Well, he was part of the team of the tournament in the CL last season as far as i'm aware, and isn't he top scorer in it this season?

He has scored against Lyon, Roma (twice) and Milan in their last 3 knockout ties. Not bad!

Ronaldo's taking over Gerrard's role at Liverpool...that being carrying the team. Utd, have a great team with fantastic players(a lot of them I don't like for my own reasons....but they are good). Seems like the rest of UTD's team isn't really pulling their weight....Tevez....omg, what a waste...he should have stayed at West Ham.

Gerrard's definately gotten support now...so he's no longer in that carrying the team role.

I dont even know where to start with that drivel, ill let Forev do it.

i agree with him, Tevez should have stayed at West Ham

United would neveer be where they are without Ronaldo. He has definitley carried them for their entire 16 Premiership titles

LOL you would, and I think Berbatov should have stayed at Spurs, oh wait HE DID.

Exactly

I'm completely sick of it to be honest, every forum has these threads cropping up.... "Ronaldo is masking United's problems", "He's carrying the team", etc.....

The only reason Ronaldo is scoring the goals he is, is because of the fact that the team is playing to him and he has the absolute freedom to do and try whatever he feels like. One indication of this is the number of assists he has, it's really very low and that's because he is now the focal point of the attack, he's the one people aim for. Without the team set up around Ronaldo like Fergie has made it at United, Ronaldo wouldn't be the same player. I believe that's why in big games he doesn't put in the performances he's expected to because the rest of the team has more focus on the opposition and they cannot provide for Ronaldo and support him like they would against a lesser team.

But to be honest, I don't really care what everyone says about him. I have my own opinion of him which I've stated numerous times but If he gets top goalscorer in the league and Champions League and United win both or even just the league then....

Did you know that Ronaldo has had something like 104 Premier League shots and Torres has had just around 82? Kind of shows how much United base their attacking game around him.

Or how much more of an attacking team United are

United are a great team, without a doubt and it is all very well to say they would replace Ronaldo if he left but what if he suffered a long term injury and replacement wasn't an option?
Being as Ronaldo is top 3 in the world and playing like it, it is natural that most of their play goes through him. I think if he was put out, long term, Rooney would step up and fill the void to a degree but it would need a big step up to cover all Ronaldo's goals and assists. It is impossible to say if they would still be leading the Prem but I think they would still be challenging.

Yet we've scored more goals than them (and anyone) in all competitions. Mabye we're more clinical? Who knows?

Only because you've had a few freak results, consistently Manchester United are more attacking than Liverpool.

Indeed you are. But not so much so that it justifies your winger having 25% more strikes than our out-and-out main striker.

I think our league position and his standing in the goal charts domestically and in europe justifies that, to be fair.

Looking at this completely objectively (as I at least try always to do) I do not think United are a great team. They are nowhere near as good as United teams of the past but they have players that would challenge for and/or take spots in their team of the 90's.

Ronaldo is obviously the stand out player in their team and has come on leaps and bounds since that excitable little raw kid who was decked by Graham Stuart all that time ago. He is a very special player (I still think he could be much better which is scary) and as such is bound to draw the plaudits.

However if we look at the rest of the side.

Ferdinand and Vidic in a very short time have established a defensive partnership that has seen United concede only 15 goals. Yes I am aware that Evra and Brown have had a say in that but then so have the keeper and midfield but overall it is those two that matter when it comes to that defence.

Evra has been a potent and consistant threat down that left side as well as improving a lot defensively since his move to United.

Nani and Anderson have for me justified their signings showing massive potential and also becoming part of the first team with very little time needed to adapt.

Rooney talent wise is awesome but what he actually gives to United is no where near as much as what he should and could. Again it is a scary thought that he could be so much better and surely one day he will.

Tevez will do well to stay at United the way he is playing. I said in the first place that I didn't see Tevez and Rooney as this dream ticket and I think that my assumption has been proven correct, so far anyway.

Oh and just as a reminder, it is about this time when Ferguson will look to his experience and see Giggs and Scholes. Not bad like to say the least.

So overall are United a one man team? Of course not. Each player in that team has a job to do and it is at this time of the year that the SQUAD come into their own as well (as John O'Shea proved last Season so well).

What annoys me is that United have not been anything special this year, they have just had a very special player and a solid base and are doing what Ferguson knows best, tilting for another assualt up the final stretch of the mountain that is the prem but I am still hopeful that someone might be able to catch them due to the fact they don't look anywhere near the force they have in previous years, at the same time though I am more than aware of the fact that Ferguson can change that perception in the blink of an eye.

I disagree, they are better in my opinion. Considering there is one more consistant challenger to the title "Chelsea" in the 21st century, whereas before it was either Arsenal or Man Utd to win the title.

No way are they better than the team which won the treble.... Out of this team today I think that only 1 or 2 players would make the team back then, Ferdinand and maybe Ronaldo.

Schmeichel

Gary Neville (then)
Rio Ferdinand
Jaap Stam
Denis Irwin

Beckham/Ronaldo
Keane
Scholes (then)
Giggs (then)

Yorke
Cole

i second that.
the above team played as that, a team.
Like i said, put ronaldo in an average team like say portugal and he's not as good,because in internationals every team plays to win .They played Italy the other day i think and ronaldo was non existent.In the big games he comes up short for the most part.I just watched sky do a special on him ,and i was waiting for someone to say what i just said and nobody did.
It leads me to believe that he's a product that sells for them,so a few little details missed in his portfolio is no big deal to them.

man u's current team is loaded with talent and technically probably better than the treble team,and i don't doubt that if they are all involved in a game more evenly they will be tough to beat.In a few years if they are still together they will be immense.

Ronaldo get's so much of the ball that his numbers are going to be high,let's see how he does against Liverpool ,who's defense i think is overrated,but should be up for the challenge.I know he will do absolutely nothing against Chelsea or Arsenal.

I agree with what Forev said, but i don't agree with what you said.

Portugal are not an average team. Portugal are a fantastic team. You don't reach the world cup semis and the Euro final 2 years before if you are an average team. Let's not forget the semis in 2000 as well.

Ronaldo plays well for Portugal despite what you've said. Well, whenever i've seen him play for them. In the last two major tournaments he was very good, which actually goes against the claim that he doesn't perform against the big teams. Although i do agree with that generally, as for Man U he hasn't performed anywhere near his best against the top teams. For Portugal however, he has put in brilliant performances against France, Spain, Holland etc. It doesn't get any bigger than the euros and world cup, and he has played very well in both. To my annoyance actually. I remember before euro 2004 i hated the guy, and said he shouldn't be anywhere near the first team for that tournament. He left me with egg on my face, as he played very well for such a young player in a huge tournament.

Can't get much bigger?How about Brazil,Argentina,Germany or Italy in the knock out stages?That's where you earn the right to be named with the best,not group stages unless it's a need to win.

All of those teams you mentioned France ,Spain and Holland are the most underachieving teams in the history of world competition.The names are big but their performances have been questionable.France being an exception because they only play well against the likes of italy and in the k.o. stages.When it comes to group matches they leave it late and often scrape through.Now if the game between portugal and france was in the knock out stages then i'll give him his respect for that.You've seen what he has done in the prem against the top teams,so that much can't be questioned the stats speak for themselves.Did you see him against Italy the other day?He was non existent compared to what he does against the likes of Derby and the like.

Look,he's a young player that will improve slightly , but his biggest attribute will be his biggest problem when it comes to being a really effective team player,which is his desire to score goals.

That is one particular year. Not as good as that team but he mentioned the whole 90's. I'm sure this team would be as good as any from that era. It's hard to say though as they don't have time machines so you can go back and play each other.

There is a big difference between a one man team and having one player who is very, very good.

Even without Ronaldo, Man Utd would still have the best defence in the league and attacking choices from Nani, Tevez, Rooney, Saha, Park. They wouldn't be quite as good but they'd still be top four and could probably still win the league, I imagine someone else would possibly step up to the plate in his absence.

I think if Ronaldo had played for Derby this season then yes they wouldn't be getting relegated. Part of their problem is a total lack of confidence anyway so with Ronaldo picking them up draws, wins etc.. the rest of their team would play a lot better. I don't think they could manage top half, but they wouldn't go down. It's difficult to say really. If you look at Villarreal though in Spain where an average team had one world class player in Riquelme and managed to get one missed penalty away from a Champions League final it shows you how much of a difference one world class player can make no matter who he is surrounded by.

hmm... there's always something wrong with our right winger.. last time i was ever questioned.. how we could survive without beckham?.. and now.. how good would we be without ronaldo..

the answer is.. i dunno.. fergie seems to always find the right person for the position.. XD

so.. maybe in the future.. there'd be another similar question coming up.. lol..

It was in the knock-out stages.



Argentina are also one of the big under-achievers.





You mean Carlos Queiroz.