The Best Footballer in the World

Cristiano Ronaldo. Love him or hate him, he has been named FIFA’s World Player of the Year. His terrific 07-08 season, capped by his amazing 42 goals for club Manchester United, means he is the first England based player to win this prestigious award, adding to his Ballon D’or (European Player of the year).

As a staunch Man United supporter, I find myself sitting on the fence when asked how I feel about him. Sure, he’s a bag of tricks, the master of step-overs. But is he really that indispensible to the team? Sometimes I feel he has more personal reasons to be on the field, rather than to play for the team. Personal reasons such as “how many defenders can I beat today”, or “how many goals can I score today”.

First, let’s analyse his strengths. Possessing brilliant footwork, his step-overs have become his trademark, as he waltzes all over defences in England. No lack of creativity in his feet, he can always find a suitable trick or shimmy to get past defenders – one, two or even three.  Pace-wise, he can outrun a Bugatti Veyron – albeit in reverse – but how many world class sprinters can do that?

Devastating freekicks. Every goalkeeper shudders when faced with a Cristiano Ronaldo freekick. Most deal with them by just standing still and letting fate decide where the ball will end up. He has developed a unique style in his kicking technique, making the ball swerve uncontrollably and rapidly. It’s never easy to make the ball curve, much less swerve, but to develop your own technique? That’s pure genius! In the old days, only true kung fu masters developed their own styles of kung fu. And in the world of football, only true masters of the ball develop their own kicking techniques. I’ve tried his methods, and I’ve realised how hard it is. Maybe only one in ten actually swerve the way his shots do (in an S shape) but with maybe 20% of his speed and swerve.

Now, his finishing. His finishing technique and his eye for finding openings to shoot are really better than any top striker in the world. How else can a winger hope to score 42 in a season? His shots are deadly, often inheriting that vicious swerve of his. One on one with the keeper, I would bet my fortune on him scoring. His heading prowess is also sublime, with his leap and power. Just look the size of his neck and you can understand where he gets all that heading power from. A strong spine and years of physical training.

He may sound like the perfect athlete, the perfect footballer. And skills-wise, he may well be. Then why would I not like such a great player, especially if he is on our team. Well, I don’t really hate him, but his antics sometimes really do piss me off. Being the world’s best player doesn’t mean you are above the rules of the game, or the referee. You can be Pele, or Maradona, but you still get booked for a bad tackle, or for talking back.

In all honesty, I would be happy to see Cristiano get booked for a bad tackle. The problem is he seldom ever does tackle anyone. He’s great in attack, but defensively, he’s happy to see someone run past him with the ball, or to let someone who’s just stolen the ball from him escape. Rarely does he ever track back to defend, and only occasionally in big games does he ever do that. Thankfully, his work rate against Chelsea on Sunday was above his usual average.

So, he possesses all these skills, he can make a fool of the best defenders in the world. Does that mean no one is allowed to tackle him? What’s the point of kicking out after you lose the ball, or those antics he performs when he goes to ground. It’ll only make people respect him less, and notice less of his skills, more of his whining. With great power comes great responsibility, and with great skills, comes the challenge of using them wisely. Doing things like deliberately handling the ball when his jump goes wrong? Maradona might have scored with his hand before, but that would be his only action on the field that has left a blemish on his stellar career.

So what makes Cristiano think that he is above everyone else? Let’s hope that by winning this prestigious award, he can grow up and respect his teammates a little bit more. Because sooner or later, his antics will cost the team dear. And people might just start to realise that Manchester United can survive just as well with or without him.

~ by li0nh34rt on January 13, 2009.