For Cristiano Ronaldo, Less Is More for Fernando Santos and Portugal

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: October 7, 2014

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It was another weekend and another record for Cristiano Ronaldo, as his 22nd La Liga hat-trick against Athletic Bilbao took him level on the landmark with club legend Alfredo di Stefano and Telmo Zarra, who starred for Athletic in the 1940s and 1950s. It left Ronaldo with 13 goals in just six league starts so far this season.

Ronaldo’s next match will be on the international stage, against France. Given Portugal’s prolific production of wingers and relative dearth of centre-forwards, there may well be renewed calls to switch the captain to the very tip of the team.

There is a short, simple answer to that—and that answer is "no." As Fernando Santos embarks on his tenure as Portugal coach, starting in Saturday’s prestige centralised friendly in Saint-Denis, how he chooses to employ arguably the world’s greatest player will go a long way to defining his success or otherwise.

There are many aspects of the squad that Santos must address, and he has attempted to begin doing so with his first squad. The centre of defence is aging, a spritely midfield has become moribund and the reliance upon Ronaldo has reached new levels in the last year to 18 months.

Yet there is one policy which he should guard from Paulo Bento’s reign, despite his predecessor being on the end of some fierce criticism in recent months. Whatever your view on Bento’s merits or otherwise, he is the Portugal coach who most consistently got the best out of Ronaldo.

The numbers say it all. Bento’s own predecessor, Carlos Queiroz, was supposed to be the man who heralded an epochal period for Portugal’s anointed star, unlocking all of Ronaldo’s potential at international level, having been on board while he grew at Manchester United. It proved to be anything but the case.

In the two years of Queiroz’s reign, Ronaldo scored just twice, a penalty in a February 2009 friendl...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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