Red Latest: Team Meetings, Ronaldo Return?

The news stories come flooding in thick and fast and it seems like even though we’re nowhere near a transfer window the Ronaldo return story is going to run and run…

£140m to bring Ronaldo back? – This week there have been a few stories about Ronaldo coming back, and most media outlets are quoting that it will cost United around £140 million in total to bring him back. This comprises of a transfer fee for around £60 million according to the Guardian, and then £380,000 a week in wages.

It was also revealed this week that United fans group UNITED REEL have forked out around £2,750 to hire a plane to fly over Real Madrid’s game with Villarreal this week to carry the message ‘Come Home Ronaldo’.

It’s undeniable that Cristiano Ronaldo is a legend and it would be absolutely amazing to see him play in the red shirt at Old Trafford again. But, for a few reasons, if this actually goes ahead is probably more embarrassing than anything else. Firstly, why has flying a banner over a pitch become a staple of United’s fans suddenly? It’s not like there’s a precedent throughout history except for last season and we all know how badly that one went down, and how small time it made the club and fans look to the outside world. Liverpool fans and Man City fans were rubbing their hands with glee at the small time nature and embarrassing situation of the banner and I’m sure it would be the same – surely it just comes off desperate. Secondly, why does this fan group think that flying a banner over a game that Ronaldo is playing in will suddenly make him want to come home even more? I’m sure he couldn’t care less about a banner. With all the emotions aside, the possibility of Champions League football and the enormous wage mooted above is more likely to persuade him than anything else. Finally, why are some fans pressuring the club to focus on an area where we blatantly don’t need strengthening? The MEN showed one tweet with a fan suggesting that they should fly the banner over Borussia Dortmund’s game to convince Mats Hummels to come – surely that is much more of a priority, and should be the dream transfer. Should Ronaldo come back or not, I’d much prefer if the club focused on buying central defenders.

Robin van Persie has also revealed this week that the team had a meeting to analyse the Leicester game, where mistakes were made, and how this can be improved. The question about the leadership of this team has already been raised and is an extremely valid point, but this meeting surely shows positive signs for the spirit and leadership in the squad. RVP told Fox Sports News – “When you look at the defensive mistakes, it starts somewhere else, that’s where we looked at as well. It’s not just the one mistake which happens. There’s a mistake before the mistake and before the mistake, maybe positional wise. That’s where we looked at.” “Everyone knows where we have to improve.” RVP said that the meeting was long and was sometimes a “bit confronting”. We’ll see on the pitch on Saturday whether it has made a difference but surely this is a good sign. Nothing was ever mooted last year about the players taking responsibility for poor results and working out how to arrest any potential decline, so this shows progression. It also shows the players are passionate and want to improve the performances. Surely that can only be a good thing.

Time will tell on Saturday…

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