'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Cristiano Ronaldo burst onto the scene as a flashy, toothy attacker who liked to flaunt a few tricks and flicks and entertain the crowd as a 17-year-old at Sporting Lisbon - a far cry from the player he is today, flaunting a terrifying shot with both feet that keeps defenders honest even 40 yards out, along with the world's best poacher’s instinct that allows him to score more goals making runs inside from the left than almost any striker playing centrally.
In this post, I'll be attempting to analyze when and how he made those tweaks to his game, taking it toward perfection. In particular, I'll try to examine his transformation from a scorer of great goals into a great goalscorer.
Even at Sporting, Ronaldo seemed to have the intelligence to switch flanks during the course of a match and create man-marking problems for the opposing team. Add to this his box of tricks, and he was tough to mark even in those early days. He was played in a variety of positions, including as the second striker, but due to the inferior nature of the team and the league they played in, he didn't knock in many goals. He did, however, prove to be a potent player in the game time he got. This clip shows it.
After just one season as a senior professional, Sir Alex snapped him up for 12 million pounds. Ronaldo joined a club with amazing players like Giggs, Scholes and van Nistelrooy, who influenced his game a lot. Given his work ethic and his single-minded dedication to being the best in the world, Cristiano benefited immensely from the guidance he got.
Sir Alex's role in his development is absolutely crucial here, as he ensured that as a teenager he did not have to spend too much time on the pitch, saving him up and thereby probably prolonging his playing career, as we will probably see in the years to come. Michael Owen, a similarly talented teenager, faced burnout and injury issues later in his career due to overuse in his formative years, as he lamented later on.
The initial years (2003-2006)
At United, Ronaldo played out his first season as a winger, already adept at switching flanks midway through matches to great effect. Sir Alex, who loved to pack his team with bags of pace, found in him, the perfect player to throw on late in games and make a difference. In fact, Ronaldo debuted in a game against Bolton as a substitute, coming on at the hour-mark for Nicky Butt, and putting in what was described as a 'marvellous' performance, ensuring a 4-0 win for United.
As the season progressed, Ronaldo became more and more of a regular starter. He finished the season scoring a header running in from the left in the League Cup final against Millwall - not the last time in his career that he'd do that.
After a successful Euro 2004, which really announced him on the scene as a big talent to watch out for, Ronaldo continued in the same vein in the 04-05 season. The presence of van Nistelrooy and Solksjaer started rubbing in on him, as he became more clinical in front of goal. With the arrival of Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo found someone of a similar age and another player who dropped deep to create chances.
Although he had an altercation with van Nistelrooy in early 2006, his form remained undiminished and he became an ever-more-important piece of Ferguson’s jigsaw for the future in the 2005-06 season.
League titles and recognition with Manchester United (2006-2009)
After hitting the gym, he bulked up his already powerful body, filling it with muscle weight and cutting out on the fat. 2006-07 was the season Ronaldo finally reached the upper echelons in the conversation about the world's best footballers. He led a very fluid attack comprising of Giggs, Rooney and Saha with him as United ran rampant in the league that season. Ronaldo hit the 20-goal mark in all competitions for the season for the first time in his career, and definitely not the last.
A noticeable change came about this season, as he started taking up advanced positions in the box to score goals, resulting in a glut of goals from inside the area. As impressive, if not more, was the fact that Ronaldo handed out 20 assists in all competitions that season, dispelling earlier notions that he held on to the ball for too long.Also important is his change in freekick technique. Earlier in his career, he used to sidefoot the ball more often than not, going for accuracy. However, in the summer of 2006, as Wayne Rooney remarks in My Decade in the Premier League, Ronaldo came back to preseason training with a new technique, and scored over 5 free-kick goals in that campaign.
He uses the fabled falling-leaf technique Folha Seca first used prominently by the Brazilian Didi and perfected by Juninho, in which the ball is hit right on the valve. This allows it to dip, swerve and wobble unpredictably. I counted Ronaldo uncorking 5 free-kicks every season from 2007-08 till 2012-13. Nothing less than phenomenal.
The 07-08 season saw him play on in a similar style, only, the results were a few notches more spectacular as Ronaldo's off-the-ball running and reading of plays led him to score many more poacher’s goals than the season before, ending with a season total of 42, on the way to setting a Premier League record with 31 goals in the campaign. All this, despite primarily receiving the ball on the left wing. The great thing about him is that his time in the box was and still is the most efficient, with respect to goals scored during that time.
The end product remained the same in 08-09, however, Ronaldo was pushed back to strictly a midfield position with the signing of Berbatov.The fearsome foursome of Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez and Berbatov powered United to a 3rd successive league title, while they made it to the final of the Champions League again. Ronaldo played perhaps the best game of his career against Arsenal in the 2nd leg of the Champions League semifinal at the Emirates, scoring one of the most improbable freekicks in football history and scoring another, iconic counterattacking goal in the second half.
Transfer to Real Madrid (2009-10)
When he moved to Madrid, players like Kaka, Guti, van der Vaart and Xabi Alonso got more time and space on the ball, unlike at United, where he used to be the go-to player and got many more touches. This took him on a learning curve, pushing him to be more decisive and direct. In addition, he was played quite further up the pitch than at United, in a much more direct role.
He started receiving the ball on the halfline, near the left touchline, which would give him enough space to run in behind the opposing rightback and do his work. This is the trademark move he's used over and over again, throughout his career.Ronaldo took to the new role like a duck to water. Imperious as ever, he started running directly into the box with the goal and scored quite a few solo goals in that first season at Madrid. The goals from penalties, freekicks and setpieces kept coming, and despite niggling injuries in the first half of the season, Ronaldo racked up 33 goals in 35 games. This was to be the first time in his career he consistently became the goal-a-game player that he is today, the kind of goalscoring prowess that put him straight into Messi, Eusebio, Puskas and Pele territory.After an underwhelming World Cup, facing tough teams like Ivory Coast, Brazil and Spain right from the off, Cristiano returned reinvigorated from the off-season. I should mention this though - if this wonderful attempt had gone in, instead of hitting the woodwork (as might have been the case if the ball hadn't been a Jabulani), Ronaldo's World Cup campaign could've turned on its head.
Life under Jose Mourinho (2010-2013)
Back with Real Madrid, where Jose Mourinho had taken over and brought in Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil, stars from Germany's World Cup campaign, Real Madrid changed into a more stable, set, 4-2-3-1 formation, with Ozil or Kaka pulling the strings from the playmaker’s position and Di Maria along the right/left flank.
The crucial changes made were that Di Maria and Ozil were much more willing to play without the ball for extended periods, and were still able to play at the same level, even as they did thrive with the ball, in contrast to van der Vaart and Guti, equally talented but less versatile and hardworking. This allowed Real Madrid greater tactical flexibility and options.Mourinho changed the emphasis from free-flowing football to effective football. Where Real Madrid used to win matches bossing the game and shutting down opposition midfielders, they now became accustomed to sitting deep and allowed their opponents to give away the ball before hitting them with lightning-quick counterattacks, capitalizing on the pace of Di Maria, Ronaldo and Higuain. Ozil would be there to find the openings, which he did week in, week out, whereas Benzema played the role of the hold-up-and-play striker, also moving wide to create spaces in the centre and troubling opposition markers.
Kaka remained a key member of the squad, being introduced during games which required his pace, strength and his otherworldly distance-shooting prowess. Amid all these changes, Ronaldo remained the focal point of Mourinho's plans, so much so that Real Madrid became severely dependent upon his presence for goals. And boy, did he deliver! Playing in a similar style, albeit with much less defensive responsibility and receiving the ball in more dangerous areas, Ronaldo, true to his word, found new levels of consistency, scoring an unheard-of 40 goals in the league, tallying 53 goals for the season in all competitions. Under Mourinho's stricter tactical setup, Ronaldo spent much more of his time hugging the left-side touchline.
He continued in 2011-12 and 2012-13 in pretty much the same vein, with him knocking in 115 goals in 110 appearances over these 2 seasons for Real Madrid.In the latter season, one particular stat stood out: Cristiano scored 16 goals with his weak foot. To bring that into perspective, Olivier Giroud, left-footed striker playing upfront for Arsenal, scored the same number of goals in the entire season. His might have been the strongest ‘weak foot’ the world has seen in quite a while.
He continued his stellar work for Portugal, knocking in 3 crucial goals and spearheading them to a shootout loss in the semifinals of Euro 2012 against eventual victors Spain. By this time, because of the retirements of Deco and Tiago, plus the unavailability of Danny, meant that Ronaldo had to make do with Hugo Almeida and Helder Postiga for link-up play. The fact that he was still barnstormingly good in the tournament stands testimony to his ability to single-handedly influence games, notably, in the group stage game against Netherlands, which, again, is one of the all-time great performances in the history of the Euro Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti’s managerial tenure and role transformation (2013-)
Under Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid transitioned from a 4-2-3-1 to a fluid 4-3-3, with Benzema dropping off to give Ronaldo space in the centre, while Di Maria, in a free role from midfield, made his raids on the space vacated by Ronaldo on the left hand side many a time during the course of the season. A few months in, Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale started linking up in ominous fashion. His understanding and reading of the game allowed Ronaldo to play almost as a second striker, spending much more time in the centre of the field.
The partnership between Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale is reminiscent of his understanding with Rooney and Tevez at United. Their extremely similar skillset and mindset took Madrid to a whole new level on the attacking front, making them more lethal than ever on the counter, as the passing abilities of Xabi Alonso and Modric set up the quartet of Di Maria, Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema perfectly.
They knocked in 41 goals in 13 Champions League games, setting a record in the process. Ronaldo himself tore apart the previous record of 14 goals held jointly by Jose Altafini and Messi in one Champions League campaign by knocking in 17 goals for the campaign. In fact, if not for injury, he might have scored more in the 2 matches that he missed in the campaign. All of this helped Ronaldo regain the World Player of The Year trophy for the year 2013.Unfortunately for him and for Madrid and Portugal fans, Ronaldo has not been fully fit for a long time, struggling with patellar tendinatis, a long-term condition that requires a lot of rest to heal his tendons completely. However, his ultra-competitive nature saw him play against Bayern in the semifinals 2nd leg, the Champions League final and even the World Cup grappling with the same injury. It obviously had an impact as Ronaldo couldn't use his powerful acceleration and sprint speed to beat defenders and create space for himself.He had, therefore, a disappointing World Cup campaign, with players in the squad getting injured and suspended left, right and centre. Still, he gave glimpses of exactly what he's capable of when fully fit.
