Have you noticed anything wrong with Cristiano Ronaldo? Have you ever wondered why he has been reduced to the world’s greatest goal poacher? How that title is in fact a reduction, a horrible short selling of the skills of a man who used to beat a defender just as he entered the attacking third, and then send a rail gun of a shot over a keeper’s head? We know that Ronaldo has changed his style of play since his days at Manchester United; the flair of infinite step-overs has been replaced by the utilitarian ruthlessness of scoring goals. That doesn’t explain what has happened to Ronaldo in the past 3 months; he has gone through a change of equal magnitude, but this time it was not of his choice, according to former Real Madrid Director of Football Arrigo Sacchi.
Ronaldo was an absolute machine in the fall, where as in the spring he as been merely exceptional. That would not be much for any other player, but when you are the cutting edge of one of the most dangerous attacks in the world, it results in failure. In the past 3 months, Real Madrid have lost El Clasico, and consequently seen their fate in La Liga ripped from their hands, only a Barcelona failure could hand them the League. They have been beaten by Atletico Madrid, the same rivals that knocked them out of the Copa del Rey. And, they have exited the Champions League.
Those who take Ronaldo scoring both of Madrid’s goals across the two semifinal legs against Juventus as a sign that he was hardly ineffective have read the stat sheet but not seen the game. Ronaldo was just as much of a spectator as the much derided Gareth Bale, he was just a spectator that found himself answering some questions asked by those running the show around him. Aside from his two goals and a should-have-been finished cross to Gareth Bale, Ronaldo was not the game deciding factor that he had been in the fall, when he had a goals-per-game ration of 2.16 at one point, and was leading Madrid to an El Clasico victory and a 22-game winning streak.
The secret to the fall of this great talent has been revealed, and perhaps it was something apparent to more than just the former Director of Football: Ronaldo has been injured. Not incapacitated, but hindered to the point of reduction.
"For three months now Cristiano Ronaldo has not gone past a player," said Sacchi after Madrid’s Champions League exit. "He scores goals, as he is a fighter, but he is not fit."
Ronaldo was widely accepted to have played through injury during the World Cup over the summer. With such a busy schedule, it is quite possible that he never had a chance to fully recover, and that his form during the Fall veiled the slow attrition that was cracking his body beneath the surface. That attrition has since taken its toll. Ronaldo is a man reduced. He has hung around the goal, because he is limited by a body whose “death by a thousand matches” can no longer be ignored. He has been exceptionally effective at it, but in the way a Porsche is exceptionally effective at parking; he is good, but he is capable of more. He scored 39 goals in 27 total competitions in 2014’s first half of this season, he has scored 23 in the second half’s 28 competitions so far.
His form in the second half of this season was exemplified by his 5 goal performance against Granada during Madrid’s 9-1 win. In every one of his goals, he is hanging around the the 18, laying off passes, cleaning up scraps, and putting his head where in needed to be. In the build up to his one goal from outside the box, he arguably didn’t even beat a man, he more stepped to the side and shot.
With a year that is sure to end in disappointment and a Summer that is lacking international competition, surely Ronaldo will push himself to fully recover. He has always been dedicated to keeping himself fit, but this past year’s schedule made him choose between recovering and playing, and the competitor in Ronaldo was always going to make that choice for him. He will not have matches interrupting his recovery this Summer, and we can’t wait to see him take the field after it.
He is getting older, but he is still Ronaldo. With time, we will see exactly what the real Ronaldo can do. Don’t worry, Mr Sacchi, I have a feeling going past a player will be the least of his worries.
Follow me on Twitter: @yetly
