Was Ronaldo out of position?

When his ego, focused on scoring goals, overshadows the collective good, that's when Cristiano Ronaldo inadvertently weakens Portugal's attacking power.

Ronaldo had a disappointing performance against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In top-level football, the line between a killer instinct in the penalty box and self-sacrifice for the team's structure is always thin. With Ronaldo, that issue once again became a point of contention after Portugal drew 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Group K on the morning of June 18th.

Ronaldo was in the wrong position.

The highlight came from Thierry Henry's concise yet powerful statement. The former French star bluntly said: "The team needs to score. Not you need to score."

The situation in question occurred when Portugal was in possession of the ball. Ronaldo moved into the central area, heading towards the space in front of the goal that is considered a key area for attacking play.

However, the issue wasn't his presence there, but rather the way and timing of his movement. Instead of stretching the opposing defense with a diagonal run behind the defenders, Ronaldo tended to occupy the central area earlier than necessary.

Ronaldo should have moved closer to the goal to stretch the opposing defense.

In modern attacking systems, strikers are not just finishers. They also play the role of "space activators," drawing defenders out of position and creating space for the second line to move forward.

If Ronaldo makes a well-timed run into the 5.5-meter area, the opposing defense will be forced to retreat and huddle together to mark him. This will create space. In this situation, Bruno Fernandes is in a position to shoot from the second line.

But the reality on the pitch is different. Ronaldo, with his goal-scoring instincts honed over decades at the highest level, often tends to drop back or move into the best position to find a favorable shooting angle.

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That moment of retreat inadvertently disrupted the attacking structure that was forming. The back-passes were stifled, the space in the midfield narrowed, and the opposing defense had time to reorganize their formation.

According to Henry, Ronaldo's excessive desire to score prevented Fernandes from having scoring opportunities right behind him.

What started as a clear opportunity for the second line of attack quickly turned into a stalemate, allowing the opponent to form two layers of defense right in front of the goal. In modern football, just one wrong move is enough to turn a chance into a harmless one.

The headache named Ronaldo

With nearly 1,000 goals in his club and international career, along with numerous records, Ronaldo demonstrated his killer instinct at a rare level. The problem lies in Ronaldo's excessive desire to score, which in turn disrupted the team's attacking structure.

In fact, Ronaldo didn't create any dangerous chances, had no shots on target, didn't successfully dribble past opponents, and didn't win any one-on-one duels. These statistics become even more noteworthy when considered in the context of Portugal controlling 80% of the ball possession in the first 45 minutes.

Despite a dominant performance, Ronaldo was almost invisible in the basic attacking statistics.

Ronaldo once again showed a lackluster performance at the 2022 World Cup.

Modern football demands greater versatility from forwards. Sometimes they need to be the finisher, sometimes the creator of space, and sometimes the player who stretches the opponent's defense. For Ronaldo, the challenge isn't whether he's still capable of scoring goals, but rather balancing his goal-scoring instinct with the team's overall structure.

That play, considered in isolation, wasn't decisive. But when viewed in the context of the overall picture, it clearly reflects the dilemma any superstar faces: how to maintain his goal-scoring instinct without disrupting the developing attacking rhythm.

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Ronaldo is gradually posing a difficult challenge for Portugal, just like at the 2022 World Cup. Is this a tactical bottleneck, or the price to pay for a team possessing a legend who is always focused on scoring goals?

Source: https://znews.vn/ronaldo-dung-sai-vi-vi-position-post1660844.html