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

Syed is right.

 

Nope, completely agree w/ Syed. This is something I've said before. From day one at United Nani was a better decision maker and had more end product to his game than Ronaldo when he first arrived.

 

Ronaldo was 18, Nani was 20. And there's not much use in Nani being better than Ronaldo on day one if Ronaldo has shown an upwards curve in his development while Nani has flatlined and shown no real improvement yet.

 

Better decision-maker? Are you having a laugh? Ronaldo wasn't any good at 18 but Nani isn't any better at 21.
Nani has more end product than a 18-year old Ronaldo but Ronaldo had already shown way more potential upside even then with his ability to get into goal-scoring(assissting) positions which he used to invariably chuff.
That Ronaldo would end up as one of the more physically gifted players of his generation (with his pace, acceleration, height, ambidextrity and determination to actually make the most of them) was crystal clear too.
His intelligence number *copyright DS* even then was a 6 or a 7 and you could see that improving all the time.
Add all those things up and you could see that as his composure improved (and you knew it would since he always appeared to be a very determined kid), he would grow into a very special player.

 

I don't recall Ronaldo showing a straight upward curve from day one though. His first couple of seasons at United were very stop-start. IIRC, Ronaldo also tended to get longer runs of matches than Nani is getting right now.

 

Exactly. I think Nani hasn't really quite gotten a fair chance yet. He showed alot of promise last season, yet this year he's been given even fewer chances, and has practically become a cup specialist. How is he supposed to develop his game on the bench all the time? There was some idiot at the bar on Sunday who was talking about letting Nani go because he'd achieved all he could - that's a load of toss. With our team/manager not even knowing what our best formation is, and Park being more efficient this year, Nani unfortunately wasn't going to get a real sniff at regular ball. Out of our front 6, 2 will always be CMs (including Giggs now) and 3 are Rooney, Ronaldo, and Berbs/Tevez - leaving 1 spot. That spot's regularly gone to Park this season, and Nani's progression has therefore been halted.

 

Re: Ronaldo

We really have to bring that kid Luis to our club, he'd be an absolute legend

 

Re: Ronaldo

So....if we go hunt in the archives, is there a minimum of 1 thread for every single Utd player where some BS poster solemnly declares, "Player X is the worst player EVER!!"?

My favorite part of this thread is all the well-intentioned people who say, "He's only 18. We should wait a few years before declaring him a flop." Ya think?????

As far as Nani goes, he looked pretty good on Saturday. Face it, he's picked a hard team to play wing for...I guess he could move to Barcelona and take a shot at trying to beat out Messi for his starting spot...but other than that, choosing a team where he's compared constantly to Ryan Giggs and Ronaldo isn't the easiest job description.

 

I know what their ages are/were. That may have a great deal to their developmental curve and what they are/become in time, but that has nothing to do with my assessment. Joel was the one who started pimping Nani on here and he said it straight away, Nani was more developed than Ronaldo when he came to us. That much is relatively obvious to the keen observer. No part of my post stated that Nani would be better than Ronaldo. I stated that Nani when he arrived at United was better than Ronaldo when he arrived at United. These players have varied development curves. Nani seems to me to be the kind of player for whom things were relatively easy coming the ranks and only through prolonged failure, he will better himself. He's not hit that level yet and may not until he starts to lose a step, or is challenged by his manager/teammates.

I'm not sure you either understand my point or understand the concept.

Ronaldo at 18 managed a goal or an assist through sheer ability and talent but he operated completely outside the realm of the team. I'm not certain but his first season may have yielded 5 goals, perhaps 7 or 9. I think it was an odd number anyway. Ronaldo drove Ruud to frustration because he would NEVER do what was expected and he didn't track back or play within the scheme of the team. When Ronaldo created something it was because he broke down the defence and scored OR passed. It wasn't part of a team move.


Now I'm not comparing potential and I never stated that so get off that horse if you can.

Nani upon his arrival made inconsistent decisions, but he has shown both the capability to break down a defence with a bit of individual brilliance but he can also run into the right place at the right time and hit the first time cross or take it to the byline and cut it back. Nani's decision making may well be all over the place, but he still understands what his role is. For me, we see with Nani a choice to go it alone vs working within the scheme of the team. Ronaldo in his first 3 or 4 years was all about getting the ball and dribbling into a crowd of players. Sometimes it worked and it was brilliant, other times he failed miserably. On the rare occasions he didn't dribble into a wall of men he'd do 2 or 3 step overs and then play a square ball, sometimes underweighting a 5 yard pass, such was his disdain for passing.

You can't class Ronaldo @ when he first came with Nani when he first came - Nani whilst frustrating to us, has really delivered in a key way already, despite not being given the run of matches that Ronaldo has. Also, we hold Nani (rightly or wrongly, consciously or unknowingly) to a higher standard simply because the last Portuguese winger with fancy footwork to be purchased was Ronaldo. With Ronnie many of us, myself included were happy to get a winger who could dribble, score 5-15 goals a season and get 5 or so assists from the "wing" spot. Many of us hoped he'd get it together and become a better crosser, but I think it would be fair to say that we'd have taken the current Nani if we were told that's what Ronaldo would turn into. The boy has simply come on leaps and bounds every year since his 2nd season.

 

Ronaldo sucks, not worth the money.

 

Ronaldo got a lot more playing time than Nani does now. Upon Ronaldo's arrival Beckham had just left and Solskjaer was injured. Upon Nani's arrival he had Giggs, Park and Ronaldo all playing in his favoured position and Rooney can play wide as well. The lad, while he's not the same player, never had the same chance. Taking into account the amount of chances he's had, he's coming along nicely I think.

 

Like Sir Alex would say I always knew the quality of the boy. Chomp Chomp!