It's not a surprise to me that the only major tournament they won, he was on the bench for the final for 90 minutes of it. I think that had more to do with France's lack of a gameplan if Ronaldo wasn't in the match than anything else.
But this NT shouldn't be so reliant on him given their talent levels. And against Ireland, they complete were.
But this NT shouldn't be so reliant on him given their talent levels. And against Ireland, they complete were.
I recall reading an article before the Euros about how the Portugal NT functions better with him not in the 11, as a team atleast. Has more cohesion and structure to it. He becomes too big a focal point of their strategy when he is playing. Don't remember the author, but it was very well written.
I haven't seen them play enough to know if that is correct or not, but it doesn't seem that that far fetched. His contribution in build up etc have declined substantially over the years. On the other hand, he is probably the most prolific big match player in the world and can pull goals out of his ass even if it's just a header or a tap-in. His movement and ability to find space is phenomenal.
I haven't seen them play enough to know if that is correct or not, but it doesn't seem that that far fetched. His contribution in build up etc have declined substantially over the years. On the other hand, he is probably the most prolific big match player in the world and can pull goals out of his ass even if it's just a header or a tap-in. His movement and ability to find space is phenomenal.
Why dont people look at the coach instead of Ronaldo? Santos is a average manager as you can get but he gets on well with the players but the guy has no idea how to set up and play any attacking football thats why he resorts to the negative shit you see all the time with Ronaldo carrying them.
How many international sides play great football? so many of them play the same negative football with alot of ther players struggling to play anything like club level. Look at france with the most stacked squad around and they are dross to watch alot of the time.
The way turns average crosses into goals really amazing that second header was a beaut.
How many international sides play great football? so many of them play the same negative football with alot of ther players struggling to play anything like club level. Look at france with the most stacked squad around and they are dross to watch alot of the time.
The way turns average crosses into goals really amazing that second header was a beaut.
Yea once again Cr7 proved doubters wrong that night! EPL may just go to man united this year. If that happens, we really are a failure of a club.
Anyway, I am disappointed to see that CR7 has been placed in the rookie section of this forum instead of legend. It makes me ashamed that we are feeling so much butt hurt from him leaving us that we refuse to acknowledge a miracle happened to us and it was us that farked it up.
Nobody cares at this point I guess. his wages before tax was almost 60m, that's a huge relief and we get that cash almost instantly.
He wanted to go, we let him go. Underwhelming terms but that's as much as you can get for a 37yo Ronaldo. If it was any other player, we'd release him for free, paying half of his salary.
He wanted to go, we let him go. Underwhelming terms but that's as much as you can get for a 37yo Ronaldo. If it was any other player, we'd release him for free, paying half of his salary.
Why are we still talking about this guy? 
In other news
https://football-italia.net/man-uni...o-tweet-goes-viral-for-all-the-wrong-reasons/
In other news
https://football-italia.net/man-uni...o-tweet-goes-viral-for-all-the-wrong-reasons/
This is some American Psycho shit lmao
https://theathletic.com/2814409/202...go-whats-it-like-to-manage-cristiano-ronaldo/
Yet there are plenty of others — Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Carlos Queiroz, Maurizio Sarri — whose relationship with Ronaldo broke down, or completely disintegrated in some cases, because they could not handle his ego. The golden rule is: keep him happy. But sometimes it is easier said than done.
The first lesson, perhaps, is to indulge him. Fluff his ego, talk him up. Ronaldo needs to feel loved. He wants to be important, so treat him like a king. Let’s be honest, he already wears the look of a man who believes his face should be on a banknote.
——
When Ancelotti took charge at Madrid for the first time, there was an important conversation to be had with the team’s star player.
Ancelotti was so convinced that 4-3-2-1 was the best formation for an elite football team he had written a book, Il Mio Albero Di Natale, that took its title (My Christmas Tree) from the idea.
But there was one reason why the three-time European Cup-winning managerdid not implement that formation at Madrid: Ronaldo preferred it another way.
—-
At least Solskjaer will not have to worry about Ronaldo’s best position now the player, at 36, has modified his game to operate as a central striker, albeit with a licence to roam.
But maybe this is where Benitez failed: his refusal to defer to Ronaldo’s wishes.
“The biggest mistake is to try to fit Ronaldo into the system or put the system ahead of the player,” says one former Madrid coach. “That’s what Rafa was trying to do. You need to be clever enough to do the opposite, in many senses building the team around Ronaldo. What happens sometimes is that coaches expect him to behave like a normal player. That’s a big mistake.”
Aitor Karanka, Mourinho’s former assistant, has a slightly different take. “A player like Cristiano is always different but, with Jose, the team was always above everybody.
—
Shortly after taking the job, Benitez arranged a visit to the Wales squad to meet Gareth Bale for the first time. One problem: Ronaldo’s camp made it known that their player had not received the same treatment. Relations started to deteriorate, suspicion set in.
Perhaps you might think it refreshing that Benitez refused to pander to Ronaldo’s ego. Or maybe it was poor management? Benitez was too standoffish, too distant, too bound to his own methodology. He could never find the right formula with Ronaldo and, as a consequence, the team suffered. And Ronaldo, being Ronaldo, the manager does not tend to win these battles.
Benitez lasted only seven months and, shortly after he was fired, the details appeared in El Pais newspaper about how he had delegated a member of staff to give Ronaldo a USB stick showing him clips about how to lose his marker.
That story told us a lot about the relationship between manager and player. Ronaldo did not want to take it and sent a message back. “Tell Benitez that I’ll send him a USB drive with all my goals on it for him to study.”
—
Neither should we forget Ronaldo’s reaction when Sarri had the temerity to substitute him 55 minutes into a Juventus match against Milan (Ronaldo walked straight down the tunnel, got showered, changed and had left the stadium before full-time). Or, indeed, Ronaldo’s change in attitude during his final year in Manchester, when his heart was set on Madrid and he gave the impression sometimes that he saw Old Trafford as a five-star prison (sample quote: “I am a slave”).
—
None of this, of course, should be a surprise to Solskjaer after seeing Ronaldo, close-up, in his first spell in Manchester.
“There were times when training did not suit him because it was not revolving around him,” says Mike Phelan, United’s assistant manager. “And he would tell us that. He’d let us know if he enjoyed it or if he thought it was shit. That was his nature, but we liked that.”
https://theathletic.com/2814409/202...go-whats-it-like-to-manage-cristiano-ronaldo/
Yet there are plenty of others — Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Carlos Queiroz, Maurizio Sarri — whose relationship with Ronaldo broke down, or completely disintegrated in some cases, because they could not handle his ego. The golden rule is: keep him happy. But sometimes it is easier said than done.
The first lesson, perhaps, is to indulge him. Fluff his ego, talk him up. Ronaldo needs to feel loved. He wants to be important, so treat him like a king. Let’s be honest, he already wears the look of a man who believes his face should be on a banknote.
——
When Ancelotti took charge at Madrid for the first time, there was an important conversation to be had with the team’s star player.
Ancelotti was so convinced that 4-3-2-1 was the best formation for an elite football team he had written a book, Il Mio Albero Di Natale, that took its title (My Christmas Tree) from the idea.
But there was one reason why the three-time European Cup-winning managerdid not implement that formation at Madrid: Ronaldo preferred it another way.
—-
At least Solskjaer will not have to worry about Ronaldo’s best position now the player, at 36, has modified his game to operate as a central striker, albeit with a licence to roam.
But maybe this is where Benitez failed: his refusal to defer to Ronaldo’s wishes.
“The biggest mistake is to try to fit Ronaldo into the system or put the system ahead of the player,” says one former Madrid coach. “That’s what Rafa was trying to do. You need to be clever enough to do the opposite, in many senses building the team around Ronaldo. What happens sometimes is that coaches expect him to behave like a normal player. That’s a big mistake.”
Aitor Karanka, Mourinho’s former assistant, has a slightly different take. “A player like Cristiano is always different but, with Jose, the team was always above everybody.
—
Shortly after taking the job, Benitez arranged a visit to the Wales squad to meet Gareth Bale for the first time. One problem: Ronaldo’s camp made it known that their player had not received the same treatment. Relations started to deteriorate, suspicion set in.
Perhaps you might think it refreshing that Benitez refused to pander to Ronaldo’s ego. Or maybe it was poor management? Benitez was too standoffish, too distant, too bound to his own methodology. He could never find the right formula with Ronaldo and, as a consequence, the team suffered. And Ronaldo, being Ronaldo, the manager does not tend to win these battles.
Benitez lasted only seven months and, shortly after he was fired, the details appeared in El Pais newspaper about how he had delegated a member of staff to give Ronaldo a USB stick showing him clips about how to lose his marker.
That story told us a lot about the relationship between manager and player. Ronaldo did not want to take it and sent a message back. “Tell Benitez that I’ll send him a USB drive with all my goals on it for him to study.”
—
Neither should we forget Ronaldo’s reaction when Sarri had the temerity to substitute him 55 minutes into a Juventus match against Milan (Ronaldo walked straight down the tunnel, got showered, changed and had left the stadium before full-time). Or, indeed, Ronaldo’s change in attitude during his final year in Manchester, when his heart was set on Madrid and he gave the impression sometimes that he saw Old Trafford as a five-star prison (sample quote: “I am a slave”).
—
None of this, of course, should be a surprise to Solskjaer after seeing Ronaldo, close-up, in his first spell in Manchester.
“There were times when training did not suit him because it was not revolving around him,” says Mike Phelan, United’s assistant manager. “And he would tell us that. He’d let us know if he enjoyed it or if he thought it was shit. That was his nature, but we liked that.”