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we are ordinary without ronaldo - discuss

2K views 44 replies 37 participants last post by  stretty 
#1 ·
four competitive games this season. Not looked impressive in any of them.

Take tevez away and we have barely looked like top four material. Could it be that ronaldo's absence is the reason.

I am only acting as devils advocate to see what people think attributes to our disappointing start.
 
#3 ·
I'm sorry but Rooney just needs to learn to ****ing shoot!!!!

Too many passes around the box by midfielder's instead of our strikers running into the box and shooting.

Tevez was superb tonight, his work ethic beat the pants off everyone on that field. Rooney is just out of place where ever he plays. Yes he fights like a bull but there is no end product for it.

We need a proper all out striker. Without Ronaldo, someone running and shooting at teams we are just not effective.
 
#4 ·
Course we are.

We would of been in agony if he left this season.

VIVA RONALDO, hurry up and get back.

I don't think we lack a "goalscorer" as I think we will always score goals if the chances are presented.

But we are very 1-dimensinal without Ronaldo. Everything going through Scholes to Tevez, then that's it.
 
#6 ·
NoxiousD said:
Not at all, we're only ordinary when our wingers aren't doing well, or when Fletcher is used on the right

As soon as Park came on there, the game changed and it was one sided
That's a fair shout but we still need someone to run at people, and get past them.

Park doesn't do that.
Nani has no end product.
And Giggs can't do it all game.
 
G
#7 ·
I hate to say it but I'm starting to agree. We're certainly lacking a striker and in the absence of an orthodox
centre forward, Ronaldo provided what we needed last year. He's a good finisher, strong in the air and
holds the ball up well, but then his qualities in wide positions are wasted and we lack width.

We've most definitely looked ordinary without him in the four games so far this season and I can't
wait til we get him back or sign a proper striker, or both. We won't win anything if we carry on playing the
way we have.

Having said that, it is typical of United to get off to a slow start to the season and after two draws
and a loss in our opening three games last season I was equally pessimistic. If we sign a striker I'll
be more confident and when Ronaldo comes back we'll be back to our usual selves and destroying
teams like Zenit for fun.
 
#9 ·
once we get carrick and hargreaves back we will be fine and ronaldo will make us even stronger.
the players who have come have to step up to the plate , we have 2 massive games coming up V lpool and chelsea, we are in danger of falling behind

im hoping we get berbatov who will give us an edge up front this is an area where we are particularly toothless, the midfield is a bit flat, where one or two players will have a great game the others are average.
defensively we are fairly solid, the team is screaming out for someone who can take teams on and make chances for others

we need to step it up.
 
#10 ·
I was thinking of making a similar thread Ant. We really miss Ronaldo big time.
I think Carrick and Hargo are other very important players we are missing, but
Ronaldo is arguably THE best player in the world. Of course we miss him.
42 goals last season. He could create out of nothing and thats what we are lacking right now.
get him back pronto...and with Pool and Chelsea away, we could have a lot of
ground to make up by the time he comes back.
 
#11 ·
I thought we were pretty good against Pompey. When Park came on tonight we were very much improved. He showed the energy and pace that we needed. Also, Anderson isn't yet at full fitness yet. Basically, you can't really judge how important Ronaldo is when there's other players out (Carrick, Hargreaves, Giggs) and it's this early in the season.

We have a two week break now until the next game and I'm quite sure that Giggs, Carrick and Hargreaves will have returned by then. We will be rejuvinated and hopefully start playing some decent football.

Plus, there's always the possibility of a striker coming in (Berbatov!)...
 
#12 ·
thekeanefella said:
once we get carrick and hargreaves back we will be fine and ronaldo will make us even stronger.
the players who have come have to step up to the plate , we have 2 massive games coming up V lpool and chelsea, we are in danger of falling behind

im hoping we get berbatov who will give us an edge up front this is an area where we are particularly toothless, the midfield is a bit flat, where one or two players will have a great game the others are average.
defensively we are fairly solid, the team is screaming out for someone who can take teams on and make chances for others

we need to step it up.
here here mate agreed with you, i dont think ronaldo is the ONLY missing jigsaw peace.

when hes back its class to have the best player in the world on the pitch hell just make us that much better
 
#16 ·
personally, imo, even if ronaldo dont perform in a game, his presence gives the opposition something to think about and change their tactics to compensate him playing.

zenith tonight would not have been nowhere near as attack minded if ronaldo would have been on the team sheet. it would have been the usual case of try to keep it compact for 60 mins and then look for openings.

We need a striker for sure, but the biggest bit of business done this summer was holding on to Ronaldo. We need to ensure he is a United player for years to come.
 
#17 ·
We not specifically missing Ronaldo. We're just missing width and a midfield balance I think.

Park was good when he came on and helped change the game. If we could have played Park from the start, and/or had someone like Hargreaves or Giggs to play on the wing, then I think we would certainly have improved.

As for the central balance, I seriously don't know why Sir Alex persists with Scholes and Anderson together as the central two. It doesn't work. If Carrick, Hargreaves or O'Shea had started there with Scholes or Anderson, the whole game would have panned out differently imo.

But I think we should maybe try to buy a right-winger before Monday, just to add something different.

I actually think that we would be worse off without Tevez than without Ronaldo currently.
 
#18 ·
Like ant said, when Ronaldo plays, even if he has a rare bad game, he will STILL attract 3 players to him so much of the game and people focus on him so strongly, people often forget about the simple game tactics and it opens much more space for tevez and ronaldo to work in. Rooney usually plays average at best in europe and its goot to have ronaldo around to makes things abit easier for him and with tevez doing so much work outside the box right now, when ronaldo is back, he will get much more goalscoring chances.

Any team would miss a guy as classy as ronaldo but i do think we can play without him and be very good. I just dont think as consistantly, because over the last 24-30 months, in terms of consistantly putting in top performances, ronaldo has been that man.

pz
 
#20 ·
antdevil78 said:
four competitive games this season. Not looked impressive in any of them.

Take tevez away and we have barely looked like top four material. Could it be that ronaldo's absence is the reason.

I am only acting as devils advocate to see what people think attributes to our disappointing start.
ooooh my god you cannot say that on this forum people all around the world will start telling you off for panicking after just a few matches , everything is really rosy in the garden just now so dont panic
 
#22 ·
Ironically the same issue affected United that affected City the day before. Wing. Now let's take into account your casting of the view that without Ronaldo United are mediocre. Wrong. Here is why.

You look at that game aganst Zenit, in which for 60 minutes they played like ****, complete ***** in reality. Pretty solid in the 1st half but in the name of god the 2nd for that inital 20 minutes was simply terrible. Why?

Gary Neville, Fletcher & Nani.

Gary Neville gave away the corner that led to the goal, needlessly. Gary Neville was getting into trouble, which caused Ferdinand to go to the right to help him, leading to the 2nd.

Nani had literally the worst game of his life. He had no end product and no beginning on either. Now then Brown came on for Neville and O'Shea for Anderson. What this immediately did was change focus to the centre of midfield in which United basically had the remainder of the game till the end.

Where the real issue lies, is centre midfield. The lack of Carrick or Hargreaves is where the real issue is. Having Carrick allows Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez to basically play as a 3 man forward line, obviously leading to Ronaldo scoring so many goals, although that is a seperate ability altogether and for another discussion.

Rooney was stuck up top until the 56th minute and nothing happened with him, because because nothing was going on behind him. The centre midfield were too deep because the wing was a bag of **** full of Nani and Fletcher. Now Fletcher was also replaced with Park, again he got in on goal at least 3 times, more so than any of the wingers before him.

The team works in a fluid movement with Ronaldo being the main beneficary of the goal tally, so in reality removing the foundations is where the issue is. It was even noted last year that when Carrick wasn't in the team, they lacked the same creativty.
Now the fact United hadn't won the league for 3 years goes to show that he is in fact the number one building block for the way the team play at the minute.
 
#25 ·
ronaldo's absence is obviously noticeable as we cant seem to produce and end product and ronaldo is the one to do that for united at the moment. also it seems that when we get into the attacking third there is just no flare, tevez is working so hard to get the ball and is pushed deeper and wider leaving rooney in the middle by himself or with someone like fletcher and although fletcher has scored twice in 3 games he is not a striker. as for rooney he is just in a bad way and needs ronaldo to play with him, they gel together!
 
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