Basic Instinct
For all the scoring chances Manchester United had against Reading last Saturday, their lone goal came on what appeared to be a benign offensive attack from the wing. But when Cristiano Ronaldo is manning the wing, there is always a chance for fireworks.
Ronaldo received the ball innocently enough in the right corner and - as wingers are told to do - immediately ran at his defender. Having not put any initial pressure on Ronaldo, the Reading defender was forced to pedal backwards towards his own net, twisting and turning in an attempt to see Ronaldo and predict his next move. Unsure of whether Ronaldo's decisive touch would be to the winger's left or right, the defender had to stay home and let Ronoldo dictate the play.
At that point, the defender was dead in the water. Knowing this, Ronaldo took a quick touch to his right and the defender, unable to anticipate Ronaldo's path, was also unable to get in front of the Portugese international's low pill that found the far side netting. Reading defended well before this play and defended well after this play, but it took only a smidgin of daylight for Ronaldo to decide the match's 1-1 outcome.
The beauty of the goal lies in its simplicity. All he did was run at a defender, touch it to his side and beat the keeper. Easy enough, thanks for coming. Easy enough for Ronaldo, that is. That type of talent can't be found in just any footballer. It takes a special player to be able to score such an individual goal.
You wouldn't want to base your attack around individual play, but the ability to score individual goals separates the good teams from the great ones. Some days, your club just doesnt have it - like Man U. against the recently promoted Reading. Without Ronaldo's ability to create a goal out of nothing, Manchester would have suffered a depressing defeat. With Ronaldo's feat, they salvaged a result on an off day. Possession and sound defending are both important, but you can't earn points without scoring goals. When the team isn't clicking in the offensive third, the great teams pull goals out of their you-know-wheres.
Manchester United has looked strong in the early rounds of the Premiership as well as in the early matches of the Champions League and, as long as they have Ronaldo, they're sure to find results in both competitions.
Ronaldo received the ball innocently enough in the right corner and - as wingers are told to do - immediately ran at his defender. Having not put any initial pressure on Ronaldo, the Reading defender was forced to pedal backwards towards his own net, twisting and turning in an attempt to see Ronaldo and predict his next move. Unsure of whether Ronaldo's decisive touch would be to the winger's left or right, the defender had to stay home and let Ronoldo dictate the play.
At that point, the defender was dead in the water. Knowing this, Ronaldo took a quick touch to his right and the defender, unable to anticipate Ronaldo's path, was also unable to get in front of the Portugese international's low pill that found the far side netting. Reading defended well before this play and defended well after this play, but it took only a smidgin of daylight for Ronaldo to decide the match's 1-1 outcome.
The beauty of the goal lies in its simplicity. All he did was run at a defender, touch it to his side and beat the keeper. Easy enough, thanks for coming. Easy enough for Ronaldo, that is. That type of talent can't be found in just any footballer. It takes a special player to be able to score such an individual goal.
You wouldn't want to base your attack around individual play, but the ability to score individual goals separates the good teams from the great ones. Some days, your club just doesnt have it - like Man U. against the recently promoted Reading. Without Ronaldo's ability to create a goal out of nothing, Manchester would have suffered a depressing defeat. With Ronaldo's feat, they salvaged a result on an off day. Possession and sound defending are both important, but you can't earn points without scoring goals. When the team isn't clicking in the offensive third, the great teams pull goals out of their you-know-wheres.
Manchester United has looked strong in the early rounds of the Premiership as well as in the early matches of the Champions League and, as long as they have Ronaldo, they're sure to find results in both competitions.
posted by jcanzo at 1:16 AM
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