Christiano Ronaldo has won both PFA awards in recognition of his outstanding performances this season. The PFA award was last won by a United player in 2002 when Van Nistelrooy picked it up, while Ronaldo has stolen the Young Players award off Wayne Rooney; that night in Germany was the start of a major shift in positions between the two players.
Rooney was always the young player that actually did things on the pitch, whereas Ronaldo had all the tricks but no final product. This season Rooney hasn’t produced too often, probably as a result of being rushed back too soon for England, whereas Ronaldo has produced and raised his skill levels at the same time.
The key to Ronaldo is his ability to perform his skills at a very high pace. I’m sure he still dives sometimes and I wish he wouldn’t, but a number of times (I’m looking at Garath Southgate) he has been clipped and has gone down because he is going so fast. He is very tall for a winger, unlike Maradona and Best who had low centres of gravity and could ride tackles. If he has one weakness, it looks to be his freekick taking. Sometimes it goes in like a rocket, but often it goes anywhere but near the goal.
Three years ago I said that Ronaldo would be a world class player in a couple of years time. I’m very glad to be proved right even if he was a year late.
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