Has Cristiano Ronaldo been a force of good for United?

[Spike]

Oh, I forgot about Zlatan, Martial, Rooney, Depay, Schweinsteiger, Mkhitarya, Sanchez, Falcao, and half a dozen other shitters.

Why didn’t they just focus on Martial, Pogva, de Gea, Herrera, and Rashford. That is a decent and young team, get rid of the old bastards and bring in players that compliment the youth. 

[Spike]

Bloody Lukaku was there holy shit I forgot, why does United fucking suck so much haha

[Lucas]

If it wasn't for the recent hat-tricks against Spurs or Norwich, I think a lot of opinions in this thread would be different. It's sugar coated his record and put more of a gloss in it than what it's been in reality for me.

[Danny]

I think ultimately if they didn't sign Ronaldo they'd be in a better position this season than they are now, and I don't think it's cos Ronaldo is shit etc etc. He just doesn't suit the teams playing style and had they not of signed him they could have got another forward that's more fluid and fits into the front 3 they were looking to create with Sancho coming in. Ronaldo coming in also meant that they had to be close to perfect because he would demand much higher standards than any incoming player and on top of that attract more media attention to those standards.

[Cicero]

I wish we could take a look in the alternative universe where he did go to City. 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

7 hours ago, Spike said:

They should have just built the team around Pogba nearly a decade ago but instead they just get whatever player and whatever manager. There is no cohesion to how the team is designed. 

I'm not convinced you can build a team around Pogba, imo he seems more like a player that fits in to an already very good midfield without him. For them to truly build around Pogba, they'd have needed to buy a whole new midfield that accomodated him as well as Juve's and France's did/do imo - that would mean a lot of expensive midfield signings, which as we know... expensive signings don't always go right.

But I agree with you, there's been no cohesion to how the team is designed. There's just generally a lot of issues with how United have been run since Ferguson left that aren't going to be helpful to a team looking to challenge for top honours. Especially in this era of football where Pep's City have thrown the gauntlet down to title challengers and the standard needed to win a league title is outrageously high.

I don't really like Mourinho as a person and I know he can get very toxic with a dressing room very quickly nowadays - but I think his comments about the United squad he managed seem to basically mirror Rangnick's recent comments about this side. And saying things like "they did not stick to the gameplan" indicates the players don't really listen to the tactics of the managers at least in some matches... which to me makes me it seem like Mourinho was right about the squad.

So I really don't think Ronaldo is the biggest issue at United - if he's fed chances, he'll score. And that side is good enough on paper to be set up to let him not press (or press less than the rest of the side) and have him as the focal point. That United, under multiple managers now, can only press with one person at a time... and that multiple United managers have complained these players don't have the right attitude and don't follow instructions... I think the issue is more with other members of the squad who've been there longer than Ronaldo since his return to our league.

4 hours ago, Cicero said:

I wish we could take a look in the alternative universe where he did go to City. 

 

I'm sure he'd be top scorer by a ridiculous distance, with the amount of chances they create.

[RandoEFC+]

5 hours ago, Cicero said:

I wish we could take a look in the alternative universe where he did go to City. 

 

There's an argument that he's the one thing they're missing. They could get away with his limited work off the ball and they already score enough without having a proper recognised striker.

Would be tedious for the rest of the league though.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

10 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They never press as a team, at least not this season

EXACTLY!!!

[Dr. Gonzo]

12 minutes ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

EXACTLY!!!

But they do that even if there's no Ronaldo.

And honestly from the moment they signed Ronaldo that should have been a signal to the rest of the players that they'll have to be pressing more to make up for the fact they've signed their legend on old legs who can still score but can't press.

I don't even think it's a tactical failing from Solksjaer or Rangnick - I think these players are just lazy and shite and think they're god's gift to football even though they're lazy and shite.

[Spike]

5 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I'm not convinced you can build a team around Pogba, imo he seems more like a player that fits in to an already very good midfield without him. For them to truly build around Pogba, they'd have needed to buy a whole new midfield that accomodated him as well as Juve's and France's did/do imo - that would mean a lot of expensive midfield signings, which as we know... expensive signings don't always go right.

But I agree with you, there's been no cohesion to how the team is designed. There's just generally a lot of issues with how United have been run since Ferguson left that aren't going to be helpful to a team looking to challenge for top honours. Especially in this era of football where Pep's City have thrown the gauntlet down to title challengers and the standard needed to win a league title is outrageously high.

I don't really like Mourinho as a person and I know he can get very toxic with a dressing room very quickly nowadays - but I think his comments about the United squad he managed seem to basically mirror Rangnick's recent comments about this side. And saying things like "they did not stick to the gameplan" indicates the players don't really listen to the tactics of the managers at least in some matches... which to me makes me it seem like Mourinho was right about the squad.

So I really don't think Ronaldo is the biggest issue at United - if he's fed chances, he'll score. And that side is good enough on paper to be set up to let him not press (or press less than the rest of the side) and have him as the focal point. That United, under multiple managers now, can only press with one person at a time... and that multiple United managers have complained these players don't have the right attitude and don't follow instructions... I think the issue is more with other members of the squad who've been there longer than Ronaldo since his return to our league.

I'm sure he'd be top scorer by a ridiculous distance, with the amount of chances they create.

I dunno, it was a long time ago and Pogba was still young. The right coach and the right players he could have been the player everyone expected him to be. As you said their is obviously a culture problem at United, maybe if players weren’t exposed to that, this all never would have happened. 

Maybe all this was unavoidable with Ferguson retiring.

[CaaC (John)+]

Pogba is an arrogant little shit nowadays as to when he was younger, he likes to be the yes man and do things his way, he fell out of favour with Jose when Jose was trying to instruct him in a game and he started to argue with Jose that he should be doing it his way. 

Even if Jose was wrong you should never argue with your team manager on the pitch and just get on with what the manager instructed at the time, that's why Pogba was not in Jose's favour after that spat.

[Devil]

23 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

There's an argument that he's the one thing they're missing. They could get away with his limited work off the ball and they already score enough without having a proper recognised striker.

Would be tedious for the rest of the league though.

Wait till Haaland rocks up next season then. He's going to be hitting 40 plus goals in all competitions.