THE NEW ADVENTURES OF CHRISTINE:

The Rise And Fall Of Cristiano Ronaldo (Nathan Low, March 22, 2009, EPL Talk)

His head is nowhere near the pitch.

His attacking is indirect. His tantrums are ubiquitous. His emotions run completely unchecked.

Where he once out-smarted most defenders, most now out-muscle him, sending the winger downward again into the whining spirals which mar his ever-declining reputation.

His free-kicks sail well off course. His runs to the byline are rare. The extempore cuts and shifts are gone. The sleight and trickery are gone, replaced with forecast, boastful, and inconsequential step-overs and leg fakes before usually passing square or backwards.

John O’ Shea is in the side—presumably—to pass sideways. Ronaldo is not!

In fairness to the player, while he should have been sent off yesterday, his coach lost the game when he filled out the line-up sheet. A squad with Berbatov and Park up front is not even trying to score and by making the "attack" so dependent on Ronaldo you're virtually begging for him to descend into a petulant fit.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 22, 2009 11:18 AM