Is it just me, or is Cristiano Ronaldo the poorest Man Utd signing for years?

Oh, oh! One more name... Karol (sp?) Poborsky!

 

Well, Ronaldo looked like every penny of 12m today, and he's only likely to improve.

Created plenty of chances... not only drove past Rangers defenders, but delivered the ball in dangerous positions, too.

 

funny thread

 

Re: can everyone on here read?

All I'll say to this is, would you have spent 10 mil on a young Ryan Giggs - even if he was inexperienced and untested at the time?

I'm not saying that he will be "the next Ryan Giggs", but very few players have that potential, and I think that with other clubs targetting the kid, we were smart to buy him when we did - even if it was a bit on the expensive side. Besides, after the sale of Veron and Becks, we had a transfer cash surplus to more than cover it. Plus, we have some left for the January window.

You couldn't buy 3 or 4 players that could replace Keano, Ruud, Giggs, and Scholes and not expect a drop off, no matter who you are. (except maybe the bottomless coffers of Chelski)

Finally, I can understand some being worried about our lack of depth at the moment, but with Fletcher, Ronaldo, and Kleberson able to come in and do the job we are asking of them, I'm not entirely convinced we are that light at the moment.

 

He did not look good at all... nothing special, he made some horrid passes. I want to see him do well, but he did not do anything right that I recall.

 

Re: can everyone on here read?

Can't do the basics? Like what? Running at a blistering pace, first time passes, excellent, excellent crosses, and beating defenders one on one 3 out of 5 times? Or maybe kicking free kicks, because although he's only netted one, he has had several good kicks that either tested the keeper or found a player in the box.

You think he cost too much, that's reasonable, if he did not play this season much. Since however, he has played and started quite a few games and has been one of our top 6 performers of the seaon and he will only get better, then I think you are mistaken.

We lack depth do we? Ok lose Gunnar and Scholes, replace Becks and Veron and currently in 3rd place in EPL. Yeah, we have no depth whatsoever. We might not be as deep as Chelsea, but we have depth.

Also note that Fortune is a midfielder and could be playing there if not for the various injuries we've had to our defense.

 

I don't believe anyone has mentioned.....Taibi.

Now that was the worst signing made by Fergie.
As for Ronaldo, Kleberson, DJDJ, a lot of you are jumping the gun. It's only early November of their first season. Ronaldo and DJDJ have scored already and are improving. Even Forlan appears to be more settled this year.

 

No one has mentioned Bosnich either. Does anyone know how much they paid for Bosnich and how much was paid for Taibi?

 

I can't believe these guys have posters... LOL!

 

IIRC, we signed Taibi, he was unrealistically crap, so we signed Bosnich to cover us for the season, and the next year we got Barthez? Don't mock our goalie buys though, Roy Carroll, Tim Howard and of course the Great Dane himself have been great buys.

 

Don't worry... I wasn't mocking the goalie buys as a whole, I was just pointing out that I think those two goalies are among the worst signings for United in recent years. Much worse than those mentioned in the post that started this thread. The whole post-Schmeichel period was troubling for a while there to say the least. I think United recovered well once they got Barthez between the sticks. I even think Van Der Gouw put in better performances than those two.

 

Ronaldo just may prove to be the best signing in years. It's still early in the game, and you can clearly see that he has the pace, intelligence, not to mention his skillful dribbling, to be a star in the Premiership. If he can prove to handle the pressure and play like he did against Rangers on a consistant basis, he is star material.

He was the most dangerous player on the pitch againt the Rangers and was constant threat. He knifed through those lads like a hot knife through butter.

 

Re: can everyone on here read?

It MUST, must it?

Why? You offer no logic. Only a vague statement premised on the incorrect belief that Man Utd and Real Madrid handle their apparrel contracts in exactly the same way.

Man Utd has a 10 year contract with Nike with very limited, almost impossible to achieve, performance related bonuses.

They're guaranteed their contract. No matter how many shirts are sold (although I'm sure there are good faith clauses, etc)

Let me put it plainly: afaik, if Man Utd didn't sell a single shirt for the next few years, their revenue from that channel would not change.

Sort of the beauty of 10 year contracts that aren't significantly performance related. Perhaps Madrid has a different contract - I don't really care about their finances.

Also, please answer my charge of trolling. Is it sound argument to forward one clubs worst signings, then compare them to other clubs best signings, in order to demonstrate the poor purchasing of one club?

Unless you wish to defend this tactic as logical, I want you to answer:

A. Are you a troll?

or

B. Are you irrational?

Has to be A or B... but I want to know which.

 

Re: Re: can everyone on here read?

Now that is what i call a web gem... A serious candidate for post of the month.

 

Re: Re: can everyone on here read?

Hell, I might be completely off base here, but I think he's actually "C" a giraffe, which according to Websters is:
1 : or pl giraffe : a large fleet African ruminant mammal (Giraffa camelopardalis) that is the tallest of living quadrupeds and has a very long neck and a short coat with dark blotches separated by pale lines

 

Oh, the ultimate fallback of all poor arguments... "in my opinion."

In my opinion, the sky is neon green. In my opinion, pigs can fly. In my opinion, Ronald Reagan is Satan (well, I really do think that... but that's another matter entirely ).

And incidentally, you ignored the logic trap. If you want to convince us all that you're not a troll... explain to us why you're comparing Utd's worst signings to other clubs' best signings.

Judging from the fact that you're ignoring my trap, rather than defending your initial argument... it seems like you're a troll.

 

Though I wouldn't call C.Ronaldo a poor signing, I do feel the media is throwing way too many expectations onto the kid. He's a delight to watch but if he continues to play in midfield then I feel he'll need to really work on tackling more in addition to developing his physique. I swear every time I see him in a pregame lineup, I get the impression of Leonardo DiCaprio trying out for Russell Crowe's Gladiator role.

His pressing and physical game are practically nonexistent. This is one of the things that I like about the more aggressive young talents of Rooney and perhaps Tevez. Though Ronaldo does add more dribbling finesse to Man U's play (esp. since Giggs has maybe lost a step), his lack of effective pressing would really hurt against the likes of Real Madrid or even Chelsea (or basically any team with a strong midfield).

And whenever I see him play, I happen to think of the young Denilson in WC98 and how a quality defender like Thuram easily shut him down. It will be interesting to see a Man U-Milan CL matchup in the later stages. If he's able to dazzle Nesta, I'll come back to this board and gladly give him due praise.

 

You make some good, points, and of course the media has blown it out of proportion. However, there is no denying that for periods of time recently he was the most effective player on the pitch. That deserves praise, we heap praise on Ruud and Keane when they do it. We heap praise on CR when he does it, and we like it even more because he is still just 18 which means he has time to improve.

Yes he has to work on his tackling a bit, but to be fair he does track back well. There were several times during the game against Rangers when he either disposesed Arteta, contained him, or was marking him, deep in our half. Im not saying he is a great defender, but he knows it is needed and expected. However, as we play with Keane and another defensive minded midfielder until Scholes' return he can afford to do what he did occasionally against Rangers, burst down the wing and provide us with the counter, We had a few chances from the counter and they all came from the right side through him and Keane.

If there is anyone in the world able to dazzle Nesta, I don't know his name, there are perhaps a few who recall once or twice getting around him, but come on. The man is a wall. Also, everygood player will get shut down from time to time. Ruud had not scored in a long time. And its not like Denilson is a rubbish player is he! I don't think anyone on these boards has said Ronaldo is one of the best in the world and he is not, maybe one day but not yet. So our praise is justified i think.

 

Likewise.

 

Mr. Giraffe,

I think the reason why people are up in arms over this is that you use such definitive terms to evaluate something that I think the majority would agree, is something that cannot yet be fully evaluated. The kid is 18 years old. Only 18. This is his first season. He's played a handful of games. It is fair to say he MAY NOT be as good as he is made out to be just as it is fair to say he MAY be as good as he is made out to be (like many have suggested in this thread). No one expects Ronaldo to blow over the likes of Nesta this year. No one expected the kid to really play. The fact is he is playing, he is learning and he is still only 18. You make it sound like his career is about to end. I, and I think a lot of Man Utd fans, see this as just the beginning.

 

OK, so you can't call him a bad buy

Look at the game vs. Rangers, and then come back to me.

Beckhams on-pitch performance had been lacking for a good 2 seasons. He gave top quality crosses, but they didn't matter since ManU aren't very good in the air, and he gave quality free kicks. Outside thayt he couldn't defend, couldn't beat players, had little pace and lacked in diligence after a while. Solskjaer was more effective in the right-mid position at the end of last season, when he deposed Beckham of that spot as ManU went on one of the greatest runs of form (possibly the greatest) in Premiership history.

We've been over the whole shirt debacle already.

I'm no huge Agathe fan (but prefer hm to Sylla), but for 5,000 that was a great buy... then again look at some of their signings under Barnes. Larsson for 600K was laso an amazing buy, but look at some of ManU's best buys:
Eric Cantona - 1.2mn
Roy Keane - 3.7mn
Dennis Irwin - 600K (if my memory serves me correctly)
Peter Schmeichel - 500K
There you have 2 of the 3 best players in EPL history (Keane & Cantona - the other being Shearer), one of the most consistant fullbacks of all time (Irwin) and one of the greatest goalkeepers ever (Schmeichel) all for the grand total of... £6mn

Okocha is not a great player, and wouldn't hack it at ManU... he'd have people all over him for giving away too much of the ball and not being able to defend. The fact that he plays at Bolton means he can get away with those mistakes.

But, does this means that he is thus far just unproven? That goes against your whole argument.

 

Game, Set, and Match to Mr. Ireland. Six love, Six love, and Six love.