Why Left Wing Is the Role Real Madrid Must Use Cristiano Ronaldo in Next Season

Real Madrid are set for a busy summer of transfer activity if the early rumours are anything to judge by, but one move that definitely seems off this year is Cristiano Ronaldo's exit from the Santiago Bernabeu.

For much of 2015-16, there were rumours he would depart, with Paris Saint-Germain touted as the most likely destination for the superstar, but that talk has died down after he helped Real win the UEFA Champions League. Florentino Perez told Marca he hoped Ronaldo would retire at the club, suggesting the 31-year-old "is the best player in the world and fits perfectly into the best club in the world."

With the three-time Ballon d'Or winner in manager Zinedine Zidane's squad for next season, and the coach already planning his assault on the league title next year, a key decision will be on how best to utilise Ronaldo.

The French boss should be leaning toward keeping him in the present left-sided forward role from where he has been so effective over the years, but Ronaldo has also shown a capacity to operate in a number of positions in a fluid attacking system that the team should benefit from.

Early-Season Suspicions

Rafa Benitez's arrival a year ago sparked talk of using Ronaldo as a main striker, but that soon proved a false dawn, as the No. 7 began pre-season and competitive action out on the left. With Gareth Bale playing as a No. 10, though, it seemed they didn't quite jell with their link play as well as they might have done, and Ronaldo's impact on matches was on the low side.

He netted five times against Espanyol on the third gameweek, but that was the only Liga match he scored in until mid-October—eight league matches into the season.

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Questions of his endurance and power, so long enormous hallmarks of his game, emerged as both noticeably dipped in the early part of the season, prompting talk of whether he should only be used as a centre-forward, as discussed by Sky Sports' Guillem Balague and endlessly on Spanish radio sports shows at the time.

But it was simply a question of adaptation.

Ronaldo returned to good form, if not the absolute peak of previous seasons, and he was a major force for some stages of the season—all from the left side.

Most Influence

For the manager, then Benitez and now Zidane, it is about giving Ronaldo the best chance of being on the ball in dangerous areas since he is the most likely to find the route to goal. By repetition of taking shooting opportunities and his higher level of quality, it stands to reason that Ronaldo gets more goals than most; he averaged the most shots per game in La Liga in 2015-16 (6.3), per WhoScored.com, having also topped that chart in 2014-15, 2013-14 and 2011-12.

He is relentless, ambitious and predictable in his capacity to get shots away—and few defences manage to stop him doing so.

With that in mind, it's simply about putting him in the right zones of the pitch and then getting service to him. Playing from the left since his Manchester United days, when he started to show the capacity to score on a regular basis, Ronaldo has always had the freedom to cut inside and rocket a shot in on his favoured right foot. He continues to excel in doing so, and the strength in midfield for Real Madrid is the counterbalance to letting him operate higher upfield.

It's noticeable that playing as the lone striker, as he has had to do at times with Karim Benzema injured, Ronaldo isn't as effective in an individual sense. He does a reasonable job for the team in hold-up play, but the inability to roam and receive possession on the run clearly doesn't help bring out his best traits, at least without quality wide forwards running centrally to fill the gaps and allow Ronaldo to move elsewhere.

4-4-2

The left-sided forward role is tailor-made for Ronaldo in Zidane's 4-3-3, but in previous years he has also shown an aptitude for playing centre-forward—just not alone.

Under Carlo Ancelotti, Ronaldo thrived up front in the 4-4-2 seen during the middle third of the season, and it's a definite alternative for next season too.

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Real Madrid will surely invest in a new striker this summer, having had Benzema unavailable for almost half the campaign last term, and both will need to pair up at some point. Whether Ronaldo can function as a left-sided midfielder is debatable given the defensive requirements of the role and the additional selfless running involved, but he could absolutely thrive as part of a two-man attack.

Ronaldo's pace on the counter, late runs into the box and link play in a two-on-two attack has long been an effective strategy for Real to utilise, and especially late in matches when looking to kill teams off, employing that tactic with Ronaldo leading the charge is almost a guarantee of a killer extra goal.

Zidane

Whichever tactical system he chooses to deploy, Zidane will have to get used to the idea that the BBC cannot be an untouchable three-pronged system, particularly if, as noted, a new striker is brought in.

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Whether his form fluctuates, he has the odd quiet game or his goal return dips below the 50-a-year marker he consistently hits, Zidane knows defences will still fear Ronaldo and that his presence alone creates chances and space for other players.

Defenders naturally gravitate toward him, leaving gaps elsewhere, and it's up to Zidane as manager to find a way to make the most of those spaces—that again points to having Ronaldo operating from the flank, with more room for others to make an impact in the other half of the pitch.

Letting Ronaldo run loose isn't the way to team victories, but getting him service is, both by the No. 7 having the ability to beat players and score and also from having balance in the rest of the team to exploit resultant gaps on the pitch.

Add in a strong runner from central midfield next season, and there's capacity to improve both the team and Ronaldo's potential to wreak havoc, but Ronaldo's main, starting role, has to again be from the left.

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