[DSG]

Last year, when we had a rash of injuries, SAF played Ronaldo up front from January onwards. Although his strike rate wasn't as prolific as earlier in the year, he was still good enough for .75 goals a game. SAF puts him up front against Porto and ... he scores.

He's the best finisher on the squad.
He's the best 1v1 player on the squad.
He's the fastest player on the squad.
He's at least as good as Vidic as a header of the ball.
He's an excellent passer on the counter attack, only Rooney is better.

He has the physical tools to be a good defender, but has no interest in defending and therefore is poor.

I look at these facts and think, he's probably best in a CF position behind the striker.

But, ManU football is about attacking on the wings, driving towards the endline and diagonal balls into the box. And he's the best at this too. Every time he gets the ball on the wing now, at least two defenders are on him immediately, particularly in the first 60min of the match.

My proposition: Start him at CF or up front somewhere. Let him roam with little defensive responsibility. Put Park at RM and let him run his marker ragged. Sub Park at the 60min mark with Tevez or Berbatov and put Cristiano back at the winger position. Can't we get the best of both worlds?

 

[United_OG]

The thing i find interesting is when we REALLY need a goal, fergie plays ronaldo upfront. Like because of him being our best finisher/most clinical player but that would also suggest he is our best striker if he plays him there in our most important games when we need a goal...for example the porto game...aswell as rooney willing to do more tracking back.

However while i do agree that as even as a striker/forward, he is great, he still offers more when he pretty much has a free role from the right/left and just moves around anywhere and finds himself in the box alot because he is dangerous aswell as being able to stay on the wings at times and create chances and attact players to him and create space for other players like rooney and our midfielders.

However this season for much of it he hasnt really done much roaming, he has played mostly stuck to the wing until recently when he has started drifting abit more...either through instructions or through his own thinking and he also seems to drift more when he plays with nani on the other wing.

Is he our best forward? I think rooney would have something to say about that because he offers us strenght and drive through the middle but he is more clinical than rooney and offers more of an ariel threat in the middle.

Is he our best player? Clearly, nobody is close to ronaldo in terms of individuals, he is head and shoulders above the rest in our squad. Rooney being the other stand out talent but no ronaldo thats for sure. Scholes and giggs ofcourse are of a previous era and not as great now but ronaldo is clearly our best player and very important to us.

pz!

 

[DSG]

It's clear his greatest value is when he is freelancing on the wings. Opposition teams have essentially neutralized him in these areas by doing two things: A. instantly having two defenders on him as soon as he gets the ball, or B. Fouling him immediately if there is no help defender on the way (and sometimes if there is).

It's all about denying him time on the ball and the space to produce his magic. My argument is that you put him up front and play through balls and 1-2s on the counter to give him the space to allow him to go 1v1 on the wings. I'll take 5-7 Ronaldo/Rooney counters per game and 45% possession versus 2-4 decent chances after a slow build-up and 60% possession any day of the week.

We were fantastic on the counter last year because he played a lot up front and some teams were slow to implement A & B above.

It flies in the face of convention to play both Ronaldo and Rooney up front, I know. But the Berbatov signing has changed the attack strategy of the team because Berba is so good with the ball at his feet and a defender at his back (when he is playing well). We're content to keep possession and work through a defense that has already settled. But in this scenario Ronny isn't as effective. And this frustrates him.

My Must-Win Game starting 11:
Van Der Sar
Rafael
Ferdinand
Vidic
Evra
Park
Carrick
Anderson (I'm tempted to say Scholes, but he has declined)
Giggs (can't believe it, but Nani cannot be counted on)
Rooney
Ronaldo

Berbatov or Tevez comes on at the 60min mark for Giggs or Park. Ronaldo moves to the wing.

Now, if Hargreaves was available, when healthy, he's in my starting 11 at the expense of Park or Anderson.

I just don't think that this year's team has been as dominant as last year's team, when on paper, we should have been better.

 

[Nigel'sChin]

I just don't think that this year's team has been as dominant as last year's team, when on paper, we should have been better.

Part of the reason is due to the fact that we have lost hargo to injury for the whole this season. we've truly missed his dominating force in the engine room.

 

[peterswellman]

Do we have to play wingers? I was thinking about it earlier and the point is we might not have to. we could allow our forward players to roam and we could probably get our best 11 players on the field. What would your opinions be on something like this? Bear in mind, how attacking the likes of Rafael and Fabio are please.


--------------------Vds------------------

---Rafael-----Rio---------Vida----Evra/Fabio

----------------Hargreaves---------------

-----------------Carrick-----------------

-----Tevez------Ronaldo-----Rooney------

------------------Berba------------------

We give Ronaldo a free role. he can roam around and push up for support when needed. Similiar to what Kaka does. Rooney/Tevez are given a fairly free-role too and encouraged to track back.

It's just an idea with Hargreaves holding position to break up counter attacks etc.

 

[CROoney]

we need ronaldo in the box more often with rooney and tevez roaming around and switching places

berbatov needs to get the hell away from the team to allow ronaldo to spend more time in the box - then we'll hopefully see ronaldo from last season

 

[CROoney]

Do we have to play wingers? I was thinking about it earlier and the point is we might not have to. we could allow our forward players to roam and we could probably get our best 11 players on the field. What would your opinions be on something like this? Bear in mind, how attacking the likes of Rafael and Fabio are please.


--------------------Vds------------------

---Rafael-----Rio---------Vida----Evra/Fabio

----------------Hargreaves---------------

-----------------Carrick-----------------

-----Tevez------Ronaldo-----Rooney------

------------------Berba------------------

We give Ronaldo a free role. he can roam around and push up for support when needed. Similiar to what Kaka does. Rooney/Tevez are given a fairly free-role too and encouraged to track back.

It's just an idea with Hargreaves holding position to break up counter attacks etc.

sorry my friend but at the end of the day it's 4-2-4 , you can't win a serious match with 4-2-4


and you who'd suffer the most ? rooney - cos he would be swtiched to the lm or lb when defending


we tried that against liverpool away and were totally outplayed in the middle of the park

 

[sweet fa]

ronaldo is certainly utds best goalscorer in the team and he ain't a striker but its not hard to work out when you think seriously about it , he is the only player who always heads in the right direction all the strikers seem to collect the ball and then play it back into midfield and if you keep watching the stikers throughout the game they spend 80% of the game near the half way line {even in the utd defence } .
its no wonder our strikers ain't hitting the target more often ,i am not a fan of this type of forward play at all give me the mark hughes or shearer type any day players that stay up front bashing the defenders up :thumbsup:

 

[Richie]

I agree that he is our best forward and winger, I think he would play up top a lot more if he wasn't our only good winger. I think if we brought in a top class winger this summer for the opposite flank, he would play upfront a bit more

 

[shiven]

Ronaldo is obviously or best winger, but best forward, dunno?!
I'd still have to say Rooney is our best forward player just ahead of Ronaldo..

Ronaldo is our biggest threat to the opposition going forward and he's the 1 player who will always get a chance to score goals no matter how badly he plays..!
He's played on the wing a bit more this season compared to last.. I think SAF has restricted him to the wing rather than have a free-role.. I believe Ronaldo himself likes to roam about and have a free-role, so that he can make things happen himself..
He's also played as a Striker this season where he's done alright but I don't think he enjoys playing there at all.. It's almost as if Fergie has made Rooney and Ronaldo switch positions..!
No matter where Ronaldo plays though, he's always an an attacking threat and with Rooney we have 2 of the best attacking players in the world today..!

In the end Ronaldo is our best winger, but he's a close 2nd to Rooney as the best forward..!

 

[Johnny]

just get em back to his form that he was at last year, cud do with em clicking up a gear now at this stage of season, but i still think there a few things that he cud cut out of his game..

 

[Carlo]

I want us to buy a class left winger who can switch, my favourite seeing Ronny play was when him and Giggsy used to switch and stay on the wings, leaving Rooney/Teveez/Berba (two of them) to get into the box more. I'd personally like to see him roaming less as I think it pulls our formation apart, I know he gets marked heavy but if we had someone as strong/fast/skillfull on the opposite flank and the strength of Hargreaves in the midfield, it would stop this two/three player marking of him. As it is (this season anyway) his counter winger has usually been a weak player and it's leaving too much room to defend against him.

 

[RDJ]

we need ronaldo in the box more often with rooney and tevez roaming around and switching places

berbatov needs to get the hell away from the team to allow ronaldo to spend more time in the box - then we'll hopefully see ronaldo from last season

You are contradicting yourself CROoney. In the composure is overrated thread you said Berba spends his time dribbling on the center circle. And now you're saying Berbatov is getting in the way of Ronaldo inside the penalty box? :blink:

 

[CROoney]

You are contradicting yourself CROoney. In the composure is overrated thread you said Berba spends his time dribbling on the center circle. And now you're saying Berbatov is getting in the way of Ronaldo inside the penalty box? :blink:

i knew i need to clearify more


just by being on the teamsheet berba's keeping ronaldo out of the box -cos ronaldo's doing his job as a winger when berba on the teamsheet

 

[DSG]

The Portsmouth game was a must win, and SAF trots out Ronaldo and Rooney as forwards in a 4-4-2. And we create more chances than we have in a long, long time (2 months?). Coincidence? I mean, Portsmouth is not Barcelona, but still...

Absolutely right in the post by Carlo. When Giggs still had a burst and we had two legitimate wingers, it created a lot of chances and drove opponents batty when switching. We looked, at times, unbeatable.

It's really a shame that the Hargreaves buy hasn't worked out because when he plays he is top class, and he is so versatile because he is a holding mid, a right winger and right back all in one. When healthy, he gives you coverage all over the pitch.

Ronaldo is not an ideal box player IMHO because he tends to get his goals in the box on set pieces and counters before the defense is set. He gets a few goals at the far post on diagonal balls into the box. He is best facing his defender and running at him.

In terms of a formation, if you play more than 2 up front, it would have to be something like a 4-3-2-1 with Berbatov as the striker and Ronaldo and Rooney running the channels behind him. If you don't have a legit holding middie in front of the back 4, you can't play this formation. Another thing that worries me about it is you aren't wide enough.

No doubt about it, we need to look to buy a top class left winger in the summer and a rightful balance will be restored.

 

[Carlo]

I agree mate Ronaldo is not suited for the box, he would be closed down and marked far too much, he's better out wide where his pace and skill can really flourish