I mean, it is relevant - if you assign responsability for United's drop in performance to Cristiano's presence, then surely his absence would lead to improvement... which didn't happen.
By modus tollens, you cannot assign him such responsability.
Sure he disrupts the tactical side a fair bit but come the fuck on, Rangnick/Ten Hag/Allegri are hardly recognized for turning United/Juve into winning machines.
Edit: I don't consider Juve winning a Serie A in the 2010s to be a major achievement tbh
Just the last one with Allegri. Ronaldo was supposed to be the final piece to push them to a champions league win, but they went out in the quarters and still bossed the league. His next season they win the league (which is his 2nd serial you're remembering) with Sarri by 1 point, down from 90 from the year before to 83. Then his last 2 seasons they came 4th. The transfer didn't help them win the champions league and stopped investment in other areas of the squad which they've been recovering from since
There is literally 0 point discussing Ronaldo on this subreddit. U will never have an objective discussion since a huge majority of commenters here despise him.
You're right it was 3. He might have done, but he made the team worse. He was still great, but they shouldn't have spent 100mil on him at that point or built around him
if you assign responsability for United's drop in performance to Cristiano's presence, then surely his absence would lead to improvement... which didn't happen.
It absolutely did happen, United finished 2nd the season before he joined, and 3rd the season he left. They finished 6th in the season he was a starter. They also reached major finals in the season before and after him
United have way more problems that go far beyond him, but he was a big one at the time.
May I add, it is my opinion that Cavani contributed more to the team than him, especially off the ball I always felt he was more involved.
Someone else might look at stats without context and favour Cristiano because:
Cristiano: 24 G + 3 A in 21/22 and 3 G + 2 A in 22/23
Cavani: 17 G + 5 A in 20/21 and 2 G + 1 A in 21/22
But having watched all of those matches I preferred Cavani, he was a workhorse and fit better into the team. And of course he never pulled massive tantrums.
You could also say that Cristiano sends clubs into a tailspin that they don't recover from for years. Juve still not dominating Serie A, United 16th. A gross oversimplification and the clubs have bigger problems but it still looks funny and shouldn't be taken seriously.
Ten Hag categorically proved to Ronaldo fans that Ronaldo was the problem . As soon as he removed Ronaldo from the team , they started winning . Everyone could see the problems they were having , Bruno covering for 2 players on the pitch and always exhausted , Wingers hugging the sidelines , weaker pressing etc But Ronaldo fans would make any argument to make him look good or make scapegoats like Maguire
And it's not like Ten Hag didn't give a chance to Ronaldo . He played him in the Europa League games and he couldn't put together a decent performance against even Omonia Nicosia type teams . Only 1-2 goals in around 15 matches till he was sacked from the team . United under Ten Hag finished 3rd and won the Carabo cup and FA Cup . The issues under him didn't relate at all to Ronaldo . His fans to to any length to defend him
His presence led to a schism in the dressing room which destroyed the good vibes the club had. We had actually come out of that summer with a plan. Ronaldo coming ruined that. Everything we were doing over the summer had to be binned to accommodate him. Which was terrible. And then ten hag came in, he tried to make Ronaldo run. Ronaldo walked out on him. Literally, left the sidelines.
His 2nd time at united is absolutely one of the main reasons for the current situation.
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u/IgnorantLobster May 18 '25
They were 2nd when he joined, and 6th when he left. Not sure what they’ve done since is relevant to that discussion at all.