When most players approach the age of 30, they start to slow down. Legs get heavier, inspiration is more difficult to find, and their overall contribution tends to come in sporadic bursts rather than consistently. Cristiano Ronaldo is not most players. After expending a sizable amount of energy in Real Madrids drive toward La Decima, and then following that with a battle against persistent injury problems at the World Cup last summer, it would have been no surprise if his levels dropped off this season. Instead, quite the opposite has happened. No. 7 is challenging conventional wisdom about when a forward hits his peak. He will be 30 in February, yet he is not declining. Hes getting better. So much better that one of the few legitimate criticisms previously leveled at him is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. While the Portuguese has long been an exceptional goal scorer, there was always a prevailing notion that extreme individualism played a key part in reaching those figures. Few thought Ronaldo could marry his capacity to achieve ridiculous numbers in the scoring charts with an ability to provide a similar level of opportunity for his teammates. Certainly not to the extent that Lionel Messi could, for example. Change is in the air. Ronaldo has already scored spectacular goals this season, yet perhaps the most striking moment of brilliance he has produced was not a finish, but an assist. In the 54th minute of Real Madrids trip to Granada on Nov. 1, the forward received a lofted pass just on the edge of the opposition area. With a clear space to burst into and shoot from, Ronaldos next move seemed inevitable. Instead, he opted for a different option, taking one touch to control the ball and then, with another touch, back- heeled it into the path of Karim Benzema. Weighted perfectly so the Frenchman could hit it first time and score, it was the kind of pass a No. 10 would be proud of . Not the kind of ball typically associated with Real Madrids No. 7. The move summed up the new, more mature Ronaldo this season. While in the past his assists often seemed to be a last resort, these days he looks increasingly happy to not only finish but also provide. One detail from Real Madrids 2-1 win over Malaga on Saturday provided a hint of a change in his mentality. For the opening goal, Ronaldo used a typically brilliant combination of quick feet and deceptive feints to leave two defenders for dead before teeing up Benzema with an accurate cross on his left foot. When the Frenchmans shot hit the back of the net, his supplier wheeled away in the opposite direction, arms aloft, beaming from ear to ear. Ronaldo normally reserves these celebrations for his own goals, yet this time he was celebrating a pass . Providing a decent if unspectacular number of assists is something Ronaldo has always managed while at Madrid, but its the nuances in his game that have changed. Spending longer spells in the middle than in the past, he has more opportunities to link up with both midfielders and other forwards as a result. A number of weighted through-balls behind the Malaga back line to Gareth Bale on Saturday reflected this change in both positioning and mentality. In the past, Ronaldos best link-up play tended to be confined to sharp one-touch moves in space, and getting a shot away always seemed to be the endgame. But under Carlo Ancelotti, Ronaldo has added more patience and variety to his passing. Those developments are easy to miss among the jaw-dropping goal figures, but his increased effectiveness when it comes to finding teammates is supported by the stats. While in the past, Ronaldos season- long number of league assists for Real Madrid has fallen between the seven and 12 mark, he is on course to blow those numbers away this season. In the 2014-15 La Liga season so far, Ronaldo has produced eight league assists in 12 games. As things stand, that makes him the joint-highest assist provider in the league alongside Atletico Madrids Koke, and it dwarves Ronaldos assist tallies for the same stage of the season in previous years with Madrid. A year ago, Ronaldo had chalked up two assists by this stage, finishing with nine total. The season before, he had one league assist after the first 12 matches and finished with 10. His best La Liga season in this regard was 2011-12, when he provided 12 goals for other players. Yet by the time he had played his first 12 league games that year, he had set up only five strikes. Unless fitness problems or an atypical dip in form get in the way in the coming months, Ronaldo should improve upon his La Liga best of 12 assists and beat his personal best of 14 while at Manchester United. To really grasp how significant a feat that would be, keep in mind that in his early United days, Ronaldo was still as much of a winger as he was a forward, and was therefore expected to provide a significant chunk of goals for teammates. He was a less prolific finisher as a result, managing 17 strikes in the 2006-07 Premier League. With less than half the present season played, he has already scored 20. So Ronaldo is verging on a new personal best when it comes to setting up teammates, and he is doing so without sacrificing his contemporary brilliance in front of goal. All of this is happening against the backdrop of a shift in style at Real Madrid that we were supposed to believe would work against Ronaldo. When Jose Mourinho was in charge at the Bernabeu, it was often claimed that his counterattacking style was the best one to get the best out of the forward, as he needed space to maximise his strengths. The theory was that in a more pensive, possession-orientated team, Ronaldo would be less effective. Madrid have increasingly made a conscious move toward a more proactive, possession-based style under Ancelotti. Yet instead of suffering, Ronaldo has flourished, showing a sharpened creative side to his game while still scoring as many goals as ever. It may be true that the younger, impetuous Ronaldo would not have done as well in this particular Real Madrid side, but the contemporary elder statesman is more than prepared for the challenge. It may be time to update the conclusions previously formed about his qualities as a player. It is remarkable to watch a footballer continue to improve to this degree after not only winning countless accolades but also putting in enough miles for a lifetime, and it speaks volumes about Ronaldos hunger. The benchmark continues to rise.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 20:41:45 +0000
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