)

posted on 23/8/22

What's Ronaldo got to do with anything?

We sat off Liverpool way before he came on the pitch.

These players should be able to press for longer than they did.
We parked the bus about 5 minutes after our first goal up until the final whistle.

Nothing to do with Ronaldo at all

posted on 23/8/22

comment by GregUnited (U1192)
posted 2 hours, 46 minutes ago
What's Ronaldo got to do with anything?

We sat off Liverpool way before he came on the pitch.

These players should be able to press for longer than they did.
We parked the bus about 5 minutes after our first goal up until the final whistle.

Nothing to do with Ronaldo at all
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We’ve never been consistently drilled to press properly nor had the players to do it / willing to do it.

I agree that the focus shouldn’t be on Ronaldo as much as it is, many disagree which is fine.

My contention is that if our team can work & fight as they did yesterday, then Ronaldo’s lack of work rate in that regard become far less prevalent and influential and his benefits can still be there for all to see.

He’s nowhere near as much of a negative as many think in my opinion but it’s unlikely that I will change my mind on that nor others with opposing views.

Only if we have several games where the team fights and he is starting but our performances are poor / results are poor would I then agree that he is clearly a huge negative. Conversely, if I am right and our team fights like that regularly and he does what he does and we win & perform over several games then I would hope but not expect others to concede that his negative influence was exaggerated.

I do like him a lot, but as I did with Ruud, I will acknowledge when he becomes more of a problem/hindrance than a solution.

comment by Elvis (U7425)

posted on 23/8/22

comment by GregUnited (U1192)
posted 4 hours, 11 minutes ago
What's Ronaldo got to do with anything?

We sat off Liverpool way before he came on the pitch.

These players should be able to press for longer than they did.
We parked the bus about 5 minutes after our first goal up until the final whistle.

Nothing to do with Ronaldo at all
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And I think that will be a feature of our tactics until the squad is fully fit and able to press for longer periods. But at least we are seeing some effort to press.

posted on 23/8/22

comment by Elvis: King of Cult (U7425)
posted 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
comment by GregUnited (U1192)
posted 4 hours, 11 minutes ago
What's Ronaldo got to do with anything?

We sat off Liverpool way before he came on the pitch.

These players should be able to press for longer than they did.
We parked the bus about 5 minutes after our first goal up until the final whistle.

Nothing to do with Ronaldo at all
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And I think that will be a feature of our tactics until the squad is fully fit and able to press for longer periods. But at least we are seeing some effort to press.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*we saw some effort

posted on 24/8/22

comment by GregUnited (U1192)
posted 13 hours, 52 minutes ago
What's Ronaldo got to do with anything?

We sat off Liverpool way before he came on the pitch.

These players should be able to press for longer than they did.
We parked the bus about 5 minutes after our first goal up until the final whistle.

Nothing to do with Ronaldo at all
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, that isn’t true.

First of all, you don’t (comfortably) out run your opponent or perform 50 more sprints than your opponent if you park the bus for three quarters of a game.

Secondly, if you look at the data on when United forced turnovers (tackles, interceptions, errors) in United’s attacking third and midfield, the spell of most intense pressure actually came between half time and about the 65th minute (even after the second goal). It was only really the last 20 minutes when United gave up on the counterpress and sat in to defend the lead relying on the counterattack.

comment by Ali - (U1192)

posted on 24/8/22

comment by Rosso out here drippin’ in finesse (U17054)
posted 2 hours, 34 minutes ago
comment by GregUnited (U1192)
posted 13 hours, 52 minutes ago
What's Ronaldo got to do with anything?

We sat off Liverpool way before he came on the pitch.

These players should be able to press for longer than they did.
We parked the bus about 5 minutes after our first goal up until the final whistle.

Nothing to do with Ronaldo at all
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, that isn’t true.

First of all, you don’t (comfortably) out run your opponent or perform 50 more sprints than your opponent if you park the bus for three quarters of a game.

Secondly, if you look at the data on when United forced turnovers (tackles, interceptions, errors) in United’s attacking third and midfield, the spell of most intense pressure actually came between half time and about the 65th minute (even after the second goal). It was only really the last 20 minutes when United gave up on the counterpress and sat in to defend the lead relying on the counterattack.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That isn't true either, makes me question if you watched the game or just see 1's and 0's like hafi.

We let Liverpool play Infront of us, hence the 71% possession. We let them have the ball, while we sat off them and countered.

We pressed hard for the first 25 minutes and it was great to see, but after that we did not press and Liverpool played their game while we watched.
It was only their sloppiness that allowed us to take the ball and sprint forwards with it on a few occasions.

We must have hoofed it out the back over 10 times just to take the pressure off. If you couldn't see that what were you watching exactly?

posted on 24/8/22

comment by GregUnited (U1192)
posted 3 hours, 13 minutes ago
comment by Rosso out here drippin’ in finesse (U17054)
posted 2 hours, 34 minutes ago
comment by GregUnited (U1192)
posted 13 hours, 52 minutes ago
What's Ronaldo got to do with anything?

We sat off Liverpool way before he came on the pitch.

These players should be able to press for longer than they did.
We parked the bus about 5 minutes after our first goal up until the final whistle.

Nothing to do with Ronaldo at all
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, that isn’t true.

First of all, you don’t (comfortably) out run your opponent or perform 50 more sprints than your opponent if you park the bus for three quarters of a game.

Secondly, if you look at the data on when United forced turnovers (tackles, interceptions, errors) in United’s attacking third and midfield, the spell of most intense pressure actually came between half time and about the 65th minute (even after the second goal). It was only really the last 20 minutes when United gave up on the counterpress and sat in to defend the lead relying on the counterattack.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That isn't true either, makes me question if you watched the game or just see 1's and 0's like hafi.

We let Liverpool play Infront of us, hence the 71% possession. We let them have the ball, while we sat off them and countered.

We pressed hard for the first 25 minutes and it was great to see, but after that we did not press and Liverpool played their game while we watched.
It was only their sloppiness that allowed us to take the ball and sprint forwards with it on a few occasions.

We must have hoofed it out the back over 10 times just to take the pressure off. If you couldn't see that what were you watching exactly?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You realise there’s a difference between “parking the bus” and “allowing teams to play in front of you”?

City allow teams to play in front of them every week once they’ve beaten the counterpress (they’re the league’s bottom-most team in pressures and tackles in their defensive third, by a country mile, and close to the same in the middle third). Would you say that Pep frequently “parks the bus”?

The idea that United retreated, shut up shop and played on the counter for 70 mins is nonsense mate. Read any given match report, read the match thread or, better, watch the game back.

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