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On Ronaldo's departure: "If we see thrilling on-the-ball flair like that again in our lifetimes, we ought to be astonished."

The first fanzines of the new season dissect Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid:

Reditorial of RedNews.co.uk: “Months on, and impressed with his humble thanks to United’s staff, management and supporters on joining Madrid, I feel sad more than bitter about Ronaldo. We will miss him, but the story was starting to spiral out of control, and as much as the hype often lived up to expectation, he and the team were believing it all too often themselves so that every attack or momentum sort of had to feed through him as though we didn’t totally have faith in ourselves to do the business without him.  The thrill of wondering who will take alternate set pieces could be quite liberating.”

Lou Macari in RedNews.co.uk: “Will we miss him? To be fair, we’d miss anybody that scored the goals he scored. No matter what we’d like to think in that we’re not going to miss him, we are.  The compensation for him is £80m, nobody gives you £80m for a player that won’t be missed and he will be because not only did he get goals, he got important goals.”

Allyn Thomas in UnitedWeStand: “Ronaldo never immersed himself within Mancunian life. He was merely passing through. He had a £4m mansion built in leafy Alderly Edge, complete with saunas, cinema and ‘media room’, yet still he pined for the sunshine and glamour of Madrid. Now was the correct time to sell the Portuguese pouter because, from this summer on, his value was only going to depreciate.”

RedIssue: “So, now he’s gone, how much will we miss him? That partly depends on how wisely we spend the money, and much of it the Glazers siphon off for their Visa bills. There’s also a perfectly coherent argument being made that this might actually benefit Rooney in particular, and Berbatov to a lesser extent, for various boring technical and tactical  reasons. Pudding-proof will come soon enough. Old skool Reds surely won’t miss his flagrant cheating, or his high-heeled, well-moisturised, and multi-condomed off-field behaviour either.  But if we see thrilling on-the-ball flair like that again in our lifetimes, we ought to be astonished. The divorce respondent’s verdict?  “He was an unfaithful wife – but, boy, was he good in bed.”

Baggy’s Shorts from RedIssue: “Ronnie’s leaving was seemingly inevitable, but what disappoints is the dishonesty from all sides, with Fergie’s claim that he wouldn’t sell a virus to that lot, and twinkle toes’ assertion as late as May that Manchester was his home and that he was very happy here. As usual it’s a case of tell the fans any old crap.”

The best player in the world will no longer be gracing the Old Trafford pitch

This morning's Daily Mail puts the best possible spin on Ronaldo's move.  The newspaper suggests that Sir Alex Ferguson has £100m to bring the likes of Ribery and Benzema to Old Trafford.  We shall see.

The Times sits at the other end of the spectrum warning that Manchester United's other most important player - Nemanja Vidic - is also thinking of leaving:

"Vidic’s wife, Ana, is growing increasingly unsettled in Manchester and wants to move to a warmer climate. Pep Guardiola, the Barcelona coach, is hoping to exploit the situation by making a £25 million bid for the Serbia defender."

I can't add to Martin Samuel's column today.  It is a depressing read.  Man Utd have lost the best player in the world, in the "upswing of his career", to a massive rival.  Yes, Ronaldo had many faults.  He was arrogant, often a bad loser, sometimes infantile but he was always wonderful to watch.  There were his, as Samuel writes, "extraordinary goals from outlandish range, courageous headers, wonder dribbles, invention, imagination and a deadball technique that redefined the art."

Of course Man Utd will never die but yesterday was a historic moment.  The reaction of Liverpool fans I spoke to yesterday was instructive.  They know what we've lost.  I don't say that Sir Alex was wrong to sell him.  There was little point preventing Ronnie from fulfilling his boyhood dream to wear Real's famous white shirt but my Old Trafford season ticket doesn't seem such good value this morning.

Tim

Thank you, Cristiano

So is this the end of Cristiano Ronaldo's time at Man Utd?  It certainly looks like it.  The club have accepted a world-record £80 million bid from Real Madrid for the Portugeuse winger's services, and all that remains is for Ronnie's representatives to bash out terms with the Madrid money-men.  In fact, they may have done so already: if the rumours that an agreement was reached last summer are true.

As Scott the Red puts it over at The Republik of Mancunia this is a decent bit of business for Utd.  But, obviously. there's more to losing one of the world's greatest players - one of the greatest players ever to play the game, surely - than the money involved.  Ronnie has given United a lot since he joined us in 2003: 291 appearances, 118 goals, and the driving impetus behind three league titles and one European Cup.  And even last season, when performances seemed a little muted, he still delivered some fantastic moments - just who could forget that performance against Arsenal in the away leg of the Champions League semi-final?

There will be sadness, and there will be recriminations, at Ronnie's departure.  But, for now, only one thing needs to be said: thank you, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro.

Ronaldo: "Manchester United is now my house"

Yesterday's Sun declared he would be leaving...

...but another Murdoch title, the News of the World, splashes that Cristiano Ronaldo is staying:

"This is my home now. I think even when I say my heart is here, people are still going to speak and make things up. But this is where I want to play. We are part of an era that can go down in history for the way we are playing and for the trophies we are winning. The boss believes in this team and so do I. And this is where I want to be. Manchester United is now my house."

Republik of Mancunia reminds us that the Portuguese star has been inconsistent in the past but this NotW story should gladden the hearts of all Reds.

Tim

Champions!

FA Premiership
MANCHESTER UNITED 0
ARSENAL 0

In the end, the actual match was a sideshow.  The 0-0 draw against Arsenal may not have been a particularly impressive United performance, but it did the job, and delivered our 11th Premiership title in 17 years.  With what space they do devote to the actual game, most football writers draw a parallel between the result and the manner in which United have gone about this title triumph.  Here's David Walsh in the Sunday Times:

"NOTHING became United’s campaign as much as the winning of it. One point was all they needed against Arsenal and, ultimately, it was all they wanted. They had plenty of defending to do yesterday but never looked like losing.

That’s how it is with serial winners: they assess what needs to be done, they get it done and move on. United will have to be better against Barcelona a week on Wednesday and you can bet that they will be."

And beyond some individual mentions for the assured defending of Jonny Evans and John O'Shea (see, especially, Ian Herbert in the Independent on Sunday), that's largely it on the game itself.  The rest of the column inches are devoted to the title celebrations and one or two questions that are circling around Old Trafford.  The celebrations first.

Seeing the players circling Old Trafford with the Premiership trophy, few commentators failed to be struck by the strength of United's squad.  Paul Hayward spells it out in the Observer:

"The story of United's campaign, though, is not the loss of talent but its relentless acquisition, as Gary Neville testified on the pitch. Neville spoke of 'the quality and depth of the team, all 20 players', and pointed out that Federico Macheda, the 17-year-old Italian super-sub, 'could have won the league for us, and he's not even getting a medal today'.

The big-match stalwarts of Ferguson's latest creation have carried them over the line, as big-match stalwarts always do. Edwin van der Sar, Patrice Evra the centre-half pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand (injured yesterday), Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney: these were the prime-time warriors in a season when United, curiously, won only one of their six games against fellow members of the league's immutable Big Four.

Around this core spun a constellation of older heads (Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes et al) and understudies who will offer imperilled Hull no rest on Sunday. Tevez is generally one of those invaluable back-up men, as are Park Ji-sung , Anderson, John O'Shea, Nani, Danny Welbeck and the precocious Macheda, whose stunning late goal in the 3-2 win over Aston Villa on 5 April helped jolt United out of a trough. Six days later Macheda struck again in a 2-1 win at Sunderland.

The debate about which has been the finest of Ferguson's championship-winning teams will fill the hours on flights to Rome. But this is surely his best and most well-balanced squad."

Fergie himself echoed this sentiment, speaking post-match:

"This is a great side, a really great side. Actually, it's a really great squad.

"I could have picked two sides today, I had to leave good players out like Paul Scholes, Dimitar Berbatov and Anderson. It is not easy."

But his emphasis was largely on next season, and mountains yet to be scaled:

"Asked if it felt special to have equalled Liverpool's record, Fergie declared: 'It will become a lot more special when we have got in front of them. And that's what we will be aiming for next year. We are going for it again.

'They were the greatest team in the land when I arrived. But we have built slowly and now we will go again.'"

And, in a great testament to the culture of success of Old Trafford, most of the players seem to have their eyes on next season as well:

"Club captain Gary Neville, who lifted the Premier League trophy even though he did not play against Arsenal, said Liverpool would be a huge threat next season.

Neville said: 'They pushed us very hard and next season we will have our work cut out.'

PFA Footballer of the Year Ryan Giggs, 35, who made a rare start yesterday, said: 'I hope we win another one next year.

'No one has ever won it four times on the trot so that is another record for us to break.'"

It takes something pretty big to overshadow all the title celebrations, but the continuing speculation over the future of Carlos Tevez threatened to do that.  The Argentinian seemed a bid a final farewell to the Old Trafford faithful yesterday, as he left the pitch in tears.  And there was a two-hour protest by fans after the game, urging Fergie to "sign him up".  Most of the papers go heavy on the situation, but the News of the World has a particularly thorough write-up.  It begins:

"ANGRY Manchester United fans hurled bottles and sprayed beer at the Old Trafford entrance in protest over the newly-crowned champions' treatment of Carlos Tevez.

Liverpool are ready to make a stunning £22million bid after the Argentine admitted in an exclusive News of the World interview that he is being forced to quit United.

And after yesterday's goalless draw against Arsenal which clinched a record-equalling 18th title, hundreds of fuming fans laid siege to the directors' glass entrance, chanting: 'Fergie, Fergie, sign him up.'"

While, in the Sunday Times, Lee Dixon writes that Fergie should do all he can to hang on to Tevez:

"But an even bigger priority is sorting out the Carlos Tevez situation. I can’t believe he will be allowed to leave the club, because he’s a huge part of their play now with his energy and what he gives when he is on the pitch. Would I pay £32m for him? It’s a huge chunk of money, but if you sell Ronaldo you will have money and I don’t think there is anyone else like him."  

As for Ronaldo - the other big question mark hanging over the Summer - there's a typically mixed message.  In his post-match comments, Ronnie talked about how he "loves" United.  But he added caveats about how "In the future you never know".  So far as the Ronaldo situation is concerned, Fergie strikes a reassuring tone in an interview with the Sunday Times, and we'll more on that later.

For now, though, let's revel in yet another Premiership title while looking ahead at the challenges to come.  Congratulations, United.  Now, let's add to the trophy haul in Rome.

Pete

On the brink

FA Premiership
WIGAN 1 (Rodallega 28)
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Tevez 61, Carrick 86)

So it comes to this: United need one point from two games, and they win a third Premiership title in a row.  But for most of last night's match against Wigan it was looking as though the men from Old Trafford might leave themselves with a more difficult task: 1-0 down at half-time, with the equaliser waiting until the 61st minute, and the winner until the 86th.  Nailbiting stuff but, as most of this morning's papers agree, the stuff of champions.  Here's how Shaun Custis writes it up in the Sun:

"It was a night when United had to dig deep against a fiercely committed Wigan, who threatened to spark a major upset.

That is the character of champions. Even when they are not at their best and nothing is going right, they still come through."

Of course, most of the commentators' praise is reserved for the equaliser hero, Carlos Tevez, whose beautiful goal has only fuelled the will-he?-won't-he? questions surrounding his future.  As the Daily Mail puts it:

"But it was Tevez who came to United’s rescue. Tevez who stepped off the bench to score a hugely important equaliser that was just brilliant in its execution.

Only three minutes after joining what was proving a difficult contest for the defending champions, Tevez revitalised a stuttering United with the deftest of backheels...

...This time he resisted the temptation to run to his tormentors and cup his ears in petulant protest. This time he simply let the brilliance of his football do the talking and chose, instead, to run to those who adore him: the supporters who responded to the sight of his 61st minute goal by again beseeching Sir Alex Ferguson to ‘sign him up’.

When he makes the kind of impact he did here at a pulsating JJB Stadium and performs every bit as impressively as he did in Sunday’s Manchester derby, it is hard to find a reason not to."

Relatedly, the biggest news coming out of the evening seems to be Sir Alex's claim that he wants Tevez to stay, and that the club are negotiating with his representatives.  Although, as Patrick blogged earlier, Kia Joorabchian has responded with some claims of his own, which only serve to confuse the matter even more.

There are column inches for some other players, too. Carrick gets praise for his well-taken goal; Vidic comes under the spotlight for both his role in Wigan's goal and for his dominant defending apart from that; and a handful of United players are cited for falling over on the slippery pitch.  Most of the non-Tevez attention, though, goes to Cristiano Ronaldo, who put in a particularly limp performance.  The Independent's Sam Wallace describes it thus:

"There was no doubting the contribution from Tevez, but it was harder to measure the value of Ronaldo's night's work. As Ferguson said afterwards, Ronaldo might have a had a hat-trick were it not for all his carelessness in front of goal and in the first half, as he found himself tightly marked, the United winger was once more protesting theatrically." 

And Matt Hughes of the Times mentions Ronaldo in an article (not online) about the "problems" that United face, despite their on-pitch success:

"For a manager on the brink of making history, Sir Alex Ferguson is facing up to a worrying number of problems. Since they suffered successive defeats by Liverpool and Fulham in March, there has been a sense of United limping towards the title, taking advantage of mediocrity elsewhere, rather than making a compelling case for themselves.

Ferguson's team remain as united as ever, but there is conflict in the corridors elsewhere in the club as long-open wounds have been allowed to fester: Carlos Tevez's disenchantment has been splattered across the back pages of several newspapers all week, while Cristiano Ronaldo's level of commitment is almost impossible to guage, as his mood seems to change by the day. Another long summer of uncertainty is in store."

But putting aside Tevez, Ronaldo, the slippery pitch or Carrick's winner, I return to the crucial, overriding, point: United are now on the brink of yet another Premiership title.  Fingers crossed that they seal it against Arsenal on Saturday.

Pete

Ronaldo and Tevez rebel against Fergie but deliver victory over City

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Ronaldo 18, Tevez 45)
MANCHESTER CITY 0

The football in yesterday's Derby will quickly be forgotten. It was far from a classic. It will be remembered for the first time that United started a game without an Englishman, for what is likely to be one of Tevez's last contributions to United and for Ronaldo's trantrum-like behaviour when substituted.  The MIrror records the 22 year-old's childish behaviour:

"Snatching at a tracksuit top, shaking his head in dismay and mouthing his displeasure whenever the TV cameras were on him, Ronaldo left noone in any doubt of his anger at being replaced. Publicly, Fergie paid lip service to Ronaldo's reaction, claiming it was good to see players frustrated at being taken off. Privately, however, you can be sure Ronaldo received the full hairdryer treatment from his boss in the dressing-room afterwards."

Ronaldo needs to learn that being at Man Utd means being a team player.  Mark Ogden at The Telegraph:

"One of the main planks of United's success in recent seasons has been Ferguson's successful handling of the rotation system. Players are brought in, left out, rested, rotated - call it what you will, but it has worked and that is why United are within sight of retaining the Premier League and Champions League titles. Ronaldo is rested much less frequently than the majority of his team-mates. Even Wayne Rooney has more bench-time than his high maintenance team-mate. But do you reckon that Rooney threw his training top to the floor and sat with a face on in the dressing-room after being told by Ferguson that he wouldn't be starting against City? Did Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs skulk around, muttering under their breath that the manager was out of order to name them on the bench? Probably not. All of the above have bought into the team ethic at Old Trafford, but Ronaldo clearly still considers himself to be a special case."

Ben Smith in The Times worries about the implications for the game of players getting above themselves:

"The Manchester United manager’s authority was challenged by two of his players at Old Trafford yesterday as Carlos Tévez, who is involved in a transfer dispute with the club, raced in his direction and cupped his hands to his ears after he had scored United’s second goal, before Cristiano Ronaldo reacted with petulant display of disgust and anger at being replaced by Paul Scholes in the second half. Can the actions of these players simply be put down to the pressures that come with competing for silverware at the end of the season? Isn't it time that the big clubs and top players took more responsibility for the image of the game?"

A free kick from Ronaldo and a great goal from Tevez won the points.  Only four more are needed from the last three games to secure a third successive premiership title.  Let's hope Utd can clinch things next Saturday in front of the Old Traffford crowd in the game against Arsenal.

Full speed ahead: Rome!

European Cup, semi-final, second leg
ARSENAL (Van Persie 75, pen)
MANCHESTER UNITED (Park 7, Ronaldo 10, 60)

United and Europe is an irresistible combination.  Benefica, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Roma; the list of special results, and special evenings, goes on and on.  And now Arsenal at the Emirates, 5 May, 2009, can be added to it. 

Unsurprisingly, this morning's paper's are stuffed with praise for United's imperious 1-3 victory.  The Mirror calls it a "masterclass, not a contest"; The Independent puts it down as an "annhilation"; and the Mail deploys the word "massacre".  Here's how their write-up continues:

"After all that talk of penalties at the end of what was supposed to be the ultimate encounter between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, Arsenal lasted about as long as Ricky Hatton.

Two blows, 10 minutes, game over and dream, for Wenger anyway, at an end.

This is why Manchester United are the champions of England, Europe and the world and why they are now within touching distance of becoming the first team successfully to defend the European Cup in the modern era. Not to mention why they could be celebrating an unprecedented quadruple if an 11th Barclays Premier League title comes before their appearance in Rome."

Although this was very much an all-round performance by United, special praise is reserved for - who else? - Christiano Ronaldo.  The Mail's Martin Samuel even dedicates an entire page to the Portuguese star's "supershow". He begins:

"Beat that, Leo. It is going to take some display if Lionel Messi is to revise opinions at Stamford Bridge tonight. It is going to take some performance to convince those attending Manchester United’s annihilation of Arsenal that they were not already witness to the greatest player in the world.

Memories of Cristiano Ronaldo’s display at the Emirates Stadium will be hard to erase. He was masterful, compelling, unstoppable, a tour de force as a striker, operating with the wit of a winger."

And then goes on to say that Sir Alex - should he have to - couldn't replace Ronny with a better player:

"There is a stellar cast supposedly lined up to replace Ronaldo in the event of his summer departure to Real Madrid, but the contenders all have one problem: they are not him.

They cannot lead the line like a centre forward, they cannot score 42 goals in one season, they are unlikely to finish top of the Premier League goalscoring table, where Ronaldo presently resides. Nor will they bury stunning free-kicks from distance like he does, either: because few players can; not even David Beckham, who was among the awed United followers looking on in wonderment as Ronaldo ripped Arsenal apart."

While, writing in the Independent, Sam Wallace picks out United's "exquisite" third goal, Ronaldo's second:

"The road to Rome and the Champions League final on 27 May was decorated by a third exquisite United goal in the second half that reminded Barcelona, should they overcome Chelsea in the other semi-final tonight, that the Catalans do not have the copyright on counter-attacking football. It was dazzling, a box-to-box, four-pass move that opened up Arsenal from belly to throat and was finished by the night's assassin-in-chief, Cristiano Ronaldo."

Many of the column inches belong, like the night, to United.  Those devoted to Arsenal tend to ask the question of whether the potential of Wenger's team will ever translate into trophies.  Here's Stephen Howard in the Sun:

"Simply, it was men against boys — as it had been at Old Trafford — and confirmation this Arsenal side has some serious way to go before it matures enough to take on the likes of Chelsea and United in the semi-finals of major tournaments.

This was supposed to be the night Arsenal took another stride forward.

Instead, it was a massive step backwards, adding fuel to the belief their long unbeaten run came courtesy of the deficiencies of many of the sides they faced — and the fact the Premier League is split into the Big Four and the rest.

Or is it now the Big Three?"

Of course, for United fans, there was one especially sour note to the evening: the unwarranted dismissal of Darren Fletcher, which currently looks as though it will keep him from the final.  Pretty much every commentator sympathises the Scottish midfielder, and even Arsene Wenger has called the red card "harsh".  There's one major dissenting voice, though - that of Graham Poll, the former referee, writing in the Mail:

"Italian referee Roberto Rosetti had a fine match and can justify in law the penalty he gave after Darren Fletcher brought down Cesc Fabregas.

When commentators and former players say: 'He got the ball, it can’t be a foul,' they are wrong.

Even though Fletcher got a slight touch on the ball, Rosetti felt it was impossible for the Manchester United midfielder to avoid taking his opponent in the follow-through. Therefore, he had no option but to dismiss the Scot."

We'll have more on the Fletcher situation later, so - for now - let's just dwell on another famous European victory for the boys from Old Trafford.  A job done, and done exquisitely.

Pete

Ronnie gets real: The Madrid dream is dead

The Sunday Mirror is reporting that Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer considering swapping Old Trafford for the Bernabeu.

The piece quotes Ronnie as saying: “I’m no longer thinking of Madrid. That dream is dead.

"The only thing I dream about now is Manchester United and winning the Champions League again in Rome.”

And after Rome...?

Patrick

Ronnie's freestyle skills

Sit back and drool...

The video features in Rio Ferdinand's innovative new online magazine which you can access here.