Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2022-2023 season continues to add negative capital. Erik ten Hag’s spin on Europe League gave him a chance to get out heading for United for the second time in the seasonbut not to take advantage of this option, the Portuguese was one of the worst of the field in defeat of his team at home against him Real society.
The match showed the same CR7 from the last half: counterproductive, less participatory, uncomfortable and frustrated. Now you seven official matches of this campaign Cristiano continues without conversions, nor assist. Gone is that good close of last season, in which he scored 9 goals in his last 7 games.
But how exactly is the recession in the former Madrid explained? There are many arguments to mention, logically starting with age: at 37 years oldit’s clear that Cristiano is not the same anymore and that although there is no noticeable change physically, he is no longer that explosive attacker who destroyed anyone who came at speed.
Even in actions where he has open ground to advance, he has been shown to be hit by defenders that until a few years ago they would have had no options to recover the ball.
The numbers of Cristiano Ronaldo’s fall
However, not everything is explained by the logical recession due to time. The feeling is that the Portuguese would have even more to give in another context. After all, it comes from conversion 18 goals in the last Premier League and 29 two seasons agoin Serie A. The decline cannot have been so rude from one year to the next.
In this sense, it is absolutely clear that Cristiano is not in this Manchester ten Hag. Something reasonable if we take into account that the coach not only likes him replacement for Marcus Rashfordbut he also uses it in a unique center forward position which was never your favorite. But with Anthony, Jordan Sancho and Anthony Elanga on the wingsthis seems to be the only place with minutes available for the star.
“He’s ready to go.”
Erik ten Hag on whether Cristiano Ronaldo is match fit and ready to start @ManUtd tonight! 🇵🇹🐐 pic.twitter.com/5i3qpc4wbR
— SPORF (@Sporf) September 8, 2022
The truth is that some numbers help to understand what was a performance completely in the queue on the part of Cristiano. Not only in terms of goals and assists, but also in other matters such as effectiveness of his and his shots lack of risk when advancing with the ball or even interfering with the opposing final third.
| Time | Equipment | targets | shot on goal | Chokes on attack | dribble | advances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 | Manchester United | 0.00 | 0.85 | 19.6 | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| 2021-2022 | Manchester United | 0.66 | 1.43 | 21.6 | 0.7 | 5.2 |
| 2020-2021 | Juventus | 0.93 | 1.93 | 27.2 | 1.9 | 8.5 |
| 2019-2020 | Juventus | 0.96 | 2.07 | 33.1 | 1.8 | 9.9 |
The numbers speak for a Christian is limited to a function of “nine” determinants within the domain, almost without participating in the previous creation or the one-on-one imbalance. A role that not only seems too small for her talent, but in which not be productive at all.
A problem that is accentuated when you consider that United are a team game related to the floor that too they rarely gamble on the aerial game resource, where Cristiano would probably find his best qualities as a central striker. Of the 20 Premier League teams, only 4 have sent fewer centers than those of the ten Hags.
Lace is bad no matter how you look at it. But with a salary greater than two million pounds sterling a month and very few answers on the pitch, it is not surprising that United could not find a buyer in the last market.
