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Cristiano Ronaldo Presses Defenders Less Than Any Other Premier League Forward

Cristiano Ronaldo Presses Defenders Less Than Any Other Premier League Forward

The Manchester United striker has scored five goals in five games for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team but he's not working all that hard.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Cristiano Ronaldo continued his brilliant goal scoring start back at Manchester United on Wednesday, but the forward doesn't do much more than that.

Ronaldo bailed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his United teammates out of a hole in midweek, scoring a 95th minute winner in the Champions League against Villarreal.

To many it proved exactly why the Premier League side decided to bring back the five time Ballon d'Or winner, 12 years after he left them for Real Madrid.

However it wasn't a great performance from the 36-year-old overall, or from the team as a whole, and one of the issues might come from the forward's lack of pressing.

According to the Athletic, the former Juventus forward presses defenders less than any other forward who has played 270 or more minutes in the Premier League this season.

Ronaldo is well below the top pressers. Image: The Athletic
Ronaldo is well below the top pressers. Image: The Athletic

Ronaldo attempts to press defenders just 2.7 times per 90 minutes, and he almost always plays every single minute, with the loss to Young Boys in the Champions League the only time Solskjaer has removed him from action so far.

It shows a complete contradiction with his teammate Edinson Cavani, who was praised for working extremely hard to pressure the Villarreal defence.

The Uruguayan striker came on as a substitute but was instrumental in boosting the energy in Solskjaer's team as they chased a winner.

Given his goals it's unlikely that United fans will care too much about how much the forward is running or putting pressure in the opposition defence.

Opposition fans didn't think that Ronaldo's goal against Villarreal should have stood, with Jesse Lingard accused of being offside when it went in.

The England forward had come on as a substitute and was the first to the ball after Ronaldo headed goalward in injury time.

He had the foresight to pass the ball back towards his teammate and then tumbled to the ground in front of the keeper as Ronaldo struck the ball.

At the weekend, Solskjaer believed that Aston Villa's goal shouldn't have stood for similar reasons, but once again the linesman and VAR felt the goal should stand.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Premier League, Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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@Sidler28