Is Cristiano Ronaldo turning into Thierry Henry?

Thierry Henry is probably the best foreigner to ever finish his job as prime minister and he is definitely the most exciting. He scored plenty of great goals and even more crucial goals for Arsenal and became the club’s all-time top scorer.

The one big criticism of him that has ruined his career is his tendency to miss out on big games. He has done it so many times for Arsenal and France and Barcelona, ​​most of his good performances and not many have been against weak opponents.

I first saw Ronaldo in action when he made his Manchester United debut against Bolton Wanderers and his impact was immediate and incredible. I was so impressed by him that I called a friend of mine who is an avid United fan to tell him that a star had been born.

Even though Ronaldo had his critics in England with a lot of people saying that he brags too much and that it was style over substance for him, I never felt this was true as I have always been a fan of those players who bring something more to the table. to the game. playing field.

He impressed not only against modest opposition, but, as he did for Portugal at Euro 2004, he was very capable of taking over from Luis Figo and producing superb performances regardless of opponent.

This trend continued until the 2006 world cup, where he was impressive before he was viciously kicked in the thigh by Dutchman Kahlid Boulahrouz.

Then came the 2006/2007 season where he conquered it all and I was totally convinced that he was the best player in the world with some superb performances in the league and his performances against Roma, especially in the first leg when United played with 10 men, they were just magnificent. Then it started to change a bit, as he wasn’t effective against AC Milan in the semi-finals, but I put it down to the amount of respect Milan showed him by putting Gennaro Gattuso on their case.

He continued that in the FA Cup final against Chelsea, but I chalked it up to exhaustion and gave him the benefit of the doubt. But I started to be skeptical this season because even though he has scored a remarkable 30 goals in his last 31 games for United, Ronaldo has been anonymous to all the big names this season.

He was not as effective against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool and in the Champions League he was invisible against Lyon in both ties.

His critics have long been saying that he only performs well against modest opponents, but before this season, he didn’t believe it, as he always played well for Portugal and looked like their leader.

To be the best in the world, you have to show up in the big games and, as Thierry Henry found out at his own expense, you don’t win the big individual prizes by being the Premiership bigwig, shining against modest defenses and then disappearing in big opportunities.

Let’s face it, even if the Premiership is the most popular and most watched league in the world, it’s the really important games that fans are glued to their televisions to watch and not all of them would be as interested in Manchester United vs. Sunderland as they are. partial. observers, so if Ronaldo or Henry before him fail to shine in the big televised matches, it’s no wonder they don’t win the European and World Footballer of the Year award.

Ronaldo may have to go to Spain or Italy to prove himself by playing against much tougher defenders than he faces in the premiership. He also needs to leave to become a better player as well. The likes of AC Milan’s Kaká find defending in the Champions League much easier than in Serie A, as his Champions League goals attest.

It would be a great shame if Ronaldo is seen as a player who only shines against weak opposition, as he is so much better than that.