2021 has come to an end, and it has been an extraordinary year for world football, and it has been a year full of surprises for the fans. In 2021, Messi and C Ronaldo, two emperor superstars in the football world, chose to transfer in the same transfer window. And Cristiano Ronaldo, the 36-year-old Portuguese veteran who has returned to the Theatre of Dreams, shouldering the responsibility of leading the Red Devils, who have had an ups and down record in recent years, to a revival.
For Cristiano Ronaldo, 2021 is destined to be an extraordinary year in his career. In the first half of 2021, he played for Serie A giants Juventus, but the team's overall performance last season was sluggish, and it failed to achieve the desired results in both the Champions League and the league. The old woman who has always dominated the league has not only lost the championship throne, but even the Qualification for the Champions League is in jeopardy at one point;
In the summer window of this season, C Ronaldo returned to Manchester United and repeatedly saved the team from fire and water, but considering the overall state of the team, Manchester United's record did not improve, but showed a downward trend. In the end, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer left office, and German coach Lonnick was in danger.
Overall, Ronaldo's journey in 2021 is not smooth, and years of self-discipline have allowed him to still win the favor of a number of giants at the age of 36, but now C Ronaldo's dominance on the pitch is obviously not as good as the peak. In the face of the decline of his own competitive state, C Luo did not surrender his weapons, but took the initiative to adjust his position selection and tactical ideas on the field, hoping to make the greatest contribution to the team through a series of personal adjustments. Although neither Juventus nor Manchester United has been able to help the team achieve a further jump in the record, Ronaldo's efforts in 2021 are beyond doubt, and the answers he has handed to the fans are perfect enough.
Is he really 36 years old? 】
On February 5, 1985, Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. As of 2021, the Portuguese superstar will turn 36 years old. In the football world, 36 often means words like "aging", "transformation" or even "retirement". Even if he is still active in the top stage of the football world, he often appears in the position of goalkeeper or defender.
As a striker, at the age of 36, he can still play in the two major leagues of Serie A and the Premier League, handing over eye-catching data, looking at the ancient and modern world football, C Ronaldo can also be described as a unique one.
Statistically, Ronaldo played a total of 60 games for Juventus, Manchester United and the Portuguese national team (26 for Juventus, 20 for Manchester United and 14 for the national team). In those 60 games, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 47 goals, including 17 in 24 Serie A games, 8 in 15 Premier League games and 6 in 5 Champions League games. Even in the main european championships, the Portuguese superstar, although he was not able to help the team to defend the title, still scored 5 goals in 4 games, showing a goal efficiency far higher than other stars.
Ronaldo's success is no accident, since the Manchester United era gradually began to transform, the super high goal efficiency is one of Ronaldo's distinctive labels.
Serie A standings for the 18–19 season
The Portuguese star scored 21 goals in his first season with the Bianconeri, ranking 4th on the top scorers list. In the next two seasons, Cristiano Ronaldo won the Silver Boots and serie A Golden Boots, and the increase in age did not seem to be a constraint for the Portuguese superstar, but let his goal number increase day by day.
Last season, Cristiano Ronaldo won the Gold Boot in the Pride League
At the end of last season, although Juventus was not able to achieve the desired results, Ronaldo's performance was beyond doubt - 36 goals in 44 games and 5 assists, which was enough to prove his strength.
For various reasons, Ronaldo's relationship with Juventus did not continue, and the Portuguese superstar joined Premier League giants Manchester United in the summer window of this season, restarting his Red Devils career. But combined with the current background, today's Manchester United and C Ronaldo's Manchester United have a big difference. Although the team's investment is still high, but the results of recent seasons have always been unsatisfactory, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has helped the team successfully complete the renewal after his arrival, and last season also won the Premier League runner-up and the Europa League runner-up good results, but overall, Manchester United's performance in many key games is still criticized by fans. As a result, further reinforcement has become the first choice for Manchester United's management team in the new season.
It is in this context that Ronaldo and Manchester United continue the frontier. However, this time hand in hand, the pressure faced by the two sides is also very different - C Ronaldo has long been famous in the world, and this return shoulders the arduous task of leading Manchester United to the revival; and Manchester United's introduction of C Ronaldo, a veteran who has reached the age of 36, is also under great pressure, after all, the arrival of C Ronaldo has increased the team's salary burden and is bound to change the team's original tactical system.
Cristiano Ronaldo returns with his first goal
C Ronaldo double ring
Fortunately, C Ronaldo did not live up to the expectations of the fans, returning to the first game of the Red Devils, C Ronaldo scored the first goal of returning to Manchester United in the first half of stoppage time; after entering the second half, Newcastle equalized by Manquillo in the 56th minute, and then C Ronaldo scored twice in the 62nd minute, helping the team to take the lead again, making the first contribution to the final Manchester United's valuable three points.
Returning to the first game, C Ronaldo scored a good start to his return to Manchester United with a wonderful goal. In the first round of the Champions League group stage this season, Manchester United came away to the young man of Bern, and Cristiano Ronaldo continued his highlight to open the record for Manchester United in 12 minutes. Although the Red Devils still lost away from home in the end, Cristiano Ronaldo became the highest-rated player in the united team (6.9 points) with a goal.
In the fifth round of the Premier League, facing West Ham United, who have performed well this season, Benahma opened the scoring for the Hammers in the 30th minute, and Cristiano Ronaldo made another threat five minutes later, equalizing with a wonderful two-stroke combo. In stoppage time, Jesse Lingard received an assist from Nemanja Matic to complete the kill, and United scored another three points on the road. In the following 4 Premier League games, Cristiano Ronaldo fell into a goal drought, and Manchester United also achieved only 1 draw and 3 losses in these 4 games, and the team's record fell into a low.
Ronaldo reads the second to kill the yellow submarine
In the Champions League, C Ronaldo continued to play his "Champions League King". The Portuguese superstar scored in the first round against the Bernese youth, and then in the next 4 group games, C Ronaldo played all of them and scored a total of 5 goals, including a second-reading kill against Villarreal, a reversal to defeat Atalanta, and a second draw with Atalanta.
So far, Cristiano Ronaldo has played 21 games for the Red Devils in all competitions this season, scoring 14 goals and three assists. Compared to the Red Devils' other strikers – Greenwood scored five goals in 20 games, Marcus Rashford scored three goals in 14 games, Edgar Cavani scored two goals in 11 games, Sancho scored two goals in 22 games and Martial scored one goal in 10 games. In total, these strikers have only scored 13 goals, and Cristiano Ronaldo alone has scored 14 goals, which is evident in his role in the Manchester United front.
[Although C Ronaldo is strong, it is not enough to reverse the Manchester United dilemma]
As we all know, Manchester United today is in a difficult situation. But unlike other lonely old giants, Manchester United's decline is not due to lack of funds, but more because of a series of complex problems such as player attitudes, tactical run-in, and backward systems. All in all, the problems That United are facing today are not something that can be quickly solved with the introduction of 1 or 2 new signings.
C Ronaldo joined Manchester United, its own "1:0 attribute" is still applicable, almost average one goal per game of super high goal efficiency in many dangerous situations to save Manchester United. But unfortunately, the decline of a team can not be reversed by one person, C Ronaldo has repeatedly saved Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with goals, but in the end it has not been able to avoid the end of Sox Kea's eclipse. The new manager chosen by the Manchester United hierarchy for the team is Ronnick, who is known as the german tactical master. The German coach does not have a glorious resume as a club coach, which is characterized by the study of tactics and the discovery of young talents.
After Ronnick took office, he carried out a drastic reform of Manchester United's tactical system in the background environment of ensuring the status of C Ronaldo's main force. At the beginning of his tenure, Langnick led the team to complete a three-game winning streak in the Premier League, and Manchester United initially broke away from the embarrassing trend of losing in the league table and re-launched an attack on the Champions League seats. However, the honeymoon period between the Red Devils and the German boss seems to have ended extra early, and manchester United are now once again in a slump on all fronts - the league was forced to draw by weak newcastles, and the latest round was a 0-1 defeat to Wolves. Two games that should have been all six points in the end only scored one point, causing United to fall again in a slightly upturned state in the table, and now it can only be ranked 7th in the Premier League table.
In the face of a new tactical system, all Manchester United players need to adapt to a certain extent, and Cristiano Ronaldo is no exception. So far, the Portuguese have played a total of 5 games under Ronnick, scoring only two goals (in the Champions League 1-1 draw with bernese youngsters, Cristiano Ronaldo has not been included in the squad), and the efficiency of goals has dropped significantly compared to the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era.
The reason for this has a lot to do with The 4222 formation, which is incompatible with Longnick. Lonnick advocates 4222, which means that he has to abandon many of the top wingers in the Manchester United squad, coupled with the red devils' poor performance of rashford, Greenwood and others this season, and bruno's midfielder is also in a downturn, C Ronaldo is more isolated in the front. After the Red Devils' 1-0 defeat to Wolves, Manchester United star Paul Ince was interviewed by Sky Sports, who did not believe Lonnick and sharply attacked Lonnick's 4-2-2 formation.
Ince said: "Do you want Lonnick to lead the team to the end of the season? I'm sorry, but now it seems necessary to say no. I'm not sure if this job is toxic, but it's the most important job in world football, and it's the biggest club in the world. Lonnick looks stressed, but that's the norm for a United manager. ”
"The formation he's lining up now is obviously not good. Will he go back to 4-3-3? Will it be changed to 3-5-2? You should know what you're doing. ”
"You've coached five games before. Five games. You know Wolves will play three backs, you know Manchester City will play 4-3-3, you know the way Liverpool play, we've been changing sides before, there's no stylistic continuity. ”
"I know there's covid-19 and the players are tired, but that's no excuse. You have to find the right formation to stick to, not to change easily, the best team will not change easily. ”
"I think we've all been deceived, it feels like we've found our way forward, it feels like it's progress. That's how I feel. The schedule after Ronnick took over was a perfect schedule, but except for playing Crystal Palace, the team performed mediocrely. If you casually ask a Manchester United fan right now, have we seen improvement in the last five games? The answer can only be no. ”
【Conclusion】
All in all, Lonnick's ability does not need to be questioned, but the 4222 he advocates will take some time if it is to be perfectly integrated into the current tactical environment of Manchester United. Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the best strikers in world football today, but even so, the Portuguese superstar seems to have some struggles under the 4222 system. In 2022, which has already begun, Cristiano Ronaldo will start again and lead Manchester United on all fronts to continue to attack higher honors. The old Ji Futuo, determined to be in a thousand miles. Today's C Luo may have lived up to the glory of that year, but his determination to do everything for the team has never been lost.