What football's undisputed GOAT Cristiano Ronaldo brings to the table for Manchester United & Portugal at 37 years old
There used to be a time when it was all way too simple for Cristiano Ronaldo. All his managers had to do was put him in the lineup, score tons of goals and win games and titles without much of a tactical structure.
The period between 2012 and 2018 was a golden one for the Portuguese ace. He won four Champions League titles, two La Liga titles, and a European Championship in those seven years. It simply boils down to one major trophy per year! We are not talking about Club World Cups, Copa Del Rey and other cup titles. These are the honors that matter the most in Europe.
In an era defined by Lionel Messi's Barcelona and Pep Guardiola's Bayern, along with Didier Deschamps and Joachim Low's all-conquering German team, this was a historic feat. Despite his arch-rival Messi dominating all aspects of the game, the 37-year-old came up trumps more often when the chips were down.
He won four of his five Ballons d'Or during those seven years and, at one stage, even equalled Messi's tally of five Ballons d'Or. However, since 2018, the trophies and goals have somewhat dried up. He last won the Champions League in 2018, and since winning the Serie A title in 2020, he is yet to land a major trophy.
So what has changed all these years, and how has Ronaldo transformed over the years? Let's find out.
Ronaldo over the years - from his peak years in Madrid to present
Ronaldo's was probably the best outlet the world has ever seen at the peak of his powers. At times when Lionel Messi was untouchable, Ronaldo generated numbers that matched and sometimes even dwarfed the little magician's numbers.
In 2010-15, Ronaldo averaged 31 non-penalty goals and 11 assists per season domestically. For comparison, let's look at the numbers from last season. Robert Lewandowski was the only one who hit 30+ goals last season, while only 14 players had 11+ assists. Ronaldo, on the other hand, achieved those numbers consecutively for half a decade.
In the good old days, he did everything required of a modern-day inverted winger. He participated in the buildup play (around 60 touches per match), drove the ball forward, created chances and scored goals.
He transformed into a striker in his next three seasons who started mostly on the wings. His involvement in the buildup play lessened (around 45 touches per match), but he scored 24 non-penalty goals per season. His touches inside the penalty area increased manifold at the expense of his touches on the sidelines.
At Juventus, his touches per match again shot up (around 54 per game), and he drove the ball forward a lot more than he did at Madrid during his last three years. No one in the Juve squad could have matched the ball carrying abilities and press resistance of Real's midfield maestros (Casemiro-Kross-Modric). As a result, he was doing all the heavy lifting he could, but to no avail.
Now, at Manchester United, his touches have lessened (around 43 per game), and he is attempting the fewest dribbles compared to any stage during his career. Right now, he is purely a poacher, an off-ball offensive player whose primary task is to take shots and convert those into goals.
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Ronaldo's impact on his teams
As things stand, Ronaldo makes a couple of great runs per game, turning these into goal-scoring opportunities and scores. But that's pretty much all he is offering right now.
Now, there are two sides to this. On the one hand, it has been true that his teams haven't performed like true champions over the last six years.
In his final season at Madrid, Real accumulated 76 points and finished third in La Liga. Juventus collected 90 points the next year and won the Serie A, but this was still less than their tally from last season. Moreover, they were dumped out of the Champions League by a young and enterprising Ajax.
Their points tally dropped as Ronaldo's tenure progressed, and in Ronaldo's last season, Inter managed to snatch the Serie A title from Juventus. This season, United have secured 50 points from 29 games. At this pace, they are likely to secure only 63 points in the league, down from 74 they managed last season.
On the other hand, it can also be true that Ronaldo's arrival is making his teams worse. Since it is highly unlikely that the rest of the players have started playing at a worse level since his arrival, it makes more sense that Ronaldo's arrival is affecting his teams negatively.
Similar has been the case with the Portugal national team. Cristiano has averaged 48 touches, 0.5 non-penalty goals and fewer touches in the penalty area. As a result, Portugal have suffered early elimination at Euro 2020, and they are now locked in a do-or-die World Cup qualifier to advance to Qatar in 2022.
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Está dado o primeiro passo rumo ao nosso grande objectivo, rumo ao Mundial 2022. Nada está ganho, nada está alcançado. Temos de continuar a trabalhar de forma séria e focada, respeitando o adversário mas acreditando sempre nas nossas capacidades. Força Portugal! Rumo ao Catar! 💪🏽 https://t.co/TO8IFKcC9v
Currently, Ronaldo is only scoring goals, and even that number has lowered a lot. While he does not provide much value when his team is chasing the ball, he rarely creates chances for his teammates, and he is not assisting much in the buildup play.
Right now, purely based on merit, Ronaldo does not deserve to start every game for club and country. Instead, the 37-year-old and his managers should prioritize his game time and focus on building a team that sacrifices the individual for the greater good.
However, football has always been a game of fine margins. More often than not, games at the top-most level in Europe have come down to the wire. No one knows that better than him, and no one simply rises to the occasion more often than the Portuguese legend. So, he still has a part left to play in the bigger scheme of things, albeit much smaller than his larger-than-life persona.