Cristiano Ronaldo: The Man for the Big Occasion or Scourge of the Strugglers?
Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo has been widely acclaimed as the best player in the English Premier League right now. This is due to his scintillating performances of both skill and goal scoring on a weekly basis for the Red Devils. However, with United facing Liverpool this weekend we ask the question, can he be regarded as a true great given his relatively non-descript showing against the Premier League powerhouses?
The Portuguese poser has scored an impressive 24 League goals already this season to leave him 4 goals clear of Arsenal’s Togolese man-mountain Emmanuel Adebayor, his nearest challenger for the Golden Boot. There’s no questioning his ability to score goals on a regular basis but one major criticism of Ronaldo is his failure to perform against fellow teams from the ‘Big Four’.
The United winger obviously relishes the opportunity to terrorise Premier League strugglers such as Derby, Fulham and Newcastle. After all, 15 of his 24 goals this season have been scored against the bottom nine sides in the table. Yet his scoring record is relatively poor against the big boys. In fact it’s non-existent against both Liverpool and Chelsea. Since joining the Red Devils in the summer of 2003, he’s played in 6 League matches against Liverpool and 7 against Chelsea without scoring a goal. The exception to the rule seems to be Arsenal as he’s enjoyed some success against the North Londoners. He possesses a record of 3 goals in just 8 League games against the Gunners. Overall that’s just 3 goals in 21 League appearances against teams from the usual Champions League quartet.
Cast your mind back, can you actually remember Cristiano Ronaldo creating havoc against the likes of Ashley Cole, Gael Clichy and Jamie Carragher? Now think about all those sensational performances the United star has given over the season. Can you recall who he was playing against? Most of the time you’ll find it is one of the smaller struggling Premier League clubs and not the seasonal challengers.
So is Ronaldo a mere modern day footballing bully, picking on the weak and helpless Premier League sides? Surely to be considered a true great, he has to follow the old adage about ‘picking on someone your own size’ as at the present time Cristiano is a far less potent weapon against teams of a similar standing to United. Whether you love him or hate him you certainly can’t ignore him so let’s hear your views on whether he is still a man for the big occasion or merely the scourge of the struggling Premier League sides?
