Barcelona defender Daniel Alves has made the suggestion that Manchester United is much more of a team now that Ronaldo has departed. Alves has also drawn the comparison of the upcoming Champions League final with the game in 2009 featuring the same teams. On that day Barcelona came out as comfortable winners and Ronaldo in particular had a poor game. But Alves expects a much tougher game in the 2011 final.
There may be some truth in the fact that Manchester United is now a bit more united as a team now Ronaldo has left. However, it’s hard to argue that Manchester United is better without him because of the individual qualities he brings to the table. At the forefront of those abilities is the sheer amount of goals that he scores. Just think back to the season when he hit 31 Premier League goals, but in truth that is nothing compared to his exploits this season breaking La Liga’s scoring record by hitting an incredible 40 league goals.
Now I’m sure if you ask Sir Alex Ferguson he would truly love to have Ronaldo in his side but the reality is the player wanted to move to Real Madrid and the rest as they say is history. Manchester United has moved on and Sir Alex Ferguson has rebuilt his team. Players come and go but the club remains and Manchester United now have their new attacking threats post Ronaldo.
Alves said “United are a lot more unpredictable now than in 2009 and have a more consistent team. Their midfield has gained gravity and the frontline has not suffered because, with Chicharito, they still score a lot”
Interesting comments there from Alves but they seem to suggest United have switched their reliance from Ronaldo to the young Mexican. But of course this is not the case, yes Hernandez had done really well by scoring 20 goals in all competitions but let’s not forget the contributions of Rooney, Berbatov and other attacking players like Valencia and Nani.
But surely at the end of the day wouldn’t United want to have Ronaldo out there on the pitch if they had the choice? Do United really have a better team without him and do they really have a better chance of beating Barcelona without him?
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Written by James Kent for FootballFancast.com.
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