Ronaldo will be back scoring for Real Madrid soon - that's who he is

Andy West 01:05 20/11/2017
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  • It’s very easy to mock Cristiano Ronaldo. There’s something about his persona that just makes him very, well, mockable.

    Actually, there are a few things. His vanity of comical proportions, his tunnel-visioned selfishness, his habit of being viciously fouled by fierce blades of grass inside the penalty area and his regular toddler tantrums all leave him wide open to criticism, abuse and, yes, mockery.

    And so, at times like these when he is failing to produce his usual goal per game scoring ratio, there is never any shortage of people willing to wade in with brutal and often gleeful condemnation.

    Another blank in Saturday night’s dull derby draw against Atletico means that Ronaldo has still only scored one league goal for Real Madrid so far this season, deep into November. And that is perfect fuel to the fire for those many among us who are always happy to have a good old laugh at CR7’s expense.

    Enjoy it while you can, though, because you know who will end up having the last laugh? Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Despite statistical evidence to the contrary, Ronaldo is not playing badly at the moment. Far from it – he was, by some distance, the biggest goal threat during Saturday night’s goalless draw at the Wanda Metropolitano.

    The longer the game went on, the more it looked like the breakthrough, if there was to be one, would come from Ronaldo, who finished the game with seven shots on goal – more than double the tally of any other player.

    Two of those were free-kicks which home keeper Jan Oblak did well to repel, another was a half-chance snapshot which he dragged wide, and two more were powerful angled drives which were brilliantly blocked by young left-back Lucas Hernandez before they had the chance to reach Oblak, who might not have been able to do much about them anyway.

    Ronaldo also created perhaps his team’s best chance on the night, unselfishly (see that?!) playing a one-two on the edge of the box with Toni Kroos, whose shot squirmed into the side-netting.

    Does that sound like the night’s work of a player who, at the age of 32, is past it or in terrible form?

    Back Ronaldo to find form soon.

    Back Ronaldo to find form soon.

    Of course not. And when you look at the further facts of Ronaldo’s season so far, it becomes more and more apparent that even during this supposed ‘slump’ in form he is still playing at a level which most forwards would be more than happy with.

    For starters, it should be remembered that Ronaldo missed the first four league games through suspension. Then, bear in mind that he has scored six goals in four games in the Champions League, including a brilliant brace in his team’s 3-1 win at Borussia Dortmund, probably their best performance of the season.

    Next, let’s note that he also netted in the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona. Oh, and there have also been four goals in four games for Portugal.

    So when you take into account competitions other than La Liga, Ronaldo’s paltry record of ‘one goal all season’ is suddenly transformed into 12 goals in 18 games – a ratio which pretty much any player in the world would be more than happy with.

    Another number worth bearing in mind is 55: not the driving limit in the USA, but the number of shots he has fired towards goal so far this season. The fact that only one of those has gone in really is quite perplexing, but it shows that he is still presenting a serious goal threat which, in any serious analysis, is the main test of a forward’s effectiveness.

    Indeed, his average of 6.9 shots per game is higher than any other player in La Liga – even Lionel Messi, who has found the target on 11 more occasions, has only averaged 6 shots per game.

    Of course, this lack of accuracy/poor conversion rate could easily serve as further ammunition for those who wish to criticise Ronaldo which, as already acknowledged, can be a rather fun pastime.

    But does anyone really think that Ronaldo’s next 55 shots will result in only one goal? If you do, you’ll be in a small minority. And you’ll be wrong, because Ronaldo will, without any doubt, start scoring on a regular basis very soon.

    He’ll make absolutely sure of that – it’s just part of his charm.

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