One of the biggest surprises of the day at the World Cup was Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence from the starting 11 in Portugal’s game against Switzerland. Reportedly his absence was a disciplinary measure. Head coach Fernando Santos was not at all pleased by the way that Cristiano reacted after being taken off in the game against Korea. If there was one person who had a bitter sweet taste in his mouth after Portugal’s rout of Switzerland it was without a doubt Cristiano. His replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a hat trick in the matchup. Is it time for Fernando Santos to take a page out of Erik ten Hag’s playbook and bench Cristiano Ronaldo for the remainder of the tournament?
Did The Team Really Look Better Without Cristiano?
Yes, Goncalo Ramos could’ve scored a hat trick, and that wouldn’t necessarily mean that the team looked a lot better without Cristiano Ronaldo. We’ve been in Ronaldo’s corner throughout the Manchester United saga with Erik Ten Hag. In this situation though we can’t lie. The team looked a lot better without Cristiano on the field. It comes down to a couple of things.
The first thing that is evident is that without Cristiano on the field there’s no rush to get the ball to any one player on the field. Overall this leads to a more naturally flowing offense for Portugal in general. The second reality of the ordeal is that at least for today Goncalo Ramos out right proved that he’s currently more efficient in front of goal than Cristiano Ronaldo is. It’s true that Cristiano probably would’ve had to face tougher defense. At least today though the decision to leave Ronaldo on the bench paid off in a big way!
The Team Isn’t Lacking Leaders
Perhaps an instance in which the team could miss Ronaldo could be in the leadership department. This is not a team though that lacks leadership. Pepe is still a very important part of the team. He even contributed with a goal today, and he was instrumental in keeping Embolo at bay for basically the entire game. Which, due to the score line, maybe looked easier than it probably was.
Bruno Fernandes is another player that doesn’t lack leadership skills and personality. Joao Felix may not be a leader. At this point in his career though he’s not going to shrink in the big moments. Which in a way is what we saw from the Spanish young players earlier in the day. That experience and leadership quality that Ronaldo brings to the table is not something that team’s going to dearly if he’s not on the field.
Cristiano Is Now The Break Glass In Case of Emergency Option
We wrote an article way before the World Cup in which we covered Cristiano Ronaldo’s situation with Portugal. One of the scenarios that we talked about was Cristiano being the emergency option in Portugal’s bench. That seems to be exactly what he is at this point. Fernando Santos is in a curious situation. As we mentioned it was speculated that he put Ronaldo on the bench because of his attitude after being taken off in the last game.
Now, he’s in a situation where we all believe that the team is better without Ronaldo. Is he going to be able to keep Ronaldo on the bench without losing the team? Ten Hag had the same exact issue at Manchester United. Ultimately, we know how that turned out. Old Trafford was not big enough for the both of them. Santos needs to sit down with Ronaldo and make sure that he understands that coming off the bench is his best chance of winning a World Cup. If he can’t convince Ronaldo to take up that role he might as well resign on the spot or get Ronaldo on a plane back to wherever he’s going to call home now!
