What if Ruud had stayed at Manchester United?
Ruud’s recent interview got me thinking – what if Ruud van Nistelrooy had stayed at Manchester United?
How different would things be, and where would Manchester United be right now in the league and other competitions?
Football fans are by nature fickle, so I won’t be surprised if the same people who so blindly supported Ruud against all criticisms will now turn on him and regurgitate the drivel fed to them by the media that Manchester United look a better team without him.
That’s not entirely true – Manchester United look a better team not because Ruud left, but because they sorted their defence out and got a quality passing player playing for them in midfield. Vidic and Carrick have done more for Manchester United this season than Louis Saha, Ruud’s successor, ever could.
So let’s play the ‘what if’ game, shall we?
If Ruud were around…
- Carling Cup: Manchester United would probably have played Arsenal in the semis. No telling what would happened then, but I’d wager we could have won.
- Champions League: No way would we have lost to Celtic and Copenhagen, where our movement in the final third and our poor finishing cost us dear. Ruud can hold his nerve, Saha cannot.
- FA Cup: Would Ruud have missed the chances Saha and Park missed on Saturday against Reading?
- Premiership: Apart from the Chelsea game, every game that we’ve dropped points in (loss or draw) would have had different results with Ruud around. Ruud against West Ham, or even home and away against Arsenal?
Ruud’s intelligence in the final third, his finishing and his ability to find that extra yard of pace when necessary make him a far better striker than Louis Saha. We missed him in those games, and we’ll probably miss him again before the end of the season.
Pound for pound, Ruud was a better striker.
What if Ruud hadn’t blown his top at Ferguson?
What if Ruud had learned to play more for the team and adapted to the new system Ferguson was developing?
What if Ferguson had kept faith in Ruud despite the spat?
What if indeed…
Topics: Manchester United, Ruud van Nistelrooy
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Missing Ruud? http://missingruud.blogspot.com/ NOT A CHANCE OF IT!
As for saying we wouldn’t have lost or dropped points in the games we have, if Ruud had been around, its a useless argument. Look at the Sunderland game last year – Ruud missed a lot of chances in that game and we dropped points, it happens. Ruud, is also not the striker he once was – you could see it last season, and the season before. Everything had to be put on a plate for him. His goal scoring record of 20+ last season was because of the team creating a billion chances for him, not because he played brilliantly. Look at him for madrid this season too – he looked good in the first part of the season, but he has been crap for a while now – hasn’t scored in something like 11 games, and if Ruud is not scoring, he isn’t doing much else.
I would have liked him to stay, but he simply would have been an option, not the first choice. We looked better without him in the side (looked better – more pace, movement and flair in the side) last season, so it is not just because of Carrick, and our defence was damn good last year too, so that is no excuse either.
Ruud, at his best, was a beast of a player, but he has not been near his best in coming close to 3 seasons now. Sad, but true.
February 19th, 2007 @ 16:39And sorry for this second comment here – but Larsson is the player we will miss, not Ruud. Larsson does everything Ruud would have offered, but he does it better then Ruud is doing it now. He has the pace Ruud has lost, the movement Ruud no longer shows, the passing Ruud never really had, and the ability in the air Ruud wishes he had.
February 19th, 2007 @ 16:41ruud was a good striker but the players didnt like him and he demolate the team spirit.
February 19th, 2007 @ 16:42our team now not built on one player, we r now building on a team, that is the different and thats why is good that ruud left.
I will agree undoubtedly that Ruud is a better finisher than Saha. Saha misses far too many chances. However, I would rather him in the team this season than Ruud. He does all the little things that fans love.
He runs his heart out across the back four when we don’t have possession, he wins unthinkable headers when we resort to the long ball tactic, his movement is far superior to Ruud’s, who in his last 2/3 seasons at United became very lazy.
Saha, and Larsson in rotation far outweigh the thought of the player which Ruud USED TO BE. The Dutchman was unbelievably good when we won the title in 02/03, but since then he has been in steady decline, and now I believe Saha to be the better option as he fits far better into our new system revolved around Carrick, Scholes, Rooney and Ronaldo.
February 19th, 2007 @ 17:00Ok – what if Ruud had stayed, and as a result Ronaldo left … Still think we would be better off ?
With would would be unlikely to have Larsson in our squad, and would Ruud have provided as many assists as his replacements have ?
Lots of other questions but the fact that we have nearly reached last years goals for tally already does seem to imply that we are managing to limp without him
February 19th, 2007 @ 17:43If my auntie had bollocks, she would be my uncle.
No player is bigger than the club (or should that be ‘bigger than Ferguson’).
Not Beckham. Not Keane. Not RvN.
February 19th, 2007 @ 18:58RVN no pace no movement, very lazy and very bad attitude. Miss him your having a bubble. Though Saha is not the top quality striker, for the team he is much better than RVN, and we look a lot more of a threat. MUST KEEP LARSSON TILL END OF SEASON THOUGH HE OOZES THE CLASS WE NEED.
February 19th, 2007 @ 19:34Rudd is an excellent player….if Rudd was still around…we wouldnt have needed Larrson…but i doubt Rudd would have played his role…
February 19th, 2007 @ 20:25If Ruud were still around – United would probably be 6 points behind Chelsea in the league
February 19th, 2007 @ 23:47Whare the hell are these ungreatfull fans coming from? With all the due respect to Luis and the the fans I am about to offend, its common knowledge that we had far too many problems rather than the Dutchman and infact he was the fans hope when we almost hit a near crisis level at OT.
February 20th, 2007 @ 02:14RVN was, is and will remain far better than the Frenchman in very many ways and these guys had better given him the credit he rightly deserves.
We can’t simply rubbish RVN and ‘sound’ as if he was the Major General behind our problems, if not have a belief that we are in heaven now that the General has been thrown to hell!
I am aware of the fact that you have a right to your own opinions and of the immence talents of Luis Saha but wait a minute:
-How many silverwares do we have this season?
-Are six points difference with Chelsea a firewall that it is impossible for either teams to cross?
-Haven’t we already lost the cup that we were to defend in the first place?
-Or better still have we God given rights to win the PL,CL,or the FA?
-What will ‘we’ say if we lost all these competitions (may it not happen) now that ‘we’ have heaped all the blames on RVN?
I am afraid that this looks rather biased, but let us learn to:
-respond to questions rather than react to them,
-be more objective rather than be carried away by the subjective feelings at the spur of the moment,
-have the courage to say thank you,atleast.
One thing for a fact, is that RVN did the best a man could ever do when he was with us and despite his weaknesses he will remain a hero to many at OT and the world over.And if we ever win any of these trophies then its more because we have worked much harder and have tried to sort out some of our problems.Keane,Silvester, Brown, O’shea, Fletcher Smith,and Richardson who had played a better part of the previous season are nolonger first choice. Vida,Evra,Carrick,Scholesi,Ole and Nevill are a real boost.After all, why aren’t we simply using the same squad we used last season with just an exception of Luis /and Larson for RVN? In any case, if Luis is better than RVN why would we bother ourselves with Henrick?
It goes without saying therefore that:
-there were much more problems in our camp than the Dutchman
-other than have Saha as a replacement for RVN, we must top up to have a real impact-simple logic ladies and gentlemen!
Lastly, if I was to choose between doing away with RVN and being with him,well I may as well say……………………….Over to you.
Absolutely right arina saha can’t match up to ruud.
February 20th, 2007 @ 09:15Ruud had the knack of being at the right place in the right time. Always probing near the goalkeeper’s box to finish ne loose balls in that area. Also he wud never miss the one on one’s with goalkeeper which saha always misses. AND JUST LOOK AT HIS EUROPEAN RECORD 0.8 GOAL PER GAME THE SECOND BEST IS RAUL .46 per game beat that!!!. The reason only he’s not playing his best is because of the poor service he gets from madrid’s players who don’t use ne width.I feel ruud is right up there amongst strikers like shearer and henry.
Saha cant match Ruud. But just look the form of Ronaldo, Giggs, and Scholes. If Ruud were around I could almost guarantee that he would demand a lion share of balls taking away a good proportion from midfield..
The balance is much better this season.
February 21st, 2007 @ 18:20It simply came down to who Fergie knew United could do without. Ronaldo or Ruud. He chose Ronaldo and kicked out Ruud who had become a poisonous primadonna in the dressing room
February 24th, 2007 @ 16:24Van Nistolrooy is one of the best strickers to have been around at Old Trafford and if anything, I was, i am still and will really dissagree with anybody who thinks that it was a good idea for Rudd to leave. I think the problem lay somewhere else, not with the players but somewhere in the relationship between Sir Alex and the players. Look at Keanos case, Ruuds case, and other players who fell off with him around and during that time. Things were difficult not for the players alone but for the manager as well. Surely, sometimes we need to look at the character and personality of some individuals then we can appreciate what is truely worth appreciating. When things go wrong, we should learn to get to the root of the problem firsyt before point accusing fingers at some one else. Keanos case was a difference with the younger lad Fletcher, Ruuds case was a difference with Christianos style of play, etc so who was to blame? Sir Alex should learn to be moderate and respectful to his squard not to treat them like lesser humans who are at his mercy. Well, they have talent and can still shine in other clubs as we see in Rudd, Forlan, Becks, and many more he has wasted over the years.
March 6th, 2007 @ 15:51We need a Solskjaer type player, one with good positioning and composure that doesn’t crave playing time, one that will come in off the bench and knock the ball in, something Rooney, Tevez and Saha don’t do.
November 26th, 2007 @ 00:23