Wednesday 23 July 2008

Ronaldo Moving to Madrid - A Financial not Footballing Move

If Ronaldo were to move to Madrid, there are two possibilities, as Man Utd, we would go on and be a better team or we would be worse. If he went this year, I think we would be worse off but I would still say thanks CR7 for the 5 years; we all knew it was an affair never a marriage.

Before I look at either side, let me discuss the transfer itself.

I say it is a money move not a sports move or as the title says a financial move and not a footballing move.

One thing that will be a bonus all round for those involved is the financial situation; Man U will clean up in a whopping transfer fee, Ronaldo will get an astronomical salary, Real will be able to hide the losses in merchandise gains with a few years, the agent will be rich for life, Ronaldo will be a great icon and earn more money. It's a money deal, not a football deal, much like Beckham's was.

If he leaves, he will be missed, but will never be a Manchester Utd legend like Cantona, Giggs, Beckham or Hughes. He will never be a Zidane or a Raul either. He has so much more potential and more to give for United, but if he leaves, it's not for his own personal development in the game, it's all about the money, plain and simple........

Ferguson just said it that for the sake of his career, the best place for Ronaldo is at Old Trafford. Of Gold Trafford for that matter, what with all the trophies.

Not so long ago, the FAO Food Summit ended in Rome. The Spanish government said it will give 500 million Euros to aid the starving people of the world at the Rome meeting. As a Director of an NGO, I am concerned. Real Madrid are said to be offering 100 million Euros for C. Ronaldo + 21 million a year in "wages". It is an insult to humanity for these people (club presidents, managers,players) to be playing about with such staggering amounts of money and all just so fans can watch them wearing shorts and kicking a ball about with a few t-shirts being sold out to fans. And super rich bums, like Calderon, make even more filthy lucre. A pox on all of them.

Now, I'm a long term Man Utd fan - one who has reveled in watching Ronaldo mutate from the petulant stick-insect that arrived five years ago to probably the best player in the world - one who I had grown in admiration for, notably because of how he dealt with the ridiculous carry-on of so-called football fans who booed his every touch after the World Cup. Back to back Premier League titles, player of the year awards and a staggering 42 goal tally shut even the likes of Shearer up. I am a big fan of Ronaldo, but my heart really belongs to the Red Devils. I'm a die hard Ronaldo fan and I know he's the best winger in the premiership and in the world, and has been a genius at scoring those vital goals that have won us back to back premiership titles, the Champions League, and other domestic cups. But that won't fool me to realise that I am only his fan because he is at Man Utd. I will always support Ferrari whether Schumacher is there or not. Just like I believed Ruud was as better in being influential to Man Utd than Henry was to Arsenal when the whole world believed otherwise. And to an extent I was at times backed by the awards won over Ruud. I believe in Man Utd and its players.

I think this will be a disaster for Real Madrid and an even bigger disaster for Cristiano if the move went through. United, on the other hand I think Man Utd would cope very well, especially with a nice fat cash injection.

I doubt Ronaldo or Real will do much better either because of the following reasons:

1. Ronaldo was the centre of the team at Man U - that ain't going to happen at Real - plus he's had a mega season, the odds of that happening again are low especially in a new league under new pressure.

2. It's not a fix all for Real either, their problems are not one that a flashy winger who scores goals are going to solve. The defense is poorly organised despite being chock full of talent (Cannavarro, Pepe, Heinze, Ramos) and the midfield seems disjointed and unfocused. The attack lacks glamour and flair - which Ronaldo will solve - but surely scoring goals was not Real's problem but conceding them? With 100 million Euros or Pounds Madrid could buy Rio Ferdinand (or a comparable top top defender) to teach Pepe how to actually play the position without being in constant red card danger, a winger of Ribery quality, plus a young up and coming midfielder Aquilani (excellent against RM in the two CL Roma games) and still have cash left over.

3. It was at United where he developed into one of the best footballers in the world, and basically had a team and formation set-up to allow his strengths to prevail. He has excelled mainly because of this freedom, and because of the hard work of Rooney, Tevez et al. He will not get the same treatment within the Madrid team. He will have alot of space to play in Spain but he wont get the ball from Guti, Raul and others and even his chagrin!

As for me and my house, even though he's been a great player for the club I'd be half glad if Ferguson threw him in the reserves for a year just for his greed and lack of loyalty - but there aren't many footballers working who lack the former and believe in the latter. United are never going to find a club crazy enough to pay 100 Euros for one player and they'd be equally crazy to turn down such an offer - especially for a player so willing to hold the club's pay structure to ransom. But does Manchester need the money? Would the deal in the long run benefit Manchester with Madrid recouping that in mechandising within a year?

Simply because more glamorous player have left before and Man Utd survived doesn't mean we should say he can go because we shall survive.

But to the Man Ure supporters complaining about CR7, I think they are behaving like the punter in the brothel worrying about his provider being a virgin or not. Relax. And enjoy the sportsual intercourse. CR7 is not British and he was never meant to stay for years on end. He was bound to leave one day. I know he is going away one day and I knew he would go one day. So it is time to smell the roses. Don't expect a virgin in a brothel.

That said, my opinion of him has drastically dropped this last few weeks. His recent behaviour speaks of an egomanical attention-whore who simply loves causing trouble, almost as though the man sees himself as the star is his own personal soap opera. His constant 'will I, won't I' twaddle is reminiscent of a teenage boy flirting with a girl in the playground - truly hideous stuff to watch.

And, speaking as a man working hard to feed my son and wife, his near-psychotic passion for joining Real tells me that he's clearly lost his mind. If he was ever in possession of it - Real Madrid is a cauldron of egomaniacs and with a boardroom populated by the kind of vicious, scheming, back-stabbing scumbags one would more normally find in the palace of a 16th Century monarch's court. Whether it is Perez or Calderon, these guys are always politicking, stabbing each other in the bad and mind less about the football. Becks was told to go, then again they fired the guy who told him to go etc. Coaches have been fired after winning the league or Champion's league because there were new presidents or new Board members.

As for Ronaldo, other than wanting to get away from Manchester weather, what's the upside? Madrid fans are no less annoying and grotesque than United ones, he could face the Owen treatment (no one pass him the ball), and the organization does not exactly reciprocate for loyal service (see R. Carlos). I love the team (though I love Barca and Valencia more) but the management are sh*t, whereas with United it's the owners who are shi*t but the organization shows some loyalty. Ferguson started Scholes and made sure Giggs played in the CL final, Madrid was happy to see Redondo leave.

If he wants to go, then United should let him go (albeit for a very large sum of money...around £100 million would actually be cheap considering his age, merchandising potential (£50m+ per year) and possibly his future sell-on value when they have bled him out). I will not support the idea of letting him rot on the bench until January. Though this would help us get the WPOTY Award instead of it being claimed by Madrid like they did over Cannavaro. So for me I would say let him go but take every ngwee of the muted £100 million for him. Zidane, Figo and the real Ronaldo were bought before they had won a Champions League, not just after (the Beckham signing was a different form of idiocy). Ronaldo will put on a wonderful show - he is a marvelous player - but I don't see him as they key to La Decima. So he has to be more expensive than Zidane. If they want him, they can damn well pay through the nose for him. No instalments or player swaps as I do not want any of the three best players there i.e. Sergio Ramos, Cassilas and Robinho to come to Gold Trafford. They have to be made to pay. Pay Up or Shut Up. This is me as a Man Yoo fan not fanatic.

On the other hand, I have never really become upset about things that are out of my control, I knew this was coming almost from the day that he signed, and most importantly, I have to, and certainly intend to, maintain the ideal that football is about far more than one -- admittedly very important -- player. Manchester United have survived far worse, and it is in times of adversity that we really see what people are made of. Of course, I am in no way suggesting that this 'adversity' (if that is what you would call it) represents anything like what other clubs, or people, have to face -- it isn't, and that is really the point. It is all relative, however, to some degree, at least. Bottom like is I am happier is he stays for at least 2 years. One year I know he will. His mother just said it.

The fact is that most United fans will not accept any player that doesn't want to play for the club, no matter who they are. But we all love his ability, his arrogance and assuredness, and the glamour that he projects on to the club. I will of course be sad to see Ronaldo leave, but it gives the club and the fans a great opportunity to use that disappointment to our advantage. I am, after all, a Manchester United fan, not a Ronaldo fan, when all is said and done.

We won't be giving up our titles quite as easily as some people might think. Of that I am quite sure, and as happened with the Arsenal players once Henry finally moved on, the same could well happen to Rooney and Tevez and Nani and Anderson, etc, and the extra responsibility is likely to allow those players flourish. People wondered where the goals would come from when Van Nistelrooy left. Any keen follower of football understands that it doesn't quite work that way, except as a projection of a rival fans hope, as well as journalistic laziness.

I've always admired Ronaldo's skills and certainly this year he deserves to be recognized as the best player in the world. BUT, I always had my doubts about his character and maturity. Take for instance, Kaka and Messi. The level of maturity show on and off the pitch is simply too obvious not to notice. You can certainly see that Kaka and Messi (and even Rooney) are humble in their own ways and they seem to be more about winning than personal glory, but it's sad to say that Ronnie doesn't pocess these same qualities which makes him less likable as a human being. For years, I've been hearing it from by friends whenever I mentioned that he was the top or the one of the top players in the world. I still think I'm correct in regards to his skill level, but I will never would be able to say that he is better than any of his young contemporaries. Ponder this!!! Do you think it would have been this easy for Real Madrid to get Kaka or Messi?? Loyalty and strength of character should always come before money. Besides, he makes plenty already. How sad.

Personally I think Ronaldo is infatuated with himself and his own 'personal achievements' such as potentially winning the world player of the year and, in this case, being known as the worlds most expensive footballer.

The other half of mean says we should not stand in his way. That he wants to go doesn't surprise me but what does really surprises me is that he wants to go NOW when United look such a good bet for the near future whilst Madrid, in contrast, look so wobbly (despite winning the Spanish league). That is something I find hard to fathom. Not that I blame him, after all he is a lad from the Madeira near the Iberian peninsula, from a family of apparent Real Madrid fans. I think it is normal that he should want to play their one day for the team of his boyhood. And neither am I so sure he owes the Reds anything. He's been crucial in back to back premierships, one of which, of course, was doubled up with the European cup. And he will in the end fetch the club oodles of pasta. People seem to expect loyalty and say it's not like the old days. There were days when British players went to Italy and came back pretty quick - Law, Greaves, Baker etc. I remember Mark Hughes, enjoying his football in Munich where he was very popular and yet not being able to resist returning to Manchester when they called. With more and more top players coming from abroad I think we just have to get used to the idea that for foreign players, in the main, Britain's biggest clubs don't capture the imagination in the same way that they do for Brits.

Many Man Ure fans have never felt that Ronaldo has identified with the club and, as a result he is the first great Manchester United player that they have never warmed to, which is not a criticism of Ronaldo just a fact. From Charlton to Cantona and Rooney they have felt that the club meant a great deal to them.

So for some Man Ure fans, they are strangely pleased that he is to go. But I think he'd make a big mistake going just now. But maybe they are just bitter and wish him ill but just not admitting it to themselves. I have even heard a suggestion that Utd should offer £10 million to the first player at the Euro's who flies over the ball landing a double footed horror tackle just above Ronaldo's knees successfully irreversibly breaking his legs in half; rendering him useless to football for the rest of his life. Then claim the insurance for the lost service of his current contract and potential transfer fees. This should clear around 60 million, whilst Real Madrid lose out and Ronaldo remains a millionaire. This, the fans say, would be the correct path if they were the Glazers.

I am not like those fans. Sorry I vied to another thing . . . . . .

Madrid is not a bad team: Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Gago, Robinho, Robben, and Higuian are all young (23 or less) while Casillas, Diarra, Heinze, Baptista and Metzelder (yeah, he's not great) are all 25-28 I believe. The older players are Raul, Guti, RVN, Cannavaro & Salgado, and of these only Salgado is past it. He could improve the team and they could be one of the great teams in two-three years.

Madrid IS a great team because great comes from more than just team and form. Pedigree and more importantly as Sheva would say about Madrid, it is the GLAMOUR! These attributes make a team great. Even a team on form can just freeze when it meets a glamorous side. Remember Man Utd at the San Siro last year and three/four years ago?

There is too much turnoover at Madrid of players. A bit of longevity would help. Look at Raul, after two useless season he was top scorer this year and gave good service. Wes Brown for us has taken many years to mature but he is getting on to the of top notch, just one rung below World Class.

It's funny to see football fans outside of Man U rubbing their hands together and drooling over what they see as an inevitable capitulation of the club at Gold Trafford. I also found it funny when Schmeichel Left, Cantona retired, Beckham Left, Van Nistlroy Left, Staam left need I go on? Point is we've had big losses and I'm not going to be naive and say it isn't a big loss if not the biggest but at the same time United have always shown that they are capable of overcoming such losses. Though this maybe the biggest test. So before you fans start reveling in his departure (Which I personally think won't happen this year) concentrate on your own team.

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