I'm not supporting Ronaldo as a CF, (I have already given my opinion on that), but I believe if you examine the stats behind his missed shots, you will find that the vast majority are from outside the box. Say what you will about Ronaldo, but one thing he excels at is getting himself in position for that pass or cross. i expect the stats from within the box would indicate that he is in deed deadly inside the box.

If I go back to what I think Nick was after when he started this thread, Ronaldo is better than Benz on two crucial skills for a CF (and again I'm not suggesting there is anything wrong with Benz). That is making runs to be in a goal scoring position and in the box accuracy.

futbol wrote:He's way too selfish to be a great CF at the highest level. As a (good) CF it's essential to:

- physically wrestle with the CBs
- make "dummy runs" which might not necessarily benefit yourself but do open up space for your teammates
- provide some linkup play so your teammates can play off of you

Cristiano is too selfish to do any of that. His "CF" duties go as far as waiting in the middle to take shots and let others do the ground work. Might work against LOL Liga fodder, would never work in a CL semi-final.

And that's basically /thread.

Glad I could help.

great post pretty much where i stand on this. Yet that doesnt mean that in a CL semis like against bayern where he was essentially playing SS or LF or whatever, things wont fall his way and he will score goals. Thats why i said that despite not playing the position like lewandowski for example, he is such an enormous goal threat in and around the box that its hard to ignore. Just as you cant predixt that our conventional CF benzema will make the difference in those games with goals. But he will play better, and make other players relevant

I can't believe this reached 5 pages......

Complete waste of space

You have to be able to play with your back to the goal as a CF... Ronaldo is absolutely unable to do it. Linkup for a CF happens mostly with your back to goal. The dummy runs... well that's just not being trained as a CF. You have to read the play differently from there.

another horror show with cr9, zero runs,zero link up and zero hold up play, just freaking crap, but still feel free to delude yourselves, all that muscle and can't even provide an outlet for the mid and defense .

The sooner Benz gets his issues resolved we will have a true and great striker leading the line instead of this horrible excuse of a 9

Adit wrote:I agree with Moggi that CR is king of the box but thats where the agreement ends.  He is as good as any player in history with in the box, he has it all, finishing, headers,anticipation,great runs,speed.As a CF but you are expected to fair out side the box where he fails,he isnt a CF at all.

imagine if this was really true, no benzema to distract defenders and all that means nothing .

This project has failed. Benitez needs to accept it and go back to what worked. Guy looks so lost upfront and has no idea what to do.

He'll leave next summer. Quote me on this.

I had believed the CR as CF ship had already sunk but it might be worth a bump after the Euros.

Surprised that he has actually managed to play as a CF, with his back against the goal alongside Nani this tourney. He has been at least decent when it comes to holding up play, linking up and letting others play off him imo. Has 10 chances created and 8 key passes with 70% of them coming through the middle according to squaka.

Compared to when we tried it under Benitez he has been miles better, might be worth another shot under Zidane during preseason depending on how well he does against a strong defence on Sunday.

i can see us putting Benz and Ronaldo in the middle now. You CANNOT say that Ronaldo's passing and hold up play hasn't improved. He's gone against some physical defenses and held his own. He rarely shoots outside the box unless it's a clear chance. Also, the guy is finally using his strength and I rarely see him pushed unless he gets tripped.

His selfish streak is almost gone. I think they're gonna both kick ass next season.

Ever wondered why he looked disinterested as a striker despite having all the skill set for it? , Because he don't want to play CF , not matter of can't. He shows low workrate, Not challenging for air ball etc when played as cf. He doesn't like to get marked by CBs and this is his way of telling coach that he doesn't like it there.

With Portugal he doesn't have that choice. It's now or never, he actually shows more workrate in both ends for Portugal. He sacrifices himself for the team.

He won't have a choice. He's not slow but he's lost a bit of pace.

FennecFox7 wrote:i can see us putting Benz and Ronaldo in the middle now. You CANNOT say that Ronaldo's passing and hold up play hasn't improved. He's gone against some physical defenses and held his own. He rarely shoots outside the box unless it's a clear chance. Also, the guy is finally using his strength and I rarely see him pushed unless he gets tripped.

His selfish streak is almost gone. I think they're gonna both kick ass next season.

Yeah... the 322 shots this past season in official comps really showed us how unselfish he's become.  Makes you realize that scoring 51 goals with 15.8% efficiency is really nothing that amazing.  Just to put it in perspective... Bale took 111 shots and Benzema 125.

Let's be real.  He's a selfish prick and that will never ever change.  He's just not an absurd monstrosity now... just a mild monstrosity.

sportsczy wrote:

FennecFox7 wrote:i can see us putting Benz and Ronaldo in the middle now. You CANNOT say that Ronaldo's passing and hold up play hasn't improved. He's gone against some physical defenses and held his own. He rarely shoots outside the box unless it's a clear chance. Also, the guy is finally using his strength and I rarely see him pushed unless he gets tripped.

His selfish streak is almost gone. I think they're gonna both kick ass next season.

Yeah... the 322 shots this past season in official comps really showed us how unselfish he's become.  Makes you realize that scoring 51 goals with 15.8% efficiency is really nothing that amazing.  Just to put it in perspective... Bale took 111 shots and Benzema 125.

Let's be real.  He's a selfish prick and that will never ever change.  He's just not an absurd monstrosity now... just a mild monstrosity.

How about shots inside the box? I'm sure the numbers will be drastically different. Also, he takes the free kicks which skews the numbers.

Like I said, with Portugal he's showing a side that he's never shown. Players mature as they age and he's changing as well. He needs that "mild selfishness" sport, so he can actually score.

Feels sad for him. Biggest game in his career and he gets off injured within 15 minutes.

Hopefully Pepe scores the winner. Will feel like Ronaldo scored it

Ballon d'or winner 2016