'He was absolutely outstanding' - Carragher debunks Ronaldo myth

The ex-Liverpool defender has praised CR7 for his ‘absolutely outstanding’ pressing.

Jamie Carragher has rubbished claims that Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t press in games, praising the Portuguese’s performance against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Despite a goal-laden return to Manchester United, critics were quick to call out Ronaldo for a lack of effort in pressing before the club sacked manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The appointment of Ralf Rangnick, dubbed the ‘Godfather Of Gegenpressing’, as interim boss fueled further doubts.

However, Ronaldo silenced his critics in Rangnick’s first game in charge at the weekend. He may not have scored in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, but he won several duels and took part in ball recoveries.

Cristiano Ronaldo won possession in the final third as many times against Crystal Palace (3) as he did in his first 11 Premier League games of the season.

Ready to do anything for the good of the club. pic.twitter.com/mIOFVTO4th

— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) December 5, 2021

‘The pressing from Ronaldo was absolutely outstanding’

Now Carragher, speaking alongside Gary Neville for Sky Sports, has remarked on Ronaldo after witnessing the amount of pressing done in in the German ‘Der Klassiker’ between Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund, which ended in a 3-2 win for the former.

“It takes me back to the weekend with Cristiano Ronaldo, the pressing from him was absolutely outstanding and this is what he [Rangnick] will want from his attacking players, central strikers,” said Carragher as quoted on MEN.

“From what we saw at the weekend [from Dortmund], the two tens [Jude Bellingham and Julian Brandt] and two center-forwards [Erling Haaland and Marco Reus] right up alongside the Bayern defense.

“Where it pays dividends is you then find that player – it could be Bruno Fernandes – in that pocket in that hole.

“At the weekend for United it was [Marcus] Rashford and Ronaldo, Haaland and Reus making runs in behind. From the two top teams in Germany, we saw so much of what we saw from Rangnick’s first game at Manchester United.”

Ronaldo and United return to action on Wednesday for their final Champions League group-stage match against Young Boys at Old Trafford.