Cristiano Ronaldo : The Man I love to hate

Cristiano Ronaldo : The Man I love to hate

First things first, I am team Messi and team Iniesta and team Xavi and team Ronaldinho. Visca Barca

Many of us who love to hate this bloke, would point out to his smirk on Rooney after he orchestrated the sending off in 2006 World Cup or his sly smile to Nacho after winning a penalty against Spain in the ongoing 2018 World Cup, We can argue that Cristiano did not have to fall on that touch or many other times where he has been accused of “ winning “ penalties.

CR7 as we call him is an extremely divisive personality when it comes to football, He is 33 and many call him a stat paddler, many call him selfish or self centred and at times they call him a cheat for his diving, he is often compared to Leo Messi and depending on which side you are on you consider him far better or far worse than Messi in a debate that can never settle.

Cut back 15 years, Cristiano came from humble background and quickly realized his potential in Manchester United away from his hometown, The ones who saw him found him very attractive to watch, he relied on speed, intelligence, positioning and power, he took the ball from the midfield and could strike right through the opposition’s defence on his own. He realized that he wil need to focus on speed and power continuously as he “ might” not be endowed with the same skill set in terms of football as many others. He was one of the first footballers to have an in-house nutritionist, physical trainer and cook at home and maintained extreme dedication to his body and focussed on attributes that make him better and won all the individual awards and trophies that there are with Man United.

Cut to Real Madrid, a bigger stage, A club going through its decline facing the best club squad ever assembled in Barcelona, Barcelona made a mincemeat of Cristiano’s Madrid initially and he was often written off from the main stream, its when he started to change his focus.

Leo Messi is a very different footballer, relies on gut feel, passing, dribbling and a tremendous vision and works a lot in the midfield, Cristiano realized that slowly his biggest strength has changed from being an attacking winger to the greatest goal scorer the world will ever see. He started spending more and more time in the box, with great results in terms of goals and in terms of assists. Around 2009-2013 era, his numbers and his trophies seemed to pale out against the man who brings out the best in him, he realized that he is getting older and he needs to conserve all his energy to strike the ball into the goal no matter who is the keeper.

Cristiano comes with a tremendous self-belief, he calls himself the best in the world, and focusses on having the confidence to back it, he ensures that when he strikes he is at his effective best no matter who the keeper. People accuse him of being absent in 90% of the game, but it is in his 10% where he creates all the difference. After crossing the age of 30, where many top footballers peak out, he is even more effective . We saw many greats like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo El Fenomeno and even guys like Dennis Bergkamp and Kaka peaked out after the age of 30 many of them due to physical fitness alone.

Cristiano has more self-belief than any other player as per my limited understanding of the game, he backs himself to win each and everytime he is playing no matter what the stage, while you think he is not working hard enough. I have no qualms in quoting that he is the greatest goal scorer of all time and maybe the greatest match winner of all time, I hate him but that’s what is awesome about him.

Lessons in management and Leadership from Cristiano Ronaldo.

1. You only need to concentrate on the goal and not overdo the process or thinking, you might be doing everything right, but it’s the ones who achieve the goal, who win and their teams win. There is no joy in trying hard but in ensuring you score the goals that win you games and boardroom battles. 
2. You don’t need to concentrate on catching up on the strength of others: For many seasons now, Many other players from Messi to Robben to Neymar to KDB to Salah have had great seasons, Ronaldo has not tried to catch up with any of them in terms of what those players do in terms of their special skill set with the ball or being the creative geniuses for their teams, he knows his role and he only wants that even if that means getting overshadowed temporarily.
3. You do rely on a good team but when things get tough it takes a real leader to take it on the chin, case in point being Madrid where Ronaldo gets serviced like a Guest at Ritz Carlton and on the other side Portugal where he works far harder and has pulled them out of the well more than even the great Figo.
4.  Backing yourself when no one else does: CR7 has a terrible record in free kicks at Madrid, but he took such an important one against Spain and we all knew that he was so sure he will score. At the age of 33 to score the scissor kick against the great Juve defence is not something most footballers will do, but Cristiano backs himself as a leader always should, half the battle is won with self belief
5. Failiures are fine: Cristiano and Madrid struggled for 3 years to win their first league despite the galaxy of stars and was under the shadow of Messi, but he kept going on and on and finally in the last 4-5 years they have dominated so much in many ways more than Messi ever has.
6.  Winning at any cost, within the rules of the game: Cristiano wins smart penalties like the win against England, it might be against the shallow “ Sportsman Spirit” concept, but then winning is more important and winning brings immortality and sportsman spirit brings you likes on Facebook alone.
7. Conserve your energies to use it on your best body blow : He aint getting younger, so he doesnt want to waste his energies on tracking back to defend or to press the opposition, All of us need to know our strengths , conserve our energies to do our specialty and not try to do everything ourselves especially when we operate in teams. We just waste too much energies and not get results .
8. Arrogance sucks, only if you arent upto the level you think you are at.
9. Fitness is extremely important, it can make you efficient in whatever you do, in sport and in life overall and it al

      I admire Cristiano more than any other footballer who hasnt played for Barcelona it has to be said, despite his follies and his arrogance and he is a lesson in football for any youngster and for anyone who wants to be successful in any thing one pursues.