Analysing Cristiano Ronaldo’s start to the season

Cristiano Ronaldo will go down as one of the greatest players of all time, but he has struggled to get off the mark this season.

We’ve dived into the stats to find out where things have been going wrong for him this season. 

How last season went 

Despite Man United’s struggles in the Premier League, Ronaldo still managed to produce the goods on more than one occasion. 

The Portuguese forward scored 18 Premier League goals and also chipped in with three assists. His 18 goals came from an xG of 16.5, which highlights just how clinical he was. 

The volume of shots he was taking each game did decrease from his final season at Juventus though, which is perhaps a result of the service he has been getting. 

CR7 took an average of 3.7 shots per game, which decreased quite dramatically from the 5.1 shots he was taking for Juventus in each match. 

Ronaldo also had a huge role to play in Man United’s Champions League campaign as he scored six goals across his seven UCL appearances last season. 

Without Ronaldo’s goals they wouldn’t have even made it out of the group stages and so his role in the side cannot be underestimated. 

In total, he scored 24 goals across all competitions and was United’s top goalscorer by quite some margin. 

This season for Ronaldo 

There has been a huge shift in the way Ronaldo has been utilised by Erik ten Hag this season and as a result, he has struggled to get things going. 

As he missed pre-season, Ronaldo was left out of their season opener against Brighton, but he was brought back into the starting 11 against Brentford. 

The Brentford game was a disaster for United as they lost 4-0 and Ronaldo hasn’t started in the Premier League since then. 

He has played a total of 207 minutes of Premier League football and is yet to get off the mark with a goal or an assist. 

Across his 207 minutes of football he has accumulated an xG of 0.7, but he is yet to hit the back of the net in what has been a frustrating season so far. 

The volume of shots he is taking has decreased to just two shots per game this year. 

There were some question marks over Ronaldo as soon as Ten Hag walked through the door as he didn’t seem to be a natural fit into his philosophy. 

Ronaldo averages 7.12 pressures per 90, which ranks him in the bottom 1% of forwards for their pressing numbers. 

In contrast, Marcus Rashford averages 15.37 pressures and Anthony Martial 13.46 pressures per 90. 

Playing in the Europa League 

It is a strange sight to behold watching Ronaldo in the Europa League as he has dominated the Champions League for the last decade. 

Ronaldo has been afforded some more playing time in Europe this season, but his struggles have still be recognised. 

He got off the mark with his first goal of the season against FC Sheriff, with a goal from the penalty spot. 

He was able to get an assist against Omonia Nicosia in Man United’s 3-2 win, but his struggles in front of goal were magnified once again. 

Ronaldo has had 13 non-penalty shots in the Europa League, but he has not yet been able to find the back of the net with any of them. 

Man United face a tricky game against Everton this weekend and Ten Hag will have to make a call on whether to keep Ronaldo in the starting 11 or not. 

His long-term future at Man United seems to be hanging in the balance and a January move away from the club could definitely be on the cards.