In the Future When All's Well

Some words from Fabregas on Ronaldo -

“Ronaldo won the last two leagues on his own.

“He is such a good player and very difficult to stop.

“The truth is it is a big piece of luck for the rest of us that he has gone.

“It will be one problem less for us to deal with next season.

“We had our ups and downs on the pitch but I got on well with him and I am sure he will do big things next season alongside Kaka.”

First off, he's half right - we're not as strong without Ronaldo, and other teams will be happy to see the back of him. Then again, he's completely wrong. Wasn't the bedrock of our title this season our defence? Ronaldo didn't have the greatest of seasons, so everyone keeps telling us, so he could maybe get away with saying Ronaldo won one title by himself, but the other 2? No way.
And, to go off topic for a moment, here's an example of Fabregas's Arsenal commitment:

“I want to win titles with Arsenal but if Guardiola called me it would be different. I would be delighted to go.”

Carlos Queiroz has some words on Ronaldo:

He said: "I have my opinion regarding the career of Cristiano and I think Manchester United was the right club for him.

"It's something to do with the fashion, the television, a different game that is in place nowadays.

"I must say that at Real Madrid, these things are a more important part of the equation.

"But I'm sure that, after what happened a few years ago, the club president Florentino Perez and director of football Jorge Valdano will have learned from their mistakes when the players were too committed to advertising.

"There were a lot of compromises and deals away from the pitch. When the club is huge and you put together players like Figo, Zidane and Roberto Carlos the challenge is huge.

"With Kaka and Ronaldo, that's something they will come up against but I'm sure the club have learned from the past."

He also has some words defending Ronaldo:

"When you talk about loyalty, you must understand the loyalty has two directions," Queiroz said.

"In terms of the modern game, loyalty is to be a great professional, to be committed to the club, to be engaged with the coach and the vision of the club and nobody can put one thing against Cristiano because as a professional he's brilliant.

"But as you know with 95 per cent of movement in football it is the managers at the clubs that dictate the movements. Once in a while some of the top players have the capacity and the power to create their own motivation."

Martin Samuel has an article, half good (praising Ronaldo), half bad (over-emphasising what a loss he'll be). The good:

Cristiano Ronaldo, it turns out, was rubbish. Glad we cleared that up. It was easy to be waylaid into thinking differently.

I mean, what with three consecutive Premier League titles, man-of-the-match performance in a victorious FA Cup final, two League Cups, a Champions League trophy, the Club World Cup, FIFA World Player of the Year award, two Footballer of the Year awards, two PFA Players' Player of the Year awards, Ballon D'Or, European Golden Shoe, PFA Young Player of the Year, Portuguese Player of the Year and 67 goals in two seasons.

It was easy to misguidedly imagine he could actually play a bit. Apparently not. Apparently he was a preening peacock, a narcissist, a cheat, a liar, a burden to his team-mates and few tears will be shed at his departure.

He was vain, selfish, unreliable and did not do it in big matches. The only surprise, all things considered, is that it took £80million to spirit him away from Old Trafford because, by the sounds of it, Sir Alex Ferguson should have driven him to Madrid for a crisp fiver and a bag of salted almonds some years ago. ...

It is not just Ronaldo's final year in English football that is being re-imagined as a failure. His influence on United's revival is also airily diminished. The fact is that until United found a midfield player to match Frank Lampard's 20-plus goals a season at Chelsea, they were not in touch.

And the bad:

It was Ronaldo's emergence as a prolific match-winner to supplant United's forward line that altered the dynamic of the Premier League. To dismiss his involvement as the odd good game, or the fortunate bounty of his selfish streak, is to forget the hold Chelsea had on English football when Jose Mourinho was first in charge.

United could not get near them until Ronaldo came good. On April 29, 2006, Chelsea won a second consecutive league title by demolishing United 3-0. The next season Ronaldo found another 10 goals from somewhere and the balance of power swung to Old Trafford.

The positive reaction to his departure is almost wantonly bizarre with many joining Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister - and there is the warning, straightaway - in predicting that United will emerge stronger, as if losing the World Player of the Year is going to make your club more appealing to the best players.

Is it not logical; players who previously felt they were at the best, the strongest, club in the world, might now have second thoughts. It is no surprise that within 24 hours of the bid for Ronaldo being accepted, unsettling rumours around Nemanja Vidic resurfaced. The odds on Carlos Tevez leaving increased, too.

Ronaldo altered the way English football was perceived, and redefined Manchester United's place in it, and no amount of revisionism should cloud that.

The idea that United are better off without him, or that he can be easily replaced, is too far-fetched

Of course he'll be missed, but the this doomsday scenario is just silly. The Vidic rumours "resurfaced" at times throughout last season, and post-season even before the Ronaldo deal. And as for Tevez, it seems increasingly obvious that he's had no intention of staying for months, preferring the big pay packet elsewhere than competing for titles with us. I did find this sentence from Martin Samuel quite funny though:

The latest development is that Ronaldo will be replaced by Luis Antonio Valencia of Wigan Athletic. And had Valencia not scored fewer goals in the entirety of last season than Ronaldo did in the four days between October 29 and November 1, they could be twins.

On Tevez, The Independent claim that "the Argentine told the Manchester United manager directly in the past few days that he wants to leave." The article also contains this:

City's unconfirmed offer is £140,000 per week – a reflection that Tevez has proven ability to deliver in the Premier League.

Tevez has shown he can score the odd goal in The Premier League, but to suggest his performance warrant such a pay packet seems fanciful at best.
Finishing with transfer speculation from The Mirror:

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is making a British record £45million bid for Valencia striker David Villa.

Ferguson will take on Real Madrid for the signature of the Spanish star who will be sold by his cash-strapped club ...
The United chief thinks he can win the race for Villa if he can pitch the right case to him, backed up by cash. He is masterminding the move from his South of France holiday base.

Ummmm.