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Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal flag

2022-23 Performances


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4.9 Season Average Rating
Appearances
16
Goals
3
Assists
2
Yellow cards
3
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He aged into being a 9 instead of a winger and now he's aged into solely being a header of the ball with good movement in the box. In theory we could use that well if we pen teams back and have Antony, Eriksen, Sancho and Bruno hitting crosses and passing it into the box, but we look miles away from pegging teams back, partly because they feel extremely comfortable playing a high line with Cristiano as the 9.

If he really wanted to play in the CL, I think the best move would have been to go to Ajax and score 30 goals in the Eredivisie and they are capable of pegging teams back even in the CL because they can pass it. You can see why he wanted a partner up front. A 3-5-2 with wingbacks might also squeeze a final season out of him.

How many times did he play as a lone striker with Juve? I'm pretty sure he always had either Higuain, Morata or Dybala playing alongside him. Last season was basically his first time ever playing as a lone striker in club football.

Trying to adjust the tactics to get the best out of him is gonna be the biggest futile exercise in football this season, he isn't even close to worth it anymore.
 
Not carrying his weight for the team at all. I find it hard to blame players like Elanga, Sancho and Antony when they should quietly be developing while our supposed GOAT, on astronomical wages, should be doing the business in front of goal.
 
THIS!!! So much THIS!!! Winning the World Cup is the only thing that will enhance his legacy and give him a shot at one final BdO (like R9 and Canavaro) to bring the gap down to 1.
He's never getting another one. People should understand that time works the same way for everyone, including him.
 
One of the worst contracts in football now
It any other circumstances I would agree. Because this is Ronaldo, Utd are making a huge profit on him through the commercial side.

On the pitch, we’ll that’s a different story!
 
Couple weeks ago I was joking about we should start McT as our #9 instead of him. Now it doesn't look like a joke anymore ...
 
Looked terrible. But he looked like this early in 2022 when he went on his dry spell under Rangnick - sluggish, slow to react, couldn't sort his feet out quickly enough to get shots off.

It's age of course. He's on a steep decline. But important to note he did come back into form after that last spell and started banging goals in again. Hoping he has another return to form at some point soon, we need 15 goals out of him this season.
 
Cristiano is 37 years old. Which is why he cannot press the team. But he can still score goals which is very important for this team.
 
His reflexes are so slow now. He lost his pace a long time ago but now can't even coordinate himself.
So many times this season he has gotten into positions you think to yourself "how the feck hasn't he gotten a shot away"?
 
His reflexes are so slow now. He lost his pace a long time ago but now can't even coordinate himself.
So many times this season he has gotten into positions you think to yourself "how the feck hasn't he gotten a shot away"?

Yeah, his body obviously doesn't listen to him as it used to do. Part of it is down to his lack of self confidence too, but you can see that he's lost lot of speed too.
 
His reflexes are so slow now. He lost his pace a long time ago but now can't even coordinate himself.
So many times this season he has gotten into positions you think to yourself "how the feck hasn't he gotten a shot away"?

I played as a striker all be it at Saturday and Sunday league standard and I still play now in my 40's at 6 a side. Watching Ronaldo I can totally relate to the aging process when it comes to reacting on chances. My mate asked me why I was delaying getting my shot away a few months back and I had to tell him I wasn't, the body just doesn't react as fast anymore. It's easy to pick the ball up and take on a shot from far out because you generally make that decision in your head when you receive the ball but a half chance requires speed of mind and quick movement.

He must be thinking in his mind the end of his career is well in sight, he surely can't be thinking he can play well into his 40's like Zlatan because his game isn't suited to being a tall target man that holds the ball up.
 
Looked terrible. But he looked like this early in 2022 when he went on his dry spell under Rangnick - sluggish, slow to react, couldn't sort his feet out quickly enough to get shots off.

It's age of course. He's on a steep decline. But important to note he did come back into form after that last spell and started banging goals in again. Hoping he has another return to form at some point soon, we need 15 goals out of him this season.

We can’t afford to throw away games while he attempts to play himself into form.

He should be absolutely nowhere near our first eleven again after that shit show last night.
 
Are we better off if palace game is cancelled ? No Rashford , no Martial
 
His body and coordination, as everyone else already stated, isn't there any more. All muscles on Instagram aside. If I were in his shoes I would throw in the towel after the WC. Otherwise he could end up as a meme. Not a worthy way to end that fantastic career.
 
Ronaldo still had just enough athleticism to be effective at his age but he insists on playing like a focal point. He should already be aware of his decline like which of his shots will get blocked but really seems to have no grasp of those limitations. This is just painful because he should be in the "life after stardom" phase where the game comes easy. Becoming a liability at the CF position isn't how to manage aging legs. Really moved to CF after the position trended towards players who were relatively hardworking, equal opportunity types. Not even surprised so many managers were especially against their clubs buying him.
 
I played as a striker all be it at Saturday and Sunday league standard and I still play now in my 40's at 6 a side. Watching Ronaldo I can totally relate to the aging process when it comes to reacting on chances. My mate asked me why I was delaying getting my shot away a few months back and I had to tell him I wasn't, the body just doesn't react as fast anymore. It's easy to pick the ball up and take on a shot from far out because you generally make that decision in your head when you receive the ball but a half chance requires speed of mind and quick movement.

He must be thinking in his mind the end of his career is well in sight, he surely can't be thinking he can play well into his 40's like Zlatan because his game isn't suited to being a tall target man that holds the ball up.

Yeah, anyone who’s played sports into middle age can relate to what they’re seeing. For me, the biggest issue with aging was a loss of balance. Getting knocked over much easier than before, or struggling with sharp changes of direction. All of which you see every time Ronaldo gets on the ball. It’s actually kind of tragic to watch. A brutal reminder of the ageing process :(
 
This guy wanted champions league football but can't even do it against average teams in the europa league.

To think there was the idea that we was holding ronaldo hostage from better things, it is the other way round
 
Was poor last night. Got plenty of service but looked sluggish and took too many touches. Hopefully just lacking sharpness but clearly doesn’t fit how we move forward under Ten Hag.

De Gea and Ronaldo will represent the next two big changes in our evolution that will make the most marked difference to our progress.
 
How many times did he play as a lone striker with Juve? I'm pretty sure he always had either Higuain, Morata or Dybala playing alongside him. Last season was basically his first time ever playing as a lone striker in club football.

Trying to adjust the tactics to get the best out of him is gonna be the biggest futile exercise in football this season, he isn't even close to worth it anymore.

Oh yeah we shouldn't change, I meant if he moves.

If I remember right, he wanted to play with Cavani up top (presumably to have a partner and have Cavani do all the work).

I guess this would be a lineup we might see when we need a goal in the last 20 minutes that's not dissimilar to what we saw at the end tonight:

----------------Cristiano----Martial-------------
Sancho-------------Bruno-----------------Antony
-----------------Casemiro-Eriksen---------------
-----------Martinez--Varane--Dalot------------
 
His body and coordination, as everyone else already stated, isn't there any more. All muscles on Instagram aside. If I were in his shoes I would throw in the towel after the WC. Otherwise he could end up as a meme. Not a worthy way to end that fantastic career.

The logical move was to take a pay cut, go to Sporting, score 20 goals one last time in a good league, be a hometown hero, play in the CL and maybe get out of a weak group (Spurs, Marseille, Frankfurt) but Amorim seems to have thrown his body in front of that move, entirely reasonably. Maybe we would have gotten 5M off the price of say Pedro Porro though City have a clause to get him for like 20M less than anyone else. Or we just save say 15M in wages with Sporting paying him 5 and Cristiano taking a 10M paycut.

I don't think anywhere else really made sense, except weirdly Ajax for the same reasons, or another team that will dominate possession in their own league and could use a great header of the ball, some excitement for a season and is playing CL football. Marseille would have made sense too. All these moves would have required both Cristiano taking a pay cut and us happy to save 15M or so (maybe we get some add ons if the team makes the CL knockout or goes deep into the europa league and he scores some goals).
 
I'm not exaggerating when I say that the only thing he is useful for at this point in his stage on the pitch is headers. Literallt useless on the ball and kills so many attacks. Glad ten hag didn't feel pressured to use him as a starter because he's not even good as a backup at this point.
He actually lost 9/10 aerial duels (from long balls) this match. Worst player on the pitch by a mile. Painful to watch yesterday.
 
Yeah, anyone who’s played sports into middle age can relate to what they’re seeing. For me, the biggest issue with aging was a loss of balance. Getting knocked over much easier than before, or struggling with sharp changes of direction. All of which you see every time Ronaldo gets on the ball. It’s actually kind of tragic to watch. A brutal reminder of the ageing process :(
No one can defy time forever, not even Ronaldo - and I must admit, he gave it a pretty good go over the last few years. But he looks done.
 
Can only score with headers when his timing and his body are still operational.

Other than that ? He can't run, can't create space for other, can't press, can't defend and is always crying when the ball is not giving.

Defeat is not only on him, but when you have that kind of wages, the circus he made this summer, sorry but we should be ultra demanding with him.

He's past, move on, hope we sell him after the WC
 
To be fair what’s worse for me is that he can’t seem to physically hold off defenders or hold up the ball and involve others, was honestly terrible.
 
Not adapted his game accordingly to his age like, dare I say, Messi.

He adapted his game about 7 years ago very successfully.

He's 37 now. It's past the point of adaptation. Adapting now would be retirement.
 
Not adapted his game accordingly to his age like, dare I say, Messi.

You don’t necessarily adapt, do you. Giggs did it, but started at a far earlier age. Players tend to be of a certain type, and some age better than others. Ronaldo was always powerful and explosive, it’s amazing he’s maintained it this long since players of this type usually drop off rapidly in their early 30’s. Messi has always played a measured and technical game, that’s more suitable to longevity.
 
Quietly hoping he has a productive World Cup, Boehly still has a boner for him and they put in a bid during the January transfer window. It might leave us a bit light up top, but I've been encouraged with Rashford leading the line, + we have Martial, McNeil and adequate cover on the wings with Sancho, Antony, Elanga, Garnacho etc.

Outside chance is we can bring Memphis in for a 6 month loan.
 
Looks best suited as an impact sub. Starting him not really an option right now based off of his performances.
 
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