Cristiano Ronaldo Accused of Failing Real Madrid, Florentino Perez Role Doubted

Cristiano Ronaldo is at a “crucial moment” in his career after being accused of “failing” Real Madrid, per Guillem Balague of Sky Sports’ Revista de La Liga programme.  

Ronaldo’s individual stats remain at an extraordinary level, and he scored his 26th hat-trick in La Liga, per the club’s official website, in the 4-1 win over Espanyol at the weekend:

However, that win was not enough to prevent Barcelona from clinching the title, and it means Ronaldo has won La Liga just once since he joined Real from Manchester United six years ago.

For Balague, he believes it is time that Ronaldo started to give more of himself to the team and follow the example of former basketball star Michael Jordan, saying:

"

I think Ronaldo is in a crucial moment of his career because in a way he has failed Real Madrid and he needs to change. This reminded me of Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan in the NBA. Phil Jackson goes to Chicago Bulls as the coach. At the time, Michael Jordan is the best player in the world. He's the best assister, best rebounder and best scorer but he hadn't won a league with Chicago Bulls. Phil Jackson goes to him and says: 'A man cannot be an island. You have to give me less so the team has more.' Michael Jordan accepted that and it's exactly what happened. After that, Chicago Bulls won six titles. Maybe Ronaldo has to give less to the team.

"

Ronaldo also drew criticism for his performance in last week’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Juventus, which finished 1-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The result ensured Real lost 3-2 on aggregate, but despite Ronaldo scoring both of his club’s goals in the tie, he had the fewest touches of the ball in the second leg, per Richard Innes of the Daily Mirror: "We know Cristiano Ronaldo is the world's best player. We know he can win a game on his own. We know he has dragged Real Madrid to many key victories single-handed. But during the second leg of their disastrous Champions League semi-final against Juventus, Ronnie did pretty much the opposite of that."

The criticism of Ronaldo comes despite his impressive stats this season. He has scored 45 goals in 34 appearances in La Liga, per WhoScored.com, and he has also contributed 16 assists. In the Champions League, he scored 10 goals in 12 games and supplied three assists.

On top of that, he has also scored the most headed goals in European football this season, per OptaJean:

Yet, there is no getting away from the fact that, in terms of trophies, Ronaldo’s time at Real has been largely unsuccessful.

Since his arrival in Madrid in 2009, in addition to the sole title success, there has been just one Champions League triumph and two Copa del Reys added to the trophy cabinet. There have also been wins in the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

But, while Ronaldo is being criticised for failing Real, he does still have some fans, judging by this celebration from some Ajax youngsters, per Football Vines:

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Ajax youth academy players have been imitating Cristiano Ronaldo's goal celebration. Brilliant. pic.twitter.com/gLlfjyvfMi

— Football Vines (@FootballVines) May 19, 2015"

Ronaldo is not the only leading figure at Real to come in for criticism regarding his role, as president Florentino Perez has questions to answer, per Graham Hunter on Sky Sports’ Revista de La Liga show.

Hunter has blamed a lack of strategy from Perez for Real’s troubles this season after the club missed out on the major end-of-season prizes.

With the club’s institutional director Emilio Butragueno refusing to give guarantees about Carlo Ancelotti’s future as coach, per the Guardian, there is the danger of another summer upheaval at Real.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Balague claims Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has turned down a return to Real to replace Ancelotti, and the likely instability at the club at the end of the season isn’t going to help Ronaldo transform his game.

In some respects, it does seem churlish to criticise Ronaldo for his contribution at Real this season given he could hardly have done more after scoring over 50 goals in all competitions.

Yet, there is plenty of merit in the suggestion that Ronaldo does need to alter his game, if he wants to finish his Real career with more than just a handful of club trophies and medals to show for it.