Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most sensational names to have graced football and despite being 37, he still continues to impress the world with his stunning workout routine and a sensational brand of the game that he delivers day in day out.
However, he is facing a new conundrum altogether that has placed him in the face of a monstrous question what is his next destination. He is with Manchester United currently and as far as the ruffled feathers go, his agent wants him to be at a different club that would provide him an opportunity to play the Champions League.
Sadly, for the man who has been a terrorizer of the defenders, is finding is extremely hard to secure a club for himself. Even though Manchester United wants to continue with CR7, Jorge Mendes has expressed against the same, hoping that it would be in the best interest of the Portuguese captain to spirit away from a side that won’t be playing European contests this year.
When you put Ronaldo up for sale, it is quite obvious that there will be a long queue of suitors willing to move heaven and earth to land his signature. Or shall we say that it was obvious? Standing in the midst of 2022, where the demands for Erling Haaland, Mohammed Salah and Kylian Mbappe is shooting through the roof, Ronaldo has been snubbed by quite a few big names.
Now it’s not that he isn’t good enough or there aren’t suitors yet. Somehow, the ones willing to land him aren’t of the stature that Ronaldo has played for before. It is surprising how a name as big as that of Ron isn’t being a priority of the other clubs.
The answer lies in three simple points. The first is Ronaldo’s age, the second is his style of playing and the third being the sizeable ego that comes with him. In the modern generation of football, individual brilliance is no longer the burning trend. We have stayed witness to some insane individual flair but that has only come handy in winning you a match or two.
It is all about the team’s chemistry and how good they can dovetail together and unleash fury upon their opposition. Successful teams like Liverpool, Real Madrid, Chelsea have been all following the same model.
Now when Ronaldo steps foot in a team, he comes with this huge bubble of arrogance that has to be matched by his contemporaries to allow him excel. You manage to provide him the ball and he would probably do everything in his control to hammer home only for the probability of the ball being on target getting drastically low with every passing game.
There is also a significant impact on the team’s playing style as instead of stitching those neat passes, the aerial balls start deluging and when the ball is in the air, out of the ten times it floats, Ronaldo probably meets it twice. We are all aware of the fact that it is more than enough to put the game to the end, but then as football has been treading a much more physical path these days, it is not easy for Ronaldo to probably control those thumping headers in the way he wants.
Luke Shaw who was such an effervescent player in the 2020 season, somehow seemed absolutely toothless in 2021. Jadon Sancho managed to find his stride in the latter half of the season and showed how dangerous he can be with the ball in the ground. Shaw and Sancho combined in decent proportions to hurl damage at the opponents through the ground route and the damage seemed much more frequent than the spasmodic launches in the penalty box.
Despite Ronaldo’s towering presence, it is needless to say that in an era of football where precision has been doing the heftiest rounds, people would rely on ground craft much more than contingencies of a certain God with creaking bones outleaping others to seek salvation.
Another significant factor that is taking the bigger clubs out of the equation is Ronaldo’s age. No big team plans for the immediate future. They come up with a long-time plan and in order to execute those plans, one needs players who are at least willing to put 5 years for the club.
Given Ronaldo’s age, there would hardly be just two more years in his career and that won’t be doing justice to the staggering payroll that Ronaldo is a part of. He probably is still one of the best in business but as they say, you die as a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
Thirdly, Ronaldo’s ego is something one doesn’t fantasize messing with. Actually, the man has built an empire and there is no denying of the greatness that he has stitched over the years. However, somehow this greatness has transcended him beyond the ordinary that doesn’t really bring forth the surrounding picture.
Instead of being free and expressing as a team, the centre of play starts turning towards the big man from Portugal as every time he receives the ball, the world expects him to pull off those whizzing twists and turns. Sadly, it doesn’t really work that way. He is an apex predator in the opposition’s attacking third but in order for him to pounce he would need the surroundings to favour him.
Now when your entire team starts looking for you in the final third, that hampers the team’s chances of producing the extraordinary and the ordinary alike that goes a long way in collectively forging a dream that otherwise is only envisaged in the wildest imaginations.
With all said and done, Ronaldo is still one of the greatest players alive and has managed to create a legacy that only few across the world would ever be able to come close to.
