Originally posted by Palynka
I didn't see the game, but most reviews said he worked for the team, instead of himself.
Usually his problem on the big stage was that he was tried too hard to do it by himself and it's obviously much harder to do everything by yourself against the best teams. If he's learning to work more for the team in those games, then that's a definite improvement.
Ronaldo has improved year on year since he moved to United.
This season he has added a finished product to his previous skills.
This season he has shown that he still struggles against the top teams. I stated earlier that I thought this season might be 1 too soon for him to show it against the top sides.
Last night, he actually did some defensive work, chasing down the Barsenal (pretty passing, no end product) defence and preventing them from settling on the ball. This was a first, and is a step in the right direction. He competed a number of times in the air, and won some ball. He tried to tackle and he harried.
It seems that he may be realising that the rest of the team can't carry him when United don't have the ball. Last night could be the turning point, which will see him mature into THE greatest player on the planet next season.
It must be an inspiration to him to see the likes of Park and Tevez cover every blade of grass on the pitch for the team. Ferguson has had to change his system to accommodate Ronaldo's lack of defensive work ethic to United's detriment (A non competitive striker will never work against top sides, a non working winger even more so). Hopefully, we will see the last of that this season.
D