Paul Scholes: Cristiano Ronaldo's Tactical Headache for Portugal
Paul Scholes believes Cristiano Ronaldo has turned into a tactical headache for Portugal, arguing it is “not right” that the 41-year-old is still leading the line at major tournaments.
Ronaldo, who has now matched Lionel Messi’s mark of appearing at six World Cups, captained Portugal in their opening group game against DR Congo in Houston on Wednesday. The occasion was historic. The performance was anything but.
A quiet night for a giant
Portugal started like a side with serious ambitions. Joao Neves struck in the sixth minute, a sharp early goal that seemed to set the tone for a comfortable evening for Roberto Martinez’s team.
They had the ball, they had territory, they had control.
They did not have a killer edge.
Against the run of play, Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa punished them just before half-time with an equaliser that stunned the Portuguese and flipped the mood in the stadium. From there, the game drifted away from them. The European giants never found a winner and were forced to settle for a draw that felt flat, bordering on wasteful.
For Ronaldo, it was worse than that. It was a non-event.
Across a particularly bleak first half, he did not fashion a single chance, did not register a shot, did not complete a dribble, did not win a duel. For a player who has built a career on bending games to his will, this was 45 minutes of anonymity.
Martinez, though, refused to hook his captain. As the second half wore on, he turned instead to his bench, sending on Pedro Neto, Vitinha, Bernardo Silva, Tomas Araujo and Nuno Mendes. Ronaldo stayed on until the final whistle, a fixed point in a team that could not find a way through.
Scholes: “He’s a problem”
Watching from afar, Scholes saw a manager trapped by the weight of a legend.
“I believe it’s challenging for the manager,” the former England and Manchester United midfielder said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
Scholes revealed he had already put the question directly to Martinez during a previous off-camera conversation on Stick to Football.
“I inquired, ‘Is he a problem for you?’, as I feel he is somewhat of a concern,” Scholes said.
Then came the blunt assessment.
“At 41 years of age… I believe there is only one position on the field where a player of that age should be starting, and that is as a goalkeeper, in my opinion.”
Scholes acknowledged Ronaldo will still score goals, especially in a team that dominates possession. But he pointed to the reality of tournament football, where games can turn into running battles.
“Once there’s a game where it has to be transition… and there will be games like that. His movement at 41 years of age…” he said, letting the implication hang.
A legend, but not a starter?
Scholes, who shared a dressing room with Ronaldo for six years at Old Trafford, insisted his criticism comes with a measure of sympathy for both player and coach.
He argued that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would be far more dangerous as an impact substitute in the final stages of matches, when tired legs and stretched defences could be exploited by his penalty-box instincts.
“The trouble with Portugal is they haven’t really got an outstanding centre-forward anyway, have they? You’ve got to have somebody who runs,” he said.
“For me, he has to be a player for the last 15 minutes. For a 40 or 41-year-old to be playing centre-forward, I just don’t get it.
“You might get away with it at centre-half, you might do in a team that keeps the ball and you probably get away with it as a goalkeeper, but as a centre-forward at 41… it’s not right.”
Scholes drew a parallel with Croatia’s Luka Modric, who at 40 is still operating in central midfield at the highest level.
“We saw it with Croatia and Luka Modric last night at 40 years old. Central midfield at 40…” he said, suggesting that even for a generational talent, there comes a point where the role has to change.
Pride, rivals and a manager under strain
Scholes also tapped into Ronaldo’s competitive streak, insisting the Portugal captain will be burning inside as his great contemporaries and rivals continue to rack up numbers.
“Cristiano will be so pissed off because Lionel Messi got a hat-trick, Kylian Mbappe got two… it will be killing him,” he said.
That personal drive, Scholes believes, only complicates life for Martinez, who must balance respect for a legend with the cold demands of elite tournament football.
“I feel sorry for Martinez because he’s trying to embrace it and he’s saying, ‘No, I’ve got the best goalscorer in the world’, but deep down he must know that’s hurting his team.”
Portugal still carry the tag of serious contenders, armed with a deep, gifted squad and the status of 2025 Nations League champions. The question now is whether Martinez has the nerve to reduce the role of the most famous player in his dressing room, or whether Portugal’s campaign will continue to revolve around a 41-year-old centre-forward who no longer moves like the man who once terrorised defences across the world.
