NOT FAR FROM GREATNESS

Gary Linekar in The Telegraph

There is something everyone who values the creative potential of football should do. Next time you get the chance to watch Manchester United in the flesh, get there early and get as close to pitchside as possible. Then watch Cristiano Ronaldo do his warm-up. It is breathtaking.

There are few players who I would watch going through the paces of their pre-match routine. But Ronaldo is not any old player: it is captivating to watch him work his way through his repertoire of tricks, flicks and skills. What is amazing is the speed at which he does it all. It's as if he needs the warm-up to get all his components calibrated for the superhuman feats that await. Watching him this season I've witnessed acts of manipulation of a football that verge on the physically impossible.

Ronaldo is still young at 22, but I believe that if he continues on this trajectory of development, he could become one of the greatest players ever. He has been unbelievable this season: he has turned from an exciting but flawed performer into a player who is impossible to defend against. He was accused in the past of being addicted to the step-over; now every decision he makes is the right one.

To put it bluntly, he has absolutely everything. His technique is remarkable, a truly sublime talent, but allied to that is an extraordinary ability to operate at high speed. He does not seem to slow up when he receives the ball and can perform his array of tricks at full sprint.

Then there's his shooting: he hits the ball with such power that the ball distorts and swerves in the air. How many goalkeepers have we seen rooted to their line as the ball defies physics as it swerves into the net.

Oh, and he can shoot with both feet, giving full-backs a headache about which way to steer him.

There is the one black mark that people hold against him: the allegations of diving. Yes, in the past he tended to throw himself down to the turf at every opportunity and that behaviour was certainly in evidence at the World Cup in Germany. However, as I have consistently argued in this column, a large element of that is cultural. I have played in Spain, it is part of their game and nobody makes a fuss about it. Ronaldo must be taken aback every time there is a furore over this issue.

To be fair to him, he has changed his game remarkably in this respect. It is very hard when a player has gained a reputation, but even the most one-eyed of fans must concede he has improved an awful lot. The accusations flying around after the FA Cup quarter-final with Middlesbrough were nonsense. He was moving at high speed in the box and a bad challenge came in. Yes, he doesn't do everything in his power to avoid the challenge, but then why should he? A dive? No way.

Ronaldo gets fouled as often as all exciting attacking players do, but how often do you see him getting into rucks or remonstrating with referees? He simply picks himself up and gets going again. Every time he gets whacked, he brushes himself down and goes again.

So what is his secret? Well he is obviously blessed with great natural gifts, but there is also his work-rate. On the pitch you can see it in the way he tracks back and gives the formation shape, and in the number of selfless runs he makes to create space for his team-mates. Again, go back to the warm-up, much of what seems spontaneous is the fruit of some hard labour. We should encourage the kids in this country to approach the art of dribbling the way Ronaldo does.