Cristiano Ronaldo is on decline?
There is strong argument that Cristiano Ronaldo is on decline, despite of scoring 25 goals in this campaign so far.
The Portuguese International is having mixed season, and has come under the criticism for struggling to perform on consist basics so far in this term. Cristiano Ronaldo, who was always known as man for bigger occasions, has been underwhelming against the stronger teams and cut into frustrating figure.
The former Manchester United has failed to score in the games against Malaga, and was anonymous against Atletico Madrid before his uneventful display in the double-header against Paris St Germain, and was booed by home fans for his awful performance in Real Madrid‘s 4-0 trashing in the hands of their arch-rivals Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance this season:
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Writing in his Telegraph article, JJ Bull has argued:
“In 2015 Ronaldo scored 54 goals in 52 games. He remains an absolute phenomenon but the signs suggest that we may already have seen the best of Portugal’s superstar.
In February he will be 31 and his legs are beginning to show it. Even a body as painstakingly tuned and refined as his is susceptible to the demands of time. Ronaldo has adjusted his game accordingly, becoming the world’s most lethal striker over the last three seasons instead of the all-action winger he started as.
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Ronaldo is still explosive, unpredictable and possesses blurred lollipop legs that bamboozle defenders. He still pulls off brilliant backheel assists and scores headers against some of the best drilled defensive teams in Europe at heights Lebron James would struggle to reach. But he doesn’t influence games in quite the way he used to.
Anyone who suggests Ronaldo is in decline does so on dangerous ground since the stats certainly do not show that. This season already Ronaldo has scored 25 goals in 24 games, 11 of those coming in the Champions league from only six appearances. If we can all agree that the Champions League is football’s elite competition it suggests that Ronaldo’s productivity is still elevated to extraordinary heights.
To further muddy the waters, last season he scored 61 goals in 54 matches – a ridiculous statistic. The season before he scored 51 in 47. But if we look closer at how he has scored those goals over 2015, it becomes apparent that Ronaldo gets most of them against cannon fodder and is not as effective anymore against the “big teams”.
His five-goal haul against Espanyol in September was impressive, as was the hat-trick against Shakhtar Donetsk and the four goals he bagged against Malmo FF in August. But Ronaldo has not scored against any teams that have actually caused Real Madrid any problems this season. Indeed, in 12 games, he has failed to net at all.
Ronaldo was poor against Malaga, did nothing against Atletico Madrid, was anonymous against Paris St Germain – in both games – and had absolutely no influence on the 4-0 drubbing his side took at home to Barcelona in November, other than pouting quite a lot.”