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You would be foolish to write off Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score at the Bernabeu for the fourth LaLiga game running last weekend, the first time this has happened since he joined Real Madrid back in 2009. That record alone is frightening when you think about it but of course, people are mentioning this as some kind of crisis of confidence for the Portuguese superstar, which seems quite detached from the reality of the situation.

Ever since Gareth Bale signed from Tottenham Hotspur in a then-world record fee, people have suggested that Cristiano should take a back seat to the younger Welshman. The two have similar styles out on the pitch and off it both spend a lot of time in the gym to improve their general fitness and strength. I’m not discrediting either man’s natural ability to play the game, that would be rather unwise, but they’re two people who perhaps don’t fit comfortably into the same side. At times it has worked and at others it hasn’t.

And while I admire the overwhelming support for the new guy on the block in Bale, to steal a quote from Ric Flair: To be the man you’ve got to beat the man. And make no mistake about it, Cristiano Ronaldo is the man at Real Madrid. He didn’t want to take a backseat while he’s scoring 50-plus goals a season and with valid reason as it’d make the team weaker.

According to some a power struggle ensued but that wasn’t the case. While certain people and sections of the media were desperate to get a reaction from Cristiano, who we all know doesn’t bite his tongue, internally Bale was happy to support one of his footballing idols. He wanted to learn from the benchmark player in his position, who his entire game appears based on. No one wanted Cristiano to take a backseat, least of all Bale, as it’s an incredible burden to lead a club like Real Madrid if you aren’t ready.

I don’t put myself above other people as I wrote last season that perhaps it was time for Cristiano to consider his role at the club, not due to a dwindling lack of talent, but as natural progression kicks in. Under Rafa Benitez he looked increasingly frustrated and unhappy at both the team’s results as well as his own performances. Smashing four or five past weak opposition boosted his numbers to the level we expect from him but the influence and authority he stamps on matches were missing.

However the rebirth of Cristiano when Zinedine Zidane took over showed that he still had it in his locker and the decline wasn’t as steep as some were making out. He scored in 12 out of 18 LaLiga matches under Zidane and in the Champions League, while struggling for fitness in the semi-finals and final, he made the ‘Undécima’ possible with a hat trick in the second leg of the quarter finals against Wolfsburg to send Madrid through.

After that he went to the Euros with Portugal and, let’s be honest, wasn’t great. I think you also need to factor in his lack of fitness and perhaps the poorest Portuguese side he’s played with during his time at international level. They needed him, fit or not, to lead the line and hopefully take the chances which came his way - and he did.

His performance against Hungary, much like the one for Madrid against Wolfsburg, kept Portugal in the competition. Not particularly enjoying his role as a lone striker he still exerted his influence. Cristiano assisted Ricardo Quaresma’s late winner against Croatia then scored and assisted again versus Wales in the semi-final. While people were quick to mock his touchline antics as he willed his side on, without him Portugal wouldn’t have made it that far. Only special players can carry sides and we shouldn’t forget that Cristiano is very special.

Fast forward to this season and it seems a lot of people are quick to pick apart his performances for Real Madrid. We choose to ignore the fact he spent most of the summer injured, hasn’t really had a preseason and doesn’t recover quite as quickly as he did before. But to suggest he’s undeserving of his place in the side is going to another extreme, for shock value hits and nothing more.

There’s an unselfishness about Cristiano’s displays this term which show he’s accepting of the fact that injuries aren’t so easy to overcome anymore. Of course, the ego can take control at times and we’ve seen him make some poor decisions when teammates are better placed but that isn’t anything new, it’s always been in his game. And no one said adapting to a different role would be smooth sailing.

Apart from his fitness, that same ego has been the one which propelled him to the top of the footballing world and made him, at more than one time, the best player in the world. He needs to believe it in order to carry on and the comments he makes about having 4-5 years left at the top level are genuine because he has such strong self-belief. The reality might be much less forgiving, but time will tell.

Even still, with the genuine and fair criticism for some aspects of his performances, he’s provided four assists and scored four goals in nine appearances. No, not the godly figures we’ve been used to but far from alarming either. We’ve seen him transition from a natural wide man to more of the lone striker, similar to the role he plays for Portugal, as Karim Benzema or Alvaro Morata are forced to track back while he waits for the counter.

Last weekend saw Cristiano singled out for allegedly putting his hand up calling for offside when Morata scored the winner against Athletic Club. I’m not sure if it was done to generate retweets or simply due to ignorance, but that one arm celebration of his is quite a common one when someone else scores. And yes, he looked at the linesman to see if it was offside, but he wasn’t calling for his teammate’s goal to be chalked off. Egocentric he may be, but not to the point of wanting his side to draw because he didn’t score the winner.

That provider aspect of his game is something he’s needed when the goals dry up. It’s impossible to maintain the record he has with 50 goals per season being the norm. I also think father time is catching up on him, coupled with niggling injuries proving much more difficult to overcome. That probably explains his own frustration at missing chances as he’s desperate to get back to the level he knows he can play at.

However let’s stop short of calling this the end of Cristiano as it isn’t. I hope this currently 65-75% fit Ronaldo sees the good he can bring to the side, without just scoring goals, and allows those around him to share the responsibility. He perhaps doesn’t need to score 50 goals any more and shouldn’t be considered a disappointment if that ultimately proves to be true, as he can still play a key part in this Real Madrid side.

And while it might not look like it at present, Cristiano can get back to 100% but it will just take longer than in previous years. And when he does I’ve no doubt we’ll see the best of him yet again and that goalscoring - and hopefully assist - record begin to fill out a little more and reach the levels we expect from him. A bit like the Terminator, you know he’ll be back.