Al-Nassr boss Rudi Garcia has outlined three issues with Cristiano Ronaldo ’s incorporation into the team that must be solved.
Things have not gone entirely to plan for the Portuguese superstar after completing a stunning move to the Saudi Arabian club earlier this month. Garcia's league leaders were dumped out of the Saudi Super Cup by close rivals Al-Ittihad on Thursday, with captain Ronaldo blanking once again following his goalless debut appearance last Sunday.
Al-Nassr fell to a 3-1 defeat against their domestic rivals with Ronaldo missing a costly change in front of goal just moments before Al-Ittihad doubled their lead just before the break. The 37-year-old has yet to score in either of his opening two competitive matches for the club.
Garcia did not shy away from criticising his new talisman missing a gilt-edged chance during the game. "One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano's missed opportunity in the first half," the boss assessed after the game.
"I congratulate Al-Ittihad. They presented a much better first half than us, and we played a good second half, but unfortunately we were not able to adjust the result. It's true that we regret losing the Super Cup, but we are still the first in the league."
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Al-Ittihad striker Abderrazak Hamdallah also took a snide dig at Ronaldo by replicating one of Messi's most iconic goal celebrations after scoring moments after the Portuguese star’s miss. But Garcia’s concerns were not isolated to just the one incident.
Abderrazak Hamdallah replicated Lionel Messi's goal celebration when scoring against Al-Nassr (Sky Sports)Have Your Say! Should Ronaldo have accepted a pay cut to stay in European football? Tell us what you think here.
“It is very important that the players play normally and don't always try to give Cristiano the ball,” Garcia lamented after the game. “I told them they had to make the right decisions on the pitch.
“Obviously, when Cristiano or Anderson Talisca are alone and ask for the ball, we have to give them the ball. These two players are capable of making a difference.”
Garcia added that the positioning of the club’s two main goal threats was also proving to be problematic: “I think sometimes we had good crossing positions, but there were not enough people in the box, sometimes not Ronaldo or Talisca. We have to work on it, have one of them in the area and maybe the other will play outside the area.”
Ronaldo appeared to pick up an injury during Al-Nassr's cup semi-final defeat (FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)Yet to score for Al-Nassr since putting pen to paper on a lucrative two-and-a-half-year deal with the Saudi Arabian club, worth £173million per year, Ronaldo's controversial move from Manchester United to the Middle East isn't going as planned so far. That said, even one of the Portuguese veteran's rivals is backing him to start banging in the goals in the Saudi Pro League.
"Ronaldo is a legend. He is the best, for me, is the GOAT," ex-United striker Odion Ighalo, who now plays for title chasers Al-Hilal, told Oma Sports TV "I have too much respect for him, admiration for him." Ighalo, who partnered Ronaldo during an All-Star friendly match against Paris Saint-Germain last Thursday, then went on to express his desire to share the stage with his idol.
"He is going to play for his own team and he will score goals and me, I am going to play for my own team and I will score goals," the Nigerian, 33, continued. "So we will see how it goes. I wish him all the best in Al-Nassr, then I will do my job for Al-Hilal and we will see at the end of the season."
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