...as I sit here in my RVN shirt at work......that the RUUD you see on the pitch in 2006 is simply NOT the RUUD you saw in 02'-03'. Something has happened to that magic touch he had. As i reflect back to Fulham game in spring of 03' I think it was....The half field charge to score......It just seems like his first touch is so clumsy. How many times have you seen him get the ball somewhere in the box and it almost seems like he's tripping over the thing.
I see what you are saying here. It doesn't seem magnetically drawn to him like it used to. But he is still a fantastic striker, as his goal total this year shows. With Rooney creating and making plays, Ruud is still beneficial to us as a finisher. Rooney can do the running and the dribbling. I wouldn't sell Ruud unless I got way over what I thought his market value was, or had a chance to sign an A#1 midfielder with the cash.
He has never really had the cleanest of touches. He used to give away the ball similarly earlier in his career with us. I really dont think that Ruuds overall play is deteriorating. He has always seemed a little hurried in my opinion but that doesnt stop him from doing his thing. Maybe his age is starting to show? I dunno, but so long he is still scoring goals It doesnt bother me.
If Ruud can remain injury free for the next 2 years (by "injury-free") I mean SERIOUS, hamstring-tears, ligament sprains...he won't decline as bad as other strikers (Kluivert, Trezeguet) at similar age.
he's painful to watch most of the time from my perspective, and he has shown signs of getting old, but he's one of the best if not the best target man in Europe, therefore he won't leave, even if his style comes in conflict with the new team Ferguson is building.
He, like most of our players do well against teams that play up against us with real football. Noone can just fire into crowds of 8 or 9, which is why is he such a damn good Europe player.
At one point he received the ball around the Sunderland penalty spot but FIVE defenders swarmed around him without another Utd player anywhere near. He certainly isn't as sharp as he has been but the Sunderland game is not the one to judge him on. Had Davis not finger-tipped that shot past his left hand post we'd have been singing Ruud's praises. Not Ruud's fault it didn't go in. He was far from being the worst offender in this game.
Precisely my point, he can NOT play as well against these types of teams as he will against your Arsenals or Chelseas (barring this season..).
He's played less than 3 full games since returning to the side. He just needs a few more games to get his confidence and touch back and then he won't be able to stop scoring. Ruud's always been a streaky player, and you could see his shot selection improving throughout the game yesterday. Frankly, I'm alarmed at how quickly people loose faith in our all time leading European scorer. "Form is temporary, Class is permanent." Look it up people.
Well it pisses me the ******** off for one thing. Of course he's not the same Ruud from 02/03. Its been 3 years and this believe it or not, is his first season back from a horrid injury filled season. One in which he "ONLY" managed 16 goals and this season all he did was lead the prem in scoring until he was benched. That turn and shot in the box that was only just saved was headed for the corner of the net and is a chance I don't believe any other striker would have taken better. Ruud has bad moments just like every other striker in the world, but when he's in form he is the best in the world. While he hasn't been crap this season he's been a bit off his best, which tbh is to be expected given what happened last season, but even at 90% Ruud is still world class and he of all people should be free of criticism as far as our results this season have gone. Of all the players we have he's probably been the most consistent since he's arrived. He's had 1 bad season where he was injury plagued, but remove that and he's performed at or near the top of his abilities or on par with the best in the league/world for every other season. Ruud's job is to score goals and he does that better than most, please, please (well, not u motter) find something else to rant about.
I believe his given name is Rutgerus Johannes Martinus Streakyus van Nistelrooij. The boy is a confidence player and he's on a little down right now. To be honest, watching people not understand that is more funny than it is enraging. Just wait, doubters and haters will eat their words soon enough. And if we're comparing modern Ruud to ancient Ruud, I actually think he's a better overall player now. In recent games, he's put through several amazing balls from around the mid-field line to rouse an attack. His passes are great and his overall play has improved -- apart from his finishing, which has been consistent albeit streaky.
Nobody is saying Ruud can't score goals anymore. The problem however is his overall game is slowing the rest of the team down. Now hear me out. He's a targetman, a perfect post-player which in turn demands that the rest of the team or our attack is more or less built around him. I also stand by what I said some time ago about him slowing down our momentum whether its with his staccato pace or often sloppy touches. Furthermore We've also noticed how Saha eliminates this problem, he doesn't demand that players like Rooney and Ronaldo play around him, instead they are given more freedom and it's noticeable how that benefitted us in our great run. Before I get shit for this, I appreciate what Ruud has done for the club over the years and you'll never see me dismiss that, but as our new team is slowly forming, as new players are coming in, and as we are slowly adopting new tactics, I just want to point out the negatives about him, besides what we already know.
You bring up a good point. For a target man, it isn't enough to score. He has to be able to lay the ball off for the on-rushing players, which requires a soft touch and an ability to hold the ball away from the defense for a few seconds. Ruud has struggled in this respect at times, but his passing from distance is improving, and as long as he and Rooney have chemistry, it still works. However, it is hard to ignore the strides that Saha has made. Oh, if only one of them could play mid!
That's right. Goal scorers, must do more than score I can't ********ing believe this. Its rediculous to the point of stupidity. To anyone who thinks Ruud needs to do more than he's done this season I say to you, please for the love of Ruud be realistic. Does your refrigerator go zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds? Does your tooth brush come with a scope and an extra magazine of 9 milimeter rounds. You don't need to re-invent the wheel. We've got a good second striker, a good striker and we've got an excellent backline and we are decent on the wings. We don't have any class in central midfield and we need to address that and we'll be fine. I also love how everyone thinks Ruud has been working on his passing. Ruud's always been an excellent passer and I've maintained that for years now, he just hasn't had anyone (next to or infront of him) to pass to. We know Ruud isn't Henry and we know he's not Rooney, but he is Ruud van Nistelrooy, one of the best forwards on the planet for the last 6 years or so and it doesn't take a tactical genius to figure out a way to make our team click with him in it. We've gone out and gotten a partner for Rio who makes him better and Ruud has certainly benefitted from Rooney's presence. We need 2 CMs one who can protect the back four and allow our fullbacks to attack in confidence and another who can help to unlock the opposing team's defence and allow Rooney to play higher up the pitch and relieve him of some of his playmaking duties. With all the comments about how Saha helps us play better no one has mentioned that for all his stretching of the field and his runs off the ball Ruud has been playing some excellent passes to Rooney (about 4 or 5 in the last month or so) that no one else on our team is doing with any consistency. Can you imagine if we had a midfielder capable of doing that for Ruud and Rooney 2 or 3 times a game?
I believe you when you say that. But hasnt he been doing this since he joined the team? Ive become so used to it. But the problem is, its only affectiong us more now because of our void in midfield. Yes we have seen it. I can agree. I feel his goals cancel out his negatives. I think the tactics we are seeing now, are just to help us adapt to OShea and Giggs/Fletcher in midfield. So when we get two dominant midfielders, I think you will see his glaring error's and negatives, but not nearly as much as now.
Johno, that first paragraph of analogies or examples made me laugh. But I dont people will complain. There is one obvious need and when its handled all this will not be said.
Listen, if you guys want a player with a great first touch, take Drogba. There's definitely room in the Chelsea locker room for Ruud, where he'll be more appreciated.