Let me start by throwing a spanner into the works... Christiano Ronaldo was not a good free kick ***!
- Pause wait for the ranting abuse to cease -
LOL. 9 times *edit* - out of ten *edit* Ronaldo hit the wall with his free kicks (check the statistics/attempts for yourself)
Free kicks are about technique. The technique Ronaldo use was to lean backwards and lace the ball. His free kick from range against Porto this year was lovely but the keeper should of had considering the air-time of the ball. The free kick against David James/Portsmouth was looked great as well. With shot power, two factors are involved, one: the strength of the player's leg (how hard they can swing their leg and how solidly the leg resists the impact from the ball) and the weight of the players leg (ever noticed how fat people that play football have killer driven shots). A solif leg like Rooney's can power the ball a lot more than that of Giggs and Ronaldo. So to counter this Ronaldo had to use strength and 'technique'. His style was to lace the ball and see what happens (as he said after scoring the portsmouth free kick: "you kick them and sometimes they go somewhere you want" or something like that). With the premier league balls (T90 aerow etc), ronaldo's technique tends to have a different effect each time and like i said 9 times out of ten he hits the wall or misses. Ronaldo was simply a greedy player who had the respect to be allowed to take all the free kicks when he desired. Owen Hargreaves took two (much to the dissapointment of ronaldo on the day, i might add) and scored two! Why? because Owen H has the 'traditional free kick technique' that Ronaldo does not.
To hit the ball with curve from the inside foot takes technique but it also takes power because its easier to generate power from lace shots than inside foot but inside foot is the truly accurate (intentional) technique. Some players who have this technique are: Ronaldinho, Beckham (maybe the best), dani alves, juninho, Hargreaves and by the looks of it (why wern't we shown earlier? because of selfish ronny), Anderson!
When Hargreaves comes back he is a genuine contender but for now... Anderson has shown he has the power (cos that weighty left foot of his is lethal as i've seen in past non-free kick shots), and the technique. Giggs is fairly weak (i love Giggs, hes the reason i supported United from like 6 years old - My gran used to babysit him as a baby/Ryan's gran lived 3 doors from mine, my aunt was his mum's best friend and my uncle played rugby with his dad) so his free kick range is not very far but edge of the box free kicks = i don't see why he shouldnt take them. Rooney's got technique and great power but i think Anderson seems to have slightly more technique (being raised and trained the 'brazillian way').
Carrick has got inside foot technique (as demonstrated with his precise passing and side foot shots/never even seen him shoot with laces) but he does not have the power in his legs.
In my opinion, we should rotate free kick duties between Anderson who should take the majority and Giggs who should take the short ragne/edge of box free kicks. When Owen comes back from injury (hopefully ASAP) he should also be included. And Douglas Costa who has a MEANNNN left foot free kick ability.
I am a technique player, my legs are thin but extremely strong pound for pound but for this reason i can only generate lots of power using ronaldo's technique. My inside foot curving free kicks are good but from range, they lack drive and power.
One final thing to get off ma chest, Ronaldo has finally left!!!! We can now see Manchester United without the weak link in the chain!!! Yes by himslef, that weak link is the best ability player in the world but a player must be judged by their all round package (strength, speed, passing ability, vision, teamwork ability but most of all = heart/honour) Ronaldo knew not what the word honour and heart meant. How many times have we seen him lose the ball, throw his arms in the air and moan or do a bad pass and moan at the player. When we beat arsenal in the FA cup 4-0 was my proof that when we play without Ronaldo, we play as a team but when he is in the team he breaks up the fluidity of our team play and the 'team heart' (even if he does produce magic by himself 'sometimes'). He plays well against smaller teams but when he plays teams who know how to defend against him and play hard against him, he has frustrating matches where he sulks and ***. All i can say is have him Real, thanks for the obscene amount of cash you given us in return (20 million less than the cost of buying Newcastle along with the stadium, squad of players and all other business/merchandising assets)!!!! Cant wait till we play against them and Vidic breaks his leg!!!! Go Vidic.
That is not the player that should represent this divine team and it's glorious badge. Valencia, good luck my friend, you have my faith!