Jun 11
Playing Devil’s Advocate on Ronaldo
By that, I mean Ronaldo’s advocate. I don’t view him as the Devil, but some of you do so I thought you’d like the connection.
A lot has been written on this blog alone over the last couple of weeks about the Ronaldo situation, culminating in Red Ranter’s superbly passionate piece. I have stayed out of it in the comments, firstly because of the lack of hard news on the subject and secondly because of the level of emotion running through. In the midst of it all, I don’t think anyone was prepared to step back and think it through more fully.
Maybe you’re still not, and I expect, if not flaming, then some strong contradictory opinions to this post. But what I’m going to do is explain why the Real move is good for Ronaldo, and point out some silver linings for us. Then, just to maximise the controversy, I’m going to give a super-long-term view of the situation that most of you will hate but which I think we should hope for despite ourselves.
The Case for the Move
We have established, I think, that Ronaldo’s first priority is Ronaldo. I also think we always knew that was the case, even if we tried to ignore it. So here are the arguments for why Ronaldo should join Madrid:
1. Last season was the peak. Last season, as we all know, CR scored 42 goals, won every award going, and we won the PL and the CL. Hard to see how it can get much better than that. Say next season Ronaldo scored 25 goals and we win the Premier League but lose in the semis of the CL. Good season, not great. But a huge comedown for CR – and you all know how much the English media love to tear down someone they have built up. Start a line of questions with “was 07/08 a flash in the pan”, and you’ll get the idea.
2. The referees. Referees in England have a permanent downer on Ronaldo. There’s no two ways about that – there will always be four or five blatant free-kicks or penalties a game which are not given to him because of his reputation. Massively frustrating for the fans to watch, but even more so for the player himself. In England, more than in any other league in the world, diving is hated and physicality is applauded and encouraged. It is quite the reverse in Spain, where diving is seen as “cleverness” and players are protected by officials from roughhousing tactics.
3. The playing conditions. Similar to the point above, but in Spain Ronaldo will rarely find a man up his arse whenever he receives the ball. Nor will that many wingers track back to double up on CR with their full back. Far more often than in England, he will have time to take a touch and turn, and when he does that he doesn’t often need support. Also, no winter away games at Blackburn on a mudbath pitch – weather/pitch conditions will favour CR’s game far more often than here.
4. The hero worship. We love (or loved) Ronaldo. We thought he was superb, and adored having him play for us. But nobody at United is bigger than the team – nobody has been allowed to be whilst Fergie is around. You can tell that CR wants the hero worship, the iconic status, the unreconstructed worship from everyone. He will never get that at United, because the adoration has to be spread round a lot of players. Madrid are buying him to be bigger than the team, to be their brand leader – and nobody’s going to be allowed to say a bad word about the most expensive player ever in the world.
5. The money. Say no more. It’s a factor, and love for United (I don’t doubt that he has lots of this, by the way), when balanced against his desire to play for Real, isn’t worth £100k a week after tax to him plus increased endorsements to him.
[End Devil's Advocate mode.] Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the situation any more than the rest of you. The thought of the team running out in August without our number 7 leaves me feeling empty inside. But I understand why it makes sense to him, and that makes me not hate him.
Yep, sorry – I don’t hate him. Can’t – I love watching wingers more than any other type of player (Giggs, Sharpe and Kanchelskis all rate at the top of my list of players I enjoyed watching), and in Ronaldo I’ve had the chance to watch possibly the best there’s ever been in my team’s colours for five years. I loved watching him even when he was mind-blowingly frustrating. I’m just unspeakably disappointed about the situation.
The chasing pack
I’m not going to try to pretend that it can be a good thing if Ronaldo goes. It can’t, and it isn’t. One big factor in damage limitation is getting another year out of Ronaldo to give our youngsters a chance to come through and the management a genuine chance to plan for life without him.
But even if he goes straight away, I don’t think it’s as bad as all that in terms of winning things. Not because we’re going to have £x million to spend on great players, but because you have to look at where the chasing pack is.
Arsenal — have already lost Flamini, will almost certainly lose Hleb and may lose Adebayor. Will not sign any proven, top class talent.
Chelski — will almost certainly lose Drogba, will probably lose Anelka and are going to have all their best players (other than Ballack) relentlessly linked to Mourinho at Inter, probably with good reason. Will bring in expensive and high profile replacements, but you need a coach as good as Mourinho to bind them into a top class side, and given Abramovich’s shoddy treatment of JM and then Grant, they’re not going to get anyone good enough.
Liverpool — may not lose any big players, but they only have two to start with. Clearly have to sell to buy big (especially with their owners in crisis), and are overvaluing their players as a result. £10m for Scott Carson? £15m for Peter Crouch? Don’t be silly. Most high profile signing could be…Gareth Barry.
Barca — likely to have another season in transition with a new coach and some big players leaving.
AC Milan — didn’t qualify for the Champions League.
Inter Milan — who knows what Jose can do? Dark horse for the CL.
Real Madrid — could only be strengthened by Ronaldo, but still likely to underachieve in Europe.
Bayern Munich — wouldn’t dare comment with some knowledgeable Bayern fans around, perhaps they could give us a short assessment of Bayern’s chances next year in Europe.
I could go on. But we have some great players who are likely to get better next year, and as the best side in Europe we can attract exceptional players for whatever money we have to spend. We will go backwards with Ronaldo gone, but no further backwards than anyone else we are competing with.
I want him back again
Here, just to give you one last thing to chew on, is something I haven’t seen anywhere in the comments but I really believe. If he goes to Real, there’s a good chance it will go wrong for him for all the reasons RR mentioned on Saturday. And if that happens, I want him to come straight back to us, having fulfilled his boyhood dream and realised it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Reach back into your memories, and remember Mark Hughes – it can be like that.
By mixing hope and reality, I would like CR to play one more season for us, then go to Real whilst he’s still worth gigabucks, underachieve there for 2 seasons and then come back to aid the post-Fergie rebuilding process. As I said, I can’t hate him, and I don’t want to. We can fall out with Madrid, but let’s not fall out with Cristiano too.
I’ll be active in this comments thread, and then I too am going to shut up about Ronaldo until further hard evidence emerges.
[Editor's note: On a related note, the Sun is reporting that they have uncovered "shocking", "exclusive" snaps of Ronaldo meeting ex-United and current Madrid fitness coach Walter di Salvo while holidaying in Rome. A closer look will however indicate that it happened in January. So unless it was Calderon or someone big, and the fact that it was the Sun, I wouldn't buy into this. Although expect this news to blow up and run in all papers. Of course, if some truth does come out of this and it's not a chance meeting then you know what reaction to expect from me. - RR]
Related items from Red Rants:
- Roy Keane sings a song for Ronaldo
- Ronaldo: I like to know what’s happening at Old Trafford
- Rooney Ready For Big Year
- Ronaldo is really two humans in one body
- Breaking News: United accept 80m Ronaldo bid
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
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I used to believe all the hate filled ronaldo comments and thought we should let him go. But the fact remains that was and is our best player. Rio was right when he said that Fergie has got a team together that can win alot, but they have to saty together. Ronaldo leaving would add another year to this. I wouldnt let him go unless he rebels. Also, even if he is forcefully kept, i dont see him underperforming on purpose. He is too proud a player on the field to do that.
Also, all the squads that you have mentioned who are losing players is all the more reason to keep him. We might just be invincible next season.
He may not repeat what he did last season but what he brings to the squad is alot. This squad is a top notch finisher and an ACM away from being complete
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We don’t even have to look as far back as Sparky. Even Carlos Queiroz came back to United.
But if Ronaldo’s heart is not in it, like some Argentine who now plays in white, it’s just best to just forget about him.
Knowing the way drama surrounds United, we’ll face Real in the Champions League next season and prove decisively his ever more likely move to Real will be for nought.
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I’m sure Ronaldo’s opinion is that he is happy to stay but if Utd want to sell he will be happy to go. I can’t help thinking his value is peaking right now so it’s perhaps a good time to sell, especially if he has a cracking Euro 2008. It’s just a shame that Fergie has built a great young side which should get better in the next 2-3 seasons and Ronaldo wants to jump ship.
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Well put Penguin, for me the only feeling we should have as United fan’s is dissapointment that he doesn’t actually want to stay and become the legend he has mentioned in the past. That was always the ‘dream’ for us – a team that grew together, based on Rooney/Ronaldo that would become a dominant force for years. A team that showed togetherness, loyalty and spirit. A sum greater than its parts and all that.
And he has gone and ruined that dream. I think that’s the reason people are so bitter. There are very, very few clubs that could even have that dream. I would argue only United in England could do it, Barca and Real in Spain, maybe Bayern in Germany and the big 3 in italy could hope to achieve that. This is because these clubs are viewed as the pinnacle of the sport. The kind of club you don’t leave until you’re asked to. Where you feel proud and lucky to be playing where you are, where you never wish of some club calling and asking you to join them. For most players, United is a club like that. Certainly Ferdinand, Rooney, Ruud, Schmeicel are examples of world class talents who felt like United was home. Ronaldo just has a view that he has one more step to go. So let him walk off of it. It shouldn’t worry us.
The real question is who/what do we do to replace him. The biggest problem is that our squad is quality at the moment, and changing to many faces would probably disrupt it more than help it. I don’t have an answer. I hope Fergie does.
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Yes, there are reasons for him to want to leave, but there are also several for him to want to stay:
He’s at the club that made him, who he is today, and he just signed a new contract a year ago, so it’s not like he doesn’t want to be here. He still loves United.
Real Madrid will probably take him anytime, so he could play a couple more years here and then move on to fullfil his childhood dream.
He’s at the best team in the world, which is still young. At Real he would be part of a team of aging stars and no real young talent. Obviously that’s not entirely true, because they have players like Robben (constantly injured), Robinho (not developing), Sneijder (great player in the making), Ramos (great young player), Pepe (great young player), and obviously Casillas and a bunch of youngsters from Argentina that no one really knows the potential of (personally I don’t rate them). But their star players are Raul (turns 31 in June), Rvn (32 in July), Cannavaro (35 in September), Heinze (just 30), Guti (32 in October), and they’re all deteriorating slowly. Obviously Ronaldo would be good for this team, but the overall talent for the future is just not there.
The way I see it, there’s a really good chance that Ronaldo will stay, until SAF quits, because he knows how much SAF has meant in his progression. At that time, Real’s team may look better suited for the future, and then he’d leave for a team with much bigger possibility of winning trophees (which is also very important to him), and Ronaldo would still have a lot of good years left in him.
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Top article! Many of my feelings towards the matter are evident in what you’ve written. Like you I feel ‘unspeakably disappointed about the situation’ and I can’t/won’t hate the player either. I must say that we must ultimately respect his decision and I do believe that when he does leave, he will be back playing for United in the not to distant future.
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Simple solution :
Sell C. Ronaldo ! Bring us Kaka, and we’ll win CL again !
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@Tomas – I think you contradicted yourself slightly. Yes, CR could go anytime, but he will want to go when he thinks he has a chance of winning things. In 2 years, many of the players you mention could be on the way out and Real could be facing another spell in the wilderness. He wants to go there and be successful, not do a Beckham.
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The fact that his mum and brother have come out and said he wants to move, and he hasn’t denied these statements, means , yes, he does want the move (This wasn’t totally clear at the beginning of all this nonsense). He even said as much himself.
So in my mind nothing can ever be the same again, if he stays there will be a horrible feeling amongst fans and probably his team mates too. Bad news for team harmony.
If he leaves, it messes the team up, so what’s to be done?
If he says he’s sorry(stop laughing
)and says he really wants to play for United, he can stay, all is forgiven. But honestly, I think he needs to go…so he gets what he wants, Real get what they want.
Now this is were strategy needs to come into it, something United are not renowned for…Teach those #uckers a lesson (I blame Madrid and his family more than Ronaldo, he’s still immature), a message to anyone else who wants to act on a selfish and stupid whim, everyone love(d)(s) the guy, he’s with the best team in Europe, he’s with a legendary manager! It’s sick!!
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(Just posted this elsewhere so I can cut&paste)
Can’t believe the fuss being made of this Ronaldo business. Jeez, it’s pretty obvious what’s going on. HE JUST WANTS A PAY RISE!! He’s had a good season, lauded as the word’s No.1 and wants a salary commensurate with his status (he currently earns less than fellow penalty-bottler JT of Chelsea). Fair enough I say. Roy Keane and others have had to hold the club to ransom to get their way, and I expect CR to succeed in his quest. The fact that Real are (stupidly) forcing up United’s wage bill is what’s really irritating the OT suits. They’ll cave into Ronaldo’s demands, though. They’ll have to. There’s no way they’ll let CR leave, especially not to RM. Don’t believe this “my heart is in Spain” nonsense peddled by Marca. The lad’s a smart operator, he’s a red, and he’ll be with us for a while yet. Get your house on it.
And stop slagging him off!
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I really don’t care whether he goes or not. As far as I’m concerned a player who thinks he’s bigger than the club should be thrown out whatsoever. We did it with Beckham. At that I thought it was a stupid decision. But it hadn’t done any bad to our club.
What more important if he leaves is what we will use the money from it. It looks like £75m and it can be used to sign some decent replacement(s). That’s all.
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Penguin – I did write that Real’s team in a couple of years “may” look better suited for the future. In that “may” lies the premise of him moving, so I don’t know, if it’s a contradiction per se.
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I may get hounded off the site for this, but was anyone else hugely unimpressed with Sergio Ramos? He let defenders last like he wanted to, his passing was inaccurate and lazy, and where was his famed attacking prowess?
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great article, its nice to hear something that isn’t “that bastard sellout wanker etc” a nice realistic approach, sure if we sell him we should receive an insane amount of money, but as Mr Gill has stated on several occasions he [Ronaldo] is priceless. if he does go, i believe that it will be a case of severe decline in form, the money will take over, he’ll put on weight and will just be another burnt out has been thanks to the money making machine that is Real, yes some may say that we arn’t so different in terms of selling shirts etc, but at least we are sensible enough that it is stupid to offer the galaxy to a player just in order to get him to sign on the dotted line, a good example being Aaron Ramsey, must admit i was disappointed that he didn’t sign, and Fergie is probably also, but at the end of the day, we move on, and the most important point is the success of the team not of individuals, no matter how much they contribute, and Fergie makes sure his players know this… i seem to have gone of the point a bit here but.. i would like him to stay, but he needs to realize that the heights that Real are claiming are just impossible to achieve, especially when they have a side that is full of superstar ego’s. they could do with a couple of John O’Shea’s and a Gary Neville,
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I think he has been trapped in some back door drama. He has a dream to play for Real and he know that United is not going to sell him. He is happy at United with his friends Nani,Anderson,Rooney etc. But when Real came knocking at the door again and again, he dont want to displease the Madridstas by saying “NO , I STAY”…because he thinks (or might have been advised..c’on he is still a kid….. 23 i guess) that an outright no to Madrid might hinder a possible transfer to Real in future….
He have no intention of hurting United fans/manager or his friends here but he always thinks he has a dream to fulfill..The real problem is that his agent and Real are making use of the situation here…They want to unsettle the player as well as United so that they can pluck him out of OT and plant him in Bernabeu at this young age.
..and who knows Calderon may not be thinking all these…He might be doing all these to make sure that he gets voted as the RM president next term too…Football is managed in a very different way out there i feel..
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Interesting, Ronaldo holding united to ransom. The thought of it makes me laugh. Like him as much as you do he is going. ’bout time we turned the focus on carrick rooney and the other loayal boys. This guys if given the same amount of attention given to Ronaldo, we will not miss him. Guys let him go. Just let him go. We will still win stuffs. It does not matter who plays.
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we should stick with ronaldo for as long as we can then when he goes get messi young and like a 2nd ronaldo, kaka good but we already have lots of centre mids if we sell ronaldo for £70 mil this would be my team. subs: foster,garay,andy,nani,huntelaar
vds
richards fer vid evra
messi carrick hargr ribery
rooney tevez
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Who cares about Ronaldo any more;;If its about the money then i say we ask THE MADRISTAS about
150 mil quid coz i saw this report in the Sun i guess that The MADISTAS could make half a bilion
pounds of him; like T-shirt sales,etc…So lets ask for more why the hell should we give them bloody
freebies..
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Penguin your articles are always thoroughly enjoyable!
Especially since they almost always controversial and you always bring up unique points.
I totally agree with you. I for one will never hate Ronaldo, especially whilst he is still playing for us.
Interesting point about Him returning to us if things go bad… Never considered that, personaly I would welcome Him with open arms.
I think the sooner we know whether He is staying or leaving, the better. Atleast that way we could begin our rebuilding and also know to what extent it is needed.
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Moya – I think it’s a little over the top saying that we will have to rebuild, if Ronaldo leaves. He’s still just one player, and SAF has spent 4 years building this whole team. It’s not like there’s nothing left, if he leaves. Yes we’ll have to find a replacement for him, but that could be done by slugging out £30 mil. The foundation of a great team would certainly still be there, even if he left.
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mufc fan, I’m not sure with 70 million quid from Ronaldo’s sale would bring us Richards, Ribery, Messi and Huntelaar. Dream on! And Huntelaar’s on your bench. Sign a target man for 20+ million quid and put him on the bench?
The Madristas have a desperate president hell-bent to get Ronaldo. Well, we have Gill and Fergie hell-bent to keep him.
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With all due respect, I really don’t think Bayern Munich could compete with us or any of Europe’s elite for the time being atleast.
Last season they were playing in the UEFA Cup and there is a big gulf between that and the Champions League. Also the caught a brilliant whacking at at home against Zenit!
(Whom I think we gonna comfortably dispose of in the Super Cup!)
Bayern just aren’t what they use to be…
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Penguin; Interesting article and I suppose somebody had to play the Devil’s advocate. I disagree with your comment that Ronaldo may reached his peak. He is still incredibly young and I honestly don’ think he will reach his peak for 3 to 4 more years. Many thought he reached his peak last year when he scored what was then considered and incredible 24 goals. 42 is insane but he is capable of it again because of the nature in which he is used. Realistically I do not see him coming close to that total, especially if he is surrounded by quality strikers. But he has room to develop more and become a better overall player. A better passer, crosser and even better in tracking back and tackling. All these things matter.
As for other teams losing players, they are all making major noise about signing big names and some have already begun. None of them are just going to lose players. They are recycling and they are doing so by spending cash. United on the other hand has been very quiet and they have already missed out on a couple of their major targets. Of all the teams you mentioned the two that look the best for the CL are Inter and Bayern. Inter will do very well because Mourinho will deem it so. He’s just that good as a manager. It took him no time at all to mold the new Chelsea into a powerful team. As for Bayern, they look very good and it appears they have the upper hand on signing Mario Gomez too. Borowski, Gomez and possibly even Hleb only make this already powerful team that much better. And they will play a faster more free flowing game than last year because Klinsmann is now in charge. His attitude and enthusiasm is contagious and I think the team will not have lapses in focus like they had against Zenit.
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Tomas
My mistake with the choice of words!
Didn’t mean “rebuilding” from scratch.
But also we have to remember what a huge impact He has had in the last 2 seasons. Ronaldo is an integral part of our team, if not the main player at the moment.
It is difficult picking 1 player to compensate for Him though hey.
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OH YEAH RONALDO’S PLAYING LIKE SHITE TONIGHT…SEEMS LIKE Fergie’s cast a spell over that twit..
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Damn Huntelaar wants to move to Real! Faggot! Goal.com front page!
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maroon 14 spoke to soon!!! great goal but i’m not sure what to feel
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A real big question comes into frame now….Ramsey snubs United…Benzema wants Real madrid move…Huntellar lookin forward to Madrid moved…Gomez being tracked down by Barcelona…
Why no one wants to join Manchester United – with consecutive league titles and being the current European champions?…Any comments?
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Yup spoke too soon anyways nothin seems to going right for me nowadays!!!
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SHYAM: I dont fukin have a clue why this is happening ,few years back when Barca had Ronaldinho
and that excellent team of theirs i thought if we could maybe win in Europe then probably we would attract everyone
but Looks like the Grass is Always Greener on the OTHER SIDE….
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Excellent article, but I still think we should just refuse to sell him. If Madrid get him when it was obvious we didn’t want to sell then they will have proved they are a bigger club than us. As if it is just natural for all the best players in the world to play for Madrid. Two years time, when Ronaldo will have only two years left on his contract, then we sell because *we* want to.
I hate to say anything good about the Glazers but they seem to understand this. We won’t be able to attract other big players if we can’t hold onto the best ones we have. We want to be the biggest club in the world, not a highly profitable academy for others (we’re not Arsenal!)
Anyway can anyone answer me this. Why did Ronaldo sign a five year contract last year if he wants to go to Madrid so soon. Is he just stupid? Or is this all a negotiating tactic for more money that’s got out of hand?
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shyam, maroon and all
its quite easy to understand why there is no transfer business with respect to us. SAF will only go for top players (is there a need for squad players in the positions we are looking for???) and all of them are playing Euros. Whatever you are hearing about Benzema and Huntelaar and Ronaldo and others is pure tabloid speculation. All these guys are too focussed on the most important thing for them at the moment and that is Euro 08 (as their futures are already very well settled at their clubs… they are not in a hurry to move anywhere) Actual transfer business will start once euros are over (and that is also very conviniently when boss is also back from his vacation!)
Pls be bit more patient as no players come just by being linked to u! Nobody is moving till euros are over (not the big ones).
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well ronaldo had a great game and i thought that third goal was fantastic, how ronaldo simply squared it to quaresma instead of going for the glory
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Yup, even I thought Ronaldo had a great game, except for a few wayward passes. Just a glimpse of what we’ll be missing if he is to go to Spain.
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I’m worried by the lack of interest in joining Man United. Huntelaar is the only one I can think of that says he wants to join us. God only knows why we haven’t signed him yet…..
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@Grognard – I don’t think he’s peaked per se, all I was saying is that it is going to be really hard for him to have as good a season as he has just had. A downturn of any sort wouldn’t be good for the CR7 image, whereas at Real he would be starting afresh and there would be much less frame for comparison.
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please buy quaresma as a replacement for giggs. If ronaldo does leave, having nani and quaresma on the wings would be lethal.
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damn it, scolari manager of chelsea, and as a brasil fan, i must tell you, that is a massive, massive signing for chelsea, they can now play with their heads and great football to boot, chelsea will never be the same again, he was the one i wanted for the united job once fergie steps down, now hes at chelsea, my dream is ruined, grrrrrrrr, feckin chavs
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Chelsea have just appointed luis filliipe scolari as their new manager (that is quite worrying)
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Mr.Muzhoi:: Chill Dude The BPL is totally a different ball Game altogether;;HE is going to find
all the mind games Alex And Arsene play too much too handle…
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No need to worry Guys Mr.Abramovich will screw this one as well…Its Abramovich who is runnung
chelsea so Guys let’s just enjoy another season of High Drama At the Bridge…However we should be really worried
about the lack of high profile names not wanting to join United..ex,Benzema,now that Huntelaar is joining
MADRISTAS and Bosingwa signing for Chelscum plus Barca Getting Alves I really Am Beginning to worry wether
we would have a Decent player signing for us this year…
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Eeh?? Intersting view of why United couldn’t sign Ramsey…
And the dutch contigent at Madrid + the usual battering ram that is Marca make it that Real are now favorites to sign Huntelaar…
Damn! Are we going to sign any renowned player this summer?
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Scolari you’re suiciding your reputation! Oh no maybe Ronaldo will go to Chelsea =X lol.
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YES!!! Turkey won! Oh…can’t believe it. We actually came back in the second half. Thank you Semih, Thank you Arda, Thank you Volkan. Now we can go through by beating the Czechs, but don’t know what will happen if it’s a draw because Turkey and Czech Rep. have same goal difference…
I don’t know about all of you, but I was really rooting for Portugal and thus Ronaldo against Czech Rep. because it would leave us in a good position to leave the group with Portugal. I especially wanted a big win (which was the case: 3-1 and -2 for Czech Rep.) to tie or better the goal difference, and now it’s -1 for both…
So, can’t wait for Sunday.
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Grognard – you don’t know for sure, if we’ve missed out on any players (yes Ramsey, but I don’t rate him in this debate), since none of us knows for sure, who we’re after, or who we’ve had on our radar.
I’m not that worried about lack of transfers, but if 2 weeks passes after the Euros and we still haven’t signed anyone, I’ll start to get there.
Johnsom33 – I really would hate it, if we signed Quaresma. He’s the most overrated player these days imo. You would be immensely disappointed, if you saw him play in the red shirt. Yes he scored a goal today, and a forward will do that on occasion, but he surely isn’t the sollution to any sort of problem for United imo.
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Anyway, back to the article and the Ronaldo saga: agree with you Penguin about not hating him. It is a very very harsh and complicated situation for all of us, and some will show sorrow or nonchalance while others will resort to anger or ranting.
In terms of specifics, I am too hyped up about Turkey and Euro to think about it all right now.
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ronny and the whole portugal team were diving way too much for me today and when ronny was lying on the ground raising his hands to the ref in the cl final with evryone else was attacking the goal i was screaming at him like he was a little kid. if he were in that attacking run we might have gotten something out of it and not needed pens where he fd up.
i love the way he plays i just wish he would leave the diving routine behind. and if you do dive and dont get a call get the f up and play ball dont cry while the match is still on and your team need you.
cr is the best and we will miss him. im not pissed at the rumor mill and his responses i think he intends to stay but wants to express his desire to “one day play for rm” and he wants to leave that door open. but if we could get the right players for the $ he will bring. lets do it. if we cant get our targets then keep him.
btw what the f is soo cool about rm I can see barca they are on the beach but seriously.
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If Real are so desperate to get their hands on Ronaldo, why don’t we completely rip them off? Maybe a swap deal where Ramos comes to OT along with 75M if possible? Then we can go out and fill the hole with some other young winger. I’m sure CQ would have no problem finding one in either Portugal or Brazil.
The problem, however that has not been considered is the effect a Ronaldo exit would have on Nani and Anderson. Any thoughts?
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BCsteve i think that Nani will kick and scream until we sell him which we will (for a tidy profit) however Anderson i firmly believe will stay at OT for a large chunk of his career. Nani seems to be a lot more cocky and vocal than anderson.
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Post#10 by Seasider is right:
Like every other player who wants to negotiate a pay rise, CR is ‘flirting’ with another team to achieve this. It happens all the time, in fact it happens in a number of sports. There has been, and will continue to be, a number of fabricated quotes and ‘insider’ information – but the only time I’ve seen Ronaldo, in the flesh, make a comment about his future was after the Champions League final when he said “I stay”. This shit was worse post-World Cup, when he actually said he was leaving, but Sir Alex negotiated his way out of that and we loved Ronaldo come the start of the season. I’m predicting the end result will be a mammoth pay rise for Ronaldo, and we’ll secure his services for another year or two and happily say goodbye. He’s a good lad, probably a touch ego-maniacal, but from his demeanour when I actually see him speak he’s okay. And you know what, give him the flipping pay rise too! He’s totally justified in asking for at least parity with John Terry!
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