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World football legend Uruguayan Diego Forlan has harshly criticized Cristiano Ronaldo’s style of play for Portugal, stressing that the Portuguese star’s consistency in the forward position “harms the team” and limits his ability to exploit offensive opportunities.
In a tactical analysis widely circulated in the media, Forlan said: “The problem is that Cristiano plays as a fixed central striker. He stays at the goal, waiting for the ball, because he no longer moves to look for it. This ends up limiting the entire Portugal team.”
The best scorer of all time added. “He says to himself, ‘I’ll stay here in front of the goal to score.’ But he doesn’t realize he’s hurting his team because the defenders stay next to him without moving, so one of them closes in on him and the other covers the spaces, and nobody surprises the defender by sneaking behind them.”
Forlan emphasized that Ronaldo’s lack of movement “closes spaces” for his teammates, explaining: “If he moves to the sides a little bit, it will open up spaces for other players to come in. But he’s very fixed in the center and that makes the attack only go in one direction.”
The Uruguayan star used a striking analogy. “All attacks end at a point, as if it were a narrow funnel. “Portugal are not taking chances because everything is going to Ronaldo, who is fixed in the middle.”
Despite the intensity of the criticism, Forlan wanted to clarify. “I wouldn’t say Cristiano is a problem per se, but he needs to be made to understand that he needs to get out of position and move more,” referring to the Portuguese Don’s need to adapt to the demands of group play.
Notably, Forlan’s comments come as Portugal face tactical challenges at the 2026 World Cup as coach Roberto Martinez tries to strike a balance between capitalizing on Ronaldo’s goalscoring opportunities and freeing up space for the rest of the forwards.
