The Boy Who Cried Wolf - Ronaldo Pays The Price
The Boy Who Cried Wolf - Ronaldo Pays The Price
When thinking of Ronaldo, the boy who cried wolf springs to mind. When he
joined the club as a skinny teenager, he brought his European tactics of diving
along with him. Don’t get me wrong, I am not for one moment suggesting that
diving is a foreign activity to English players (eh, Stevie Me? Joe Cole? Etc.), but
Ronaldo was far more obvious with it, therefore, far more irritating to the fans,
our own and rivals alike. He might have been fouled, or there might have been
no contact at all, but it wouldn’t stop Ronaldo from falling in such a dramatic way,
that at times, left us as United fans rather embarrassed.
The summer before last, when watching United’s pre-season tour in Asia, it
noticed that Ronaldo had really bulked up. He didn’t look like the waif of a
teenage winger we’d had before, but rather a strong looking man. His shoulders
were much broader and he was carrying extra muscle. He had been transformed,
both physically, and mentally as well. This pre-season tour followed the
World Cup in which Ronaldo had been singled out as the reason why England
had been knocked out. He was being abused in the street, the homes of his
relatives as well as his own were vandalised, and he wasn’t far away from
upping and leaving for the sunshine and hassle-free life Spain offered him.
Ronaldo started the season the most hated man in England, booed every time his
name on the team sheet was read out, and every time he even got close to the
ball. This period in Ronaldo’s life was the best thing that could have happened for
United. The transformation was complete. Ronaldo was bigger and tougher,
Ronaldo was not only physically more able to stay on his feet, but consciously
made an effort to do so, Ronaldo was kicked from pillar to post in every match he
played, but kept his cool and gave everything he could, and thanks to our booing
and whistling rivals fans, Ronaldo now had a point to prove and motivation to do
so…Ronaldo was becoming one of the greatest players in the World.
Sir Alex Ferguson has time and again called for better protection from the
referees, who seem to waft away far too many fouls when Ronaldo is the victim.
It is by pure good fortune that we have yet to lose him to a serious injury when
considering how many times he is fouled in a game. The opposition fans urge for
their players to foul him and cheer when they do so. The player who sticks it to
Ronaldo is celebrated by their fans, and the referees do too little to stop it.
Yesterday, as we sat watching our team effortlessly brush aside Fulham, who
looked to be defeated before a kick of the ball, Ronaldo shone all over the field.
Ronaldo has now scored thirteen goals in sixteen games, which is
remarkable for any player, let alone a winger. Before last night, he had scored
two goals a game on three occasions this season, desperately seeking the
United hatrick which has eluded him so far.
With ten minutes to go last night, it appeared as though Ronaldo was finally
going to get his wish, as he went to take the ball around Fulham keeper Niemi,
who had flown prematurely out of his goal. The keeper dived to the ground
getting nothing on the ball, forcing Ronaldo to jump over him, falling to the
ground. The referee waved play on. Every person in the stadium could see it was
a penalty, apart from the men that counted, the linesman who had a shocking
game. As United fans jumped from the seats, assuming the only decision the
referee could make was to point to the spot, we were fuming when the referee
pulled out the yellow card to book Ronaldo for diving. Isn’t Styles the big man,
the celebrity, denying United a penalty in front of the Stretford End ?
Ferguson was also left fuming over the decision, although it matter little,
considering the three points were in the bag “The penalty kick incident is a result
of perceived idea of the referee that Ronaldo dives,” said Ferguson. “In fairness
to the referee Niemi got him booked. Why would he dive? He’s on a hat-trick. It
was a ridiculous decision".
Frank Stapleton makes the obvious argument. Why would Ronaldo dive to win a
penalty, when if clearing the goalkpeer, he had an open net to score in? “It was
a definite penalty. From where I was sat in the ground, the player knocked the
ball past the goalkeeper and went round him. There was no point in diving to
the ground as he was putting the ball into an empty net. There wasn’t a Fulham
defender close by and there was contact. The goalkeeper couldn’t really get out
of the way, but I think the referee made a mistake. It’s a pity because I think
Ronaldo has taken diving out of his game now. When he first came into the
Premier League he went down very easily because that was part of his culture
in Portugal. But now he’s a much more mature player. That was a guaranteed
hat-trick for him because even if you win the penalty, you can’t be sure that
you’ll score. So I think it was a very harsh decision.”
However, this isn’t the first time United have been denied a stonewall penalty at
Old Trafford this season, despite the myths surrounding our ground. Whilst of
course no bitter takes in to account we’ve been the most successful attacking
team over the past fifteen years, so simple probability suggest we’ll win more
penalties than most teams, we have had our fair share of softer penalties during
the latest golden period. However, since the big hoo-hah has kicked off over
refereeing decisions at Old Trafford in the past few years, it appears as though
referees enjoy waving away perfectly reasonable penalty claims. They love
being the centre of attention, proving that not all referees buy in to the magic of
the Theatre of Dreams, and they won’t be swayed by our 76,000 crowd. The fact
they are failing to make the correct decision and award us the penalty for a foul
seems to pass them by.
Before Mike Dean lost the plot when refereeing the game between us and
Chelsea at Old Trafford this year, Patrice Evra was denied a stone wall penalty
after Joe Cole took him out (the player who was guilty of two red card offences
that day, but managed to leave the field at the end of the match with just a
yellow). The Independent comments on Dean’s “erratic decision” in failing to
award us a penalty for Cole’s “crude foul” on Evra. Less than twenty minutes had
been played, and Dean just didn’t have the bottle to become another statistic,
knowing if he awarded that penalty in front of the Stretford End, with just over
fifteen minutes played, he would also have to send Joe Cole off. He just didn’t
have the nerve. It was his inability to make this decision which likely lead to the
fuss that followed, sending off Mikel, failing to send off Joe Cole a second time for
a awful foul on Ronaldo etc. He was performing a balancing act between wrong
decision after wrong decision. If only he was man enough to give that penalty on
seventeen minutes, he might have seen a more favourable write-up of his
performance the following day in the press.
Michael Brown, remember him? The thug who stamped on Giggsy on the opening
day of last season and got away with just a yellow card? Well now playing for
Wigan, he should have seen his side concede a penalty after just four minutes
earlier this season. He simply barged Ronaldo over in the box, making no effort
to go for the ball. Who didn’t have the balls this time? Our old friendly Mike
Riley. “Referee Mike Riley’s inexplicable decision not to award Ronaldo an early
penalty, when he collected the rebound and was instantly bundled over by
Michael Brown, was also significant,” said Sky Sports. “Ronaldo gathered up the
loose ball and looked to be clearly fouled by Michael Brown, but referee Mike Riley
waved play on,” said the BBC. It was The Independent who I believe phrased it
best, saying that Ronaldo “is now suffering like the boy who cried wolf – or in his
case “penalty” – being denied legitimate appeals because of his reputation.
Ronaldo is the constant victim, after being wrongly framed as England’s World exit
villain, coupled with the judgement he receives based on how he played as a
boy, rather than how he actually players now, as a man. People who watch
United week in week out, our fans, can see the difference in the player. Bitters
and WUMs still harp on about his diving ways, but all you have to do is watch the
player to see that he has virtually cut it out of his game. He can still be guilty of
going down to ground too easily at times, but with foul after foul being waved
on, I don’t begrudge him the decision to go down under a weaker foul, in hope
that finally the ref will give him a break. He is certainly not alone in that regard,
and you can point the finger at nearly every Premiership player for that.
Ronaldo appears to continue to go on from strength to strength, and is now the
joint highest scorer in the league (despite the three match ban he faced for a red
card against Pompey). I can only praise his attitude on the pitch, rarely reacting
despite being the constant focus of rival antagonism and referee unfairness. But
it’s about time he was cut some slack, and referees grew some balls, allowing
themselves to award Ronaldo a penalty without fear of the fierce media reaction
they anticipate. Until then, Ronaldo is going to have to keep on with what he
does best, playing the game, and hopefully sooner rather than later he’ll get his
deserved hatrick.www.RoM.org
What do you think? Does Ronaldo still dive or is he not being protected enough
by referees?
