Ferguson Backs Ronaldo to Win Over the Fans

Strap a polygraph to Cristiano Ronaldo and ask him if it is true, as every Manchester United fan suspects, that he would rather be playing for Real Madrid and it is inconceivable to imagine him denying it without the needle picking up speed. It is hardly a secret - even Sir Alex Ferguson admitted yesterday that he thought the same - and that makes it intriguing to see how the crowd will react when Ronaldo's attempt to make them "love me again" begins at Old Trafford this evening.

Fit again to face Villarreal in the Champions League, Ronaldo may come to learn that a large proportion of United's supporters will never love him like they once did, even if Ferguson blindly insisted last night that the fans had "no issues with Cristiano". Ferguson was clearly unaware of the poll on one supporters' website that has 40% of supporters admitting that they "dislike him [Ronaldo] more" as a result of his summer-long attempt to force a transfer to Madrid. There has been little affection expressed for Ronaldo in the club's three established fanzines either, one describing him yesterday as "a child we've sent to the naughty step".

Ferguson, however, seems confident that the crowd will be in a forgiving mood after a disappointing start to the season that has emphasized Ronaldo's importance to the team. "I think they [the supporters] understand that he's a young man and that he's been tempted by the lure of money," said the United manager. "But since we gave him a decision he's accepted it well. He's shown fantastic maturity in the last few weeks, accepting the situation and getting on with it.

"Everyone knows he said that he'd like to go to Real Madrid. But when I had a meeting with him about it, that was it finished. He understood my position and the club's position and he's got on with it. He's accepted it, been professional and there hasn't been one problem since. There's been no pettiness, no throwing toys out of the pram. His training has been absolutely fantastic. He's probably been one of the best patients I've ever seen. Every day, until 5pm, he's shown a real determination [to get fit], which is a credit to him and the physios. They [the physios] have done a great job but he's been a fantastic patient."

Ferguson's choice of words does not remove the underlying suspicion that, if Ronaldo had his way, he would not be playing any part in United's defence of the Champions League trophy. Yet this is undoubtedly a good time for Ronaldo to return to the team and it is clear, too, that some of the resentment has made way while he has been out with an ankle injury, his absence coinciding with United taking only four points from their first three Premier League games and being described by Ferguson as playing "like a Conference side" in Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.

"Ronaldo will receive a warmer welcome than some away from Old Trafford would have anticipated and maybe hoped for," says Barney Chilton, the editor of Red News fanzine. "That's not because those unhappy with his, at best, naive and, at worst, plain disrespectful Madrid desires have completely forgiven him - though another 40-goal haul would help - but because we know that cutting off our nose to spite our face would be counter-productive. We're not fickle, we're fans whose self-interest means we will always want what is best for the side.

"The whole saga may explode once again next summer and it's perhaps doing nothing but simmering away right now. But for the time being, we'll treat him like a child who has apologized and who we have sent to the naughty step. We'll forgive while keeping one pensive eye on his future behavior. Our start to the season has shown that we've a hell of a lot stronger chance of repeating last season with him rather than without him."

The defeat at Liverpool was particularly disappointing for everyone at Old Trafford and, after being so openly critical of his players, Ferguson expects a stronger performance tonight against a Villarreal side that will include Robert Pires, formerly of Arsenal, but will be missing Giuseppe Rossi, the former United player.

"I don't think the players should be shocked by what I said," Ferguson reflected. "It was a bad team performance and, in most cases, the players know when they have had a bad day. We didn't compete with Liverpool's tackling and they forged a victory out of winning the ball. The warning signs are there for us - if we want to compete at the top, the first thing is we have to compete."

United were held to two scoreless draws when they met Villarreal at this stage of the competition in 2005, but the Spaniards are not quite the side which reached the semi-finals in 2006 and this, in theory, should be a routine evening for Ronaldo to return.

"He'll certainly be involved," Ferguson promised. "Whether or not we start him is a major decision but it's probably more likely he will start on the bench."