Dexter Morgan

13.

[Z @MadeInArsenal6]

The Kopa Trophy winners have also been confirmed but I don't want to spoil the excitement. All I will say is that FC Barcelona is going to have the greatest night of any club in the history of the Ballon d'Or.

8/13

[Actu Foot @ActuFoot_]

🚨 Ivan Rakitic 🇭🇷 : « LE STATUT DE LA GÉNÉRATION DE XAVI, INIESTA, PUYOL… EST INCOMPARABLE À TOUT CE QUI EXISTE AUJOURD’HUI. ❌

Ce sont des LÉGENDES, et des joueurs de cette équipe sont encore en activité.

PERSONNE NE POURRA ÉGALER LA GÉNÉRATION DE 2010. »

🎙️ @RadioestadioN via @Blaugranation_

[Lionel Lingard 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @Lionel_Lingard]

I will answer your question.

Let’s go back to 2020/21.

Ole had built an attacking system around the team.

Rashford could attack space.

Greenwood could drift, combine and finish.

Cavani could make intelligent runs.

Martial could drop, carry the ball and link play.

And Bruno Fernandes had multiple attacking targets to find.

The numbers tell the story.

Rashford: 21 goals in all comps

Cavani: 17 goals in all comps.

Greenwood: 12 goals in all comps.

Martial: 7 goals in all comps.

That’s 57 goals from those four players.

And Manchester United scored 73 Premier League goals overall and finished second.

Then Cristiano Ronaldo returned.

And this was where things changed.

Ole suddenly had to accommodate him.

And because Ole couldn't bench him, the system had to change.

The team increasingly had to be built around Cristiano Ronaldo.

And that led to a tactical cost for Ole.

Ronaldo was a phenomenal goalscorer, but he wasn’t the same explosive player who could constantly press, stretch defences and make repeated runs behind the defensive line.

The 36-year-old Ronaldo gave something different:

Elite movement inside the box, positioning, finishing and a relentless desire to get into scoring positions.

So the attack increasingly had to find ways to feed him.

And that affected the rest of the attacking structure.

Rashford wasn’t getting the same freedom.

Greenwood’s role changed.

Bruno’s relationship with the front line changed.

Cavani’s minutes and role changed.

The collective attacking rhythm became less natural.

And suddenly we were becoming far more dependent on individual moments.

Ronaldo would score and rescue us.

But the team itself wasn’t functioning the same way.

That’s why I don’t buy the argument that Ronaldo made Manchester United better because he scored goals.

Of course he scored goals.

But football isn’t just about putting the best goalscorer on the pitch.

It’s about creating a structure where everyone can perform.

Ole had built something that was becoming increasingly collective.

Then he had to reshape it around Ronaldo.

And eventually, the balance was lost.

We started conceding too many, the performances became increasingly chaotic, and Ole was eventually sacked after the 4-1 defeat to Watford. The effect of having a 36-year-old Ronaldo in the team.

Ronaldo’s arrival absolutely created a tactical problem that Ole struggled to solve.

And the outcome of that set us back.

[Actu Foot @ActuFoot_]

🚨🚨 Jorge JESUS sur l’affaire Cristiano RONALDO 🇵🇹 👇 :

« DEMANDER PARDON ??? POURQUOI ET À QUI ?!? 😤

J’assume ma responsabilité et ma décision. Mais pourquoi je dois demander pardon et à qui ? (…)

J’ai dit que j’allais le faire après une réunion ? C’EST FAUX ÇA. ❌ »

[Guilherme Adones @guilhermeadones]

O jogador será sempre o principal protagonista do jogo e o maior responsável pelo seu rendimento.

Mas este momento mostra também a importância de quem observa de fora.

Jorge Jesus percebe que Gonçalo Ramos está a baixar demasiado e pede-lhe para ficar mais alto e ocupar a área. Pouco depois, Gonçalo aparece nesse espaço e faz o 2-1.

Quem está dentro sente coisas que quem está fora nunca vai sentir. Mas quem está fora também consegue ver coisas que, por vezes, são mais difíceis de perceber lá dentro.

O jogador será sempre o protagonista. O treinador e o analista podem ajudá-lo a ser melhor.

[No Context Prem @NoContextEPL]

QUICK REMINDER: Darwin Núñez has a record to his name that might stand forever 😭🇺🇾

[Actu Foot @ActuFoot_]

🚨 Mohamed TIJANI 🇧🇯, défenseur du BÉNIN, choisi pour le match des adieux de Lionel MESSI 🇦🇷 avec l’Argentine 👇 :

« ON A PAS À PRÉPARER LE MATCH, ON VA JUSTE PROFITER C’EST TOUT ! 🤩

Je repartirai avec le maillot de Messi je le jure sur ma mère.

"MESSI REGARDE : JE T’AIME TELLEMENT, DONNE MOI LE MAILLOT. 🙏🤣" »

[levi @BlaugranaPuri]

Nostalgia merchants cry about the sport going soft, then see this Argentina squad and cry about them being too physical.

[J. 🇭🇷 @JosipFCB93]

Love it when people talk like this about small countries. Like we are France, Spain or Argentina with limitless pool of talent and we can just change 7 players at once. You guys don't get how hard it is for a country as small as Croatia to replace players like Modrić or even Perišić

[Cephas @Cephas_me]

Bruno Vitinha and Neves called the squad to a meeting telling them to not play well and sabotage Ronaldo so he doesn’t win World Cup. They didn’t like him so they sabotaged him.

This is the line of reasoning of adults by the way. Not children. Grown men with beards 🤣

[The Touchline | 𝐓 @TouchlineX]

🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Goncalo Ramos has been INSANE for Portugal in this international break:

⚽️ vs. Norway
⚽️🅰️ vs. Denmark
⚽️ vs. Norway

4 G/A IN 3 GAMES SINCE BECOMING PORTUGAL'S STARTING NUMBER 9! 🇵🇹

[Joueurs Béninois 🇧🇯 @JoueursBJ]

L’ambiance dans le groupe des Guépards à Buenos Aires 😄

Vous voyez des gars maltraités ou pas contents d’être là ? MDRRRR

[nenn (fan) @FCB_nenn]

La selección española iba de ridículo en ridículo hasta que decidieron mandar a tomar por culo a Raúl González y enfocarla más al Barça. Ahí llegaron un Mundial y dos Eurocopas.

Luego Ramos fue capitán y volvieron los ridículos hasta que se volvió a enfocar en el Barça. Una vez es casualidad, dos ya es un patrón.

[Columbo 🇭🇷 @ColumboFootball]

🚨💣| 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: 40 MINUTES of FC BARCELONA getting 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐄𝐃 in UCL over the last 𝟐𝟎 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒!!! 😳

[J. 🇭🇷 @JosipFCB93]

Imagine someone in 2008 said "Barça fans live in a bubble, some of them really think Messi is better than Fernando Torres"

This tweet is the equivalent of that

[𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 🇵🇹🇨🇭 @lampiaoswiss]

Masterclass do Alex de Castro. 👏🇵🇹

O jornalista e youtuber desportivo, que já comentou a Liga Portuguesa em canais franceses e faz vídeos. fez duras críticas aos fãs de Cristiano Ronaldo e ao próprio jogador.

Traduzi o vídeo para vocês perceberem. 🎥🇵🇹

Concordam com ele?

[Brailovskismo. @CF_America_13]

Las calles no olvidarán que el FIFA boy fue perdonado y pudo jugar el Mundial cuando debió ser suspendido 3 partidos.

[𝙏𝙤𝙗𝙮 @toby_fcb]

Xabi Alonso was begging Ronaldo to let him take the penalty since he had not scored a goal for Madrid yet.

Alonso took the ball from him and placed it on the spot, Ronaldo stepped all the way back to the edge of the box and watched. He refused to celebrate with his teammates after the penalty kick was converted, he simply turned around and walked back toward the halfway line for kickoff.

Madrid were already winning 6-2 against Villarreal. 😭