Over the past couple of months there has been a change in attitude in Cristiano Ronaldo, for the most part at least, with what once appeared to be inescapable transfer to Real Madrid this summer now looking dead in the water.
The dream of Real Madrid will always be there but now it looks as though Ronaldo may fulfil the wishes of many reds and stay at United for another year or two, pushing himself to the limits, before settling in to life in Madrid.
Sir Alex Ferguson has today spoken about how the deal for the Portuguese winger went through and what he makes of his reputation as a diver.
“As a teenager, Ronaldo was never likely to be heading anywhere else but here,” said Ferguson. “We had an arrangement with Sporting Lisbon that he would stay with them for two years to mature. The boy was aware of it. Then in the summer of 2003 we went to Lisbon and faced Sporting in a friendly and he tore us apart. I got word up to Peter Kenyon in the directors’ box that he had to come down immediately because we weren’t leaving that ground until we had secured Ronaldo. We got the boy, his mother and his agent together to sort it out. Later we sent a private plane over and the deal was done.”
Ferguson also reflected on the label Ronaldo carries with him, a diver, something which the manager kindly describes as ‘cultural baggage’.
“Along with a great player, of course, we got a lot of cultural baggage,” he continued. “There was a lot of criticism about diving. Latin players tend to react to a tackle more than our players. His own teammates have given plenty of stick. But he and Lionel Messi must be the most tackled players in the world. He can’t always be diving and he can’t always be right in his protests. The point too often missed is that when he’s running at the speeds he does, the slightest touch puts him off balance. We crave players with the courage to go and attack defenders but when they are abused the defenders frequently get off with it. Ronaldo is passing the ball more these days, maybe because he got fed up with getting kicked. But the thing is he wants to be a terrific player and that ambition won’t be crushed.”
Man Utd News 24/7
and if he starts passing the ball to Berbatov more often they would become the deadliest strike duo ever…
At long last someone tells the story the way it feels Cristiano’s side.
He has so much more to offer the boy he have not seen his best!
I love this period before the final.SAF always talks a lot and is reflective about certain players and situations.
Im sooooooooooooooooooooo Excited. It’s like Christmas and Disneyland and a topless David Beckham all rolled into one
Ronny is clearly gonna score in the final
red_ruth you had me up to the word david
but i know what ya mean
i just heard messi missed training cause he pick up a knock
anyone(costas?) know how bad it is if its bad at all
henry and iniesta also sat out
apologies, you guy’s probably wont get the excitement that a topless david beckham creates. but this is like 100 million times more exciting
Like the great man said: “that ambition won’t be crushed”. Really, that sums up CR – he’s driven, a perfectionist, and very ambitious.
I think it was Mourinho who said “some of these players get tackled slyly in the box, some of these players earn 2-3 penalties a game and never get them so you can’t really expect them to stay on their feet when falling is just as easy” or something to that extent.
It’s true, how many penalties do we regularly get denied?
Another thing is that Ronaldo’s running technique makes him fragile, you regularly see him falling over by himself, he runs touching the floor with the tip of his boots and is therefore much easier to down than, for example, Rooney.
GHTT i haven’t heard anything about Messi.I don’t think it’s anything too suspicious.But Henry and Iniesta are still a bit doubtful.Guardiola said that he will know for sure on Monday or Tuesday.
I agree Tony, sometimes ronny is running and seems to almost trip by himself. He’s very fast and kind of lanky and there have been numerous occasions where he falls without anyone around him. Then why is it so preposterous to think that hes going to fall dribbling, running full speed, and getting kicked?
Fergie’s quotes conflict with earlier statements i had read about how they signed him. initially Fergie said that it was after that game that a lot of the players were begging him to sign Ronaldo, specifically GNev. Now he says they had a prior agreement. Not that it really matters, but they are two different accounts.
Hey folks, I’ve been reading these threads and posts so obsessively that my students had to grade their own end of term exams. Great work Scott, please keep it up.
Anyway to TinManUnited, would GNev know about prior arrangements of the directors? After all, isn’t Sporting sort of a feeder club?
Last question and thanks in advance: what does ABU stand for? I’m from the states and some acronyms are a bit mysterious for me.
@TinManUtd
yeah like Fergie says, he was supposed to be at Sporting for 2 years more to mature, a bit like the arrangement with Ljajic at the moment, but after that game, they just had to sign him with immediate effect!
Ron has reduced his diving a lot and hope the refs notice it.common Ron, show who is the best in Rome.
Red_Ruth
Gotta agree, you had me after the Becks mention… Disneyland just doesn’t have the same appeal after topless Becks
))
hang on a second ive seen becks shirtless and ive seen my kid in disneyland
Has anyone seen the Sun?Apparently they have leaked the team that will play against Barca.It’s the same team that played at the Emirates with Giggs coming in for Fletcher.And why did they release it?Because they wanted to emphasize that Tevez isn’t starting and that could be the final straw in his United career.Idiots.
i seen it this morning costas but i dont buy into it
its just there to say tevez left on the bench
how do the sun know a working week before the game
what a pile of shit
on a lighter note costas i know your a wrestling fan
i was on a wrestling site this morning and it seems one of emilys videos made it on there too
http://nodq.com/features/244971070.shtml
but to keep it united i am wearing a george best tshirt
Happy birthday,costas!!
Ronaldo is going to be a United player for many years to come,and he’s not even reached his peak yet,that’s the best part.Oh,and SAF is the best manager ever to develop young players into world-class ones.So let’s hope we can dominate Europe like Real Madrid,Milan and Bayern Munich did….
WTF?!?Can somebody give me a linnk to the story about our teamsheet??
@GHTT. That’s very cute!She was a star after she was 10 motnhs old!Ric Flair is still attractive to women of all ages it seems.It does seem a stretch that a rag like the Sun would know the teamsheet 5 days before the game, but i think that it is pretty accurate.The only question is whether Giggs or Scholes will start.
@Boogeyman: Thanks for the wish!I appreciate it.I found the news about our starting line up here:
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5341785,00.html
But it is the Sun who first broke the story.
Thanks,costas…
@costas : wish u many happy returns of the day buddy.btw, are you celebrating by having a party with your friends or here on RoM ?
His ambition and arrogance make him the great player he is. Take that away and he wouldn’t be half as effective anymore. Glad to have him here despite his theatrics. Everyone knows what he offers on the pitch, so once in a while you have to deal with the ‘other’ side of his personality.
Thanx Wazza! No plans for today at the moment. Just waiting to see who will be available for a night out.
BUt i suspect that ROM will see plenty of me today.
that’s always nice mate.don’t you have any gf ?
Not at the moment wazza.And it’s for the best.I am in such a mood in the last 2 months, that she wouldn’t handle it.That 4-1 loss reall hurt.
costas : that defeat hurt us all.i remember my scouser friend teasing me after that defeat & now after we won the league he is nowhere to be seen. but winning the league is all that matters at the end.hope we are celebrating again in a few days time. BELIEVE
Wazza, i remember United fans saying that after the 4-1 defeat they couldn’t talk to their wives!And to be honest, until we clinched the title, i couldn’t think about having fun. It was all about United.I also have a Scouser mate.In fact he is my best fiend.Yet he always believed that we would win the title.He thought that they woke up too late.I want to win the final but to be fair,this season has already been as successful as the last in my eyes.
“he runs touching the floor with the tip of his boots” Good point tinsel
TheTipIsRed – ABU Anyone but United!
The Sun NEVER EVER get the team right. Nobody will know till an hour or so prior to kick off.
While it’s true Ronny gets a little over animated once in a while, he does go down mainly because the speed he travels at. I’ve only seen Ronaldo play once live but I don’t think you can tell how fast he is by watching on TV. The man moves quicker with the ball than just about anyone I’ve seen.
Red_Ruth I’m right there with ya.