FIFA World Cup: It's time to talk about Ronaldo
CHENNAI: When it was confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo had signed for Manchester United, there was much consternation among the United-supporting UK public.
His first game back would be against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon. That meant the homecoming wouldn't be broadcast anywhere across the UK (a football blackout rule prevents broadcasters from showing any live football between 2.45 and 5.15 PM in the UK). There was even some lobbying to shift the game but the broadcaster held their position. The homecoming was a blast. The Portuguese thrilled the Old Trafford faithful by bagging a brace in a dominant display.
Fourteen months later, the 37-year-old is one of the most famous unemployed persons on the planet.
The homecoming had gone sour, like a long ignored fruit stored on the bottom of the vegetable basket. Having had enough, United moved on from him. A hero was asked to leave through the front door with the world watching on. The irony here is that it suited both parties.
The club appointed a modern coach whose mantra is pressing, pass-and-move football. Ronaldo doesn't press. While he remains a great goalscorer (he was United's top goal-scorer for last season), still capable of turning matches, he had become a disruptive presence in the dressing room. The last straw was seemingly turning his back on the players and the coach when he opted to leave the dugout and head to the dressing room and ultimately to the car park during a narrative-turning 2-0 win over Tottenham in October.
It also suits the 37-year-old because he didn't want to be a bit-part player, an impact substitute warming the bench. There are also no great options for him among Europe's elite. Most clubs either cannot afford him or don't want him onboard (it's indicative that United had him for sale but there was next to no interest in his services) because it's difficult to justify building a team around a 37-year-old striker who doesn't press.
While Ronaldo's descent from immortality to just another player will hurt him — he has dedicated the entirety of his adult life in the pursuit of personal glory and individual excellence — he can still rewrite the November and December of his career.
His quest to rewrite late-era Ronaldo begins against Switzerland on Tuesday. It can last 90 minutes. Or 120 minutes. Or four matches before he lays his hands on the sport's ultimate prize.
Portugal came through relatively unscathed in a very tricky group.
It is to the team's credit that they didn't allow a mutinous Ronaldo interview to put them off their stride. It brought unnecessary attention and at least one very awkward handshake between Bruno Fernandes and himself. The player himself appeared defiant.
Upon landing in Doha and before the side's first match, he had said: "The atmosphere is excellent, no problems, we are completely focused. You can help by not talking about me. I'm completely bullet-proof and iron-clad. If you ask other players about Cristiano Ronaldo, I would be upset. If you want to ask him about the World Cup and the team, I would like you to do that."
The first match against Ghana saw him break yet another record — only man to score in five World Cups — but he faced more questions about his post-World Cup. He shut the conference down by saying "... the most important step is we won. It was a week that finished this chapter (with United)," he had said. “This chapter is closed. We wanted to start with a good foot. We won. I could help my team. All the rest does not matter.”
In that match, he did help his team by winning and scoring the penalty. Save that moment, he was either anonymous (19 passes attempted, 33 touches, one pass into the final third and zero dribbles) or let his team down (two big chances missed). He was more effective against Uruguay (50 touches, 4 passes into the final third and 38 passes attempted) before his limitations were again laid bare against South Korea (one big chance missed, zero successful dribbles, 26 touches, three offsides and 19 attempted passes).
It goes back to the heart of the Ronaldo debate in itself and why the elite clubs have started to see him as a liability, as an impact substitute at most. He doesn't offer a great deal in terms of build-up play and isn't all that adept in bringing other attackers into the game (his Expected Assists is 0.08 over three games). In short, if he plays, the others will have to do the heavy lifting. Considering Ronaldo isn't even all that quick, he has become a high maintenance player without any of the output he used to guarantee earlier.
The one thing he still has in abundance is the leap he generates while heading the ball. To try and capitalise, Portugal have had no choice but to put in crosses off either wing (one of those even brought them a goal but Ronaldo didn't get a touch on it).
Going into the tournament, Portugal did have the option of going in with a fluid front three of Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao and Joao Felix. But dropping Ronaldo was going to be a no-no. With him in the side, their attacking patterns become predictable. The interchange between Ronaldo and Felix, who starts on the left, doesn't happen all that often so it becomes easier for opponents to read the play.
Some of this is understandable. The march of Father Time is relentless and nobody is immune, including Ronaldo. But he has shown previously that he's nothing if not a serial winner. All of the criticisms of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner were valid even in June when he scored two against Switzerland in a comfortable 4-0 win.
Portugal will hope that he is able to roll back the clock for a few more times between December 6 and December 18. Ronaldo himself will believe — he always believes in himself — but at stake is something ever bigger. It's a chance to win back the narrative. And he likes nothing more than that.