Apart from a long term replacement for Gary and a fourth striker, our squad really is packed to the brim. People got to remember we can't have a squad full of top players. Guys like O'Shea and Fletcher and Park etc are guys who are willing to play a supporting role and won't complain when they don't get minutes. As for the first team, its pretty much awesome and needs at most a small tweak.
I'd be happy if we get a top RB to replace Gary and another striker. If Saha leaves and I think he will, we will need 2. Manucho would be a useful 4th striker if he gets a permit and then maybe someone like Santa Cruz. Relatively cheap, proven quality in the league and on the continent and eager to play for a top club again. Good age too.
As for Ronnie's detractors. They'll never go away entirely. It speaks volumes of his achievements that a lot of people have begrudgingly accepted his awesomeness. Ronnie has to perform to an almost unprecedented level to get this level of appreciation. If it was a media darling like say Stevie G for instance, a season half as great as Ronnie has produced would have got them all creaming their pants.
The fact of the matter is, there is a lot of ABU bastards around. United's dominance of the 90s and continued success ensures jealousy and hatred. Our players aren't loved by the media as easily as those from other teams. Furthermore, Ronnie's early career and exploits in the World Cup create a perception that still lingers in a lot of peoples minds and he is an easy target to dislike.
The fact is he has completely outperformed any other player in the league and the rest of the world. The criticism that are leveled at him are people who refuse to accept it and are nitpicking. Desperately looking for flaws, in other words, clutching at straws.
Messi? Gimme a break. He's a fantastic talent but he's injured half the time and has hardly influenced Barca's season. Kaka has been way way quiet for Milan. Torres? For a debut season, pretty impressive and in other seasons, probably would have been with a shout for an award. But too bad for him Ronnie's been biblically good.
Ronnie has just about disproven every single criticism levelled at him. His performances have been complete, in everyway. He's got end product, he plays for the team, he tracks back, he heads, he scores left and right, he creates, he pulls the team out of tight spots, he's cool and calm under pressure, etc etc. For a winger, he has scored 40 goals. If his teammates have been a bit more clinical, he'd had a shedload of assists as well.
The only lingering criticism of him still are that he still dives and he doesn't produce in big matches. Both of which are baseless and complete bullshit. Things that his detractors (sad fuckers) want to believe is real.
The fact of the matter is that he dives only as much as the other player. People forget he's running with the ball at insane speeds just about everytime they see him on tv and they see him on tv more than most players. Keep that in mind. When you're running at that kind of speed it doesn't take much to put you off balance. He's not a Tevez whereby they've got a very low centre of gravity and not easy to topple. And there's also and element of self preservation. Taking evasive action ensures you take less of the brunt of the tackle than if you try to stand your ground. He gets kicked so many times its best he try to protect himself from damage. He's probably the most fouled player in the league.
As for not producing in big matches, theres 2 things people need to consider. Ronaldo is 23. Yeah, you've seen him for quite some time but for quite some time he was a young player still learning. For the past 2 seasons, he has been way way better. The second thing is that most of the "big matches" that people claim he hasn't performed in, has been premier league matches against the other big four. Which are always tightly contested, cagey nervy matches where very little goals are scored and the star players are normally paid extra attention and defenders usually shine instead of attackers. Ronnie gets double and triple attention everytime and better teams usually has better defenders.
Don't believe what I say? Think about it. Henry usually spends his time in games against United in Rio's back pocket. Same thing with Torres. Same with Drogba. Stevie G hardly shown up in games against United. These guys are all paid extra attention and marked the hell out. But of course, these guys can still pop up and produce a minute of magic to change the game even though they were anonymous for the rest of the game. And much the same thing happens with Ronaldo. Over the past 2 seasons, in big or important games, 9 times out of 10, he would have had an influence on the end result of the match, whether scoring a goal or creating one.
There are still occasions when he tries too hard to do everything by himself and that usually backfires badly but those days are now just about gone.
So, if the detractors have something to say still about Ronnie and how he isn't deserving of all the plaudits he gets...ask them to prove it. Back it up.
Messi?! This season?! Did i heard it wrongly?! Sigh!!!
