Is there life after Ronaldo?
Is there life after Ronaldo?
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Manchester United have accepted an £80 million offer for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid, the club have confirmed. |  |
Friday, 12, Jun 2009 12:50
With today's news that Manchester United have officially accepted a £80 million bid for their star winger, the inevitable question now arises - can United actually win anything next season without Cristiano Ronaldo?
Last month saw United capture their record-equalling 18th league title and reach the final of the Champions League for a second successive year following their victory in the World Club Championship and the Carling Cup. It was a mightily impressive year for the club by anyone's standards and saw a number of their players pick up a series of personal accolades too.
Ryan Giggs was named the PFA player of the year at the tender age of 35, but it was Ronaldo who picked up all the headlines after being confirmed as the world and European player of the year.
While the Portuguese star was again in sparkling form last season, it was his astonishing display in the 2007/08 season that really earned him the praise.
A total of 42 goals, including crucially the opening score in the Champions League final victory over Chelsea in Moscow, marked a remarkable season for the winger and one he is never likely to better.
Following the victory in Moscow he spent the entire summer sulking around the globe in his hot pants apparently convinced he would be moving to the club of his dreams - Real Madrid - before the start of the 08/09 season.
Ferguson, however, had other ideas and managed to hold onto the 24-year-old for one more year before apparently conceding defeat this month and letting his prize asset go.
It would be easy to say United should have long been prepared for Ronaldo's inevitable departure and ever since last summer's antics the Portuguese player has failed to give his all to a club that has done everything to hold on to him.
This is not entirely true and despite missing a large chunk of the first part of the season and his manager admitting he still hadn't reached full fitness half-way through the year, he still managed to score 26 goals in the season including some crucial scores towards the end of the campaign.
The United faithful blindly believe Carlos Tevez scored the majority of the important goals last year, but it should not be forgotten Ronaldo chipped in with his fair share, including the blistering strike against Porto in the Champions League and his complete destruction of Arsenal in the following round.
It's true he may have sulked, fallen on the ground and pouted his way through the year, seemingly convinced he could get away with anything. In fact, remarkably such was Fergie's desire to hold on to his star player, he even appeared to allow him to act like a child on the sidelines whenever substituted. But his contribution last year was immeasurable. The free-kicks alone were worth their weight in gold, £80 million is all very well, but there isn't a player on the planet who can hit a dead-ball and strike fear into goalkeepers everywhere like Ronaldo.
So can United replace him? Well the fans will believe they can, they will point out his numerous negative personality traits and suggest he gave away the ball too much, never tracked back and only played for himself. In reality thought, apart from Lionel Messi, there isn't a player anywhere near Ronaldo in terms of talent and given the fact Barca wouldn't part with the little Argentine for all the money in the world, the answer is clearly no - he cannot be directly replaced.
Instead then Ferguson will have to rebuild his team and remould it after spending the last two years doing everything possible to accommodate Ronaldo. Rooney may well find himself back playing in his favoured position through the middle and a lot of pressure will now rest on Dimitar Berbatov to pull his weight at all times. A new £80 million transfer kitty, if the manager is given it all to spend, should bring in some new faces and potentially replacement wingers so it won't be a case of lacking the quality to play whatever system Ferguson wants.
United have such an impressive squad they can constantly replace quality with quality but some of those players who may have previously been cruising, safe in the knowledge Ronaldo would pull them out of any trouble or decimate lesser opposition, will now have to make sure they're giving their all or could find their way out the door.
Ronaldo will definitely leave a huge hole at Old Trafford, but whether it will stop Ferguson and his team's relentless march for silverware seems improbable. Sir Alex has built a winning culture at Manchester United and you can guarantee he already has a number of tricks up his sleeves about how to continue bringing success to the club.
The player wanted to go and United held onto him for as long as they could before eventually securing the highest price they ever would in selling him on. It may be sad to see Ronaldo go, but with such a huge price tag, the future still appears very, very bright at Old Trafford.
Richard James