Al-Nassr manager Rudi Garcia has revealed three issues with Cristiano Ronaldo’s incorporation into the team that needs to be solved.
Things have not gone entirely to plan for the Portuguese star after completing a move to the Saudi Arabian club this month.
The league leaders were dumped out of the Saudi Super Cup by Al-Ittihad on Thursday, with Ronaldo blanking once again after his goalless debut appearance last Sunday.
Al-Nassr fell to a 3-1 defeat against their domestic rivals with Ronaldo missing a costly chance in front of goal just moments before Al-Ittihad doubled their lead.
The 37-year-old has yet to score in either of his opening two games for the club. Garcia did not shy away from criticising him for missing an opportunity during the game.
“One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano’s missed opportunity in the first half,” the manager assessed after the match.
“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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“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 two players was becoming 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.”
