Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most scrutinized players on the planet and one of the most disliked. The Juventus superstar, therefore, becomes a magnet for criticism, but often the narratives spun by his detractors are not based on any statistical logic.
One of these narratives? That Ronaldo is not an effective dribbler. You will find “fail” compilations or memes about Ronaldo’s supposed lack of dribbling ability at the age of 36.
Yet if we actually look at the numbers, we see the opposite is the case.
According to FBRef.com, Cristiano Ronaldo has the most dribbles completed of any Juventus player so far in the 2020-2021 Serie A season. And he is ninth in the league overall.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most effective dribbler in Serie A among forwards when combining frequency and efficiency
That’s impressive in and of itself, but the efficiency of his dribbling is actually even more impressive. Ronaldo is successful on just over 65 percent of his dribbles completed. Among all 20 players with at least 40 dribbles completed, Ronaldo ranks third behind only transfer target Rodrigo De Paul and heart-breaker Ruslan Malinovsky.
But remember, Ronaldo is a forward. Why do I point this out? Because it is more difficult for forwards to win a higher percentage of their dribbles than a midfield. That’s for two reasons. Firstly, forwards are more likely to go up against defenders in a one-on-one, and defenders are better at one-on-one defending than midfielders. Secondly, forwards attempt more dribbles in the final third than midfielders, which means they have to navigate tighter spaces or even beat multiple defenders at once.
So among forwards, Ronaldo is literally in a class of his own in Serie A with 52 dribbles completed and a 65.3 percent success rate.
Ronaldo is also sixth in Serie A in total progressive dribbles, which is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous because Ronaldo is a forward in a two-striker system and is Serie A’s leading goal-scorer with 25 goals. Yet he is still one of the elite ball carriers. Lorenzo Insigne and Junior Messias are the only forwards with more progressive dribbles than Ronaldo. Combined, they have 25 goals. He is 10th in carries into the final third. Again, only wide players Insigne and Messias are better.
Cristiano Ronaldo leads Serie A in one important dribbling statistic
But Ronaldo stands alone in one dribbling statistic in Serie A and ranks fifth among all players in Europe’s top five in this stat. And that’s actual dribbles into the penalty area, which is a great measure of how incisive an attacking player is. Ronaldo doesn’t just beat players one-on-one. He creates shooting situations with his dribbling and helps the team significantly. Noting how poor Juve’s midfield is at creating chances, Ronaldo’s ability to create on his own – and then finish – is so vital to the Bianconeri.
Only Messias has generated more shot-creating actions with dribbles this season in Serie A than Ronaldo. Only five players are above Ronaldo in all of Europe’s top five leagues.
So when we break down the numbers, Ronaldo is among the elite in his league in creating goal-scoring chances with his dribbling and getting into threatening areas on the ball. And he isn’t just putting up quantity. He’s efficient when it comes to his take-ons, placing 9th in dribbles completed despite being 15th in dribbles attempted in Serie A.
How can you look at the actual date and come to any other conclusion? Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t just Serie A’s best scorer right now. He is also one of the league’s best dribblers and still highly effective in this regard at the age of 36.