6 games consecutively and not a single goal scored – this is invariably Cristiano Ronaldo’s longest barren spell in 13 years.
The fact that it’s currently just six games already should amply demonstrate what a truly extraordinary player he has been over that period as a goalscorer almost unrivaled in the modern era. Yet, that being said, there will be instances in the present when one can’t help but wonder if this is more than just a customary dry patch for the legendary striker.
“Of course he would have wished to score, I would have wished him to score,” Ralf Rangnick said after Ronaldo drew another blank with Manchester United having thrown away a lead.
“Today he had his chances, one of the biggest was when he went past the goalkeeper but it was cleared off the line,” he quizzically added.
Rangnick was referring to Ronaldo’s only unblocked sight of goal in the 1-1 draw with Southampton. The Portuguese maestro had the ball at his feet with Fraser Forster and two backpedalling defenders already behind him. It was just him and an open goal. Typically the type of God-sent opportunity that any centre-forward would want. One that the all-time leading scorer in international football and a player with 688 club goals to his name should be licking his chops to take.
The United leading goalscorer took aim as the whole of Old Trafford waited with bated breath. Alas, his paltry attempt trickled towards goal ever so slowly and Southampton’s goalie Romain Perraud breathed a sigh of relief as he intercepted without any fuss.
Rangnick was definitely being polite, if not generous, in referring to it as a goal-line clearance as it had only just barely trickled past the six-yard box. It was undoubtedly a poor miss by anyone else’s standards. By the great Ronaldo’s, it was definitely unbelievable.
Understandably these misses can happen to anyone but when capitalising on such chances is a player’s sole purpose in the team – as Ronaldo himself had proudly and uncompromisingly declared that goalscoring is in his primary job description in earlier months when other aspects of his duties were questioned – missing them then becomes a real problem.
So, taking him at his own words, Ronaldo’s job at United is to score goals and arguably the greatest goalscorer of his generation has come across some sort of stumbling block after having scored 14 so far this season.
Across all competitions, Ronaldo’s performance flashes 14 in 26 games – a healthy 0.53 per-game, though that is significantly down from the 0.81 per game in a mediocre Juventus side last season. In the Premier League alone, he is averaging 0.40 per game. Compare that to 0.87 in Serie A last year.
This sharp decline in output is not especially surprising, nor should it be alarming, considering that Ronaldo’s other contributions are also markedly down across the board too. After averaging 5.2 shots-per-game last term, he is managing just 3.9 now. His expected goals (xG) has fallen from 0.83 per 90 over the course of his three years in Turin to 0.58 in Manchester. Strip out penalties, it is 0.49. More pertinently, is this decline in his performance figures sudden? Or is it a decline that has been moving in although not clearly discerned even since his last season at Juventus?
And now, if Ronaldo is not scoring goals, what else does he offer then?
It’s a never-ending debate that will run on incessantly about how his pressing has died down markedly, which is only to be expected considering he is 37. Yet, even though Ronaldo’s number of pressures per game has increased under Rangnick, it is still the fewest of all center-forwards in the Premier League. And this may have caused the focus to shift attention to his contributions beyond scoring goals.
Ronaldo’s dilemma stands out much more noticeably when compared with his fellow center-forward Edinson Cavani’s performances. Injuries and fitness problems aside, when Cavani does start, the differences between United’s two veteran center-forwards are stark. Cavani not only gamely does the defensive dogwork that Ronaldo infamously avoids and he also goes the extra miles to do the classic off-the-ball work of a natural born center-forward rather than someone who has had to adapt his much-slowed down game to his latest role.
Obviously and understandably, whether it is in the area of making runs beyond the last line of defence, occupying the opposition’s center-halves or off-ball movement to create space for team-mates, Ronaldo is expected to fall short of the standards Cavani has set in his albeit sporadic appearances this season. Simply because, to reiterate, one is a natural center-forward while the other isn’t but compelled to play the role for want of a better one suiting his current abilities at his age. United are definitely a more static and predictable team with the Uruguayan leading the line.
Although it would be hair-splitting to argue that his earlier highly-heralded second coming has been a success nearly six months since his return, there is certainly a case for the defence as, without Ronaldo’s goals and influence, it would have been almost impossible for United to qualify from their Champions League group.
Admittedly those numbers mentioned earlier –the 0.53 goals per game, the 3.9 shots, the 0.58 xG – are apparently in decline but they still make the Portugal captain one of the leading center-forwards in European football, and definitely more than good enough to be a regular starter at one of the top clubs in the world.
It is no secret that Ronaldo pared down his game in order to stay competitive at the very highest level. But these past few weeks, from both sides of his 37th birthday, that process looks to have chiselled away some precious layers from one of the most extraordinary players of his generation until one can’t help wondering how much more is remaining.
Credit: Football Tribe Malaysia
