Did Ronaldo's level drop after Rangnik's arrival
Cristiano Ronaldo lifted his head and hand to the sky in his Manchester United draw against Southampton last Saturday, in a shot that sums up the great suffering he is going through with the Red Devils this season.
Ronaldo scored 14 goals in the first half of the season, but failed to score in the last six consecutive matches, his worst club-level goal drought since the 2008-2009 season, a figure that is not a problem for most players, but is poor by Ronaldo's standards, who have scored 688 goals in 923 games with clubs.
According to Sky Sports, Ronaldo has not scored since scoring in the 3-1 win over Burnley on 30 December, and since then the Portuguese star has scored 537 minutes, during which he has scored 37 balls (only 7 on goal with 19%) accuracy, 10 of which came in the loss to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, where he wasted a penalty.
In games where Ronaldo failed to score, United won two victories against Brentford and West Ham, and the team stumbled in four more matches, whether in a draw or defeat.
Questions were raised about Ronaldo's ability to adapt to Manchester United coach Ralph Rangnik's high-pressure style before the German took over as Red Devils coach, but managed to score four times in the first five games with the new coach.
Despite a promising start, his anger after being replaced against Brentford showed his dissatisfaction with working with Rangnik, so how were Ronaldo's numbers this season before and after the German coach's arrival?
After Rangnik's arrival, Ronaldo touched 45.7 touches per game, including 7 touches inside the opponent's penalty area, 4 shots per game, a scoring average of 0.4 goals per game, and an average of 11.1%.
The figures therefore do not show a clear decline in Ronaldo's level after rangnik's arrival, but there are figures that have improved, but Ronaldo's high scoring figures have prevented him from doing any defensive duties.
Ronaldo is known not to be good at defensive roles, but his numbers in this side are not much different from the rest of Manchester United's strikers, so if he does not meet Rangnik's defensive needs without the ball, he is not the only one suffering from that problem, but he remains the red devils' top scorer this season despite suffering.