Life after Ronaldo

So it is looking increasingly likely that the RM legend will move to Juventus this summer.

I think a lot of our transfer speculation was based around having a player like Ronaldo. Ronaldo leaving changes pretty much everything. Benzema is now even MORE useless, which I thought was physically impossible. Ronaldo will create a massive goal scoring void that we will need to fill. I think Bale was expected to leave, but, now that will have a big question mark over it.

How do we cope? Who would you suggest to take up Ronaldo's position and/or goal scoring duty? Line ups?

I refuse to believe it... not after I've finally become a HUGE fan of his recently ffs.

It's just wrong in my book. CR is the best player in the world NOW. Forget his age. It's not like Raul who was declining.

If we do well him, I hope Neymar is truly an option because Hazard is not a proper replacement. We also need a proper SCORING CF ffs.

I'm getting more and more angry just thinking about it.

Hmm, if you can't get Neymar or Mbappe then maybe we could try going for Hazard and Kane, maybe let go of Bale in the process and mix in Isco and Asensio. If the market doesn't look good enough then we can hold on to CR7 for another year or 2.

If you can't get Neymar or Mbappe, you block the sale, it's really that simple.

@Sports, why dont you like Hazard?

what if we sign Hazard and a CF?

i would argue that we should sign Hazard as a replacement to Bale anyway. sign a CF too to compete with benzema, and if we can't get Neymar/Mbappe you block CR till next summer.

Don't let the WC fool you with Hazard. He's NOT a big game player and he's incredibly inconsistent. He's not someone you go to war with.

Spurs will ask 300 mil for Kane. It would be stupid.

I think blocking Ronaldo would do more harm than good. He's won everything here, and if we force him to stay I'm not sure what his incentive would be to play at the same level. We should just take the 100m and invest the best we can.

If it were me, and Ronaldo did leave- I think there are a few routes we could take:

The obvious choice would be to replace him with Mbappe or Neymar.

The next option for me would be to go one tier down on the LW role Ronaldo would have occupied and get Hazard as well as a CF.

I think the most likely option is Hazard + CF, but if this was fantasy land and I had my pick I would sign up Mbappe ASAP. Neymar, as talented as he is, is so much of a headache with all of his drama.

Deez i think CR wants money. The last offer we made to him was 25 mil net + bonus. if you block a move and increase his wages he will be happy to stay.

Starting next season with an attack of

Hazard-Lewandowski-Bale

wouldnt be so bad all things considered. But i still think selling CR to Juve for 100 mil and not signing back a Mbappe or a Neymar will get Perez fired by the socios.

@Sports, you are being harsh with Hazard, he is a great player, and he is in his prime. I think in Spain he would play a lot better than he does in England, the guy is technically as good as it gets for an attacker.

That's definitely a possibility, though, hes gone to pretty far lengths for that pay increase. If we do come to an agreement on wages I think that is issue settled. We can go the course of just looking for a CF to compete with Benz.

I just have this feeling that with a third CL in a row, Zidane leaving, Ronaldo getting to the end of his career I completely understand him wanting to get another crack at (1) getting one last big big contract, and (2) getting some more guaranteed hardware.

Hiring Lopetegui I can imagine could have been seen by a player of Ronaldo's stature as a rebuilding move. Moving to a club like Juve, where they have a little more stability at the current moment guarantees him more money, and at the very least 1 major* trophy, and a pretty decent shot at CL.

So overall at the current moment, I think it's more likely he leaves than stays, but anything is possible. I have faith in the RM hierarchy (for the first time in like 20+ years) to make the right decision either way.

And agreed with Hazard. I don't think he is on the tier of Neymar or Mbappe, but he could be a useful player used to appease the fans a little bit after losing Ronaldo.

sportsczy wrote:I refuse to believe it... not after I've finally become a HUGE fan of his recently ffs.

you can still be his HUGE fan right? It's not like he's retiring.

CR wanting to leave really has nothing to do with hiring Lopetegui or thinking large how the cycle of this squad. That would be giving him too much credit, he aint that bright. He has a self centered prick who believes he can win anywhere, although, he keenly understands how incredible the spine of this team has been carrying him to multiple CLs.

Neymar just got bumped out of the world cup, you will see very soon whether he wants to push his way out of PSG or stay a nice boy.

sportsczy wrote:Don't let the WC fool you with Hazard. He's NOT a big game player and he's incredibly inconsistent. He's not someone you go to war with.

Spurs will ask 300 mil for Kane. It would be stupid.

This WC is clearly making me a bigger fool because I just happen to jump on the Hazard Hype Train. I refuse to believe this is not gonna be the norm from now on.

Dont worry Doc, he has been great.

We keep saying that we want top players to perform in big tourneys and then when they do, we should not get used to it? i dont agree with Sports at all, Hazard is proving that he is elite and has big cojones.

Regardless, of whether or not Hazard is elite, signing him as a replacement for CR would likely still leave a scoring void. He’s just not that type of player. I suppose it would make some sense for him to come as part of a Courtois+Hazard deal, but I expect Flo to have planned out the future of the club without CR, and it better not involve Hazard taking over his goalscoring duties. I like to think that CR would respect the club enough to not leave before they’ve found a replacement, as well. If he insists on leaving before ensuring that his gap is filled by someone, that would really sour his legacy as a club legend.

Hazard has taken whole SEASONS off ffs.  Was a fan...  not a fan at all anymore.  The guy lacks professionalism and I can't stand that.

Shaqiri looked good in this WC so be very careful of how you rate guys who come out of nowhere in WCs.

I can see the attraction of Flo to bringing in Hazard, but for the life of me, I can’t see what Hazard offers that Isco doesn’t (and I don’t understand Val being a Hazard fan boy putting Isco down as some incompetent). Further more, I can’t see Isco and Hazard on same field? You know Lopetequi will make Isco a full time starter, plus you have something somewhat similiar in Asensio.

As to Ronaldo’s replacement, it has to be one of Mbappe, Kane or Neymar. All are difficult and expensive. I get the feeling that Flo is willing to pay the price for one of these. IMO, Either striker is a better option of Neymar. His whining and diving, puts even Ronaldo’s behaviour somewhat acceptable. Bottom line is although both are talented, they are spoiled whining kids that require constant attention, praising and money, detraction from the team as a whole and definitely not worth the headaches. Give us a solid striker and we’ll be just fine.

Ronaldo won't leave. If it was going to happen it would have happened on 7/7. We're on 7/8 now and nothings happened really. 100m is too low of a number for us to accept simply

futbol_bill wrote:I can see the attraction of Flo to bringing in Hazard, but for the life of me, I can’t see what Hazard offers that Isco doesn’t (and I don’t understand Val being a Hazard fan boy putting Isco down as some incompetent). Further more, I can’t see Isco and Hazard on same field? You know Lopetequi will make Isco a full time starter, plus you have something somewhat similiar in Asensio.

As to Ronaldo’s replacement, it has to be one of Mbappe, Kane or Neymar. All are difficult and expensive. I get the feeling that Flo is willing to pay the price for one of these. IMO, Either striker is a better option of Neymar. His whining and diving, puts even Ronaldo’s behaviour somewhat acceptable. Bottom line is although both are talented, they are spoiled whining kids that require constant attention, praising and money, detraction from the team as a whole and definitely not worth the headaches. Give us a solid striker and we’ll be just fine.

Imagine the fall from grace when you go from main man CR to main man 'it's good to win but it was better the first time' Isco. Hazard lead 2 park-the-bus Chelsea teams to the PL title. Isco didn't even lead the Spain u21, as Thiago was and is a better player. What does Hazard do better ? Pretty much everything.

I would personally break the bank and buy Mbappe... he could slot left and you're done without changing anything in the team. What system will Lopotegui play???

Kane signed a new SIX year contract a month ago. A transfer at this point is impossible.

As for Mbappé, PSG are known to not let players go easily against the club's will and I could not find a single reason why they should even consider selling him. You cannot expect them to be so stupid so I think you can forgot about Mbappé too.

Neymar is the only one whom I could see raising such a stink that PSG agree to let him go.

well he is out of the world cup, i think we will find out very quickly what he wants to do. There is an article in ElPais today about Madrid & PSG both waiting for Neymar to make up his mind about continuing at PSG or asking for a move, but he will have to be forceful about it. The only problem is that Diego Torres has a dodgy reputation

But you are right in that it would make more sense for PSG to sell Neymar than Mbappe

Valk, would you stop writing shit please. Hazard didn't lead anything for Chelsea's last PL win since there is a particular reason Kante won both PFA player of the year & Premier League player of the season. The one under Jose, sure though I'm certain Costa had a bigger impact.

In any case, I'll agree with Bill on that Hazard and Isco may not be able to co-exist and between the two, I'll choose Isco any day. So would the club. The team has gone to bat with Isco and he has shown up many times against some stellar opposition. Hazard has just realised what a little effort can accomplish.

@Sports
Shaqiri showed his level against Sweden so I don't need to be hyped for that one footed, one trick and above average pony. Hazard, however, I'm liking this. I really hope it continues though.

@futbol_bill, what Hazard brings over Isco is speed. Speed is everything in football today, Hazard is significantly quicker and faster than Isco which makes him a direct attacking threat.

But like Sports said, Hazard is not a goalscorer, he is a playmaker, and when you sell someone like CR who is your main goal supplier then you need to make sure you replace his goal output.

We need to sign a number 9 who score goals, it's quite obvious. It could be Lewandowski if Bayern agree to sell. Or we can take a chance on a young striker like Icardi. Doesn't matter as long as he scores goals. One thing is clear is that we can no longer afford forwards like benzema who can't score. Hopefully he goes to Napoli give a hand to Carlo

To answer Sport’s question first, I believe Lopetequi will play much more of a possession game and will almost certainly play with 4 MFs. Whether it’s a 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2 or 4-2-2-2, we will have to wait. Ideally we want 2 new scorers up front or Ronaldo plus new striker. Or maybe he plays 4-3-3 with an AM on one side.

On the other hand if you get Hazard, you play him on one of the wings, but then there is a whole question about who plays in midfield and without another striker / scorer, are we not just the same as last year relying on Ronaldo only to score goals?

futbol_bill wrote:and without another striker / scorer, are we not just the same as last year relying on Ronaldo only to score goals?

No, then we'd be relying on soon to be 34 year old Ronaldo to score goals. His poor form and evident decline in stamina at the start of last season was not a good sign, and although I'm sure many forgot about that as soon as he started scoring in the CL, the situation regarding his decline won't be getting any better in the future. Regardless of what else happens this summer, I hope we sign some kind of goalscorer.

One issue with Hazard and Isco is that they occupy similar areas on the pitch, so I see both Nick and Bill's points. Hazard is definitely quicker, and I think overall would be a slight upgrade to Isco, but the three problems are- where will they play, will they be able to play together, and where are the goals going to come from.

The first problem I think is up in the air until we see what Lopetegui will roll out, the second one I believe is- yes, they can play together- depending slightly on the first issue, and the third [the goals] will have to come from an additional CF signing.