Good, But What Happens When You Can't Run

I promised a friend to write an unbiased article about this (so bear with me for this one). Let’s get it over quick so I can return to the real football that matters to me and millions more.

Christiano Ronaldo come through the youth system at Sporting Lisbon and graduated through the ranks with consummate ease. Very quickly he found himself in the first team at this Portuguese side. Blessed with speed that could rival most sprinters from lesser lights in the athletics world, he had another thing going for him, fantastic skills. The kind you normally see on training grounds and commercial clips.

His career really took off when Ferguson paid a large sum of money to get him to don the Man Utd’s colours. When he first played for them, only things that were going through everyone’s mind was that this boy has all the party tricks up his sleeve but would struggle in the rough and tumble of the Premiership. In fact, it did bind him a little at first. Things were slightly different in this league compared to Portuguese Liga. Easily skipping past the first tackle when the next one comes crunching in. But the bruises and knocks didn’t put the boy down.

Very soon, we got to see the reasons that Old Man Fergie bought this boy for. Tricks were only limited to certain parts of the field and when the game is already won. He contributed his part in terms of goals as well. Climbing well and possessing strong headers for someone his size was quite rare. He even got the odd 1 or 2 through freekicks.

Last season Ronaldo really came to the fore. It’s fair to say that without his contribution, United would have finish slightly below Everton and settling for a place in the UEFA Cup. One thing that he managed to improve tremendously was his effectiveness in dealing with freekicks. Ratio per chance has got better definitely. Perhaps the innovation of lighter balls has helped with this.

Good. Now done with the good parts, here comes the ugly side.

Ronaldo has a tendency to fall very, very, very easily. Although to be fair, this has lessened in the current season. He expects every time that he falls from a challenge it is a foul. Turning around and appealing like a spoilt brat would not help his case. Most referees are wiser from the numerous video replays that keep showing on television. Faking injuries and diving are things that we could do without from this guy.

Selfish is another point that can be seen happening with this boy. There are numerous times when his teammates are in far better position but he still chooses to dribble and run further. If he takes the time to think about his options rather than going for the glory himself, it would help his team much more. Sure, it’s all going well at the moment but the purple patch is bound to end someday when he alone cannot carry the whole team.

However I do suspect it’s going to be a short career if he doesn’t evolve himself. As the years come along, the pace will drop. This is when it gets interesting. Technically he could turn out to be another Luis Figo, mercurial wide man with two very good feet. He will need to find that extra edge to change the dimension of his game when his speed no longer takes him past oppositions. Stay the same and the star will not shine for too long.

That’s it. My tooth is sore from biting the bullet to complete this piece. I need to go to the dentist.