Cristiano Ronaldo Should Become a Permanent Striker

Hey guys, I have been watching Madrid games for a while now and I always thought Madrid has had a severe problem while defending in midfield - Namely, Madrid's left flank.

Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably the best goalscorer on earth and Marcelo (my favorite left back of all times) is just a gift from the heavens. However, both those statements are applicable when we are talking about Madrid in attack. While defending, I often see that the entire Madrid team has to shift its formation towards the left in order to provide cover for Cristiano Ronaldo's reluctance to defend and for Marcello when he can't track back in time. Madrid's leftward shifting formation while defending, really dilutes Madrid's defensive capabilities and I believe this is one of the primary reasons why Madrid struggles against good opponents like Barcelona, Bayern and Dortmund - their defense in midfield is not solid.

Now, a recent infographic from Goal.com shows that Cristiano Ronaldo can not only score with his right foot and through headers, he is EXTREMELY adept with his left foot as well and it put somewhat one-footed players like Messi and Robben to absolute shame. Cristiano Ronaldo is a better goal poacher than Karim Benzema (in my opinion Cristiano can "pop up" in front of goal better and more consistently) and he has more pace. Best of all, Cristiano is the BEST header-er of the ball in Madrid and MAYBE Sergio Ramos comes a very close second. The point I am trying to make is, Cristiano Ronaldo is the perfect striker; and not the ideal left winger especially when you have an attacking wing back in the same left flank.

Think about it, he doesn't like to defend at all and Mourinho at a recent interview criticized Ronaldo for that. Since Marcelo is an attack minded wing back, it makes no sense to play both Cristiano and Marcelo in the same flank. Therefore I believe that Madrid should buy and play Gareth Bale as their new left winger and move Cristiano up as striker.

I think Cristiano has more than proven himself in that position when he played as striker during Madrid's first win over Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey and a few other matches I can't seem to recall

Don't forget, one of the main reasons Messi scores more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo is because Messi plays in a position that is closer to goal. While my personal opinion is that Messi is the absolute best player on earth (even though I hate him), I truly believe Cristiano can rack up as many goals as Messi if he is allowed to play as striker. That way, his reluctance to defend won't affect the team adversely either and Madrid can gain greater solidarity in defense..

Just imagine Ronaldo running onto those through balls Modric and Ozil can provide, the type of through balls which Higuain doesn't have the pace for and Benzema doesn't have the sense of positioning for; fortunately, Cristiano is much better both in terms of pace and positioning. On top of that, he is much better in the air, can dribble better, can shoot better AND he is two footed. A complete striker in every sense of the word.

So what do you guys think? Should Cristiano Ronaldo be permanently moved up as striker once / if Bale arrives?

He does have the attributes to play up front, however I don't think that should be the only factor considered when deciding whether he can play up front or not.

Ronaldo for example may prefer playing on the left wing and not being the focal point. There's certain things he can do from LW that he wouldn't be able to do at CF. Like running from deep, dribbling, cutting in etc etc.

In terms of him defending, I just think a coach needs to tell him to track back when the team is defending. He has to listen. He isn't special just because he scores 50 goals a season. We've won things before he came and we could even if he left. No player is bigger than the club. Because he's playing on the wing, he has to track back and be part of the 2 banks of 4 when defending.

Robben realised he had to work hard for the team. Him and Ribery working hard was one of the reasons Bayern were successful. Hopefully Ronaldo realises this too.

Ronaldo can't dribble dude! He can only do that annoying step-over. And teams (both club and country) don't play particularly well with Ronaldo as the CF. They may have beaten Barca, but the quality of football Real played was quite poor. And Ronaldo prefers to play from the left.

Wide positions are not marked as well and neither is it as crowded as the center/goalmouth... lot easier to slip in below the radar and grab a cheap goal or two. You can see Ronaldo netting a couple even when he's playing horribly.

From a defensive point of view, with the current squad, it'd be best for the team to play Ronaldo from the right and di Maria from the left. That way Marcelo will get enough support and di Maria will also create more goalscoring opportunities. But boy Ronaldo will be pissed!

can we stop with cr as cf debate for once and for all, he said he doesn't want to play there just get over it, this is not fifa

He doesn't like it there. He should stay where he is.

Let us hope our team's focus will be to play as a team and not focus everything down Ronaldo's side.

Right now one big questionable word is - Permanent. As for being a striker, he will play as a striker when he loses speed i.e may be after he is 30+?

It is not even clear If he is staying. Only Perez says so. He didn't. Worse he denied renewing a contract. I think it is pretty apparent that CR7 relishes ManU return than RM stay. Only question is when? Reportedly he is meeting with Man U reps this week. Perez would try his best to renew his contract.



If CR7 refuses to renew. Pretty sure he is heading to Man U. Perez will fight tooth and nail to renew his contract - For his revenues .

To be a CF you have to play with the back at the goal. Ronaldo can't do that and will limit his abilities.