#3 Ronaldo’s new position may prove to be a costly move
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When Ronaldo first burst onto the scene at Manchester United back in 2003, he was seen as a right winger, as his dribbling skill, speed and passing ability made him a menace for any defence to deal with. As his career has progressed though, so has his best position – in his peak years at Real Madrid, for instance, he was deployed essentially as a free-roaming attacking midfielder/forward, drifting from the wings into the centre and vice versa, and obviously, it allowed him to score an unbelievable amount of goals.
This season though has seen another evolution in Ronaldo’s game as he seems to have settled into a role as a traditional centre-forward – or number 9 – for Real. While he’s had success in the role – most notably in games against Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich in the Champions League – it has raised a handful of questions. Does playing him through the centre make Madrid a less effective team, as it causes Karim Benzema – a more natural striker – to become marginalised?
More to the point, is it really the best use of Ronaldo? Admittedly, the lightning-quick pace he once had has waned now, making him less effective on the wing, but inside the box, it’s questionable whether he has the same predatory goalscoring instincts and movement as someone like Robert Lewandowski or Luis Suarez.
Indeed, the stats back it up – 2016/17 has been Ronaldo’s lowest scoring year – 37 goals – since his debut season in La Liga. It’s still a tremendous return but whether he can truly evolve into a central striker is a question mark leading into 2017/18.
