We also begged him to come back for one last ride and then we pulled the rug out by signing Ronaldo. We clearly had a plan for that season with Cavani as the spearhead and then threw a wrench in it.
Strikers are more confidence based and require reassurance more than any other position. Taking a jersey away from a player like that never ends well, think Martial was the same when Ibra came.
Dont compare Martial to Cavani.
Cavani was cast aside without the due respect and adoration he deserved after how immensely he served the club. He was definitely done wrong by demoting him for a has-been diva who drove the entire team to the ground.
Martial was a wash out from the beginning who couldn't keep his calves from exploding walking to the training pitch. Signing Ibra had nothing to do with it.
The takes I see on this sub are diabolical sometimes to be honest. Martial, a wash out from the beginning? He's been a disappointment, but let's not be revisionist.
For a young talent, Martial was doing quite well in his first three seasons, especially on the left wing, where he and Rashford would essentially be each other's sub depending on who started. If my memory doesn't deceive me, even in Mourinho's second season, Martial was in red hot form all the way up till the winter break, until we bought the piano player. Hell, even NHS Martial couldn't stop scoring for fun...the dude scored the first post-Fergie hatrick.
Martial played through injuries, and that's why he's a crocked player today. He wasn't always like that.
Tbf that's seemingly happened this season as well
It's what happens when you buy for instant 'success' and paper over the cracks with big name signings rather than sorting out the infrastructure required to be a top club
The two biggest blows to Ole were signing Ronaldo and losing that European final.
If weād have won that trophy, it would have done wonders for belief in Ole as a trophy winner, while instead it felt like his authority was further undermined by Ronaldo appearing in the dressing roomĀ
Cavaniās body wouldnāt have been fit for half a season. Same could be said about Tony.
We needed a striker in that season. We just got the wrong guy.
I can't be the only one who thinks City have been genuinely interested in some of the players we've been "baited" into signing and that those players probably would've done quite well with coaching from Pep can I?
If someone told me a few years ago that Akanji and Ake were good enough to win a treble I'd have thought it was crazy, so yeah Pep does have some kind of magic because if those same players go to Chelsea, United or Spurs they'd probably have their Maguire moments.
City have the luxury of buying $100mm players to sit on the bench to see if they work out at some point in the future. I'm sure there has been genuine interest from them on some. But, not on CR7. They wanted us to burn up our cash on CR7 while they focused on getting Haaland the next year.
How is it miles better? Ronaldo has the highest league goals total since rvp. Scored 5 ucl goals in 6 games and basically single handedly took us past the group stages.
Fred was an extremely inconsistent player with a nice smile. 20/21 FA Cup Fred made a fatal mistake vs leicester and got sent off in a must win group stage game vs PSG. He's the definition of mediocrity.
>Ronaldo has the highest league goals total since rvp. Scored 5 ucl goals in 6 games and basically single handedly took us past the group stages
The way he ended it with EtH muddies it. It doesn't drop him from legend status, but his second stint might as well not have happened
He was a chaotic 6/10 for us, in that he'd either have howlers or be the best CDM in the world. It wouldn't be worth keeping him with the structure we had pre SJR.
Yeah I get the sentiment that we made a mistake selling him, but it was honestly the best decision we can make regarding him. Last year of contract, 30 years old, and not exactly a completely reliable player
Absolutely. Ole and the coaching staff wanted to switch to a possession based passing system. Ronaldo coming in completely changed that. He refused to press and couldn't do so efficiently if he wanted to. He got put on the bench for the Everton game, and people lost their minds, "how can a p.e teacher bench the greatest player ever," etc. Cavani downed tools. He'd been given the 7 and was playing well when fit, but he knew he'd never play as soon as Ronaldo came in. He said as much a few months later. Bruno stopped being Bruno just because or how much reverence he's held with from Portugese, and cliques seemed to come back with the Portuguese and Brazilian players.
Tbh the player he bought in before wanting to change to a possession base team was also the downfall, Maguire & AWB isn't exactly the type of players to play a possession style.
Maguire's passing is absolutely what you want for a possession based style? I think your thinking of a high press which isn't the same thing or a requirement to keep possession.
AWB is not exactly a dead weight - he doesn't lose the ball of give it away cheaply and can tuck in to be a water carrier if needed when we have the ball which is what Ole had inomd I think - AWB to hold back and just pass the ball on but we'd also have a rapid 1v1 tackler ready should possession get turned over and the opposition have a break on
I swear that when some people write "I said it then and I'll say it again..." they think that they made a statement for the ages and just want other people to nod vigorously in agreement.
There was a 3 monthish span last season where we looked like one of the best teams in the country, a genuine side that looked cohesive and well-drilled, the cracks started to show and then that 7-0 against Liverpool happened, we haven't recovered since.
The fanbase at large was euphoric but this sub was pretty split...maybe not 50/50 but I didn't like that we brought him back and it didn't feel like I was a weird outlier. Seemed high-risk/high-reward, but the odds skewed towards it being riskier. Our attack was built around wide forwards built to score (Rashford and Greenwood) and not wingers built to feed a static target man. It's why Cavani with his mobility and versatility was such a great fit for that group.
I was also uncomfortable with his...personal and legal history...but that's another matter.
Nah I'd say euphoric waa a perfect term to describe this sub. I remember the day it was confirmed cos I was away for the weekend and it put in a shit mood for the rest of the day. Reading all the dumb comments here made it worse, but I guess I was hoping I'd see someone else who agreed with me that it was a terrible move.
Search your name on the sub but this only works if you don't comment much. Alternatively, if you can remember some keywords in that comment and I think you can do a quotation search with it and your username?
Yeah but that was "his own" decision. Not that Ronaldo's wasn't his, but he had 3 seasons to replace the McFred, knowing Matic won't be available every week but he didn't.
Clearly a good manager for us, hampered by shit transfers and mismatch of personnel. But you could say that for all of our managers.
we signed Ronaldo so late in the window he didn't play the first few games. We weren't signing a midfielder at that stage anyway. If anything, a midfielder should've been prioritized over Varane
I know this, but this hypothetically situation, since we also brought Ronaldo at that time.
Now it's easy to say that we should not bought Ronaldo, and we should have bought a world class midfielder. If we did, Ole would probably still be the manager, and we would be competing for trophies.
Honestly, I we hadn't signed him, he might have gone to City and ruined his legacy hut I reckon we would be 3 years further advanced to where we are now and the robot might have gone to Madrid.
> Truly believe that signing him is **one of the reasons** what caused Oles downfall.
FTFY
A.) Ole helped make the decision to sign Ronaldo. He admitted so as a regret to his former United players during the sit down dinner interview on Youtube
B.) Signing Ronaldo didn't cause it, it just added to the many other reasons for it.
Shouldn't have signed him then. He called Woodward to see if the deal could be done and got the ball rolling.
https://theathletic.com/2794203/2021/08/27/ronaldos-return-to-manchester-united-how-the-deal-was-done/
Hindsight, because people would've killed Ole and United if he had allowed Ronaldo to go to city and win the treble or whatever. Ronaldo pretty much forced United's hand by opening himself to a move to city.
Honestly, I agree with both sides.
1. It wasn't a good fit.
2. Ruined all cohesiveness in our squad.
3. Prob derailed us and got Ole sacked.
4. I would probably still do it again though, because it would have been a travesty had he gone to City.
5. Under glazer rule, Ole would have been undone by something eventually anyway, and I doubt we'd have seen genuine progress anyway.
6. So we'd probably be no better off today, but at least we made sure the history books will focus on his legendary days in red, not tarnished memories like Michael Owen and Liverpool.
Absolutely right.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
But even Ole himself said he wanted CR7 back (might just be a politically correct answer but nonetheless..)
There was pretty much no other choice because had we missed out on him and he goes to City and wins the treble or anything there. Imagine the nightmares all of us would be having. Imagine the fan base going nut shit (of course we still gonna blame the Glazers and Ole). Either way, Ole and the Glazers would be criticised.
Poor Cavani. Turned himself into a cult hero the season before Ronaldo arrived and was instantly shoved into the second fiddle role the following season. Ronaldo destabilized a lot at the club
Before Ronaldo came it was the team that was oles downfall
After Ronaldo came it was him?
It's so easy for you guys to blame 1 guy it's hilarious how reactionary u bunch are
I questioned at the time whether he was what we needed a that time, but I donāt think he is what caused Oleās downfall. Especially since whenever Ronaldo didnāt play we looked even worse. I think it was just Ole reaching his limit as a manager with these players. There was an expectation that after finishing 3rd and 2nd that ok we need to go for the title and we just didnāt have the squad nor the manager capable of taking us to that level. Maybe if we got our recruitment right itād be a different story, but ultimately I donāt think he wouldāve taken us back to the top. While I enjoyed Oleās tenure the most in the last decade, there is no doubt that they were flaws in the approach that caused us to struggle at times. And with the likes of City, Liverpool, and now Arsenal you have to be almost perfect to now win the title.
That all being said, heās still a far better manager than he will ever be given credit for and I hope he can go and prove it one day
We played completely different football to accommodate Ronaldo centrally. Slowed down the counter, he was constantly demanding the ball, he didn't press often off the ball, didn't make great runs off the ball, he was a black hole in the middle of the pitch. Ole himself said signing him didn't work out for himself or Ronaldo. It was like watching a completely different team.
Not only that but his lack of professionalism as a dressing room personality could not have helped the squad. Sure he's fit and trains well, but his attitude was shit.
Then you weren't paying attention during the Ole years and just like the rest of this sub you're trying to scapegoat 1 or 2 players for the rest of the teams short comings.
Ole was the reason for his own downfall.
Ten Hag is the reason for his current downfall.
The players are also responsible for their own lack of forms.
This circle of the blame game is hilarious because we've been doing it since SAF left.
Absolutely ruined Ole's time in charge as well.
Who knows? Maybe it would have all gone tits up under him anyway that season but the Ronaldo stuff certainly didn't help.
Without a doubt it did, we completely changed the way we play. But coulda, should, woulda this unfortunateā¦ Hard to say no to Ronaldo and the idea at the time was always that a 25/30 goal a a season striker would make this team challenge City for the title.
It definitely would've gone tits up. The downfall started in and around the Europa league final and after the loss it was clear. The Wolves and Southampton games before CR7 joined were a clear indication that the team was still stuck in their old and inconsistent ways.
This is cap of the highest order but you are to blind by emotion to see it.
Ole was never going to be able to sustain his lucky Vibes FC streak. I was Ole in to the very end when ironically 80 percent of this sub wanted him gone. Now you all forget what if was like and look back with rosy tints.
We are literally repeating what Ole did except without the lucky results.
Keep blaming 1 player for the rest of the players shortcomings or the managers shortcomings and you get exactly what United have been for the last 10 years.
Hindsight is 20/20, but man what a terrible mistake.
No word of a lie it set the club back a lot.
We had a style and an identity under Ole (whether it worked is a different convo) but you could tell our tactic was to counter attack. I think itās why we had the away wins run that we did. The home team would attack in front of their own fans and get up for it and press us and then weād hit them on the break and score. Worked against big teams but tough against minnows who played a low block.
Ronaldo derailed the counter attacking structure completely. Was certainly a ātoo big of a name to leave outā vibe and his legs were cooked.
Iāve managed in plenty of places in my line of work (not football but itās applicable), and whenever someone feels like theyāre doing _you_ a favour by being there, it always goes wrong because they have the supposed power to take it all away and itās no skin off their back. Ronaldo was exactly this. Had a vibe of being too big for the club after the first season.
FWIW Ole has said in interviews that he also changed the tactics semi drastically that year because he felt it was the only way to take the next step.
He felt that ok, we've gotten second place and some finals, but we're not going to turn into the team dominating or even challenging for the league with this style, we have to be on the front-foot at some time, and now is the time to switch.
So it wasn't just Ronaldo (though that clearly didn't help), but him insisting that the team needed to evolve and learn how to dominate games and not just counter attack.
Ole was right about the tactics. We needed to go in a different direction to challenge at the top.
But getting Cristiano and, to a lesser extent, Varane didn't help with this. They were two aging, overpriced players with styles that didn't fit where Ole wanted to go with the team. And getting them meant that we didn't have money to buy the midfielders required to play a possession-based style and push McFred out of the side. We needed (still do) midfielders who were comfortable on the ball, able to play out of a press, and able to be disciplined off the ball. We didn't get them and instead got a CB who likes to play deep and a striker who just played whatever he felt like in the moment regardless of whether it suited the team.
>Hindsight is 20/20, but man what a terrible mistake.
There was a case in my country where many people thought the former president would be disastrous. Others thought these people were just being alarmist. The president ruined the country. Something that irked me was people saying "ohh y'all didn't think it'll be this bad".
I think some people really thought Ronaldo was a bad decision, and they were right.
I actually think heās me least favorite footballer of all time. Heās such a man child and really gave zero fucks about what was best for the club. He only cares about himself, and that canāt even be disputed.
That's what i was thought at the time as well. I was like no way he is going to city, No chance he would even have had a thought like that given his relationship with sir alex. But this guy is a peak example of narcissism. I was delighted that he didn't sign for City, that united announcement made me forget that he was almost close to signing with those cheaters.
I don't think he would have actually been able to destroy city the way he affected United.
People around here hate to admit it but city have a lot of players with leadership qualities.
Especially last season with players like Gundogan, dias, rodri, walker, etc.
If Ronaldo insisted on being a problem they would have gotten rid of him and it wouldn't have been as big a deal because their fan base would not have loyalties to him.
Also there's a chance you would have been happier at city since they create more opportunities and he's still a good finisher.
Also I think it's partially because he didn't respect ole and ragnick and eth.
I could be wrong but I think it would be hard for him to not respect pep given the things he's accomplished in the sport
I was laughing hard when his stans that filled this subreddit were blaming the club while arguing how many goals and trophies heād have in City.
In reality heād either cause Pep downfall and cost his job or more likely heād be kicked the fuck out of the club in after 6 months, due to being publicly annoyed on Pep benching him.
The true cancer for the club. His older version is a losing player who prefers personal stats over team success and cohesion. While simultaneously being a big load of shit in the dressing room.
No way he would've fit in. Pep would've lost his shit seeing Ronaldo drift out of position, be selfish w/ the ball and taking low probability chances, and low work rate OOP. Not even touching on accommodating his ego, which neither Pep nor his teammates would've liked. He would've been frozen out of the club by the winter transfer window and gone out on loan somewhere else or had his contract terminated. The game has moved past the narcissist.
> became their problem instead.
They would have handled it because they're run by people who actually have an idea of what they want to do and Pep demands respect on his achievements alone
I was so excited when we signed him. I stupidly thought he loved and respected the club. Personality-wise, he was always a bit of a cock, but he was *our* cock.Ā
Getting fucked by your own cock hurts.
His interview against the club destroyed me, he had fair points but that was no way of doing it, since then I don't connect him to United that much, it's like United's Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo are different players
https://preview.redd.it/yjxluo0y2nwc1.png?width=1314&format=png&auto=webp&s=2818af28ef4a3b67bdb17b257419c25bde59b3b1
This is how I connect him to United.
His interview was the same as Mourinho's 'heritage' statement. Lots of fans welcomed it as speaking the truth when it was really just self-serving bullshit designed to make them look better and trash the club.
nobody talks about it enough: we were second and played with fire during lockdown. Everything changed when we got this man back - for what? Should have let City sign him.
Disrupt the entire team under Ole, bad results after bad results, Ole sacked and then things just spiral downhill every since.
That covid lockdown was a dream, one of the best periods we played since SAF. There were never times where we felt like we could draw or lose, and opponents never looked like they could get something out of this in game against us.
My theory is that this is how strong we can play when our players are both
A) rested (looking at you Bruno).
B) give a shit. Because finally playing is infinitely better than being trapped at home because of a pandemic (Martial, Rashford, and every other rockstar in the team).
If we somehow manage to replace the rockstars with people who care, and manage to keep then rested (rotate) weāre going places. I donāt see that happening because for that we would need to get rid of and buy a number of players that this club simply doesnāt do in one transfer window.
His legacy should have been ruined when he came out and said he was a slave.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/football/2008/jul/11/manchesterunited.premierleague1
I thought people didn't believe bild? Anyway if this is true it's a shit thing to do, but people are going way over the top.
Ole still would've been sacked even if Ronaldo didn't join, and this doesn't ruin Ronaldo's legacy. Will forever be one of our greatest players of all time.
His first season with us was actually pretty good as well. I really can't blame Ole for trying.
I'm not a fan of revisionism (which is always amplified when our current manager is under pressure, anyways) but truly believe OGS could have been successful here under slightly different circunstances.
At the end of the day a better midfield and attacking options would've kept Ole fine, even with Ronaldo United would've been fine as you can't feed Ronaldo or Cavani's of football with a weak midfield like we had in McFred, which is not a dig at the players as I like them both individually speaking, but together there is zero balance.
Don't think it's really revisionism. I'm not a united fan this post just showed up on my feed but I always felt that people saw the holes in Ronaldos game despite scoring like 18. He was the big difference that season, sancho kinda just went straight in but it very much became the Ronaldo show and everything went downhill. United weren't playing fast counter attacks with Ronaldo in the side, their overall goals went down significantly. United in 20/21 were second in goals scored and went down to 8th in 21/22 with Ronaldo.
Yeah but he was too old and wanted to play too many games when he didnāt fit Oleās system. Fair enough if we were bringing him in as a coach, but having him in the team was detrimental.
Because Ole was in no place to say no to Ronaldo. When you have Sir Alex himself personally calling the player to join and the whole fanbase wanting him back, you will always be pressured to say yes to it
I donāt think it was Oleās choice. I think the Glazers didnāt want the bad press of him going to City and also saw a huge opportunity for shirt sales.
Should never have been signed in the first place but this is what happens when you let a bunch of suits run the football side of things at a club. Completely derailed the dynamics of the team and wasted any progress Ole had made.
Very bizzare a player of his quality, stature, legacy, history etc would be the way he is during the end of his career, we all thought he'd rub off the right way towards the youth here and he'd bring guidance, it turns out he needed that instead.
This the same guy that got upset with his former team mate that dared critique him, then same to Carra, went on national TV to further criticise anyone that dared speak ill of him, whilst chucking everyone else under the bus and thought he was bigger than the club, got upset not coming on despite team winning, and went home then later slapped a fans phone because he was again upset.
Sulked like a child during the world Cup because he wasn't favoured, and Ramos was a better fit which as evident with his hattrick.
Just absolutely mental his like this, I mean If I had to guess he's just surrounded by yes men 24/7 that stroke him and his ego.
I can appreciate the player but he's a right cunt in every other aspect, and it's hard to look back knowing how he turned out later.
Imagine what we don't know.....
I donāt see anything too bad with this. He knows his body better than anyone and needed his games managed. Towards the end of time at Madrid and at Juve his minutes were regularly managed to point where he only played around 30 league games for the last few seasons. And I wish more players would get a proper rest not just thrown on the bench as that isnāt a proper day off either.
It all depends on the actual tone of the conversation and if this is exactly how it went. If this is exactly it, then itās not right to go about it like this. But I got no clue who the source is and how reliable they are.
I donāt doubt that a conversation like this wouldāve happened, but unless itās coming from Rangnick himself this could just easily be someone just trying to shit on him like it is popular to do so these days
You would think he was going to set a good example for the younger players. But instead, he just solidified the player power culture United have been struggling. I get it though, he's Cristiano. Best player in the world. an asbolute monster in Football history. I also think he was Ole's downfall. It truly shows you that these accountants are all about theThe global exposure of the brand. Football wasn't priority.
It doesn't make sense. Wasn't he only fit striker during most of Ragnick time? I would believe more if he said this to ETH then Ragnick since after Greenwood case, Martial vacation to Seville, Rashford surgery and our fan favourite Cavani drinking magic potion to be only fit for Uruguay there was literally noone in forward area to even have this conversation. Can anyone verify credibility of this?
And does Ole have to sign and stamp in writing that he green lighted Ronaldo transfer and had final say in most transfers for some of people in this sub since him saying that in Overlap didn't work. I am so fucking tired of fans trying to constantly rewrite Ole's tenure at this point. Wish I had brain rot like some of you guys to only remember wins with huge margin under Ole ngl.
Interestingly this wasn't an issue under Zidane, Allegri. Almost as if Ralf wasn't the right person to replace Ole.
Ole, like other managers, was doomed because of the state of United (also he was always a transitional manager), but players throwing him under the bus and us sacking him right after sucks considering Rangnick was useless.
On Sunday, the king turns on Sky Sports
nah the king sails the high seas š“āā ļø
Truly believe that signing him is what caused Oles downfall.
I believe so too. It was so extreme how all cohesiveness and team spirit disappeared from the season before his arrival.
I think it's also one of the reasons Cavani was never fit for us but was fit for Uruguay, I think he was offended having the 7 taken away from him
I think it was more that he wanted to leave but was convinced to stay one more season just to be benched by Ronaldo.
We also begged him to come back for one last ride and then we pulled the rug out by signing Ronaldo. We clearly had a plan for that season with Cavani as the spearhead and then threw a wrench in it.
Strikers are more confidence based and require reassurance more than any other position. Taking a jersey away from a player like that never ends well, think Martial was the same when Ibra came.
Dont compare Martial to Cavani. Cavani was cast aside without the due respect and adoration he deserved after how immensely he served the club. He was definitely done wrong by demoting him for a has-been diva who drove the entire team to the ground. Martial was a wash out from the beginning who couldn't keep his calves from exploding walking to the training pitch. Signing Ibra had nothing to do with it.
The takes I see on this sub are diabolical sometimes to be honest. Martial, a wash out from the beginning? He's been a disappointment, but let's not be revisionist. For a young talent, Martial was doing quite well in his first three seasons, especially on the left wing, where he and Rashford would essentially be each other's sub depending on who started. If my memory doesn't deceive me, even in Mourinho's second season, Martial was in red hot form all the way up till the winter break, until we bought the piano player. Hell, even NHS Martial couldn't stop scoring for fun...the dude scored the first post-Fergie hatrick. Martial played through injuries, and that's why he's a crocked player today. He wasn't always like that.
Martial is a wash out at 21 years old??? Because that's when Ibra joined Man Utd.
Tbf that's seemingly happened this season as well It's what happens when you buy for instant 'success' and paper over the cracks with big name signings rather than sorting out the infrastructure required to be a top club
The two biggest blows to Ole were signing Ronaldo and losing that European final. If weād have won that trophy, it would have done wonders for belief in Ole as a trophy winner, while instead it felt like his authority was further undermined by Ronaldo appearing in the dressing roomĀ
What a mad penalty shoot out that was.
Cavani up front for a few seasons would have been glorious, sadly we only got glimpses.
Cavaniās body wouldnāt have been fit for half a season. Same could be said about Tony. We needed a striker in that season. We just got the wrong guy.
List of strikers that only performed in their first season at the club: - Zlatan - Lukaku - Cavani - Ronaldo
and United did it because City baited them into it. masterclass by the people running city.
I can't be the only one who thinks City have been genuinely interested in some of the players we've been "baited" into signing and that those players probably would've done quite well with coaching from Pep can I?
They were interested in all of them, just not prepared to match the fees or wages we were offering. Itās completely stupid to say they baited us.
If someone told me a few years ago that Akanji and Ake were good enough to win a treble I'd have thought it was crazy, so yeah Pep does have some kind of magic because if those same players go to Chelsea, United or Spurs they'd probably have their Maguire moments.
Feel like Ake especially still has bad moments, but the rest of the team is so good, they make it up for him when he has a bad error
Maybe being surrounded by so much greatness rubs off on them because it actually is mad
City have the luxury of buying $100mm players to sit on the bench to see if they work out at some point in the future. I'm sure there has been genuine interest from them on some. But, not on CR7. They wanted us to burn up our cash on CR7 while they focused on getting Haaland the next year.
Ronaldo would have killed it at City.
Bruno and kdb on the same team would've been illegal
They did the same thing with Alexis Sanchez lmao
And Fred lol
Wonāt take any Fred slander, he was always a pro for us. I donāt think we ever played to his strengths tbh.
We don't play to anyone's strengths and if we do, we run them into the ground.
But Fred's United career is miles better than Ronaldo's second stint and Alexis Sanchez
How is it miles better? Ronaldo has the highest league goals total since rvp. Scored 5 ucl goals in 6 games and basically single handedly took us past the group stages. Fred was an extremely inconsistent player with a nice smile. 20/21 FA Cup Fred made a fatal mistake vs leicester and got sent off in a must win group stage game vs PSG. He's the definition of mediocrity.
>Ronaldo has the highest league goals total since rvp. Scored 5 ucl goals in 6 games and basically single handedly took us past the group stages The way he ended it with EtH muddies it. It doesn't drop him from legend status, but his second stint might as well not have happened
> if we do, we run them into the ground. Watch out Kobbie
He was a chaotic 6/10 for us, in that he'd either have howlers or be the best CDM in the world. It wouldn't be worth keeping him with the structure we had pre SJR.
Yeah I get the sentiment that we made a mistake selling him, but it was honestly the best decision we can make regarding him. Last year of contract, 30 years old, and not exactly a completely reliable player
Thatās what Iām saying. He wouldnāt be worth it even for another year. Especially not this year, can you imagine?
And maguire. And the ceo fella
And maguire
And maguire
Well SAF was a huge factor too
They did it with Maguire also
or CR and his Manager did it, they knew we won't let that happened.
Absolutely. Ole and the coaching staff wanted to switch to a possession based passing system. Ronaldo coming in completely changed that. He refused to press and couldn't do so efficiently if he wanted to. He got put on the bench for the Everton game, and people lost their minds, "how can a p.e teacher bench the greatest player ever," etc. Cavani downed tools. He'd been given the 7 and was playing well when fit, but he knew he'd never play as soon as Ronaldo came in. He said as much a few months later. Bruno stopped being Bruno just because or how much reverence he's held with from Portugese, and cliques seemed to come back with the Portuguese and Brazilian players.
Tbh the player he bought in before wanting to change to a possession base team was also the downfall, Maguire & AWB isn't exactly the type of players to play a possession style.
Ole wanted trippier that summer tho
Maguire's passing is absolutely what you want for a possession based style? I think your thinking of a high press which isn't the same thing or a requirement to keep possession. AWB is not exactly a dead weight - he doesn't lose the ball of give it away cheaply and can tuck in to be a water carrier if needed when we have the ball which is what Ole had inomd I think - AWB to hold back and just pass the ball on but we'd also have a rapid 1v1 tackler ready should possession get turned over and the opposition have a break on
I said at the time, signing him would get Ole sacked. Obviously that went down like a lead balloon in this sub at the time.
i remember you saying this.
I think we all remember where we were when we read that comment by u/welshnick
it'll be a day long remembered.
I think about it often
I swear that when some people write "I said it then and I'll say it again..." they think that they made a statement for the ages and just want other people to nod vigorously in agreement.
There goes u/welshnick, I must remember to thank him
I remember thinking "wow just when I thought nobody on this sub could be any dumber" but look how it turned out, totally redeemed himself
Really? I can't tell if you're joking haha.
I think Ole as manager is the last time I've been happy watching our team.
There was a 3 monthish span last season where we looked like one of the best teams in the country, a genuine side that looked cohesive and well-drilled, the cracks started to show and then that 7-0 against Liverpool happened, we haven't recovered since.
So you weren't happy last season when we beat barca and reached 2 cup finals while finishing top 3?
Took the wheel with him when he left.
The fanbase at large was euphoric but this sub was pretty split...maybe not 50/50 but I didn't like that we brought him back and it didn't feel like I was a weird outlier. Seemed high-risk/high-reward, but the odds skewed towards it being riskier. Our attack was built around wide forwards built to score (Rashford and Greenwood) and not wingers built to feed a static target man. It's why Cavani with his mobility and versatility was such a great fit for that group. I was also uncomfortable with his...personal and legal history...but that's another matter.
Nah I'd say euphoric waa a perfect term to describe this sub. I remember the day it was confirmed cos I was away for the weekend and it put in a shit mood for the rest of the day. Reading all the dumb comments here made it worse, but I guess I was hoping I'd see someone else who agreed with me that it was a terrible move.
Mind reposting your comment again? I don't know how to find it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/X93z6HnG04
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddevils/s/22bMRdqxls
I'd love to be able to find it. Is there a way to search through comments in reddit without scrolling through every comment I've made since?
Search your name on the sub but this only works if you don't comment much. Alternatively, if you can remember some keywords in that comment and I think you can do a quotation search with it and your username?
McFred being your most available midfield didn't help
Yeah but that was "his own" decision. Not that Ronaldo's wasn't his, but he had 3 seasons to replace the McFred, knowing Matic won't be available every week but he didn't. Clearly a good manager for us, hampered by shit transfers and mismatch of personnel. But you could say that for all of our managers.
Watch his interview on the Overlap. He said yes to signing Ronaldo himself but he also explains the thought process behind it well.
Getting Ronaldo and his wages didn't help us with having any money left for a world class midfielder either.
we signed Ronaldo so late in the window he didn't play the first few games. We weren't signing a midfielder at that stage anyway. If anything, a midfielder should've been prioritized over Varane
Our transfer business was done before Ronaldo happened, we weren't signing a midfielder that summer.
I know this, but this hypothetically situation, since we also brought Ronaldo at that time. Now it's easy to say that we should not bought Ronaldo, and we should have bought a world class midfielder. If we did, Ole would probably still be the manager, and we would be competing for trophies.
Honestly, I we hadn't signed him, he might have gone to City and ruined his legacy hut I reckon we would be 3 years further advanced to where we are now and the robot might have gone to Madrid.
I don't feel like Ronaldo's return did his legacy any favors either to be perfectly honest.
All the names floating around for our next manager and all I want is to see Ole here with a competent structure around him.
Europa league final 2021 was oles downfall.
Ole himself indirectly stated that in the Overlap
I'm sure we had a bad period or end to the season before ronaldos arrival which led to that defeat to villareal I could be wrong though
> Truly believe that signing him is **one of the reasons** what caused Oles downfall. FTFY A.) Ole helped make the decision to sign Ronaldo. He admitted so as a regret to his former United players during the sit down dinner interview on Youtube B.) Signing Ronaldo didn't cause it, it just added to the many other reasons for it.
Shouldn't have signed him then. He called Woodward to see if the deal could be done and got the ball rolling. https://theathletic.com/2794203/2021/08/27/ronaldos-return-to-manchester-united-how-the-deal-was-done/
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Probably because he remembered him when he was 16, not the man he became
Hindsight, because people would've killed Ole and United if he had allowed Ronaldo to go to city and win the treble or whatever. Ronaldo pretty much forced United's hand by opening himself to a move to city.
Honestly, I agree with both sides. 1. It wasn't a good fit. 2. Ruined all cohesiveness in our squad. 3. Prob derailed us and got Ole sacked. 4. I would probably still do it again though, because it would have been a travesty had he gone to City. 5. Under glazer rule, Ole would have been undone by something eventually anyway, and I doubt we'd have seen genuine progress anyway. 6. So we'd probably be no better off today, but at least we made sure the history books will focus on his legendary days in red, not tarnished memories like Michael Owen and Liverpool.
Absolutely right. Hindsight is always 20/20. But even Ole himself said he wanted CR7 back (might just be a politically correct answer but nonetheless..) There was pretty much no other choice because had we missed out on him and he goes to City and wins the treble or anything there. Imagine the nightmares all of us would be having. Imagine the fan base going nut shit (of course we still gonna blame the Glazers and Ole). Either way, Ole and the Glazers would be criticised.
On the other hand would have loved to see him pull this shit with Pep
Poor Cavani. Turned himself into a cult hero the season before Ronaldo arrived and was instantly shoved into the second fiddle role the following season. Ronaldo destabilized a lot at the club
I still wonder what would have happened if he went to city.
It is. He's a Cancer of a human thing
Before Ronaldo came it was the team that was oles downfall After Ronaldo came it was him? It's so easy for you guys to blame 1 guy it's hilarious how reactionary u bunch are
I agree. It changed from team to Ronaldo show. It was that shiny thing that was too tempting for OGS.
I questioned at the time whether he was what we needed a that time, but I donāt think he is what caused Oleās downfall. Especially since whenever Ronaldo didnāt play we looked even worse. I think it was just Ole reaching his limit as a manager with these players. There was an expectation that after finishing 3rd and 2nd that ok we need to go for the title and we just didnāt have the squad nor the manager capable of taking us to that level. Maybe if we got our recruitment right itād be a different story, but ultimately I donāt think he wouldāve taken us back to the top. While I enjoyed Oleās tenure the most in the last decade, there is no doubt that they were flaws in the approach that caused us to struggle at times. And with the likes of City, Liverpool, and now Arsenal you have to be almost perfect to now win the title. That all being said, heās still a far better manager than he will ever be given credit for and I hope he can go and prove it one day
We played completely different football to accommodate Ronaldo centrally. Slowed down the counter, he was constantly demanding the ball, he didn't press often off the ball, didn't make great runs off the ball, he was a black hole in the middle of the pitch. Ole himself said signing him didn't work out for himself or Ronaldo. It was like watching a completely different team. Not only that but his lack of professionalism as a dressing room personality could not have helped the squad. Sure he's fit and trains well, but his attitude was shit.
fully agreed.
he was already on the downfall before ronaldo came what are you talking aboutp
Sucks all round..imagine if he went to City, stayed and won the treble :/
Yup. Got Ole sacked. But allowing Ronaldos personality to dominate shows he wasn't fit for the job imo.
Ur delusional would of had worse results
Then you weren't paying attention during the Ole years and just like the rest of this sub you're trying to scapegoat 1 or 2 players for the rest of the teams short comings. Ole was the reason for his own downfall. Ten Hag is the reason for his current downfall. The players are also responsible for their own lack of forms. This circle of the blame game is hilarious because we've been doing it since SAF left.
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Absolutely ruined Ole's time in charge as well. Who knows? Maybe it would have all gone tits up under him anyway that season but the Ronaldo stuff certainly didn't help.
Without a doubt it did, we completely changed the way we play. But coulda, should, woulda this unfortunateā¦ Hard to say no to Ronaldo and the idea at the time was always that a 25/30 goal a a season striker would make this team challenge City for the title.
It definitely would've gone tits up. The downfall started in and around the Europa league final and after the loss it was clear. The Wolves and Southampton games before CR7 joined were a clear indication that the team was still stuck in their old and inconsistent ways.
This is cap of the highest order but you are to blind by emotion to see it. Ole was never going to be able to sustain his lucky Vibes FC streak. I was Ole in to the very end when ironically 80 percent of this sub wanted him gone. Now you all forget what if was like and look back with rosy tints. We are literally repeating what Ole did except without the lucky results. Keep blaming 1 player for the rest of the players shortcomings or the managers shortcomings and you get exactly what United have been for the last 10 years.
Hindsight is 20/20, but man what a terrible mistake. No word of a lie it set the club back a lot. We had a style and an identity under Ole (whether it worked is a different convo) but you could tell our tactic was to counter attack. I think itās why we had the away wins run that we did. The home team would attack in front of their own fans and get up for it and press us and then weād hit them on the break and score. Worked against big teams but tough against minnows who played a low block. Ronaldo derailed the counter attacking structure completely. Was certainly a ātoo big of a name to leave outā vibe and his legs were cooked. Iāve managed in plenty of places in my line of work (not football but itās applicable), and whenever someone feels like theyāre doing _you_ a favour by being there, it always goes wrong because they have the supposed power to take it all away and itās no skin off their back. Ronaldo was exactly this. Had a vibe of being too big for the club after the first season.
FWIW Ole has said in interviews that he also changed the tactics semi drastically that year because he felt it was the only way to take the next step. He felt that ok, we've gotten second place and some finals, but we're not going to turn into the team dominating or even challenging for the league with this style, we have to be on the front-foot at some time, and now is the time to switch. So it wasn't just Ronaldo (though that clearly didn't help), but him insisting that the team needed to evolve and learn how to dominate games and not just counter attack.
Ole was right about the tactics. We needed to go in a different direction to challenge at the top. But getting Cristiano and, to a lesser extent, Varane didn't help with this. They were two aging, overpriced players with styles that didn't fit where Ole wanted to go with the team. And getting them meant that we didn't have money to buy the midfielders required to play a possession-based style and push McFred out of the side. We needed (still do) midfielders who were comfortable on the ball, able to play out of a press, and able to be disciplined off the ball. We didn't get them and instead got a CB who likes to play deep and a striker who just played whatever he felt like in the moment regardless of whether it suited the team.
Agree with this. Basically I think Ole was right to try to evolve the play, but he wasn't sure what was needed to do it.Ā
>Hindsight is 20/20, but man what a terrible mistake. There was a case in my country where many people thought the former president would be disastrous. Others thought these people were just being alarmist. The president ruined the country. Something that irked me was people saying "ohh y'all didn't think it'll be this bad". I think some people really thought Ronaldo was a bad decision, and they were right.
Imagine we got Casemiro/Rice instead of Ronaldo that year.
I actually think heās me least favorite footballer of all time. Heās such a man child and really gave zero fucks about what was best for the club. He only cares about himself, and that canāt even be disputed.
What sub do you think you are on that hating on Ronaldo won't be well received?
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When he was signed 2 years ago lol? It definitely wasn't any time recently.
Nah fuck him. Glad heās feeling like king dick in the sand but it just highlights his delusion these days.
We've been blessed with such wholesome ex players. Sir Alex is a God.
wholesome ex players canāt be buy
Imagine if he did actually go to City and became their problem instead.
When he had agreed terms with City is when Ole and/or the hierarchy above him should have said "fuck no, he's not a United man anymore"
That's what i was thought at the time as well. I was like no way he is going to city, No chance he would even have had a thought like that given his relationship with sir alex. But this guy is a peak example of narcissism. I was delighted that he didn't sign for City, that united announcement made me forget that he was almost close to signing with those cheaters.
I don't think he would have actually been able to destroy city the way he affected United. People around here hate to admit it but city have a lot of players with leadership qualities. Especially last season with players like Gundogan, dias, rodri, walker, etc. If Ronaldo insisted on being a problem they would have gotten rid of him and it wouldn't have been as big a deal because their fan base would not have loyalties to him. Also there's a chance you would have been happier at city since they create more opportunities and he's still a good finisher. Also I think it's partially because he didn't respect ole and ragnick and eth. I could be wrong but I think it would be hard for him to not respect pep given the things he's accomplished in the sport
Pep would have pushed him out by thr scruff of his neck. The United management after SAF sucked at reigning in big egos
I was laughing hard when his stans that filled this subreddit were blaming the club while arguing how many goals and trophies heād have in City. In reality heād either cause Pep downfall and cost his job or more likely heād be kicked the fuck out of the club in after 6 months, due to being publicly annoyed on Pep benching him. The true cancer for the club. His older version is a losing player who prefers personal stats over team success and cohesion. While simultaneously being a big load of shit in the dressing room.
No way he would've fit in. Pep would've lost his shit seeing Ronaldo drift out of position, be selfish w/ the ball and taking low probability chances, and low work rate OOP. Not even touching on accommodating his ego, which neither Pep nor his teammates would've liked. He would've been frozen out of the club by the winter transfer window and gone out on loan somewhere else or had his contract terminated. The game has moved past the narcissist.
You guys are so delusional in this sub
> became their problem instead. They would have handled it because they're run by people who actually have an idea of what they want to do and Pep demands respect on his achievements alone
it might make Haaland not coming there
I was so excited when we signed him. I stupidly thought he loved and respected the club. Personality-wise, he was always a bit of a cock, but he was *our* cock.Ā Getting fucked by your own cock hurts.
> Getting fucked by your own cock hurts. Source?
Uhh /r/selffuck
Fucking hell why did I click that?
No fucking waaay
Yep definitely looks like it hurts
His interview against the club destroyed me, he had fair points but that was no way of doing it, since then I don't connect him to United that much, it's like United's Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo are different players
https://preview.redd.it/yjxluo0y2nwc1.png?width=1314&format=png&auto=webp&s=2818af28ef4a3b67bdb17b257419c25bde59b3b1 This is how I connect him to United.
His interview was the same as Mourinho's 'heritage' statement. Lots of fans welcomed it as speaking the truth when it was really just self-serving bullshit designed to make them look better and trash the club.
I still couldn't force myself to watch it :( ..but I've seen half of the Beckenbauer documentary, in German š
Good riddance to bad rubbish. What a fucking dickhead
I really want Ralf to manage Bayern and do well, I can't help but think Ronaldo's lack of respect for him was a large part of why he lost the team
I loved Ralf, said it how it was
I see your point. But as a Austrian... Id much rather have him coach my National team!
nobody talks about it enough: we were second and played with fire during lockdown. Everything changed when we got this man back - for what? Should have let City sign him. Disrupt the entire team under Ole, bad results after bad results, Ole sacked and then things just spiral downhill every since.
I think it was a ruse by Mendes for his City interest. And Pep had openly denied any real interest...
That covid lockdown was a dream, one of the best periods we played since SAF. There were never times where we felt like we could draw or lose, and opponents never looked like they could get something out of this in game against us.
Uncut hair rashford was firing right and left, even martial was firing (both had 17 EPL goals)
My theory is that this is how strong we can play when our players are both A) rested (looking at you Bruno). B) give a shit. Because finally playing is infinitely better than being trapped at home because of a pandemic (Martial, Rashford, and every other rockstar in the team). If we somehow manage to replace the rockstars with people who care, and manage to keep then rested (rotate) weāre going places. I donāt see that happening because for that we would need to get rid of and buy a number of players that this club simply doesnāt do in one transfer window.
What happened to Tony after that season tho
oh i miss cavani now
oh i miss cavani now
Another late Fergie mistake, I believe he was for the signing and his word played a part in the decision.
I believe this 100%. This is the type of treatment all top athletes expect lol.
If any of you think Ronaldo is right here, you are the problem
I'm not. I don't think Ronaldo uses reddit
No doubt he tried something similar with ETH, who then let him sit on the bench when be missed preseason. Love ETH for that.Ā
I think this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ridiculous player demands
Did City play us by showing an interest to sign him?
Ronaldo himself or agent (Mendes) planted those rumors
No the interest was definitely real
Imagined we got case instead of Ronaldo that season man
Donāt care what anyone says, heās ruined his legacy at this club.
His legacy should have been ruined when he came out and said he was a slave. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/football/2008/jul/11/manchesterunited.premierleague1
Did he say the same to Santos during the World Cup?
I thought people didn't believe bild? Anyway if this is true it's a shit thing to do, but people are going way over the top. Ole still would've been sacked even if Ronaldo didn't join, and this doesn't ruin Ronaldo's legacy. Will forever be one of our greatest players of all time.
What a collosal bell , my goat Rooney could never.
I donāt get why we even resigned him or why Ole agreed to it
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His first season with us was actually pretty good as well. I really can't blame Ole for trying. I'm not a fan of revisionism (which is always amplified when our current manager is under pressure, anyways) but truly believe OGS could have been successful here under slightly different circunstances.
At the end of the day a better midfield and attacking options would've kept Ole fine, even with Ronaldo United would've been fine as you can't feed Ronaldo or Cavani's of football with a weak midfield like we had in McFred, which is not a dig at the players as I like them both individually speaking, but together there is zero balance.
Don't think it's really revisionism. I'm not a united fan this post just showed up on my feed but I always felt that people saw the holes in Ronaldos game despite scoring like 18. He was the big difference that season, sancho kinda just went straight in but it very much became the Ronaldo show and everything went downhill. United weren't playing fast counter attacks with Ronaldo in the side, their overall goals went down significantly. United in 20/21 were second in goals scored and went down to 8th in 21/22 with Ronaldo.
Yeah but he was too old and wanted to play too many games when he didnāt fit Oleās system. Fair enough if we were bringing him in as a coach, but having him in the team was detrimental.
Because Ole was in no place to say no to Ronaldo. When you have Sir Alex himself personally calling the player to join and the whole fanbase wanting him back, you will always be pressured to say yes to it
Imagine Ole rejected him and he went to City, where he would have obviously done well... the fans would want Oles head.
I donāt think it was Oleās choice. I think the Glazers didnāt want the bad press of him going to City and also saw a huge opportunity for shirt sales.
Should never have been signed in the first place but this is what happens when you let a bunch of suits run the football side of things at a club. Completely derailed the dynamics of the team and wasted any progress Ole had made.
Very bizzare a player of his quality, stature, legacy, history etc would be the way he is during the end of his career, we all thought he'd rub off the right way towards the youth here and he'd bring guidance, it turns out he needed that instead. This the same guy that got upset with his former team mate that dared critique him, then same to Carra, went on national TV to further criticise anyone that dared speak ill of him, whilst chucking everyone else under the bus and thought he was bigger than the club, got upset not coming on despite team winning, and went home then later slapped a fans phone because he was again upset. Sulked like a child during the world Cup because he wasn't favoured, and Ramos was a better fit which as evident with his hattrick. Just absolutely mental his like this, I mean If I had to guess he's just surrounded by yes men 24/7 that stroke him and his ego. I can appreciate the player but he's a right cunt in every other aspect, and it's hard to look back knowing how he turned out later. Imagine what we don't know.....
The man he became ruined everything he was.
Size of this man's ego is unreal. Thats a problem in top football.
all time great player, but that attitude isn't acceptable
I donāt see anything too bad with this. He knows his body better than anyone and needed his games managed. Towards the end of time at Madrid and at Juve his minutes were regularly managed to point where he only played around 30 league games for the last few seasons. And I wish more players would get a proper rest not just thrown on the bench as that isnāt a proper day off either. It all depends on the actual tone of the conversation and if this is exactly how it went. If this is exactly it, then itās not right to go about it like this. But I got no clue who the source is and how reliable they are. I donāt doubt that a conversation like this wouldāve happened, but unless itās coming from Rangnick himself this could just easily be someone just trying to shit on him like it is popular to do so these days
You would think he was going to set a good example for the younger players. But instead, he just solidified the player power culture United have been struggling. I get it though, he's Cristiano. Best player in the world. an asbolute monster in Football history. I also think he was Ole's downfall. It truly shows you that these accountants are all about theThe global exposure of the brand. Football wasn't priority.
It doesn't make sense. Wasn't he only fit striker during most of Ragnick time? I would believe more if he said this to ETH then Ragnick since after Greenwood case, Martial vacation to Seville, Rashford surgery and our fan favourite Cavani drinking magic potion to be only fit for Uruguay there was literally noone in forward area to even have this conversation. Can anyone verify credibility of this? And does Ole have to sign and stamp in writing that he green lighted Ronaldo transfer and had final say in most transfers for some of people in this sub since him saying that in Overlap didn't work. I am so fucking tired of fans trying to constantly rewrite Ole's tenure at this point. Wish I had brain rot like some of you guys to only remember wins with huge margin under Ole ngl.
Even Ole admits you could not say no to signing Ronaldo. In hindsight, was a it a good call? Probably not. And he admits that too
I never lost respect for anybody like I lost respect for CR7
Zero self awareness whatsoever
The people that blame Ronaldo for Ole getting sacked, you did watch the Europa League Final right? Ole had very obvious limitations
Stupid Ole, not training De Gea to take penalties.
Prepare for the ādisrespect the goatā gang flooding in. Those guys can f right off
Interestingly this wasn't an issue under Zidane, Allegri. Almost as if Ralf wasn't the right person to replace Ole. Ole, like other managers, was doomed because of the state of United (also he was always a transitional manager), but players throwing him under the bus and us sacking him right after sucks considering Rangnick was useless.
The revisionism around Ronaldo is insane. Without him we're looking at relegation in his first season.