Hello my good people. Despite us being on the verge of a World Cup and the Premier League at full tilt, the back pages are sticking with Cristiano Ronaldo!
And I’ve got mixed feelings about the latest goings-on.
After years of the Messi-Ronaldo debate, I’ve come to the conclusion that if given the opportunity for either to have played for my club I would have chosen CR7.
I just think he affects games that much more than the Argentinian magician. Funnily enough, given the nature of Chelsea’s new owner and the continued speculation, at age 37, a season at Stamford Bridge remains a possibility.
Love him or hate him and he is a flash w@nker… Suiiiiiii! As a football fan, whoever you support you have to respect his ability.
But last week’s schoolboy-style walk down the tunnel before the end of the game was just pure disrespect to the coach, his teammates and the fans.
We all understand that he must be fuming week-in, week-out on the bench and I get that, but his actions threaten to take the shine off his legacy.
The question though is why Erik ten Hag is completely sidelining him? Ok, Ronaldo doesn’t fit the plans moving forward and the Dutch boss isn’t bending on benching one of the greatest players of all time. But then why didn’t United let him go?
The explanation that no club would invest £500 000-a-week wages plus a signing fee on a 37 year old made sense.
But revelations this week that July’s rumour (a couple of hundred million pounds in his pocket to play in Saudi Arabia) were true, really mist-up the whole affair.
Either way, Ten Hag punished the Portuguese god following his walk-off by ruling him out of the trip to Stamford Bridge. And boy could United have done with him!
Before Chelsea coach Graham Potter brought Mateo Kovacic on after 30 minutes, United were running through the Blues and should have capitalised.
Marcus Rashford was buttoned up in Trevor Chalobah’s pocket and Jadon Sancho looked like a Sunday League chancer after a late-night out on the piss.
Before the weekend, Alan Shearer commented on the Ronaldo affair, saying: “Would I be stirring if I said Bruno Fernandes looks happier in this team without Ronaldo?”
Personally I don’t agree, he’s been average this season barring a couple of good goals and was ineffective at Chelsea. I find it quite annoying, the way he waves direction to his teammates all the time like he’s a f*****g conductor.
Then of course his whispering to David de Gea to dive in the direction Jorginho normally slots his penalties…
What a d!ck, J5 simply slotted it the other side! As for Antony, oh my days, what an annoying w@nker he is!
Fast becoming the league’s most irritating player with his ‘I’m a tough guy’ expressions and his pathetic foot-play over and around the ball.
While the game evened up in the second half and a draw was probably a fair result, on another day (with Ronaldo) it could have been very different.
But (tell me if I’m wrong) United fans will feel that real progress is being made and at last “a team” is starting to emerge.
It was a sign of the times however that when Casemiro scored the equaliser, he celebrated like he’d just won the Champions League… in reality he’d just rescued a point!
Elsewhere, Manchester City tucked Brighton away in the end but weren’t that convincing, while Liverpool (following wins at home to City and West Ham) looked terrible, as bottom-of-the-league Forest showed how energy and commitment can overcome a side that has cost 100s of millions.
Two of the more satisfying results for me had to be Arsenal’s draw at Southampton and Newcastle’s win at Tottenham.
Despite the Gunners great start, I just get the feeling that it’s all a bit delicate, like something at some stage is gonna pop and it’ll all start unravelling. Maybe I’m just fantasizing?
And finally, Antonio Conte almost had his wig blown off as the Geordies powered to a 2-0 lead… Spurs huffed and puffed in the second half but just weren’t good enough.
Harry Kane’s close-range header was also definitely offside, but hey, VAR knows best! Chat next week…