Ronaldo Roars On (Fantasy Football related)

Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th and 101st goals (both from free kicks) for  Man Utd yesterday, as they steamrollered Stoke 5-0 at Old Trafford. His record now stands at 101 goals in 253 matches – and bearing in mind he has scored 9 in 14 this season and 42 from 49 last season, his ratios are only improving.

Considering the amount of goals he scores, added to his assists and MOMs, he is a must-sign for any Fantasy Football managers. Or is he?

He comes at extreme cost – at £14.6 million he is £2.8m more than Lampard, the next most expensive player, and nearly £5million more than any other midfielder bar Steven Gerrard. Could this money be better spent elsewhere? There is certainly an argument for it.

Yes, of course when they blitz Stoke 5-0 and he tears them to shreds, he is going to score a shedload of points and really hurt those who don’t select him. But other weeks – when Utd are playing Arsenal, Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton – or on current form anyone away from home – he won’t tear them apart, you won”t get a shedload of points from him – and more importantly, if you’ve spunked your budget on CR07, the rest of your team will not be good enough to compensate. I’d rather 3 £8m players – an Ireland, a Young, a Kuyt – than Ronaldo and two £4.5 million players.

And there will be lean times – people think he’s irreplaceable at the moment, but remember Utd have played Hull, Stoke, and West Ham at home recently, and that’s where the majority of Ronaldo’s points have come from. He has actually barely scored any away from home.

And when those managers strapped to the Ronaldo bandwagon go through that bad patch, those weeks he doesn’t score points, its the strength in depth of those that don’t have him that come to the fore. When injuries and rotations hit, when those managers with Ronaldo and three worthless subs start to feel the pinch, that’s when a good team of good players – rather than one superstar – will come into their own.

Your Andy Johnsons, Shola Ameobis, Giovannis, Delaps – they may have purple patches and score a few points, but over a season, its your genuine class that will take you to the top of the table.

And finally – its just more fun. Who wants to pick Ronaldo and make him captain every week? It works a lot of the time, but how much fun is it? Really? Isn’t it bettet to study it, take a punt, make a prediction, rather than the constant refrain ‘Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldo’?

I for one, won’t jump on that bandwagon.