Ronaldo: Best By Far

What a year for Cristiano Ronaldo! A controversial World Cup showing, crowned with a fourth-place finish. A turbulent summer ultimately saw him staying at Old Trafford when he finally started to make the most of his outrageous talents. Premiership Player of November, he's lighting up the place, scoring important goals and dazzling defenders.

And now he's got the most prestigious award of all: he's won the Vital Manchester United Award For The Player Of The First 19 League Games, getting 78% of the votes. This is truly a moving moment for everyone in the game and I can almost hear Ronaldo, tears in his eyes, saying:

'Thanks for my friends, family, my teammates who've been all wonderful to me. Sir Alex Ferguson is a second father for me and I owe him a lot for this prestigious award. It's truly fantastic, I've never dreamed of getting this award.'

The also-rans are:

Nemanja Vidic 9%
Paul Scholes 7%
Ryan Giggs 2%
Wayne Rooney 2%
Louis Saha 2%

Now that the formalities are over, I'd like to make some personal notes. I'm very surprised that Vidic and Scholes got such a low amount of votes as I feel both of them were vital contributors to the success we've enjoyed so far in the league.

In the case of Vidic, one might argue that defensive players rarely get the acknowledgements they would deserve on the basis of their performances, simply because of the unspectacular nature of their jobs. But Vidic's performances were so obviously sensational that I feel he should not be overlooked.

As for Scholes, the argument about defensive players are totally out of place as his one notable deficiency is his inability to defend. He's one of the stalwarts of the team nad his revival is a reason to celebrate for all United fans. So I really cannot take in why he did not get more votes.

I don't want to belittle Ronaldo's displays, far from that. But I think he wans't so obviously the best player of United and I feel Vidic's and Scholes' influence on our successful league run is no smaller than Ronaldo's.

Anyway, hail the Portuguese, he'll hopefully keep up his form. Of course, you'll have another poll, this time concerning our latest recruit, Henkre Larsson, who is set to make his debut against Villa on the weekend.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.