Giggs - We don't miss Ron

Veteran midfielder claims United are fine without Portuguese star

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 20th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Giggs - We don't miss Ron

Giggs & Ronaldo: Former team-mates

He wasn't a Manc and we knew one day he would leave, but there are no hard feelings - why should there be?

Ryan Giggs on Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Ryan Giggs insists little has changed at Manchester United since Cristiano Ronaldo's exit in the summer.

The Portuguese winger blossomed into the best player on the planet during his time at Old Trafford, but opted to take on a fresh challenge when Real Madrid lodged a record-breaking bid in June.

His absence was expected to leave a gaping hole in United's attacking arsenal, with a regular source of goals having been offloaded.

However, the Red Devils have fared admirably in his absence and veteran midfielder Giggs believes Sir Alex Ferguson's side are as fearsome as ever - regardless of the changes in personnel.

"Cristiano is one of the best players in the world but I have to be honest and say I haven't noticed much of a difference since he left," Giggs said in The People.

"We have never been a one-man team and we still have more or less the same group of players, with a couple of additions.

"We all knew Cristiano wanted to play for Madrid and when he got the chance he took it.

"He wasn't a Manc and we knew one day he would leave, but there are no hard feelings - why should there be?

"He is one of the best I have ever played with and a really nice lad, but we knew Madrid was where he wanted to be one day and he got his wish, so good luck to him."

Keep going

Giggs, who turned 36 in November, remains as integral a part of United's plans as he has ever been, and the Welsh wizard claims he has no plans to call time on his distinguished career any time soon, having just signed a one-year extension at Old Trafford.

He added: "I still have the energy to enjoy everything that goes with training.

"When the season is finished I get restless. I can only sleep about five hours a night when the season isn't on and there is no training because I can honestly say I don't get tired.

"I still don't find the daily routine boring. I have said before that when I stop caring that's when it will be time to give up.

"The Villa defeat the other week hurt me, and that reflects in training. When defeats stop hurting and you don't want to train, then you know it is probably time to hang up your boots."

Comments (3)

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Lee Cawley (Manchester United fan) says...

I'm sorry, this sounds more like wishful thinking than truth. Ronaldo was THE most prolific goal scorer at United over the last two seasons, to say that the team doesn't miss that, is delusional. If it wasn't for the fact that the other top clubs are losing nearly as many games, United would be down the table. Just as he has proven at Real Madrid, Ronaldo is a massively influential figure, just look at their results with and without him.

Posted 10:40 21st December 2009

Phil Meredith (Manchester United fan) says...

What a complete load of rubbish. We miss him like I'd miss my right hand if it got chopped off. I don't know why people inside OT keep insisting that we don't miss Ronaldo, it is complete and utter rubbish. Nobody in the United team today is fit to lace the guys boots and that includes the vastly over-hyped Rooney. There is nobody in the world that you can use to replace what we have lost from Ronaldo so why they keep trying to convince us otherwise is beyond me. We are appalling this season and overachieved to be where we are. we will not win anything this season, and for the next few unless the Glazers dig deep as the majority of our players are not up to scratch. All of the injuries in defence are acting as the perfect smokescreen for Fergie to put blame elsewhere and deluded fans who do not understand football. Fergie will use this as his excuse for a poor season and it's good to see that he understands how bad we are by getting his excuses in early this year. Ronaldo almost single handedly got us to the UCL final, without his goals in that tournament and in the league we would have come nowhere, much like we will this season as people realise that we are in fact a very ordinary team who had an exceptional player.

Posted 10:29 21st December 2009

David Pickard (Liverpool fan) says...

Very diplomatic answer Ryan but nobody is really buying that statement,he used to get united out of trouble time and again with the odd winning goal and you needed to keep Tevez as well!

Posted 16:01 20th December 2009
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