Saying Manchester wouldn't do without Ronaldo is funny in the least. Manchester has always gotten goals from midfield. Remember the haydays of Paul Scholes, Becks and Giggs. So somehow we shall still get goals from the wing irrespective of Cristiano Ronaldo (CR or CR7) being there or not. But of course he is not leaving so this hypothesis is not going to be tested just yet.
Rooney should come out of his shadows now whether Ronaldo leaves or not and this saga has just helped his case for more goals.
This fact supports the thought that the rise of CR has come at the expense of MU as a collective attacking unit. The best attacking performance last season was perhaps vs Arsenal in the cup. And CR was not involved. Coincidence?
It was said Manchester would not recover past scorers like Cantona, Beckham, Ruud and others. But any club, especially the European Champions should always have no problems when they lose a single player. Some players will step up and do the scoring. It always happens; Henry left Arsenal and they did very well, Ronaldo left Real and they still get goals, george Weah left Chelsea and now there is Drogba. Wishing Manchester to hit poor form is another thing.
As suggested and backed by statistics, Manchester loses when Rooney is not playing not when Ronaldo is not playing. This is clear for the 2007/2008 though in the 2006/2007 season, we lost when Ronaldo was not playing. This is because when Rooney is on the pitch, he takes on the defenders and leaves space for the free-roaming Ronaldo to exploit the spaces and score.
Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring graphs for United had been running parallel on an upward curve until last season. When the England striker joined the Reds in 2004, he hit 17 goals in his debut campaign. It was Ronaldo's second Old Trafford season and he contributed nine goals. The term later both increased their tallies. Rooney inched up to 19 for the season and the Portuguese winger crept up to a dozen.
In 2006-07 Ronaldo soared to 23 and Rooney matched it with an increase to finish on the same amount. Last season, Ronaldo blew Rooney's effort out of the water and raced ahead to 42 goals while Rooney suffered the first dip in his account during his four seasons at Old Trafford as his contribution fell to 18.
Many United fans believe Ronaldo's phenomenal increase has been at the expense of Rooney's haul. While the winger operated as a centre-forward for the Reds as his purple streak grew, Rooney has been asked at times to operate in a wide left berth.
If Real Madrid succeed in their bid to land Ronaldo the Reds support are comforting themselves with the thought it may free up Rooney to bag a few more goals and get his graph climbing back towards the top.
Sir Alex Ferguson will continue to employ the England forward in a disciplined wide role when the occasion demands it. Fergie recognises that in certain situations Ronaldo is not best suited to carry out the disciplined role. Ronaldo does his fair share of tracking back and work but there are moments when he switches off on that side of things. You cannot afford that particularly in away ties in Europe. But with Rooney you get the fully switched-on player. He keeps the discipline. That is while in away tough matches, Ronney is the target man.
If the manager asks Rooney to stick out wide left and stop the opposition defenders coming through that flank, then he'll do the job from the first minute to the last. Sir Alex asked him to do that job a few times last season e.g. away to Roma and away to Barca. Fergusson yesterday spaeking after beating Orlando Pirates mentioned this and even said Rooney had done this without complaining.
This has even made Rooney to be praised by Lippi, the Italian National Team coach when he called Rooney the ideal player who all Italian players should emulate.
No matter what people might be saying now about Ronaldo, the fact is he did appreciate the work others put in. In fairness to him he acknowledges that a number of times. Ronaldo knew that you can't be great unless you are surrounded by very, very good players. Fergie particularly showered praise on Rooney when United played Roma in Italy in the Champions League quarter- finals for his sacrifice in the Stadio Olimpico.
Obviously, tackling back can diminish the goalscoring part of his game. But that has always been the case. That is the kind of player he is. I don't think United would want to change that.
The only situation where he might get a bit more freedom up-front and be relieved of those defensive duties is if Ronaldo goes and a winger, like Ryan Giggs, comes in who you can rely on to work back and concentrate on that job for 90 minutes.But even then I think we might always want Rooney's discipline, particularly in a European situation. If that comes at a slight cost to his goalscoring figures, then I think both he and United would accept it.
Rooney's shooting / finishing is woeful, at the moment, he missed sitter after sitter last season. add his touch and passing to that list as well. If Ronaldo does go, then it may give Rooney's career a boost as it needs one soon as possible. If Ronaldo stays, Rooney will still get a boost because people now know that there should be life after the little 'diver' has gone. Even Fabio Capello the England Coach said Rooney needs to finish off his chances.
And when I say Rooneys career needs a boost, you may ask if I am mad. After all, he was an integral part of the team that won both the Premier League and the Champions League. Rooney is a team player and his attitude is awesome. And yes, if Ronaldo leaves he will become more visible, and get more credits because of that. He won't necessarily play any better, he'd just play differently.
If I had to choose between Rooney and Ronaldo I'd definitly pick Roo. As Sir Alex often say; "There's no doubt about that.".
Wayne Rooney will become a Man United legend. Ronaldo wont. Whether he stays or goes to Madrid. Loyalty is the word.
Rooney should come out of his shadows now whether Ronaldo leaves or not and this saga has just helped his case for more goals.
This fact supports the thought that the rise of CR has come at the expense of MU as a collective attacking unit. The best attacking performance last season was perhaps vs Arsenal in the cup. And CR was not involved. Coincidence?
It was said Manchester would not recover past scorers like Cantona, Beckham, Ruud and others. But any club, especially the European Champions should always have no problems when they lose a single player. Some players will step up and do the scoring. It always happens; Henry left Arsenal and they did very well, Ronaldo left Real and they still get goals, george Weah left Chelsea and now there is Drogba. Wishing Manchester to hit poor form is another thing.
As suggested and backed by statistics, Manchester loses when Rooney is not playing not when Ronaldo is not playing. This is clear for the 2007/2008 though in the 2006/2007 season, we lost when Ronaldo was not playing. This is because when Rooney is on the pitch, he takes on the defenders and leaves space for the free-roaming Ronaldo to exploit the spaces and score.
Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring graphs for United had been running parallel on an upward curve until last season. When the England striker joined the Reds in 2004, he hit 17 goals in his debut campaign. It was Ronaldo's second Old Trafford season and he contributed nine goals. The term later both increased their tallies. Rooney inched up to 19 for the season and the Portuguese winger crept up to a dozen.
In 2006-07 Ronaldo soared to 23 and Rooney matched it with an increase to finish on the same amount. Last season, Ronaldo blew Rooney's effort out of the water and raced ahead to 42 goals while Rooney suffered the first dip in his account during his four seasons at Old Trafford as his contribution fell to 18.
Many United fans believe Ronaldo's phenomenal increase has been at the expense of Rooney's haul. While the winger operated as a centre-forward for the Reds as his purple streak grew, Rooney has been asked at times to operate in a wide left berth.
If Real Madrid succeed in their bid to land Ronaldo the Reds support are comforting themselves with the thought it may free up Rooney to bag a few more goals and get his graph climbing back towards the top.
Sir Alex Ferguson will continue to employ the England forward in a disciplined wide role when the occasion demands it. Fergie recognises that in certain situations Ronaldo is not best suited to carry out the disciplined role. Ronaldo does his fair share of tracking back and work but there are moments when he switches off on that side of things. You cannot afford that particularly in away ties in Europe. But with Rooney you get the fully switched-on player. He keeps the discipline. That is while in away tough matches, Ronney is the target man.
If the manager asks Rooney to stick out wide left and stop the opposition defenders coming through that flank, then he'll do the job from the first minute to the last. Sir Alex asked him to do that job a few times last season e.g. away to Roma and away to Barca. Fergusson yesterday spaeking after beating Orlando Pirates mentioned this and even said Rooney had done this without complaining.
This has even made Rooney to be praised by Lippi, the Italian National Team coach when he called Rooney the ideal player who all Italian players should emulate.
No matter what people might be saying now about Ronaldo, the fact is he did appreciate the work others put in. In fairness to him he acknowledges that a number of times. Ronaldo knew that you can't be great unless you are surrounded by very, very good players. Fergie particularly showered praise on Rooney when United played Roma in Italy in the Champions League quarter- finals for his sacrifice in the Stadio Olimpico.
Obviously, tackling back can diminish the goalscoring part of his game. But that has always been the case. That is the kind of player he is. I don't think United would want to change that.
The only situation where he might get a bit more freedom up-front and be relieved of those defensive duties is if Ronaldo goes and a winger, like Ryan Giggs, comes in who you can rely on to work back and concentrate on that job for 90 minutes.But even then I think we might always want Rooney's discipline, particularly in a European situation. If that comes at a slight cost to his goalscoring figures, then I think both he and United would accept it.
Rooney's shooting / finishing is woeful, at the moment, he missed sitter after sitter last season. add his touch and passing to that list as well. If Ronaldo does go, then it may give Rooney's career a boost as it needs one soon as possible. If Ronaldo stays, Rooney will still get a boost because people now know that there should be life after the little 'diver' has gone. Even Fabio Capello the England Coach said Rooney needs to finish off his chances.
And when I say Rooneys career needs a boost, you may ask if I am mad. After all, he was an integral part of the team that won both the Premier League and the Champions League. Rooney is a team player and his attitude is awesome. And yes, if Ronaldo leaves he will become more visible, and get more credits because of that. He won't necessarily play any better, he'd just play differently.
If I had to choose between Rooney and Ronaldo I'd definitly pick Roo. As Sir Alex often say; "There's no doubt about that.".
Wayne Rooney will become a Man United legend. Ronaldo wont. Whether he stays or goes to Madrid. Loyalty is the word.
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